At the withers the skeleton, which is quite cervine in every detail, measures as much as six feet; its great peculiarity in the male being the large size of the cervical or neck vertebræ, necessarily extra strong that they may support the massive antlers, about seventy pounds in weight. In the females, which had no cranial appendages, the vertebræ of the neck were one-third smaller.
The accompanying figure is an attempt to represent the species under consideration, as it must have appeared when living. It is worthy of note, however, that as the coat of the Fallow Deer, which may be its nearest ally, is brilliantly spotted, the great Irish Deer may have resembled it in that respect.
The first fairly complete skeleton of the species was found in the Isle of Man. Others have been obtained from Waterford and elsewhere in Ireland.
A. H. GARROD.
PRAIRIE DOG.
ORDER RODENTIA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—THE SQUIRREL, MARMOT, ANOMALURE, HAPLODONT, AND BEAVER FAMILIES.
Character of the Order—A well-defined Group—Teeth Evidence—Kinds and Number of Teeth—The Incisors: their Growth, Renewal, and Composition—The Molars—The Gnawing Process—Skeleton—Brain—Senses—Body—Insectivora and Rodentia—Food of Rodents—Classification—[THE SIMPLE-TOOTHED RODENTS]—Characteristics—[THE SQUIRREL-LIKE RODENTS]—[SCIURIDÆ]—Distinctive Features—[THE COMMON SQUIRREL]—Form—Distribution—Food—Bad Qualities—Habits—[THE GREY SQUIRREL]—[THE FOX SQUIRREL]—Flying Squirrels—Their Parachute Membrane—[THE TAGUAN]—Appearance—Habits—Other Species—[THE POLATOUCHE]—[THE ASSAPAN]—The Genus Xerus—[THE GROUND SQUIRRELS]—[THE COMMON CHIPMUNK]—[THE MARMOTS]—Distinguishing Features—[THE SPERMOPHILES]—[THE GOPHER]—[THE SISEL, OR SUSLIK]—[THE BARKING SQUIRRELS]—[THE PRAIRIE DOG]—Description—Species—Habits—Burrows—Fellow-inmates in their “Villages”—[THE TRUE MARMOTS]—[THE BOBAC]—[THE ALPINE MARMOT]—[THE WOODCHUCK]—[THE HOARY MARMOT, OR WHISTLER]—[ANOMALURIDÆ]—Tail Peculiarity—Distinctive Features—[HAPLODONTIDÆ]—Description—[THE SEWELLEL]—[CASTORIDÆ]—[THE BEAVER]—Skeletal Peculiarities—General Form—Appearance—Distribution—The Beavers of the Old and New World—Habits—Wonderful Sagacity—The Building Instinct—Their Method of Working—The various Stages—Their Lodges—Their Dams—Activity by Night—Flesh—Hunted—The Castoreum.