CONGENERS. 331 
two varieties of reindeer; and unless we are very ambitious to 
multiply species, it seems to me that we cannot be justified in 
declaring that these slight and comparatively unimportant dis- 
tinctions, which are also quite common among individuals of 
each variety, constitute specific differences. If any one of these 
distinctions were found to be strictly uniform on each individual 
of the respective varieties, we might well pause before conclud- 
ing that the difference was owing to factitious causes. If, for in- 
stance, we had found that the antlers on each individual of the 
Caribou were formed exactly alike, and on each individual of the 
Eastern Reindeer the antlers were found invariably of a precise 
pattern, but sensibly differing from the others, we might be led 
to suspect a fundamental cause for the variation. 
‘In all else the similitudes are perfect, so far as I have been 
able to discover, in habits, structure, and markings. Many of 
these are peculiar to this species, and very remarkable. 
What more can I, or need I, say in vindication of those zodlo- 
gists, who have concluded that the Reindeer of Europe and Amer- 
ica are of the same species ? 
THE WAPITI AND THE RED DEER. 
We now come to the third and last species in which strong 
analogies are found between the specimens found on the two con- 
tinents. These are the American Elk (C. Canadensis), and the 
Red Deer, or Stag of Europe (C. elaphus). That there are more 
discrepancies and fewer analogies between these than between the 
species just considered, is very plain to ‘the careful observer, 
especially if he only examines the specimens of the present day. 
It is necessary, however, if we would fully understand their 
natural history, to study them in the light of the past as well 
as of the present, for the important inquiry is as to a com- 
mon origin, even in remote antiquity. If in this we can trace 
two separate lines constantly diverging, though it may be but 
little, we may rationally conclude that, could we trace them back 
far enough while they are constantly approaching each other, 
we should at last find them uniting at some point whence they 
commenced their departure. 
If originally from the same stock, long ages must have elapsed 
since their final separation by the interposition of a physical 
barrier which could not be overstepped, during which they have 
grown on independently with no possibility of intermingling, to 
