1 



Introductory 



extinct. It is manifest, therefore, that antlers, although very important, 

 are not alone sufficient to define the Cervidce. More especially is this the 

 case when extinct types have to be reckoned with (and without these there 

 is no possibility of arriving at the true affinities of a group) ; for not only 

 are there antlerless deer, but there are other kinds in which these append- 

 ages were never shed, and seem to have been permanently invested with 

 the skin, or " velvet." Nor is this all, for there were certain extinct 

 ruminants more or less intimately allied to the giraffes, whose heads were 

 crowned with branching bony appendages apparently agreeing in all 

 respects with the antlers of the modern deer, except that they were never 

 shed, and may have remained in the velvet throughout life. 



As every one knows, deer are members of the great group, or order, of 

 hoofed mammals, or Vngulata. The more typical representatives of this 

 great order are divided into two minor divisions, or sub-orders, distinguished 

 from one another most readily by the structure of the feet. In the one 

 sub-order, or Perhsodactyla, the toe corresponding to the middle (third) 

 ringer or toe of the human hand or foot is symmetrical in itself, and, as in 

 the horse, may be the only one remaining. The living representatives of 

 this sub-order are the horses, zebras, asses, tapirs, and rhinoceroses ; none of 

 which are at all likely to be confused with deer. 



On the other hand, in the second great sub-ordinal group, or Artiodactyla^ 

 the two toes respectively representing the third and fourth fingers and the 

 corresponding toes of man are symmetrical to a line drawn between them, 

 and unsymmetrical in themselves. This type of foot-structure when most 

 fully developed constitutes the familiar " cloven hoof." In its extreme 

 development, as in the giraffes and many antelopes, only one pair of large 

 hoofs remain to each foot ; but in the majority of the group a smaller pair 

 of lateral hoofs exist, which, as in the reindeer and the pigs, may be 

 functional, or, as in the roes, may be very minute and quite useless. 



Having established the fact that deer are members of the Artiodactyla, 

 we have to find their position in that extensive group, which likewise 

 includes hippopotami, pigs, peccaries, chevrotains, camels, giraffes, the 

 prong-buck, antelopes, goats, sheep, and oxen, together with a whole host 

 of extinct forms. Neglecting the latter, this can be best effected by a 

 process of elimination. 



First, we may eliminate the hippopotami, pigs, and peccaries by the 



