THE ZOOLOGIST
THIRD SERIES.
Vol. I.] MARCH, 1877. [No. 3. |
ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE
FALLOW DEER PAST AND PRESENT.
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF L.H. JEITTELES.[1]
By P.D. Ullmann and J.E. Harting.
Natural History shares with History the doubtful honour of possessing many chapters which are nothing more than what Talleyrand would call "des fables convenues," or which are made up of fallacies universally adopted as true. To this unfavourable side of science Geology contributes the largest share, but Zoology is by no means exempt, especially as regards the habits, haunts and geographical distribution of animals.
According to most works on Zoology, "The Fallow Deer (Cervus dama) is a native of the countries washed by the Mediterranean, from whence it was introduced into Germany, Scandinavia, and England after the Crusades." And yet this animal was equally indigenous many thousand years ago, not only in Africa and Western Asia, but also in Southern Russia, and even in Central Europe, Denmark, Italy, and the South of France.
My researches into the geographical distribution of the Fallow
- ↑ 'Ueber die geographische Verbreitung des Damhirsches in der Vorzeit und Gegenwart.' Von L.H. Jeitteles, 'Der Zoologische Garten,' 1874, pp.288–397. After this article had been translated and forwarded to the printers, we discovered that an English translation by Mr. P.L. Sclater had already appeared in 'Nature' (26th November, 1874). (available: here in Internet Archive (Wikisource-ed.)) To many readers of 'The Zoologist,' however, we believe the subject matter will be new, and therefore we do not hesitate to offer the present version. At the same time we cannot do better than quote, by way of supplement, the valuable criticisms which this essay has elicited from Prof. Boyd Dawkins ('Nature,' 10th December, 1874) and Sir Victor Brooke ('Nature,' 14th Jan. 1875).
