Sub-Family CERVINAE. 
Borns solid, always present in the males; sometimes in the females, not covered with skin. Feet bifed, with two small 
hoops behind and above the large ones. 
The preceding diagnosis is that of the genus Cervus, of older authors, although the great 
number of subdivisions, many of them quite different from each other, would seem to render it 
desirable to establish a sub-family to include them. The systematic arrangements of Sundevall, 
Gray, Pucheran, Wagner, and others, may he referred to for information respecting the varia¬ 
tions in the different sections of the group ; for my present purpose, however, I need merely 
mention those having a direct relation to the North American species. Of these there are 
three which may he briefly characterized as follows, (from Wagner:) 
1. Alce. —Horns very broadly palmated throughout, found only in the male ; nose entirely covered with hair, except a 
small naked spot between the nostrils ; very broad anteriorly. 
The single species is the Alee amerieanus, or American moose. 
2. Rangifer. —Horns broadly palmated at the tip ; found in both sexes. Hose entirely hairy ; hoofs dilated ; sub-oval. 
Of this genus, embracing the reindeer, America possesses two species—the JR. caribou and 
groenlandicus. 
3. Cervus. —Horns more or less rounded, or cylindrical, or conical; sometimes partly flattened, or subpalmated. Nose 
naked and moist. Sub-orbital sinuses distinct. 
It is in this genus that our best known North American species fall: such as Cervus cana¬ 
densis , virginianus, leucurus, mexicanus, macrotis, and columbianus. It has been generally 
customary to place the Cervus canadensis under another genus, JElaphus, hut, for my present 
purposes, I prefer to retain all the deer with naked muzzles together. 
