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In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed... No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people. Preface to 1828 Dictionary
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ELK, n. [L. alce, alces.] A quadruped of the Cervine genus, with palmated horns, and a fleshy protuberance on the throat. The neck is short, with a short, thick, upright mane; the eyes are small; the ears long, broad and slouching; and the upper lip hangs over the under lip. It is the largest of the deer kind, being seventeen hands high and weighing twelve hundred pounds. It is found in the northern regions of Europe, Asia and America. In the latter country it is usually called Moose, from the Indian name musu.
A large deer, of several species. The
European elk (Alces machlis or Cervus alces) is closely
allied to the American moose. The American elk, or wapiti (Cervus
Canadensis), is closely related to the European stag. See
Moose, and Wapiti.
Irish elk (Paleon.), a large, extinct, Quaternary deer (Cervus giganteus) with widely spreading antlers. Its remains have been found beneath the peat of swamps in Ireland and England. See Illustration in Appendix; also Illustration of Antler. -- Cape elk (Zoöl.), the eland. The European wild or whistling swan
(Cygnus ferus).
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