°1UP. XVII. 
LAW OF BATTLE. 
259 
' v hich the horns are periodically renewed, the drain 
011 the constitution must be greater; the horns, for 
| lls tance, of the moose weigh from fifty to sixty pounds, 
a,i( l those of the extinct Irish elk from sixty to seventy 
P°Unds, — the skull of the latter weighing on an average 
?. n h five and a quarter pounds. With sheep, although 
horns are not periodically renewed, yet their de- 
velopment, in the opinion of many agriculturists, en- 
ails a sensible loss to the breeder. Stags, more- 
IVer . in escaping from beasts of prey are loaded with 
11 additional weight for the race, and are greatly 
Warded in passing through a woody country. The 
v ° 0Se > for instance, with horns extending five and a 
Uilf f ee t 
from tip to tip, although so skilful in their 
that he will not touch or break a dead twig 
v ien walking quietly, cannot act so dexterously whilst 
Wishing away from a pack of wolves. “During his 
(< J n 'ogress he holds his nose up, so as to lay the 
(( l0| 'us horizontally back ; and in this attitude cannot 
? See the ground distinctly .” 30 The tips of the horns 
, l . die great Irish oik were actually eight feet apart! 
uilst the horns are covered with velvet, which lasts 
*th the red-deer for about twelve weeks, they are 
^tremely sensitive to a blow; so that in Germany 
1 1 ® stags at this time change their habits to a cer- 
tUu extent, and avoid dense forests, frequenting young 
j'^ds and low' thickets . 31 These facts remind us, that 
U! de birds have acquired ornamental plumes at the 
^ 8t of retarded flight, and other ornaments at the cost 
s onie loss of power in their battles with rival males. 
p ^t-'hardson, ‘Fauna Bor. Americana,’ on the moose, Alcea palmata, 
t8Cq 237 ’ al *° 011 tlie ex P anso of the horns 1 Land and Water,’ 
(dr 5 P* 143 See also Owen, ‘ British Fossil Mammals, ’ on the Irish 
,{P- 447, 455. 
‘ Forest Creatures,’ by C. Boner, 1SG1, p. GO. 
