Notice of the discovery of remains of the elk (Cervus alces, Linn., Alces malchis, Gray) in Berwickshire : with notes of its occurrence in the British islands, more particularly in Scotland : also notes of the remains of the Irish elk (Megaceros Hibernicus) found in Scotland / by John Alexander Smith.

Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notice of the discovery of remains of the elk (Cervus alces, Linn., Alces malchis, Gray) in Berwickshire : with notes of its occurrence in the British islands, more particularly in Scotland : also notes of the remains of the Irish elk (Megaceros Hibernicus) found in Scotland / by John Alexander Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Sil- John Eichardson states that the breadth efface, at the most pro- minent part of the maxiUaries, is less in the muma than in the European elk- he is therefore, inclined to think the American elk distinct. I have abeady mentioned that naturalists now believe them to be the same species. Sir Jolm thus describes— Tilt Dentition of the Muswa.— Incisors i %, Canines i h Premolars l I, Molars I § ; total A- A complete saw is formed by the very acute cusps of the molars'' Each of the maxillary molars has a minute projection or denticle on the mesial aspect of the posterior lobe, and the lateral surfaces of both molars and premolars have a strong inclination mesiad. The incHnation in the opposite direction of the mandibular molars is not so great, and it is only the first mandibular molar that has the accessory denticle, situated, of course, on its lateral aspect. No more effective instruments could be devised for cuttmg the flexible wiUow-twigs on which the animal browses than its molar series of teeth, and they retain aU theb sharpness in use. The incisors are also acute-edged, and differ little from one another in size, the unciform canine, however, and the tooth which adjoins it, being a little narrower than the middle pair. There are no vestiges of the upper canme which exists at the maxiUary in both male and female reindeer. Antlers of the Elk or Muswa.—These extraordinary deciduous growths take their origin in the lateral processes of the frontal .which project about an inch and a half from the sides of the skuU. A prominent ring, rough with blunt wart-like pro- jections marks the commencement of the antler, and is finaUy, by obhteratmg the nourishing arteries, the cause of its fall. Beyond the ring there is a stem, round at the beginning, but becoming speedily more and more compressed, until it expands into a large palraated plate, which is so curved that its mial and anti- nial halves make an angle with each other of 130 degrees, the curve bemg, how- ever, gradual, rather than sharp, and having its apex situated about three inches iniad of the axis of the stem, thus dividing the palm into two unequal planes. The antinial expansion rises coronad, with a slight inclination antmiad, but not so much as to cause it to pass the line of the frontal borders of the orbits, while the direction of the inial and larger portion is, after the cui-vature becomes com- plete, nearly directly iniad. The large palmated portion of the antler termi- nates in a mimber of short snags, with sinuses of various deptlis between them, varying iu number according to the age of the animal. In the specimen described by Sir John Eichardson, there were eleven short snags on one horn, and fourteen on the other; the longest snags were the pair that stand nearly in the axis of the stems, and their tips were 22