8 PLEISTOCENE MAMMALIA. 



from Cromer, presents all the characters of this singular form, and among them may be 

 noted the small size of tine b and its position almost on the bur. These two specimens, 

 as may be seen in the table of measurements, are nearly of the same size, and therefore 

 of the same approximate age. 



A larger and older antler (PI. II, fig. 2) in Mr. Gunn's Collection in the Norwich 

 Museum, and figured by that gentleman as a new species, Cervus Fitchii, but as yet 

 without definition, possesses all the essential characters of the antler described above, 

 with the solitary exception of the first tine. This, however, may perhaps be repre- 

 sented by the " offer," fig. 2, b', which appears on the antero-superior surface of the 

 beam at 1*9 inches from the bur. The bur is oblique, and the base of the beam 

 cylindrical and flattened superiorly. The second tine, c, occupies the same position in 

 relation to the bur, as in Cervus Dawkinsi, and the third, d, and fourth, e, tines are in 

 the same relative positions on the beam, d, being opposite to the interspace between e 

 and the next tine above it on the anterior edge of the crown. The second and fourth 

 tines, c and e, are directed forwards and slightly downwards, and the palmation may be 

 said to begin at the base of tine c, which is in a lower plane than tine c. The wide and 

 flattened crown is formed by the development of two additional tines, h and i, one in 

 front and the other behind the two terminal tines, f and g, of fig. 1, and consists of six 

 tines, inclusive of d and e, three, d, i, g, being on the posterior side of the main axis of 

 the beam, and two, e and //, on the anterior side, their position being indicated by a 

 thickening of the fractured surfaces. In the younger antler (fig. 1) there are but four 

 points in the crown. 



The general sweep of antler from the bur to the crown is sigmoid, and the crown 

 curves forward and upwards, as is the case with the antlers of Cervus dama. 



It is obvious from the above description, and from the comparison of figures 1 and 2, 

 that the only difference which can be claimed to be of specific value between the Cervus 

 Dawkinsi of Mr. Newton and the above larger and older antler, is the presence of the first 

 tine, b, in the former, which, it must be noted, is small and abnormally close to the bur. 

 The value of this as a specific character may be tested by its application to the antlers of 

 other species. In the case of Cervus verticornis found in the same deposits (see Chapter V), 

 a small first tine is developed in some individuals, and in the case of the Reindeer the 

 same variability is to be seen. The evidence, therefore, seems to be sufficient to group 

 these two antlers together under one specific name, and I cannot accept Mr. Newton's 

 (op. cit., pp. 55, 56) conclusion that they are specifically distinct — a conclusion that 

 is based partly on the assumed specific value of the first tine in the one, and partly on 

 the very imperfect figure which Mr. Gunn has lithographed of the other. 



The comparative measurements of these two antlers are given in the subjoined table. 



The antler (PI. Ill, figs. 1 and 1,a) discovered by Mr. A. C. Savin in the Forest 

 bed at Sidestrand, Cromer, presents points which are common to both of the above 

 specimens (PI. II, figs. 1 and 2). The web passing downwards from tine c to the base 



