HEADS AND HORNS 169 



Greatest 



Circumference 



Breadth 



Points 



width 



above burr 







59 



. . 7 . . 



10 



II + IO 





7>< . . 



. 9 



9+8 



47 



. . 7 . . 



10 



10+9 



42K . 



6 



8 



6+8 



38 



. . 7 



4>^ . 



6+6 



According to these figures the antlers at Hamp- 

 ton Court Palace include some very fair specimens, 

 but they are inferior to many taken in recent 

 years in the territory which constituted the British 

 colonies of America in the seventeenth century. If 

 they were fairly representative of the good heads 

 of their time, it is to be assumed that the deteriora- 

 tion by reason of subsequent hunting has been 

 local rather than general. 



It is a noticeable fact that while standards are 

 constantly being advanced in the breeding of 

 horses and cattle by the selection of the best strains 

 of blood, there is likely to be deterioration with 

 respect to wild game. The reason is not far to 

 seek. Laws which permit killing only the older 

 bulls, in the case of moose, together with the 

 sportsman's natural desire to secure specimens 

 having superior antlers, have left the breeding to 

 the inferior members of the species. 



This deterioration in some quarters is makingl 

 marked progress. In Europe it has been observed 

 for centuries; in America it is only of compara- 



