CaN MINIS lar sIli< 
it is quite the largest existing deer. The bull alone has 
horns, as is the case with most deer, the reindeer, a 
near neighbour of the elk, being the most salient excep- 
tion. Itis usual to term the American elk the “‘ moose,” 
and to reserve the name “elk” for the European 
beast. But in truth the elk is, like so many northern 
animals, e.g. the brown bear, circumpolar in range. 
Like many creatures now limited to the north, the elk 
had in past times a wider range, and remains of it have 
been found even in the prolific gravels of the Thames 
valley. But the elk was never historically an inhabitant 
of these islands ; and it must of course not be confounded 
with the “ Irish elk,’’ which is a more typical deer in 
its characters. The elk has particularly large horns 
which are “‘ palmated’”’ as the expression goes; that 
is to say, each horn swells out soon after its origin from 
the head into a flat expansion, from which arise the 
comparatively small tines. Of these tines there may 
be as many as sixteen, but as a rule there are fewer. 
The fact that these horns are at times non-palmated, 
like those of the red deer, for example, has led to the 
creation of various species for those individuals ; but it 
seems probable that the deficient growth of the horn 
is rather a matter of nutrition than of species distinc- 
tion. The Canadian moose has an ingenious method 
of protecting itself against wolves in the winter. It 
tramples down a definite area, which is known as a 
“moose yard,’ and securely entrenched in this it is 
able to defy its foes by bringing into play its heavy 
and sharp pointed horns. It is plain that a moose 
travelling through a dense thicket would be incommoded 
_ like the stag in the fable, and unable to deal efficiently 
with carnivorous foes. The European and Siberian 
elk may have less difficulties, and after all it seems to 
live much more in the open. The most un-deerlike 
point about the elk is its projecting and fleshy nose, 
79 
