Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/35

Rh Brunswick in the south. There are several well-marked varieties differing greatly in size, and in the form of the antlers the largest forms occurring furthest north ; while by many writers the American reindeer, which has never been domesticated, is regarded as a distinct species. The antlers, which are long and branching, and considerably palmated, are present in both sexes, although in the female they are more slender and less branched than in the males. In the latter they appear at a much earlier age than in any other species of deer, and Darwin conjectures that in this circumstance a key to their exceptional appearance in the female may be found. The reindeer has long been domesticated in Scandinavia, and is of indispensable import ance to the Lapland race, to whom it serves at once as a substitute for the horse, cow, sheep, and goat. As a beast of burden it is capable of drawing a weight of 300 Ib, while its fieetness and endurance are still more remarkable. Harnessed to a sledge it will travel without difficulty 100 miles a day over the frozen snow, its broad and deeply cleft hoofs being admirably adapted for travelling over such a surface. During summer the Lapland reindeer feeds chiefly on the young shoots of the willow and birch ; and as at this season migration to the coast seems necessary to the well-being of the species, the Laplander, with his family and herds, sojourns for several months in the neighbourhood of the sea. In winter its food consists chiefly of the reindeer moss and other lichens, which it makes use of its hoofs in seeking for beneath the snow. The wild reindeer grows to a much greater size than the tame breed, but in Northern Europe the former are being gradually reduced through the natives entrapping and domesticating them. The tame breed found in Northern Asia is much larger than the Lapland form, and is there used to ride on. There are two distinct varieties of the American reindeer the Barren Ground Caribou, and the Woodland Caribou. The former, which is the larger and more widely distributed of the two, frequents in summer the shores of the Arctic Sea, retiring* to the woods in autumn to feed on the tree and other lichens. The latter occupies a very limited tract of woodland country, and, unlike the Barren Ground form, migrates southward in spring. The American rein deers travel in great herds, and being both unsuspicious and curious they fall ready victims to the bow and arrow or the cunning snare of the Indian, to whom their carcases form the chief source of food, clothing, tents, and tools. Remains of the reindeer are found in caves and other Post Pliocene deposits as far south as the south of France, this boreal species having been enabled to spread over Southern Europe, owing to the access of cold during the glacial period. It appears to have continued to exist in Scotland down even to the 12th century. The Muntjac (Cervulus vaginalis) has its two pronged horns placed on permanent bony pedestals 3 inches in length, and the male is further furnished with long canines in the upper jaw. It is a native of Java, where it may occasionally be seen in the inclosures of Europeans, but, according to Dr Horsfield, it is impatient of confinement, and not fit for the same degree of domestication as the stag. Its flesh forms excellent venison. There are four species of muntjacs inhabiting the forest districts from India to China, and southward to Java and the Philippine Islands. The Musk Deer (Moschus mosckiferus) differs from the true deer in the absence of horns, and in the presence of the musk-bag, and is now usually regarded as the type of a distinct family Moschidce. The young, however, are spotted as in the Cervidce, and it is doubtful whether the differences already mentioned are sufficient to warrant its separation from the other deer. Canine teeth are present in the upper and lower jaws of both sexes, those in the upper jaw of the male being longest. It is a native of the highlands of Central Asia from the Himalayas to Peking, being found at an elevation of 8000 feet, and in its habit resembling such mountain species as the chamois. It is exceedingly shy and difficult of approach, and is hunted solely for its musk an unctuous brown secretion, posses sing a most penetrating and enduring odour, extremely disagreeable when present in large quantities, but forming a pleasant perfume when used sparingly. The substance is contained in a bag, almost the size of a hen s egg, situated on the abdomen, and secreted in greatest quantity during the rutting season. The hunters cut off the bag, and close the opening, and after drying, it is ready for sale. Fossil Deer. Remains of many extinct species of deer belonging to existing genera have been found in Post- Pliocene and other recent deposits ; while the remains of extinct genera occur in both hemispheres, but do not extend further back than the Upper Miocene. The deer family, so far as yet discovered, is thus of comparatively recent origin, and is probably, as Mr Wallace suggests, an Old World group, which during the Miocene period passed to North America and subsequently to the southern continent. The best preserved species of fossil deer is the gigantic Irish Elk (Cervus megaceros). It is not a true elk, but is intermediate between the fallow deer and reindeer, and is found in great abundance and perfection in the lake deposits of Ireland. It occurs also in the Isle of Man, in Scotland, and in some of the English caverns. The antlers of a specimen of this species in Dublin weigh about 80 Ib, and their span is twice that of the living elk. It appears to have been contemporaneous with the extinct mammoth and rhinoceros, but it is still doubtful whether it co-existed with man. In Kent s Hole, near Torquay, the base of an antler, partly gnawed, was found ; and this, according to Owen, probably belonged to the most gigantic of our English cervine animals. (j. GI.)

 DEFAMATION, saying or writing something of another, calculated to injure his reputation or expose him to public hatred, contempt, and ridicule. See and.

 DEFENDER OF THE FAITH (Fidei Mefensor), a peculiar title belonging to the sovereign of England, in the same way that Catholicus belongs to the king of Spain, and Christ ianissinms to the king of France. Although certain charters have been appealed to in proof of an earlier use of the title, it appears to have been first conferred by Leo. X. on Henry VIII. in 1521 for writing against Luther. It was afterwards confirmed by Clement VII. When Henry suppressed the religious houses at the time of the Reformation, the Pope not only deprived him of this desig nation, but also deposed him ; in the thirty-fifth year of his reign, however, the title of &quot; Defender of the Faith &quot; was confirmed by Parliament, and has continued to be used by all his successors on the English throne.

 DEFFAND, MARIA DE VICHY-CHAMROND, MARQUISE DU (1697-1780), a celebrated leader in the fashionable literary society of Paris during the greater part of the 18th century, was born in Burgundy of a noble family in 1697. Educated at a convent in Paris, she there displayed, along with great intelligence, the sceptical arid cynical turn of mind which so well suited the part she was afterwards to fill in the philosophical circles of Paris. Her parents, alarmed at the freedom of her views, arranged that Massillon should visit and reason with her, but this seems to have had little effect. They married her at twenty-one years of age to the Marquis du Deffand without consulting her inclination. The union proved an unhappy one, and resulted in a speedy separation. Madame du Deffand, young and beautiful, did not, according to the common belief, succeed in keeping herself uncontaminated by the abounding vice of the age, and it is said that she was for 