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The Descent of Man

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stags and antelopes, they may have been modified<br />

partly for this purpose, though mainly for<br />

actual service in battle; but I have no evidence<br />

in favour <strong>of</strong> this belief.<br />

An interesting case has lately been published,<br />

from which it appears that the horns <strong>of</strong> a deer<br />

in one district in the United States are now<br />

being modified through sexual and natural<br />

selection. A writer in an excellent American<br />

Journal (27. <strong>The</strong> 'American Naturalist,' Dec.<br />

1869, p. 552.) says, that he has hunted for the<br />

last twenty-one years in the Adirondacks, where<br />

the Cervus virginianus abounds. About fourteen<br />

years ago he first heard <strong>of</strong> SPIKE-HORN<br />

BUCKS. <strong>The</strong>se became from year to year more<br />

common; about five years ago he shot one, and<br />

afterwards another, and now they are frequently<br />

killed. "<strong>The</strong> spike-horn differs greatly from<br />

the common antler <strong>of</strong> the C. virginianus. It consists<br />

<strong>of</strong> a single spike, more slender than the<br />

antler, and scarcely half so long, projecting

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