6 



is distinctive, though it suggests mutton rather than beef. In chem- 

 ical composition it is ver}^ similar to beef, though, judging from 

 available data, it is not so fat as stall-fed cattle. The following 

 figures show how it compares with beef and mutton: A lean venison 

 roast before cooking has been found to contain on an average To per 

 cent of water, 20 per cent of protein or nitrogenous material, and 2 

 per cent of fat ; a lean beef rump, some 65 to TO per cent of water, 20 

 to 23 per cent of j^rotein. and 5 to 14: per cent of fat ; and a lean leg 

 of mutton. 6T per cent of water. 19 per cent of protein, and 13 per 

 cent of fat. 



Venison, beef, and other common meats are very thoroughly 

 digested, whatever the method of cooking. Venison may be roasted, 

 broiled, pan-broiled, or used for making stews, in much the same 

 way as beef. Venison, particularly steak, to be at its best, should be 

 eaten as soon as possible after it is cooked. 



The general popularity of venison is so great and the demand 

 for it so widespread that overproduction is improbable. The other 

 products of the deer — skins and horns — are of considerable impor- 

 tance, and in countries where deer are abundant and especially where 

 large herds are kept in semidomestication, the commerce in both is 

 very extensive. 



THE DOMESTICATION OF DEER. 



A number of species of the deer family have been proved to be 

 susceptible to domestication. The reindeer, however, is the only one 

 that has been brought fully under the control of man. The fact 

 that the European red deer and the fallow deer have been bred in 

 parks for centuries without domestication does not prove that they 

 are less susceptible to the process than the reindeer. The purposes 

 for which they have been held captive and the environment given 

 them have been markedly ditferent. It must be remembered, also, 

 that few attempts have been made to rear and domesticate deer under 

 intelligent management. The work has been largely a matter of 

 chance experiment. If they had been as long under careful manage- 

 ment as cattle, they would now, probably, be equally plastic in the 

 hands of the skillful breeder. 



But raising deer for profit does not necessarily imply their com- 

 plete domestication. They may be kept in large preserves with 

 surroundings as nearly natural as possible and their domestication 

 entirely ignored. Thus the breeder may reap nearly all the profit 

 that could be expected from a domestic herd, while the animals 

 escape most of the dangers incident to close captivity. But the 

 breeder who aims at the ultimate domestication of the animals, and 

 whose herd approaches nearest to true domesticity, will in the end 

 be most successful. 



330 



