REINDEER. 351 



the regions in which it Hves, and the great breadth of 

 the feet enables it to walk on the snow with ease. 

 When the feet are raised the hoofs close together, 

 making a peculiar noise. The canine teeth are little 

 developed ; and it has twenty-four molars, six on each 

 side of the upper jaw, and six on each side of the lower. 

 The horns are peculiar, and vary more in formation 

 than those of any other Deer, no two pairs being alike. 

 They nearly always curve forward, and usually consist 

 of two branches radiating into many points. The 

 majority of the males have a brow antler, which is a 

 triangular growth of horn called the spatula, reaching 

 between the eyes, and hanging over the nose. This 

 antler springs sometimes from the right horn, some- 

 times from the left, and in rare cases a spatula springs 

 from each horn. It is said to make use of this antler 

 to scrape away the snow from the moss on which it 

 feeds. There is no tray antler in the Eeindeer, and a 

 good head possesses as many as thirty-seven points. 

 The female has horns as well as the male. 



About 30,000 Eeindeer horns are imported annually 

 into Denmark from Greenland, and about 8,000 from 

 Eussia, the latter realizing from ;£13 to £14 7s. 6d. 

 per ton. The principal food of this animal is lichens, 

 and Eeindeer-moss. 



The hair of the Eeindeer is said to have high floating 

 qualities, superior even to cork, and life-belts and 

 buoys are sometimes made of it. 



In Alaska this Deer is hunted from August 10th to 

 the middle of September. At certain seasons of the 

 year it crosses to the Island of Oommak, in the 

 Aleutian chain. In Norway it is driven into pounds 

 and shot. 



The skin of the Eeindeer is made into excellent coats 



