THE 
CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
AND 
AMWMmAW 
COMMON DEER. 
CERVUS VIRGIN I ANUS. 
[Plate!] 
Cervus Virginianus. Gmelin. — Fallow Deer. Catesby, 
App. ii. 28 . Lawson, Carol. 123 . — Virginian Deer. 
Pennant. Arct. Zool. i. 32 . — Caricon femelle. Button, 
12. pi. 44 . — Cerf de la Louisiane. G. Cuv. Ossmen. 
Foss. iv. 34 . Re gn. animal, i. 263 . — Cerfde Virginie. 
Desm. Mammal, sp. 679 . p. 442 . — Common Deer. 
Godman. i. 306 . — Pe ale’s Museum. 
The word Deer is derived either from the Teutonic deor, 
or from the Greek and is very variously written and 
pronounced, not only by different nations, but also in differ- 
ent ages. These well known quadrupeds, belong to the great 
order of Pecora or Ruminants; an order, as is observed by 
Cuvier, exceedingly natural and well determined, nearly all 
the animals composing it, being formed on the same model, 
the Camel alone presenting some slight exceptions to the 
common character of the group. 
These characters are, having incisors or cutting teeth, in 
the lower jaw only, and these generally eight in number ; 
their place in the upper jaw being supplied by a hardened 
gum. Between these incisors and the molars or grinding 
teeth, is a vacant space, except in some genera, which are 
provided with one or two canines. The molars, which are 
usually six in number, are marked on their crowns by two 
crescents, whose convexity is turned inwards in the upper 
jaw, and outwards in the lower. The feet are terminated by 
two toes covered by hoofs, which have flat surfaces closely 
applied to each other, giving the appearance of a single hoof, 
divided through the middle, whence the terms cloven footed, 
bifurcated, &c. The most singular peculiarity of these ani- 
mals is that of rumination, or of returning the food to the 
mouth, to be again masticated, after it has been once swal- 
lowed. This peculiarity arises from the structure of their 
stomachs, which are four in number — The first is called the 
paunch, and is destined to receive the half masticated food, 
when it is first swallowed; the food soon passes into the se- 
cond or bonnet, which is small, globular, and lined by a 
membrane disposed like the cells of a honey comb. From 
this stomach, in which it undergoes a kind of preparation, 
the food is returned to the animal’s mouth, to be subjected 
to a more complete mastication, after which it is again 
swallowed and passes into the third stomach or feck, whose 
internal membrane is arranged in longitudinal folds, like 
the leaves of a book; it then finally enters the fourth or true 
stomach in which it undergoes the process of digestion. 
The fat of ruminating animals is harder and more consistent 
than that of other quadrupeds, and is well known under the 
name of Tallow. Of all the numerous species of animals, 
none are so useful to man as those included in this order. 
They supply him with the mass of his food, and furnish a 
Variety of substances indispensable to his comfort and hap- 
piness. 
The genus Deer, consists of such animals of this order as 
are furnished with deciduous horns or antlers, destitute of a 
horny sheath. They are generally remarkable not only for 
the elegance of their form, the symmetry of their propor- 
tions and swiftness of their motions, but also for the excel- 
lence of their flesh. Hence it is not surprising that they 
have been eagerly hunted in every age, as well for sub- 
sistence as for amusement. The most striking and curious 
parts of their conformation are the horns, or those osseous 
productions of the forehead which are detached and repro- 
duced annually, and which, except in the Rein Deer, are 
exclusively appropriated to the males. This annual shed- 
ding of the horns, however, is not peculiar to the whole 
genus, but appears to be restricted to such species as reside 
in cold or temperate climates, or in whom these appendages 
are of a large size. This provision of nature is a most in- 
explicable phenomenon as regards its utility, and yet the 
mode in which the process is effected is subordinate to fixed 
and immutable laws. 
The word horn, which is generally applied to the antlers 
of the Deer kind, is apt to lead to erroneous ideas on the 
subject, as this antler is a real bone, formed in the same 
