THE TAIL.— THE FOOT. 35 
time, while in all other cases the whole life of the animal is 
devoted to the growth of the horn, which is regular and approxi- 
mately uniform, though slower in advanced life than earlier. 
The only exceptional feature observed about the source of this 
cell growth, which manifests such extraordinary activity at. 
times, is the very unusual size and great irregularity,of the 
papilla, from which the cells originate and receive their nourish- 
ment. It is at this precise point we are to look for this wonder- 
ful phenomenon, having no parallel in the animal economy. 
Nature has provided something in these papilla which produces 
it, and if we knew better how to look for this something, or per- 
haps would more critically compare these papille with those of 
other portions of skin, the peculiarity might be detected which 
produces this remarkable result, if we may not attribute it to the 
increased size of the papilla. 
THE TAIL. 
The tail of the Prong Buck bears no resemblance to that of 
any of the smaller species of deer, but remotely approaches to 
that of wapiti. It is very short, not more than three inches in 
length, and is covered with coarse hairs which are a little shorter 
on the under side than on the upper. It is nearly round, and 
maintains its size to near the end, where it terminates with a 
blunt point. It is usually carried closely depressed for so short a 
member, and is never seen erécted to a vertical position. When 
the animal is excited or animated the tail may be seen raised to a 
horizontal position or a little above it, but that is all the change 
in its position observed under any circumstances. It is useless 
as a weapon for defense against the attacks of flies and mosqui- 
toes; from which, however, it does not suffer nearly so much as 
the deer, probably because of the odor with which it always sur- 
rounds itself. 
THE FOOT. 
The feet of the Prong Buck are bifurcous, considerably smaller 
than those of the deer, slim and sharply pointed, strongly convex 
on top, having the outer edges slightly concave. In general they 
resemble the feet of the antelope gazelle, though the latter are 
considerably longer and more pointed, the points inclined to cross, 
or one to overlap the other. I may remark here, once for all, that 
the habits of all these animals have a decided influence on the 
form and the size of the foot, for which allowance must be made 
