268 



ELK. 



the horns of these animals, that it seems now 

 pretty generally agreed among naturalists, that 

 they must have belonged to some species either 

 quite extinct or hitherto undiscovered. They are 

 much longer and narrrower in proportion than 

 those of the Elk, and are furnished with brow 

 antlers ; and the processes or divisions into which 

 the sides and extremities run are much longer, 

 sharper, and more distant in proportion. These 

 horns have been sometimes found of the length of 

 eight feet each ; and have measured fourteen feet 

 between tip and tip, when adhering to the skull. 

 The whole skeleton is said to have been sometimes 

 found also. Specimens of these horns occur in 

 most of our museums, and are justly considered as 

 some of the most interesting examples of fossil 

 zoology. It is, indeed, impossible to view with- 

 out astonishment such immense productions, and 

 at the same time to recollect that they were annu- 

 ally shed and reproduced. 



It was probably some specimen of this kind that 

 gave rise to the lines of Waller : 



So we some antique heroe's strength 

 Learn by his lance's weight and length j 

 As these vast beams express the beast 

 Whose shady brows alive they drest. 

 Such game, while yet the world was new. 

 The mighty Nimrod did pursue. 

 What huntsman of our feeble race. 

 Or dogs, dare such a monster chace r 

 Resembling, at each blow he strikes. 

 The charge of a whole troop of pikes. 

 O fertile headl which every year , 

 Could such a crop of wonder bear I 



