160 Quadrupeds 
THE ELK, (Cervus Alces,) 
Is the largest of all the Deer kind. The antlers, at first 
simple, and then divided into narrow slips, assume in the 
fifth year the form of a triangular blade, dentated on the 
external edge and very thick at the base ; they increase 
with age, till they weigh fifty or sixty pounds, and have 
fourteen branches to each horn. The Elk lives in forests, 
feeding upon branches and sprouts of trees, and inhabits 
Europe, Asia, and America : in the last-named country 
he is known by the name of the Moose Deer. There is 
very little difference between the European Elk and the 
American Moose Deer, though they are larger in the New 
World than with us, owing perhaps to the extensive 
forests in which they range. In all places, however, 
they are timorous and gentle ; content with their pasture, 
and never willing to disturb any other animal. The pace 
of the Elk is a high, shambling trot, but it runs with 
great swiftness. Formerly these animals were made use 
of in Sweden to draw sledges, but their swiftness gave 
criminals such means of escape, that this employment of 
them was prohibited under great penalties. The female 
is less than the male, and has no horns. 
