THE ETTMINANT OEDEE. 
293 
The males and barren females lose their horns in the course 
of October ; the breeding females, on the contrary, do not shed 
them until the time of bringing forth, that is, in the month 
of May. 
The Reindeer (Fig. 116) is about the size of the Red Deer, 
but it is heavier built. Its head is wide, and rather resembles 
that of the Ox; but there is no muzzle, and the nostrils open 
in the midst of the hair. The legs are finely made, although 
less slender than those of the Stag, and are terminated by firm 
and strong feet. The latter are covered all over with stiff hair, 
even on the underneath part — a circumstance which singularly 
facilitates the animal's tread on ice and frozen snow. Its coat is 
rough, of a greyish brown colour, and is pendent under the 
throat ; in the winter it becomes woolly, and frequently changes 
colour to white. One of nature's precautions which cannot be 
too much admired, is the plan which is intended to protect the 
Reindeer's eye against the fatiguing brilliancy of the snow ; this 
is a third nictating eyelid, which, at the animal's will, covers 
the whole of the ocular globe. 
The Reindeer is a native of the icy deserts of the Arctic regions, 
and the most northerly countries in which man has placed his 
abode. It is found in Spitzbergen, Greenland, Lapland, Finland, 
and the whole of Northern Russia, in Siberia, Tartary, and, 
lastly, in Canada and all the adjacent isles. In Russia, it some- 
times migrates southward as far as the foot of the Caucasus. 
The Reindeer is a most valuable animal to the unfortunate 
people who dwell around the polar circle. Without it, existence 
in these high latitudes would scarcely be bearable. It is almost 
impossible to form a just idea of the services which this animal 
renders, more especially to the Laplanders, for to them it fills 
the place of both Horse, Ox, and Sheep ; for, when domesti- 
cated, it goes in harness like the first, and drags sledges and 
carriages even with great rapidity. On even ground, it can 
travel seven or eight leagues an hour; but its ordinary pace 
is from four to five leagues in that space of time. There is, 
in the palace of the King of Sweden, a picture represent- 
ing a Reindeer which carried an officer charged with urgent 
dispatches a distance of three hundred and twenty leagues in 
forty- eight hours ; that is to say, an uninterrupted pace of six 
