336 



THE OLD-WORLD ELK 



There is no evidence that the best Siberian or 

 European antlers ever equaled the best which are 

 now found in America. In a paper on the natural 

 history of the elk, read before the Imperial Acad- 

 emy of Sciences of St. Petersburg March 24, 1870, 

 Johann Friedrich Brandt discussed at length the 



fossil remains of elk found in Europe and Asia. 

 The best example of fossil antlers which had at- 

 tained full development of which he gave an 

 illustration was found beside the Bug River in 

 Russian Poland. The river in a season of freshet 

 had undermined the bank, and thus brought the 

 antlers to light. In the same diluvial soil the skull 

 of a rhinoceros was found. The greatest spread of 

 the antlers (from a to h) is supposed to have 

 measured 58.11 inches (1.476 meters). The 



Fossil Antlers from Russian Poland 



