RUMINANTIA. 187 
head, have at their base a ring of bony tubercles, which, as 
they enlarge, compress and obliterate the vessels of that skin. 
It becomes dry and is thrown off; the bony prominences, being 
laid bare, at the expiration of a certain period separate from 
the cranium to which they were attached; they fall and the 
animal remains defenceless. Others, however, are re-pro- 
duced generally larger than before, and destined to undergo 
the same fate. ‘These horns, purely osseous, and subject to 
periodical changes, are styled antlers. 
Crrvus, Lin. 
The Stags, consequently, are the only Ruminantia which have heads 
armed with antlers ; the females, however, the Rein-Deer alone ex- 
cepted, are always without them. ‘The substance of these antlers, 
when completely developed, is that of a dense bone without pores 
or sinus. Their figure varies greatly according to the species, and 
even in each species at different ages. These animals are exces- 
sively fleet, live commonly in the forest, and feed on leaves, buds, 
grasses, kc. 
We distinguish in the first place those species whose antlers are 
either wholly or partially flattened, viz. 
C. alces, L.; Elk or Elend, in the north of Europe; Moose- 
Deer of the Americans ; Original of the Canadians; Buff. Supp. 
VII, Ixxx. (The Moose.) » As large as a horse and sometimes 
larger ; stands very high; the muzzle cartilaginous and in- 
flated ; a sort of goitre, or pendulous swelling, variously 
shaped, under the throat ; hair always very stiff and of a more 
or less deep ash-colour. The antlers, at first simple, (en dagwe,) 
and then divided into narrow slips, assume, in the fifth year, 
the form of a triangular blade, denticulated on the external edge 
and mounted on a pedicle. They increase with age so as to 
weigh fifty or sixty pounds, and to have fourteen branches to 
each horn. The Moose lives in small troops, and inhabits the 
marshy forests of the north of both continents. Its skin is valua- 
ble for various purposes. 
C. tarandus, L., Buff. Supp. Ill, xviii, bis. (The Rein-Deer.) 
Size of a Stag, but has shorter and stouter legs; both sexes 
have antlers, divided into several branches, at first slender and 
pointed, and terminating by age in broad denticulated palms ; 
the hair, which isbrown in summer, becomes white in winter.(1) 
» 
(1) It is probably owing to this change that the ancients were induced to be- 
lieve that the ¢arandus could assume any colour it wished. 
is, 
a, 
