DEEP-SEA EXPLORATION. 



743 



BEEB. 



Some of the deep-sea animals are blind. Those 

 that have eyes probably capture their prey by 

 the phosphorescent light shed from their owu 

 bodies and the bodies of the vast number of other 

 creatures that are constantly flashing their faint 

 lamps over the ocean floor. Fishes of the greatest 

 depths have the smallest eyes, while those of mod- 

 erate depths have very large eyes, as, for in- 

 stance, those of the Macrurus type. Many of 

 them have highly developed organs of touch. 

 Some of the fishes have enormous jaws, much 

 larger proportionately than are found among 

 shallow-water forms. Their teeth also are more 

 formidable. See Macrubtjs and Plate of Codfish 

 AND Allies. 



Size. All the animals that have so far been 

 brought up from deep water have been talsen in 

 dredges of moderate size, so small, in fact, that 

 they are only capable of tayng small animals, 

 the largest specimens of fishes seldom exceeding 

 four or five feet in length. It is quite possible 

 that by using larger dredges larger animals could 

 be taken. 



Conclusion and Bibliography. It will be 

 seen from the foregoing that the fauna of the 

 depths lives under such extraordinary conditions 

 as temperature close to the freezing-point, pres- 

 sure amounting to a ton to the square inch 

 for each 1000 fathoms of depth, and darkness 

 except for light due to phosphorescence. 



Consult: Thornson, Depths of the Sea (London, 

 1873) ; Wild, Thalassa (London, 1874) ; Re- 

 ports and Narratives of the Challenger Expedi- 

 tion (see Challenger Expedition) ; A. Agassiz, 

 Three Cruises of the 'Blake' (Boston, 1888) ; an- 

 nual Reports, BuUePms, etc., of the United States 

 Fish Commission (Washington, 1872 onward) ; 

 Bulletins and Memoirs of the Museum of Com- 

 parative Zoology (Cambridge, 1875 onward) ; 

 Tanner, Deep-Sea Exploration (Washington, 

 1897) ; Townsend, Records and Bihliography of 

 the 'Albatross' (Washington, 1901). 



DEEP-SEA PLOTJNDEB. A name given lo- 

 cally in the North Atlantic States to both the 

 plaice and the pole-flounder (qq.v.). 



DEEP-WATEK SCTJL'PIN'. See Sea-Eaven. 



DEEP-WATEE TBOTJT. See Squeteague. 



DEEP-WATEE WHITING. See Whiting. 



BSEB (AS. deor, wild beast, animal, Ger- 

 I'Aier, iuTl'll'R*l«fi«Cioth. dius, wild beast; ef. AS. 

 dSor, bold, OHG. tiorUh, wild). The popular 

 name for even-toed, hoofed mammals of the fam- 

 ily Cervidse and subfamily Cervinae. The musk 

 (q.v.), usually called musk-deer, forms a dis- 

 tinct subfamily, which is sometimes accorded 

 full family rank. More than fifty species of deer 

 are kno^vn, occurring in all parts of the world 

 except Australia and southern Africa. South- 

 eastern Asia especially abounds with them, some 

 of the largest as well as many of the smallest 

 residing there. Only two species of deer dAvell 

 in the whole continent of Africa, and both of 

 these are near relatives of European species and 

 occur only in the northern parts of the continent. 

 In North America there are perhaps eight or ten 

 species of deer, while Central and South America 

 possess a much larger nutaber. 



Deer are characterized by the absence of a gall- 

 bladder and the possession of upper canines, lat- 

 eral digits on both fore and hind feet, -a, remark- 

 able suborbital sinus or tear-pit below each eye. 



and antlers. Antlers are the most noticeable of 

 these characters, though they are usually present 

 only in the male. The female reindeer has ant- 

 lers and individual females of other species some- 

 times have small ones. Antlers (q.v.) are out- 

 growths of bone', which are covered with a thin, 

 highly vascular hairy skin during their growth, 

 but when this is completed the blood-supply is 

 cut off, and the skin, or 'velvet,' as it is called, 

 dries up and is peeled off, leaving the bone bare. 

 Antlers are renewed annually, the fully formed 

 pair becoming detached from the 'pedicels' on 

 which they were developed, and a new pair aris- 

 ing at the same place. Antlers are usually shed 

 soon after the close of the breeding season. An 

 antler may be straight and unbraached, but 

 usually there are branches, called tines or snags. 

 The number of these increases with age, so that 

 the most handsomely developed antlers are fovmd 

 only on fully matured males. The antler and its 

 branches are generally more or less cylindrical or 

 terete, but in some cases they are very much 

 expanded and flattened, and the antler is then 

 called 'palmated.' . 



Deer are animals of very graceful form, com- 

 bining compactness and strength with slendemess 

 of limb and fleetness. They have for many cen- 

 turies been renowned as objects of the chase, and 

 the flesh of many species is highly esteemed for 

 food, tinder the name 'venison.' The best-known 

 species, which may serve as an example of the 

 group, is the European red deer [Cervus 

 elaphus), the adult male of which is the 'stag,' 

 and the female is the 'hind.' The former is some- 

 times nearly seven feet long and over four feet 

 in height, but the hind is much smaller. The 

 body is covered by a double coat of fine wool and 

 longer, coarse hairs, the latter longest on throat 

 and chest. The wool is brownish-gray, and as it 

 is longest and most abundant in winter, the sum- 

 mer coat is brighter-colored and smoother. The 

 young are spotted with white. The antlers are 

 at first unbranched and only show the number of 

 tines characteristic of the adult in the fifth year, 

 and it is not until then that the young male is 

 dignified with the name stag. An old stag is 

 called a 'hart.' The hinds and young stags are 

 usually found together in large herds, but the 

 older stags occur in smaller groups, while harts 

 are generally found alone. The feeding time is 

 during the evening and at night. The food varies 

 with the season; in winter it is chiefly lichens, 

 moss, bark, and buds, while in summer leaves and 

 herbs form most of the diet. Stags are said to 

 eat only fungi during the breeding season. The 

 red deer occurs in all parts of Europe and in 

 northern and western Asia. It is exterminated 

 as a wild animal in populous districts, but is 

 presented as an object of the chase, or as a semi- 

 domesticated pet, in all parts of western Europe, 

 though not so common in Great Britain as the 

 fallow deer. It is exceptionally swift of foot and 

 an excellent swimmer, and all of the senses are 

 marvelously acute. The hinds and fawns are 

 gentle and can be tamed as pets, but the stags 

 are untrustworthy and become quite dangerous 

 during the breeding season. 



The American deer (Cariacus or Odocoilevs 

 yirginianus) is considerably smaller than the 

 stag, but resembles it in many of its habits. It is 

 found throughout the eastern United States, 

 ranging northward into southern Canada, west to 

 the Missouri, and south to Florida and Texas- 



