CERVUS. 
compounded of the acetic acid and lead. 
It is formed by the metal plates of 
lead being exposed to the vapours arising 
from boiling vinegar, and the metal being 
oxydized by the action of the air, aided by 
the affinity of the acid. This has been re- 
garded either as an oxide or a sub-carbo- 
nate of lead ; though it appears probable 
that it should contain some acetic acid. 
It serves as the basis from which the more 
perfect salt, the sugar of lead of commerce, 
is formed : the cerusse, in fine powder, is 
boiled in distilled vinegar, the vinegar 
being poured off as it loses its acidity, and 
fresh qualities being successively added. 
The liquors thus procured are then evapo- 
rated nearly to the consistence of honey ; 
and, on cooling, masses are formed, con- 
sisting of a congeries of needle-like prisms. 
From the account given by Ponder of the 
manufacture of this salt, it appears, tlrat it 
is also formed by exposing plates of lead to 
the action of distilled vinegar and of the at- 
mospheric air : the plates, as tliey are in- 
crusted witli oxide at the surface of the 
vinegar, are plunged to the bottom, until 
this oxide is dissolved, and are again raised 
to the surface. The acid is thus at length 
saturated, and, by evaporation, the solution 
is brought to crystallize. 
CERVUS, the deer, in natural history, 
a genus of Mammalia of the order Pecora. 
The generic character; horns solid, and 
while the animal is young, covered with a 
hairy skin, growing from the top, annual, 
branched, and naked ; eight front teeth in 
the lower jaw; no canine teeth. There are 
twelve species, of which we shall particu- 
larly notice tire C. Aces, or the elk. This 
animal sometimes attains the height of 
seventeen hands, and the weight of twelve 
hundred and thirty poimds ; but such cases 
are somewhat extraordinary. It is larger 
in Asia and America than in Emope. It 
abounds m the cold countries of Sweden, 
Siberia, and Canada, and in the last is 
called also the moose deer. Its principal 
food is derived from the boughs of tlie fo- 
rest trees in these desolate regions, and the 
night is generally preferred for its repasts. 
Its manners are extremely gentle and inof- 
fensive ; it will, however, defend itself with 
great courage and dexterity, both with its 
horns and fore feet, and has been known, 
with a single blow from the latter, to de- 
stroy a wolf. Among the North American 
Indians the hunting of the elk is an em- 
ployment of considerable interest and pre- 
paration. One party is occupied in sur- 
rounding a large tract of country near the 
lakes or rivors,'and, by means of their dogs, 
in rousing the elks contained in it, (who, 
finding all escape from danger impractica- 
ble by land, press onwards to the water. 
Here, however, they are received by an- 
other party of enemies, whose canoes, ex- 
tending in a crescent form, inclose a con- 
siderable space, and reach from shore to 
shore, and who destroy their victims by 
clubs and lances. They are often taken 
also by snares, into which they are driven 
by tlie noises and alarms of the Indians, 
avid in w'hich they are inextricably entan- 
gled amidst slips of raw liides, or confined 
witliin so small a compass, that they be- 
come sure marks for the arrows of their 
adversaries. It is remarked of the elk, that 
when first dislodged, he drops on the 
ground for a few seconds, as if labouring 
under a complete prostration of strength, 
occasioned, probably, by the influence of 
fear. This is the moment invaluable to the 
hunter, who, if he miss tliis opportunity, 
frequently fails in every other, as the ani- 
mal, alter a very short pause, is roused to 
the most vigorous flight, which he continues 
without suspension, for a progress of twenty 
or thirty miles. 
In the bogs of Ireland, as well as in 
America, horns have been repeatedly dug 
up of an enormous size, which apparently 
belonged to an animal of the deer kind, 
but are far superior in dimensions to those 
of any animal now known by naturalists. 
Their length has sometimes been of eight 
feet, and the distance from the tip of one 
to that of another has extended to fourteen 
feet. These are justly conadered as most 
curious specimens in the collections of na- 
tural productions, and the idea of their an- 
nual reproduction is well calculated to ex- 
cite astonishment. Mammalia, Plate ATII. 
fig. 1. 
C. tarandus, or the rein deer. When full 
grown, this animal is about the height of 
four feet six inches, and both sexes are fur- 
nished with horns, those of the male, how- 
ever, being much larger than the females. 
It is found, more abundantly than any 
where else, in Lapland and Norway. It is 
met with in the. north of Asia, so far as 
Kamschatka, and in America so south 
at Canada. With the Laplander the rein 
deer is a complete substitute for the horse, 
the cow, the sheep, and the goat. He pos- 
sesses two breeds of tliis aninral, the wild 
and the tame. The former of these are by 
far the most vigorous, but are also often 
