37^ 
UNGULATES. 
sharply-pointed hoofs, very different in appearance from those of the reindeer; 
and the lateral hoofs are relatively large and loosely attached. In the male the 
hair is long, coarse, and somewhat brittle, and is elongated 
into a slight mane on the neck, shoulders, and throat; 
while in colour it varies from very dark brown to yellowish 
grey. The female is lighter coloured than the male during 
the winter season. In both sexes the hair is softer and 
finer in the summer than in the winter; and during the 
later season an abundant supply of woolly under-fur is 
developed. Young animals have also brighter-coloured 
and sleeker coats than aged individuals; and in the latter 
the fading of the winter coat with the advance of spring is 
much more noticeable than in the former. The fawns are 
uniformly coloured like the adults. 
Dimensions. 
The height of the elk has been much 
UNDER SURFACE OF FOOT 
OF ELK. 
Distribution. 
exaggerated, some writers asserting that the 
male may stand as much as 8 feet at the withers. Mr. 
Caton observes, however, that it is safe to say that it 
may attain a height of 6 feet, or occasionally rather more, 
and we may probably put the extreme limits as not 
exceeding 6^ feet. The weight of an average adult male 
elk is given by the writer last cited as 700 lbs., but large specimens will reach 
900 or 1000, and, it is said, even as much as 1200 lbs. 
Adult male elk, and occasionally the females, have a curious pendulous 
appendage on the throat formed by a dilatation of the skin, and covered with long 
and coarse blackish hairs. This appendage may vary in length from 4 to 10 
inches, and is, known to the American hunters as the bell; its use is unknown. 
The elk has a distribution very nearly the same as that of the 
reindeer, although it does not extend so far north, and is, indeed, 
limited by the northern extension of trees, being essentially a forest animal. In 
Europe, although now greatly diminished in numbers, it is found locally in 
Scandinavia, Eastern Prussia, Lithuania, and parts of Russia, such as the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Orenburg, the government forest near Moscow, and the districts 
bordering the river Samara in Astrakhan. Thence it extends eastwards into the 
subarctic portions of Siberia, although its extreme limits in this direction are not 
fully ascertained. A few years ago an elk was shot in Galicia, which had 
probably wandered from more northern latitudes. In the time of Pallas, elk were 
also found on the northern slopes of the Caucasus; while Csesar mentions them as 
inhabiting the Black Forest. During the prehistoric period, their distribution 
was still more extensive in Europe; and their remains have been found in many 
parts of England, the most southern point being Walthamstow in Essex. In the 
still earlier deposits of the Norfolk forest-bed, the species was preceded by the 
broad-fronted elk ( A. latifrons). 
In North America the range of the elk appears to have extended originally 
from about the 43rd to the 70th parallel of latitude, its northern limit being 
marked by the southern border of the so-called barren grounds. Mr. Caton says 
