CERVIDA 327 
principal weapons, and with a single blow from the latter he has 
been known to kill a wolf. The female often gives birth to two 
fawns, and with these she retires into the deepest recesses of the 
forest, the young remaining with her till their third year. The Elk 
ranges, but in scanty numbers, over the whole of Northern Europe 
and Asia, as far south as East Prussia, the Caucasus, and North 
China, and over North America from the New England States 
westward to British Columbia. Fossil species are found in the 
Pleistocene deposits of Europe. 
Cervalces..—A remarkable extinct Deer from the Pleistocene of 
North America, described as Cervalees, appears in some respects 
Fic. 133.—Head of Elk (Alces machlis). 
(although a true Telemetacarpalian) to connect Alces with Cervus. 
Thus the palmated antlers are divided into anterior and posterior 
branches, but below this division there are two tines apparently 
corresponding to the bez and posterior tines of Cervus giganteus 
(Fig. 130). 
Capreolus.2— Antlers (in the existing species) less than twice the 
length of the head, usually with three tines on each. Brow tine 
developed from the anterior surface of the upper half of the antler, 
and directed upwards. Lachrymal vacuity small. Premaxille not 
always articulating with nasals. Auditory bulle slightly inflated, 
rugose externally. Vertebrae: C7,D13,L6,86,C8. Tail very 
short. Glands in fore feet rudimentary ; large in hind feet. 
The Roe, or Roe Deer (Capreolus caprea), is a small form dis- 
1 Scott, Proc. de. Nat. Sct. Philad, 1885, p. 181. 
2 Hamilton-Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom, vol. v. p. 818 (1827). 
