90 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



of some length on the extermination of animals in general, the 

 writer continues : " We have been led into the foregoing train of 

 thought, by the discovery of the remains of a species of deer in the 

 freshwater marl beds of Orange and Greene counties in this State. 

 We first obtained the jaw of this extinct species from a marl pit of 

 Mr. Stewart in the latter county, and afterwards one of the horns 

 from a similar pit in Scotchtown in Orange. This deer was about 

 the size of the reindeer of the north, and like that animal, was pro- 

 vided with a flattened (though more slender) horn; but it differs 

 specifically from the reindeer, in the possession of two brow antlers 

 instead of one, on a single shaft, and quite near its base. No other 

 bones have yet been found, and hence the height and bulk of the 

 animal have not been accurately determined ; but that in this country 

 the genus Cervus contained a species which is now extinct, is by 

 this discovery placed beyond a doubt." The antlers found were 

 probably those of the barren ground species, R a n g i f e r 

 arcticus (Richardson). 



The deciduous horns of all the deer family are subject to great 

 individual variation due in part to the age and condition of the 

 animal during the period of growth of the horns and, to a less ex- 

 tent, caused by injuries received while in the velvet. The anoma- 

 lous development of two brow tines on a single shaft has therefore 

 no more significance than other abnormalities of like character and 

 could scarcely be considered sufficient grounds for the erection of 

 a species. 81 



An account of the finding of an antler of a caribou at Sing Sing 

 is given in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 

 Philadelphia for i860, 11:194 under the date of August 23d. It 

 is as follows : " Dr Leidy read a letter from Dr G. J. Fisher, dated 

 at Sing Sing, N. Y., giving an account of an antler of the reindeer, 

 which had been found in the vicinity of the place mentioned. The 

 specimen was discovered in excavating a peat bed, at a depth of 6 

 feet from the surface. The peat bed is almost an acre in extent, 

 surrounded by high ground, and looks as if it had been the site of 

 an ancient lake. Dr Leidy observed that there is a similar specimen 

 of an antler of the reindeer in the museum of the academy which 

 had been found near Vincentown, New Jersey, at a depth of 4 

 feet. . . ." 



81 Rep't North Carolina Geol. Surv., 1858, p. 200. 



