AMERICAN RANGE OF THE MOOSE 



59 



superior specimens. Similar differences, especially 

 in the line of deterioration, are sometimes observed 

 in the same territory after a lapse of years. These 

 differences are often much more marked than the 

 natural differences which are cited as the basis of 

 subdivision into species. 



Most recent writers state that there are two 

 species of moose in America — Alces americanus 

 and Alces gigas — but all fail to define the differ- 

 ence between the two species in a way which would 

 enable anyone to distinguish between two speci- 

 mens if living representatives of both species 

 were met in the same enclosure. Specific differ- 

 ences will remain unim.portant, in the judgment of 

 most of us, so long as a post-mortem examination 

 by an expert is needed to determine the correct 

 classification of an individual animal.^'' ^ 



Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., of the Biological Survey \ 

 at Washington, was the first to define the char- 

 acteristics of Alces gigas, found in Alaska, as 

 distinguished from Alces americanus, which in- 

 habits the central and eastern portions of the 

 continent. In a paper published in the Proceed^ 

 ings of the Biological Society of Washington, May 



"""Every species should be distinguishable by external characters; 

 and any animal which requires to be killed and dissected before it can 

 be named, is of no practical value as an independent form." — Hornaday, 

 American Natural History (N. Y., 1914), vol. i., p. xxiv. 



