256 
SEXUAL SELECTION: MAMMALS. 
PAR 1 1 
American Journal 23 says, tliat he has hunted for 
last twenty-one years in the Adirondack's, where tk e 
Cervus Virginianus abounds. About fourteen years 
he first heard of spike-horn lucks. These became fi'° nl 
year to year more common; about five years ago 
shot one, and subsequently another, and now they 
lie 
frequently killed. “The spike-horn differs great 1/ 
“from the common antler of the C. Virginianus. ^ 
“consists of a single spike, more slender than the antl er ’ 
“ and scarcely half so long, projecting forward from tl10 
“ brow, and terminating in a very sharp point. It g‘ veS 
“ a considerable advantage to its possessor over tl 10 
“common buck. Besides enabling him to run m°' e 
“swiftly through the thick woods and underbid' 11 
“(every hunter knows that does and yearling bu^' 3 
“run much more rapidly than the large bucks wh eI> 
“armed with their cumbrous antlers), the spike-h 0 ' 1 ’ 
“is a more eifective weapon than the common aid^ 1 ' 
“ With this advantage the spike-horn bucks are gai^j- 
“upon the common bucks, and may, in time, enth' e - 
“supersede them in the Adirondacks. Undoubted? 
“the first spike-horn buck was merely an accident 
“freak of nature. But his spike-horns gav r e him 1,1 
“ advantage, and enabled him to propagate his p eC " 
“liarity. Ilis descendants, having a like advance 0 ’ 
“have propagated the peculiarity in a cousta»y 
“increasing ratio, till they are slowly crowding tlll? 
“antlered deer from the region they inhabit,” 
Male quadrupeds which are furnished with tm' 
use them in various ways, as in the case of b° rI ? S j 
The boar strikes laterally and upwards; the m nS ' 
deer with serious effect downwards. 24 The wab ub ’ 
23 ‘ The American Naturalist,’ Dec. 1869, p. 552. 
24 Pallas, 1 Spicilegia Zoologica,’ fasc. xiii, 1779, p. 
