The length of the leg of the reindeer, from the joint of the foot to that next the body, is two feet. From this latter joint to the top of the back is also two feet. From the shoulders to the tail two feet. From the shoulders to the horns one foot, and the same from the horns to the mouth. From the belly to the back, that is, the perpendicular measure of the trunk, is a foot and half. As the reindeer walks along, a crackling noise proceeds from its feet. This excited my curiosity; and inquiring what was supposed to be the cause, the only answer I could get from any one was, that "our Lord had made it so." I inquired further in what manner our Lord had formed the reindeer so as to produce such an effect; but to this the respondent answered nothing[60]. When I laid hold of the animal's foot, pulled it, twisted and stretched it, or pushed it backward and forward in every possible way, no crackling was produced. At length I discovered the cause in the hoofs themselves, which are hollowed at their inner side. When the animal stands on its feet, the hoofs are, of course, widely expanded, and their points most remote from each other; but every time the foot is lifted from the ground, they strike together, and cause the noise above mentioned. This I was afterwards able to imitate at pleasure, by moving the foot with my hand. [60] "Sed ad hoc Sorberius nihil." When the reindeer are driven to the place where they are accustomed to be milked, they all lie down, breathing hard and panting violently, chewing the cud all the while. The report of Scheffer therefore, that they do not ruminate, is false, and Ray guessed more correctly than Scheffer observed. When the fawn is missed by its mother, she runs in search of it with the most violent anxiety, stooping with her nose to the ground like a sow, till she finds it. She even quits the herd to which she belongs, and seeks her young at the Laplander's hut.