274 



THE OLD-WORLD ELK 



ancient draftsman represented him has short legs, 

 it is true, and conventional decoration on his 

 body, but the antlers make the identity of the 

 species unmistakable.^ 



The first appearance of the elk in history is In 

 Caesar's Gallic War, "There are also animals,'* 

 writes Caesar, "which are called alces. . . . They 

 have legs without joints and ligatures; nor do 

 they lie down for the purpose of rest, nor, if they 

 have been thrown down by any accident, can they 

 raise or lift themselves up. Trees serve them as 

 beds. They lean themselves against them, and 

 thus reclining only slightly they take their rest. 

 When the hunters have discovered from the tracks 

 of these animals whither they are accustomed to 

 go, they either undermine all the trees at the roots, 

 or cut into them so far that the upper part of 

 the trees may appear to be left standing. When 

 they have leaned upon them, according to their 

 habit, they knock down by their weight the un- 

 supported trees, and fall down themselves along 

 with them."^ 



^See Meyers, Grosses Konversations-Lexikon (Leipsic, 1905), under 

 ■ 'Kunst der Naturvolker," 



i " Sunt item qucB appellantur alces. . . . Crura sine nodis articulisque 

 habent; negue quietis causa procumbunt, neque, si quo adflictce casu conci- 

 derunt, erigere sese ac sublevare possunt. His sunt arbores pro cubilibus; 

 ad eas se adplicant atque ita paulum modo reclinatce quietem capiunt, 

 Quarum ex vestigiis cum est animadversum a venatoribus quo se recipere 



