THE ANTLERS. 



211 



if what I have said shall induce any who have the opportunity 

 for making the necessary observations to do so, I shall feel 

 highly gratified. 



Of all known deer the male Wapiti, or American Elk, is pro- 

 vided with the longest, the most graceful and symmetrical antlers, 

 and which are also most effective as both weapons and shields. 

 Not only the beam but the tines are cylindrical in form, althouo-h 

 on adults they are more or less flattened toward the ends, where 

 forks with nearly equal branches occur, — a form of manifest 

 utilitv. 



They are grown on pedicels which rise somewhat obliquely 

 from either side of the crown of the head to a height of four 

 inches, more or less, and are much longer than those on any 

 other American deer, though the barking deer of Asia ( Cervus 

 muntjaTc) far exceeds it in this respect, having a pedicel equaling 

 in length the antler above it. 



First or Dag Antlers of a Young American Elk. 



The dag antler of our Elk has a form peculiar to itself. It is 

 usually a spike from a few inches to twenty-four inches in 

 length. It is larger at the base and for two or three inches 

 above, in proportion to the size of the rest of the antler, than 

 any subsequent antler grown on the same, or on any other deer. 

 However, no one familiar with them can ever mistake one for 

 the spike antler of any other deer. They arise from the head 



