Finding of Deer Remains in Bogs. 87 



bottom with tremendous strides and desperate exertions, 

 until overwhelmed in the deepening mire he sank shoulder 

 deep and finally disappeared, there to remain until his bones 

 were dug up by the farmer in attempts to reclaim some old 

 bog. 



It may possibly be owing to accidents of the above descrip- 

 tion that more male than female skeletons are recorded ; how- 

 ever, on the excellent authority of Professor Harkness, F.R.S., 

 who has inspected many remains of the Irish elk, I am told 

 that the country people fancy all skulls without horns belong 

 to mired cattle or horses, and therefore do not preserve them- 

 Still, when we take into consideration the large quantities of 

 the remains of this elk met with in the shell marl under the 

 peat, and the circumstance that the horns are generally those 

 of adults, and in full growth, such as would obtain at the rutting 

 season, there is some probability that the individuals either 

 met their death in the above way, or were driven into the 

 morasses by their enemies. Moreover, in the case of the 

 moose, it is a favourite habit of the animal to repair to lakes 

 for the purpose of escaping the annoyance of insects in sum- 

 mer, and in autumn to feed on water lilies and other aquatic 

 plants. 



Apropos of the moose, and the pugilistic propensities of the 

 bull during the rutting season, I was informed by Colonel 

 Saunders, of the New Brunswick militia, that he had in his 

 possession two pairs of horns of bull mooses, which were 

 found dead in the forest, with their antlers firmly locked in 

 each other. The individuals had been either killed in the en- 

 counter, or else the horns becoming firmly entwined, caused 

 death by starvation. Similar accidents have been recorded/ 

 and instances are also extant of antelopes sending their horns 



* Two specimens locked in this way, from North Carolina, are preserved 

 in the Hunterian Museum, Royal College of Surgeons. See also Richard- 

 son, " Faun. Bor. Americana," p. 252. Darwin, " Descent of Man," vol.ii., 

 p. 240, et seq. 



