198 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 
not accurate enough for calculation. About seven or eight tines 
are the usual number. The largest pair of horns I have seen, 
measured five feet and two inches from tip to tip, the heaviest 
weighed about fifty pounds..... They shed them in Febru- 
ary, and J have seen the young velvet horn in April.” 
These quotations are from the very best authorities, — good 
observers, with the very best attainable opportunities for observ- 
ing. Mr. Morrow’s observations, that some old specimens drop 
their antlers in December, merely establishes a fact which had 
not been observed by the others, but which he had himself wit- 
nessed. It is the general impression that the antlers of the 
Moose attain their greatest development when the animal has 
reached his full maturity ; and that when advancing age begins 
to impair his vigor the antlers grow less in size and are less per- 
fectly developed, and that this deterioration progresses as age 
enfeebles the animal ; and I think the weight of the evidence is in 
favor of this conclusion ; but if this be so I think it is exceptional, 
for with the other members of the family, judging from my own 
observations and the best evidence I can get from others, the 
antlers increase in size after the animal has attained his full 
development. and probably so long as he lives, in health at least. 
The antlers on the young Moose are of a chestnut brown ; as 
they grow older they lose the chestnut shade and become a gray 
brown, and as they grow older still, they assume a lighter shade, 
till finally on aged animals they become fairly white. 
These observations apply equally to the Scandinavian Elk, 
only as a general rule the antler on the latter is less palmated 
than on our Moose, and the tines are longer and larger, although 
specimens may be found from the American variety, presenting 
this peculiarity to as great an extent as in Europe, and there too 
antlers are found as much palmated as here, so that it is only of 
the average that the remark just made is applicable if. a number 
are compared together. By reason of the exceptional structures 
met with on both continents,-it is never safe to declare the origin 
of any single specimen presented, although an inspection of a 
considerable number together might leave little doubt as to 
whence they came. Those from America would be found to be 
larger, by reason of the increased size of the animal here, as well 
as more palmated, with smaller tines. 
As we have already seen, bifurcated antlers with double palms 
are met with in both countries, though they are very rare. 
I here present an illustration of an antler of a Scandinavian 
