106 Elaphine Group 



beam curves inwards and gives out an anterior (fourth) tine which is much 

 the largest of all, and slightly compressed, being only a little shorter, and 

 scarcely smaller, than the beam itself. Above this the beam gives out two 

 other tines, each successively diminishing in length, and all these four 

 branches, that is, the beam itself and the three upper tines, are in nearly 



Fig. 27. — Altai Wapiti at Wbburn Abbey. Photographed by the Duchess of Bedford. 



the same plane, so that by looking at the horn with either the beam or the 

 great fourth tine in front, the remainder of the crown can be concealed 

 behind either one or the other. ... It appears to me that, as regards the 

 horns, the Thian-Shan stag approaches the wapiti more than any Asiatic 

 deer. The resemblance between the Asiatic stags and Cervus canadensis 

 has been discussed by many naturalists, and by none more fully than by Mr. 

 Blvth, who has pointed out that the most important characters in which 



