REINDEER, the Rangif er tarandus, the only domesticated species of the family. It extends over the boreal re gions of both hemispheres, and runs into several well marked varieties. Many authors consider the American reindeer or caribou, which has never been domes ticated, as a distinct species. The rein deer formerly had a much wider geo graphical range, and is probably the bos cervi figura described by Caesar as inhabiting the Hercynian forests, prob ably when the European winters were much severer than now. Both the male and female have antlers, and these are not alike on both sides, the great pal mated brow antler being, as a rule, de veloped on one side only. In the winter the fur is long, grayish brown on the body; neck, hind-quarters, and belly white. In summer the gray hair dark ens into a sooty brown, and the white parts become gray. To the Laplander the reindeer is the only representative of wealth, and it serves him as a substi tute for the horse, the cow, the sheep, and the goat. It is extensively employed
as a beast of draught and carriage, being broken to draw sledges, or to carry men or packages on its back. A full-grown animal can draw a weight of 300 pounds, and travel at the rate of 100 miles a day, its broad deeply cleft hoofs fitting it admirably for traveling over the broken snow. In winter the herds feed in the woods on the lichens which hang from the trees; in summer they seek the mountains in order to escapo the mosquitoes and gad-flies. In 1891 domestic reindeer were introduced into Alaska by Dr. Sheldon Jackson for the benefit of the natives who frequently suffered for food, and for purposes of transportation. In 1898 Dr Jackson, as agent of the United States Government, procured a colony of Laplanders to train the natives in the care of the reindeer.