340 MAMMALIA—DEER . 
THE INDIAN STAG! 



Tue axis, or Indian stag, is of the small number of ruminating animals 
who wear horns, like the stag. He has the shape and swiftness of che fallow 
deer ; but what distinguishes him from the stag and fallow deer 1s, that his 
body is marked with white spots, elegautly disposed, and separated one 
from another, and that he is a native of hot countries, Hiadostan, and parti- 
cularly Bengal; while the stag and deer nave their coat of a uniform color, 
and are to be met with in greater numbers, in cold countries and temperate 
regions, than in hot climates. 
The axis appears to be an intermediate mixture between the deer and the 
stag. He resembles the deer in the size of his body, the length of his tail, 
and his coat, which is the same during his whole life. He only essentially 
differs from that animal in his horns, which nearly resemble those of the 
stag. The axis, therefore, may possibly be only a variety depending on the 
climate, and not a different species from the deer; for, although he is a 
native of the hottest countries of Asia, he supports, and easily multiplies in 
that of Europe. He is a very mild and timid animal. 


1 Cervus aris, Lin. 
