THE ANTLERS. 211 
if what I have said shall induce any who have the opportunity 
for making the necessary observations to do so, I shall feel 
highly gratified. 
Of all known deer the male Wapiti, or American Elk, is pro- 
vided with the longest, the most graceful and symmetrical antlers, 
and which are also most effective as both weapons and shields. 
Not only the beam but the tines are cylindrical in form, although 
on adults they are more or less flattened toward the ends, where 
forks with nearly equal branches occur, —a form of manifest 
utility. 
They are grown on pedicels which risé somewhat obliquely 
from either side of the crown of the head to a height of four 
inches, more or less, and are much longer than those on any 
other American deer, though the barking deer of Asia (Cervus 
muntjak) far exceeds it in this respect, having a pedicel equaling 
in length the antler above it. 
First or Dag Antlers of a Young American Elk. 
The dag antler of our Elk has a form peculiar to itself. It is 
usually a spike from a few inches to twenty-four inches in 
length. It is larger at the base and for two or three inches 
above, in proportion to the size of the rest of the antler, than 
any subsequent antler grown on the same, or on any other deer. 
However, no one familiar with them can ever mistake one for 
the spike antler of any other deer. They arise from the head 
