CONGENERS. 331 



m 



two varieties of reindeer ; and unless we are very ambitious to 

 multiply species, it seems to me that we cannot be justified in 

 declaring that these slight and comparatively unimportant dis- 

 tinctions, which are also quite common among individuals of 

 each variety, constitute specific differences. If any one of these 

 distinctions were found to be strictly uniform on each individual 

 of the respective varieties, we might well pause before conclud- 

 ing that the difference was owing to factitious causes. If, for in- 

 stance, we had found that the antlers on each individual of the 

 Caribou were formed exactly alike, and on each individual of the 

 Eastern Reindeer the antlers were found invariably of a precise 

 pattern, but sensibly differing from the others, we might be led 

 to suspect a fundamental cause for the variation. 



In all else the similitudes are perfect, so far as I have been 

 able to discover, in habits, structure, and markings. Many of 

 these are peculiar to this species, and very remai'kable. 



What more can I, or need I, say in vindication of those zoolo- 

 gists, who have concluded that the Reindeer of Europe and Amer- 

 ica are of the same species ? 



THE WAPITI AND THE* KED DEEE. 



We now come to the third and last species in which strong 

 analogies ai'e found between the specimens found on the two con- 

 tinents. These are the American Elk (C. Canadensis^), and the 

 Red Deer, or Stag of Europe (C. elaphus'). That there are more 

 discrepancies and fewer analogies between these than between the 

 species just considered, is very plain to the careful observer, 

 especially if he only examines the specimens of the present day. 

 It is necessary, however, if we would fully understand their 

 natural history, to study them in the light of the past as well 

 as of the present, for the important inquiry is as to a com- 

 mon origin, even in remote antiquity. If in this we can trace 

 two separate lines constantly diverging, though it may be but 

 little, we may rationally conclude that, could we trace them back 

 far enough while they are constantly approaching each other, 

 we should at last find them uniting at some point whence they 

 commenced their departure. 



If originally from the same stock, long ages must have elapsed 

 since their final separation by the interposition of a physical 

 barrier which could not be overstepped, during which they have 

 grown on independently with no possibility of intermingling, to 



