somewhat, because his antlers were so long that he could not roll his
head without raising them on one side, while, on the other side they
touched the ground. The stag by this procedure gradually drove the
party of rescuers backwards to a distance of 150 or 200 feet; and the
attacked man was killed. (26. See a most interesting account in the
Appendix to Hon. J.D. Caton s paper, as above quoted.)
[Fig. 64. Strepsiceros Kudu (from Sir Andrew Smith s Zoology of South
Africa. ]
Although the horns of stags are efficient weapons, there can, I think,
be no doubt that a single point would have been much more dangerous
than a branched antler; and Judge Caton, who has had large experience
with deer, fully concurs in this conclusion. Nor do the branching
horns, though highly important as a means of defence against rival
stags, appear perfectly well adapted for this purpose, as they are
liable to become interlocked. The suspicion has therefore crossed my
mind that they may serve in part as ornaments. That the branched
antlers of stags as well as the elegant lyrated horns of certain
antelopes, with their graceful double curvature (Fig. 64), are
ornamental in our eyes, no one will dispute. If, then, the horns, like
the splendid accoutrements of the knights of old, add to the noble
appearance of stags and antelopes, they may have been modified partly
for this purpose, though mainly for actual service in battle; but I
have no evidence in favour of this belief.
An interesting case has lately been published, from which it appears
that the horns of a deer in one district in the United States are now
being modified through sexual and natural selection. A writer in an
excellent American Journal (27. The American Naturalist, Dec. 1869,
p. 552.) says, that he has hunted for the last twenty-one years in the
Adirondacks, where the Cervus virginianus abounds. About fourteen years
ago he first heard of SPIKE-HORN BUCKS. These became from year to year
more common; about five years ago he shot one, and afterwards another,
and now they are frequently killed. The spike-horn differs greatly
from the common antler of the C. virginianus. It consists of a single
spike, more slender than the antler, and scarcely half so long,
projecting forward from the brow, and terminating in a very sharp
point. It gives a considerable advantage to its possessor over the
common buck. Besides enabling him to run more swiftly through the thick
539