402 W. BOYD DAWKINS ON THE DEEB OF THE 



24. Contributions to the History of the Deer of the European 

 Miocene and Pliocene Strata. By W. Boyd Dawkins, Esq., 

 M.A., F.B.S., F.G.S., Professor of Geology and Palaeontology 

 in the Owens College. (Head December 19, 1877.) 



Contents. 



I. Introduction. 

 II. Classification. 



III. The Capreoli. 



A. Dicroceros elegans, Cervus dicranoceros, C. australte. 



B. Cervus Mather oni. 

 0. Cervus cusanus. 



IV. The Axeidas. 



A. Cervus perrieri. 



B. Cervus pardinensis. 



C. Cervus etueriarum. 



D. Cervus suttonensis. 



E. Cervus cylindroceros . 

 V. Deer incertce sedis. 



Cervus tetraceros. 

 VI. General Conclusions. 



I. Introduction. 



The Deer of the European Miocene and Plioceae strata have hitherto 

 been a stumbling-block in the path of the palaeontologist, from the 

 fragmentary condition in which their antlers are generally preserved, 

 and the difficulty of separating their variations in form, dependent on 

 age, from those which are worthy to rank as of specific value. They 

 are represented, for the most part, by local names without definitions, 

 which in many cases are synonyms so complicated, that very gene- 

 rally I have found it necessary to examine the original specimen 

 before arriving at an opinion as to their value. To add to the con- 

 fusion, MM. Croizet and Jobert published their work on the Pliocene 

 Cervidae of Auvergne * without letterpress, and with the names only 

 of the species printed on the outer coloured cover of each part, which, 

 in the natural course of things, has been rejected by the binder. I 

 have only met with them in one out of the many copies which I have 

 seen, in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. The work of M. Pomel is 

 without plates t, and that projected by that author and M. Bravard 

 (which included the Cervidae) was never published. 



In the following essay, based upon materials collected from time 

 to time in France and Italy, I have defined some of those forms of 

 Deer which are most widely spread and most perfectly preserved, 

 confining my attention solely to the antlers. I have merely at- 

 tempted to treat a portion of the subject, reserving the rest until 



* Les Oss. foss. du Dep. du Puy-de-D6me, 4to, 1828. 



t Cat. Methodique des Vertebres Foesiles du Bassin Sup. de la Loire (Paris, 

 1854). r 



