es called "sur-royals,"
and the brow antler receives an addition higher up called the
"bez-tine." The animal is then a "staggard." In the fifth year the
"sur-royals" become more numerous, and the whole antler heavier in
the "stag," whose next promotion is to that of "great hart" of ten
or more points. The finest heads are found in the German forests.
Sir Victor Brooke alludes to some in the hunting Schloss of
Moritzburg of the 15th to 17th century, of enormous size, bearing
from 25 to 50 points--50 inches round the outside curve, 10 inches
in circumference round the _smallest_ part of the beam, and of one
of which the spread between the coronal tines is 74 inches. Professor
Garrod mentions one as having sixty-six points, and states that Lord
Powerscourt has in his possession a pair with forty-five tines. The
deer with which we have to deal range from the elaphine, or red deer
type, to the simple bifurcated antler of the muntjac, which consists
of a beam and brow antler only. We then come to the rusine type of
three points only--brow, tres, and royal tines, and of this number
are also the spotted and hog deer of India, but the arrangement of
the tines is different; and following the rusine type comes the
rucervine, in which the tres and royal tines break out into
points--the tres-tine usually bifurcate, and the royal with two,
three or more points. The arrangements of the main limbs of the horns
is strictly rusine--that is to say, the external and anterior tine
is equal to or shorter than the royal tine, whereas it is the reverse
in the axis (spotted deer), and therefore this genus should come
between the two. Even in the sambar and axis there is a tendency to
throw out abnormal tines. There are many examples in the Indian
Museum, and I possess a magnificent head which bears a large abnormal
tine on one horn, and a faint inclination in the corresponding spot
on the other horn to do likewise. I have no doubt, had the animal
lived another year, the second extra tine would have been developed.
Professor Garrod has three phases of the rucervine type, which he
calls the normal, the intermediate, and the extreme. The first has
both branches of the beam, tres and royal of equal size (_ex_.
Schomburgk's deer); the second has the tres-tine larger than the
royal (_ex_. our swamp deer); and the extreme type is that in which
the royal is represented merely by a snag, the whole horn being bent
forward (_ex_. the Burmese _Panolia Eldi