98 DR. S. F. HAEMEE ON CEEVUS BELGEANDI FEOM 



Irish Deer (C. giganteus) was no doubt the result of this inadequate restoration, which 

 is also responsible for such statements as those of Flower and Lyclekker x that the 

 antlers are very short and thick, or of Lydekker 2 that their palmation is generally 

 slight. 



The Pakefield specimen shows, on the contrary, that C. verticomis belongs to a type 

 comparable with the Irish Deer not only in its size but in the amount of the palmation 

 of the antlers, though differing from it in the absence of prominent snags springing 

 from the palmated extremity. It fully bears out the conclusion stated by Lydekker 3 

 that this form indicates the ancestral stock of C. giganteus. 



The specimen measures G feet in a straight line between the extreme points of the 

 antlers, but this measurement hardly gives a correct idea of its real size. The crown of 

 the right antler rises nearly vertically, while that of the left antler is much more 

 horizontally expanded, besides being more perfect. The distance of the distal extremity 

 of the left antler from the middle line of the skull is thus no less than 4 feet 5 inches. 

 If both antlers had been equally well preserved and if the direction of the right antler 

 had been as horizontal as that of the left antler, the total span, in a straight line, 

 would have been 7 feet 3 inches. The more complete left antler is no less than 52*6 

 inches, measured along the curve ; its pedicle is 2*9 inches in diameter (dorso-ventral) 

 and the burr is 3 - 6 inches. The brow-tine (b) is 2 inches above the burr and is 

 perfectly typical, springing from the back of the beam in such a way that its posterior 

 surface is level with the posterior surface of the beam. The anterior surface of its base 

 is hollowed out, and beneath it there is a slight tubercle corresponding with the 

 accessory tines or with the " offers " described by Boyd Dawkins 4 in the same position. 

 This is hardly indicated in the right antler. The beam is nearly cylindrical and is 

 strongly furrowed by grooves for blood-vessels, which run in a longitudinal direction 

 without showing any tendency to become spiral. Two inches above the brow-tine, the 

 beam measures 2 - 6 inches in greatest diameter, its anterior part soon afterwards 

 becoming flattened in a dorso-ventral direction to form the second tine (c), which is only 

 represented by its base, the proximal edge of which is about 7 inches from the distal 

 edge of the base of the brow-tine. Beyond the second tine, the beam nearly regains 

 its cylindrical shape, although having a low ridge on its anterior aspect. It has hitherto 

 been nearly straight, though slightly concave below and pointing somewhat backwards; 

 but beyond the second tine it curves rapidly upwards, expanding and becoming flattened. 

 At the origin of the back-tine (d) it is convex on its under surface and slightly concave 

 above. The back-tine is fairly long (6 inches, though incomplete at its tip) and is 

 directed backwards and inwards ; the distance of the proximal part of its base from 



1 " Introduction to the Study of Mammals," 1891, p. 323. 



2 " The Deer of all Lands," 1898, p. 140. 



3 



T. cit. p. 141. ' Pal. Soc, t. cit. p. 23, pi. vii. fig. 1, 6 1 , 



