EDITORIAL GLEANINGS.
Dr. Henry Woodward, in the 'Geological Magazine' (Decade iv. vol. v. p. 49) has illustrated and described a pair of gigantic antlers of the Great Red Deer (Cervus elaphus, Linn.):—
"In 1891, Frank S. Goodwin, Esq., of Bakewell, Derbyshire, presented to the British Museum (Natural History) a pair of antlers of Red Deer, with fragments of the calvarium attached, which had been obtained, with other cervine remains, from a tufaceous deposit of comparatively modern date near Bakewell, Derbyshire. Owing to the loss of all animal matter the antlers were in a very friable condition, and fell in pieces on being handled, although at some distant time they had been repaired partially with long strips of calico.
"Two causes rendered them of interest: firstly, they were of unusually large size, resembling the great American Wapiti (Cervus canadensis) in stoutness and length of beam; secondly, they proved to have been described in a letter from the Rev. Robert Barber, B.D., to John Jebb, Esq., M.D., F.R.S., which was published in the Phil. Trans. Royal Society for 1785 (vol. lxxv. p. 353).
"Notwithstanding their almost hopeless state of dilapidation they attracted the attention of Sir Edmund Giles Loder, Bart., and Mr. J. G. Millais (the latter of whom examined and made drawings of them about a year ago). An attempt was made to bring the broken antlers together again, and after much time and labour expended by Mr. C. Barlow, the Formatore, they have at length been successfully rehabilitated, and are now exhibited on the top of pier-case No. 16 in the Geological Gallery devoted to fossil Mammalia, where they form, from their size and whiteness, one of the most striking objects in the series of cervine remains.
"The following measurements have been taken since the antlers have been repaired and mounted in the Gallery:—[1]
| Measurement of Antlers of Cervus elaphus from Alport, Youlgreave. | |||
| ft. | in. | ||
| Width at the 'nests' | 3 | 9 | |
| Length of right antler | 4 | 0 | |
| Length„ of„ left antler„ | 3 | 8 | |
| Length„ of„ brow-tine | 0 | 11 | |
| Length„ of„ 2nd -tine„ | 1 | 0 | |
| Length„ of„ 3rd-tine„ | 1 | 1 | |
| Girth of pedicle | 0 | 7½ | |
| Girth„ above the burr | 0 | 9¾ | |
| Girth„ above„ 1st tine | 0 | 9¼ | |
| Girth„ above„ 2nd tine„ | 0 | 6½ | |
| Girth„ above„ 3rd tine„ | 0 | 6¼ | " |
- ↑ See also 'British Deer and their Horns,' by J.G. Millais, p. 96, fig. 2, and p. 105.
