208 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 
a very fat one. Our common deer, which is usually very poor 
during the growth of the antlers, until they are very nearly 
formed, suddenly commences to improve in condition, and in a 
very short time after the velvet is rubbed off is fatter than at 
any other time. We need not doubt that a very few weeks at 
the most are required to effect an equal change in this Caribou 
when feeding upon an abundance of the most nutritious vegeta- 
tion known to botany. 
We may safely assume that this deer. is in the poorest condi- 
tion at the time when the other deer are poorest, that is, when 
the antlers are in their most vigorous growth; and we may well 
conclude that the larger proportionate size of the antlers of this 
deer must make a greater demand on the system than occurs in 
the case of the others. Hence we see that the deer is not only 
poor, but as Richardson tells us, a large proportion of the elements 
of nutrition are drawn from the flesh, so that it is nearly worth- 
less as food, while the meat of the moose, whose antler is not one 
sixth the relative size, is still nutritious though the animal be 
poor. 
Buffon thinks that the size of the deer’s-antler depends on the 
amount of nutriment which he takes; that a well-fed deer will 
have larger antlers than one even of the same species not well 
nourished. If this be so, then by applying the theory to this 
species, we may find some explanation of the enormous develop- 
ment of the antlers, for the very nutritious lichens on which 
they feed are practically unlimited within their range. 
In form, too, as well as in size, there is an appreciable differ- 
ence between the large and the small Caribou, although they 
possess the same general characteristics which distinguish them 
from those of the other Cervide. As a general rule the beam 
of the antler is longer in proportion to its diameter than on the 
larger species; it has less tines, is less palmated, and presents 
more curvature, although exceptions to this general rule are fre- 
quently met with. 
In speaking of the Northern Indians, Richardson says: ‘“ Of 
the caribou horns they form their fish spears and hooks, and 
previous to the introduction of European iron, ice-chisels, and va- 
rious other utensils were likewise made of them.” This is cer- 
tainly suggestive of the solidity and tenacity of these antlers, 
and shows that although so large and grown in so short a season, 
their growth is quite as perfect, and they are as well matured as 
the antlers of any of the other deer. 
