THE 



CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 



AND 



^mm:^i©Air mw^AiL ^^(©m^^ 



COMMON DEER. 



CERVUS VIRGINMNUS. 



[Plate I.] 



Cervus Virginianus. Gmelin. — Fallow Deer. Catesbt, 

 Jipp. ii. 28. Lawson, Carol. 123. — Virginian Deer. 

 Pennant, .Mrct. Zool. i. 32. — Car icon femelle. Bupfon, 

 12. pi. 44. — Cerf de la Louisiane. G. Ctrv. Ossmen. 

 Foss. iv. 34. Regn. animal, i. 263. — Cerf de Vii'ginie. 

 Desm. Mammal, sp. 679. p. 442. — Common Deer. 

 GoDMAN, i. 306. — Philadelphia Museum. 



The word Deer is derived either from the Teutonic deor, 

 or from the Greek ©j^g, and is very variously written and 

 pronounced, not only by different nations, but also in differ- 

 ent ages. These well known quadrupeds belong to the great 

 order of Pecora or Ruminants; an order, as is observed by 

 Cuvier, exceedingly natural and well determined, nearly all 

 the animals composing it, being formed on the same model, 

 the Camel alone presenting some slight exceptions to the 

 common character of the group. 



These characters are, having incisors or cutting teeth, in 

 the lower jaw only, and these generally eight in number; 

 their place in the upper jaw being supplied by a hardened 

 gum. Between these incisors and the molars or grinding 

 teeth, is a vacant space, except in some genera, which are 

 provided with one or two canines. The molars, which are 

 usually six in number, are marked on their crowns by two 

 crescents, whose convexity is turned inwards in the upper 

 jaw, and outwards in the lower. The feet are terminated by 

 two toes covered by hoofs, which have flat surfaces closely 

 applied to each other, giving the appearance of a single hoof, 

 divided through the middle, whence the terms cloven foot- 

 ed, bifurcated, &c. The most singular peculiarity of these 

 animals is that of rumination, or of returning the food to the 

 mouth, to be again masticated, after it has been once swal- 

 lowed. This peculiarity arises from the structure of their 

 stomachs, which are four in number. The first is called the 

 paunch, and is destined to receive the half masticated food, 



when it is first swallowed; the food soon passes into the 

 second or bonnet, which is small, globular, and lined by a 

 membrane disposed like the cells of a honey comb. From 

 this stomach, in which it undergoes a kind of preparation, 

 the food is returned to the animal's mouth, to be subjected 

 to a more complete mastication, after which it is again 

 swallowed and passes into the third stomach or feck, whose 

 internal membrane is arranged in longitudinal folds, like 

 the leaves of a book; it then finally enters the fourth or true 

 stomach, in which it undergoes the process of digestion. 

 The fat of ruminating animals is harder and more consistent 

 than that of other quadrupeds, and is well known under the 

 name of Tallow. Of all the numerous species of animals, 

 none are so useful to man as those included in this order. 

 They supply him with the mass of his food, and furnish a 

 variety of substances indispensable to his comfort and hap- 

 piness. 



The genus Deer, consists of such animals of this order as 

 are furnished with deciduous horns or antlers, destitute of a 

 horny sheath. They are generally remarkable not only for 

 the elegance of their form, the symmetry of their propor- 

 tions and swiftness of their motions, but also for the excel- 

 lence of their flesh. Hence it is not surprising that they 

 have been eagerly hunted in every age, as well for sub- 

 sistence as for amusement. The most striking and curious 

 parts of their conformation are the horns, or those osseous 

 productions of the forehead which are detached and repro- 

 duced annually, and which, except in the Rein Deer, are 

 exclusively appropriated to the males. This annual shed- 

 ding of the horns, however, is not peculiar to the vfhole 

 genus, but appears to be restricted to such species as reside 

 in cold or temperate climates, or in whom these appendages 

 are of a large size. This provision of nature is a most inex- 

 plicable phenomenon as regards its utility, and yet the 

 mode in which the process is effected is subordinate to fixed 

 and immutable laws. 



The word horn, which is generally applied to the antlers 

 of the Deer kind, is apt to lead to erroneous ideas on the 

 subject, as this antler is a real bone, formed in the same 



