1838. HOUSE—No. 72." 29 
It is not at present found in the limits of Massachusetts. It herds 
together in the winter, eight or ten individuals occupying a common 
pen or enclosure during the whole season, unless disturbed by the 
hunters. Its meat is excellent, being tender and well flavored, and 
tasting more like beef than any other meat. ‘The gait of the moose 
is a long shambling trot ; at every step its hoofs spread apart, but 
the moment the foot is raised, they are brought together with a crack 
which may be heard at a distance. 
This animal has been domesticated and broken to the harness. 
Under some circumstances it might be used to advantage. It is de- 
sirable that so noble an animal should not be suffered to become ex- 
tinct. It is, however, difficult to enforce laws enacted for their 
preservation, so that it is probable, that in a few years not an indi- 
vidual will remain, unless, indeed, enterprising persons’ should anti- 
cipate a profit from domesticating a pair, and raising them for the 
value of their meat. 
The following measurements I have taken from the skulls in my 
possession : 
Length of the skull, from the occiput to the end of the maxillary 
bones, 2 feet 2 inches. Breadth over the centre of the orbits, 7 
inches. From the crest of the occiput to the eye, 8. Height of 
the upper jaw, over the nasal and maxillary bones, 74. From the 
foramen magnum to the anterior portion of the maxillary bone, 1 foot 
9 inches. Breadth of the jaw over the palatine bones and teeth, 5 
inches ; over processes of the ossa malorum, 73 inches. Length of 
the lower jaw, along the base, 1 foot 6$ inches. Distance from the 
occipital crest to a prominence between the horns, 44 inches. From 
the prominence to depression in the os frontis, 2 inches. Amount 
of depression in the os frontis, measured from a line drawn from the 
prominence to the anterior portion of the nasal bones, 13 inch. 
From the prominence to the lower end of the nasal bones, 9 inches. 
From the lower end of the nasal bones, to the extreme of the maxil- 
lary, 104 inches. From the centre of the horn to the centre of the 
orbit of the eye, 3$ inches. rom the tip of one horn to the other, 
2 feet 8 inches. Number of prongs, 8. Length of the horn, 2 feet 
4 inches. 
In conclusion, the undersigned begs leave to say, that most of the 
