138 



ORDERS OF MAMMALS— HOOFED ANIMALS 



Notwithstanding all the tall stories that are told 

 of their numbers [the buffaloes], I cannot be- 

 lieve that the herds on the prairie ever surpassed 

 in size La joule of the Caribou." 



Size and Antlers. — At present the size of the 

 Barren Ground Caribou appears to be a matter 

 of opinion rather than of observation and record. 

 In the hope that some one will come forward 

 and disprove it, I venture to make the asser- 

 tion that no one ever has weighed a whole, full- 

 grown male specimen. We have a few figures 

 of "dressed" weight, and various "abouts," but 

 really useful facts are lacking. It is currently 

 believed that the Barren Ground Caribou of 

 northern Canada is about one-third lighter than 

 the woodland species of Ontario and Quebec. 

 If this be true, and we may judge by our own 

 woodland bull, which unquestionably was a 

 large one (48 inches high, weight, 261 pounds), 

 then the male Barren Ground animal may be 

 set down as weighing 174 pounds. For the 

 Greenland caribou and Grant's caribou, this 

 weight surely is too low; for the skulls and skins 

 of both those species indicate a greater weight. 

 On the Alaska Peninsula Mr. C. H. Townsend 

 weighed a dressed specimen of Rangifer granti 

 and estimated very carefully the weight of the 

 viscera, with the conclusion that the live weight 

 of the animal was 410 pounds. 



For their body size, Barren Ground Caribou 



have very large antlers. They sweep back so 

 far, rise so high and spread so widely that they 

 have the effect of magnifying the height and 

 bulk of the wearer. As will be seen by the fol- 

 lowing measurements, the antlers of the Barren 

 Ground species are longer than those of the 

 woodland, but with fewer points, and in most 

 cases less palmation. In the series of plates of all 

 species published by Mr. Madison Grant in his 

 valuable paper on "The Caribou " (Report of the 

 New York Zoological Society, 1902), one of the 

 most striking differences between the two groups 

 is the tree-top appearance of all woodland ant- 

 lers, and the open, arm-chair effect of the Barren 

 Ground types. 



The Reindeer in Alaska.— In 1887 Mr. 

 Charles H. Townsend advised the government 1 

 that it would be a very beneficial and humane 

 proceeding toward the Eskimo tribes of western 

 Alaska to import a large number of domestic 

 Reindeer from Siberia, and teach the natives 

 how to care for and use them. Through the 

 heroic efforts of Dr. Sheldon Jackson, General 

 Agent of Education in Alaska, this advice was 

 promptly followed under the auspices of the 

 Bureau of Education ; but the first fund of $2,000 

 came from private sources, and was expended 

 in 1S02-3. The initial Congressional appropria- 

 tion, of $6,000, was expended in 1S94, but since 

 1 The Cruise of the Corwin in 1SS5, p. SS. 



MEASUREMENTS OF LARGE ANTLERS. 



All measurements in inches. 



LENGTH 



WIDEST 



OF MAIN POINTS. OWNER. 



SPREAD. 



21 Author's collection. 



15 National Museum. 2 



16 G. R. Anchors. 



27 American Museum.'* 



36 Madison Grant. 



30 Robert Gilfort. 

 31 



43 Daniel Carter Beard. 

 56 Harry E. Lee. 



