C BAP. XVIII. 
LAW OP BATTLE. 
253 
. ^99 by Frederick I., each of which bears the aston- 
jfl'ing number of thirty-three branches. Richardson 
rj SUres a pair of antlers of the wild reindeer with twenty- 
11 1,10 points. 20 From the manner in which the horns 
' lre branched, and more especially from deer being 
known occasionally to fight together by kicking with 
be - 
clu 
uteir fore-feet, 21 M. Bailly actually came to the cou- 
pon that their horns were more injurious than useful 
j° them ! But this author overlooks the pitched battles 
j etween rival males. As I felt much perplexed about 
*he use or advantage of the branches, 1 applied to Mr. 
IcNeill of Oolinsay, who has long and carefully ob- 
^ved the habits of red-deer, and he informs me that 
19 has never seen some of the branches brought into 
ac tion, but that the brow-antlers, from inclining down- 
wards, are a great protection to the forehead, and their 
b°ints are likewise used in attack. Sir Philip Egerton 
*ds° informs me in regard both to red-deer and fallow- 
( 9e r, that when they fight they suddenly dash together, 
a nd getting their horns fixed against each other’s bodies 
a desperate struggle ensues. When one is at last 
° l- ced to yield and turn round, the victor endeavours 
* 9 plunge his brow-antlers into his defeated foe. It 
lUs appears that the upper branches are used chiefly 
0l j exclusively for pushing and fencing. Nevertheless 
"dh some species the upper branches are used as 
"Capons of offence; when a man was attacked by a 
0 Owen, on the Horns of Ked-deer, 1 British Fossil Mammals,’ 1S46, 
' *78 ; 1 Forest Creatures,’ by Charles Boiler, 1S6I, p. 70. 02. Bich- 
r ‘‘ s °u on the Horns of the Reindeer, ‘ Fauna Bor. Americana,’ 1S29, 
>’• 2-iO. 
Hon. J. D. Caton (‘Ottawa Acad, of Nat. Science,’ May, 1SGS, p. 
9), 
sa ys that the American deer fight with their fore-feet, after “ the 
I" e stion of superiority has been once settled and acknowledged in the 
‘erd.” 3 a yjy > « g ul . pusage des Cornes,” * Annal es des Sc. Nat.’ tom. 
l ' p. 371. 
