29G MAMMALIA, 



sHut up in sheds, or left out of doors in an enclosure sufficiently 

 high to shelter them from the attacks of wild beasts. These flocks 

 need a great deal of supervision, as the Reindeer is somewhat 

 inclined to return to its wild life if granted too much liberty. All 

 the individuals composing these herds are marked with the brand 

 of the proprietor, so that they may be recognised when they stray 

 in the woods, or when the flocks get mixed. 



An unknown feeling induces the Wild Reindeer to unite in 

 vast herds, which migrate from one climate to another according 

 to the seasons. In winter, they come down into the plains or 

 valleys near the sea-coast, and there feed on the lichens which 

 they excavate with their horns and feet from under the snow. 

 In summer, they ascend the plateaux to graze on the buds and 

 leaves of mountain shrubs. They are, moreover, induced to select 

 these elevated situations in the warm season to lessen the attacks 

 of the Horse and Gad-flies, which otherwise would incessantly 

 prey upon them. The latter insects, at the time when these 

 quadrupeds change their coat, deposit their eggs on the surface 

 of the skin ; the larvee, after they are hatched, penetrate under 

 the epidermis, causing acute pain. 



Hunting Reindeer is actively prosecuted in every coruitry where 

 thejr exist. The time of their migration, in the spring and autumn, 

 is the period when the greatest havoc iir their ranks are made. 

 For, through ignorance, stupidity, or fear, they precipitate them- 

 selves en masse into passes, where thejr succiunb in vast numbers to 

 the blows of those who are lying in wait for them. As there are 

 always numerous streams to be crossed in their route, and as when 

 immersed in the water they are more completely at Man's mercy, 

 such situations are frequently selected by the hunter. Sometimes 

 the slaughter made on such occasions is immense. The autumn 

 hunting is always more productive than that of the spring ; in the 

 first place, these animals then are much fatter than they are after 

 enduring the severity of winter ; and, in the next place, the 

 water-courses, which are then completely thawed, afford greater 

 advantage to the pursuers. 



Extreme cold is a necessary of existence to the Reindeer. 

 When this animal is conveyed into warm, or only temperate 

 climates, it soon dies, and never reproduces ; the menagerie of 

 the Museimi of Natural History in Paris, and the Zoological 



