HORNS OF MAMMALIA. 



629 



develops the ( brow-tyne,' b, and characterise the ( spayad,' 

 but occasionally a f royal ' also appears, as at c : the bez-tyne, 

 a 4 royal ' and short s sur-royal,' characterise the antlers, ib. d, of 

 the f staggard' or male of the fourth year: in the fifth year 

 the antlers assume the type of e, and the animal is a e stag.' 

 They go on increasing in size, length of tynes, and number of 

 those diverging from the expanded crown, ib. f, p, until the male 

 becomes a e great Hart', and may be f summed of from 10 to 

 16 points.' Rarely, however does a Red-deer of the restricted 

 6 forests ' of Britain or France, now become a e Cerf de dix cours.' 1 



But, with a range affording choice of favourite food, and under 



* ~ ~ 



other conditions of constitutional vigour, among which may be 

 reckoned the absence of that irritation of nerves caused by the 

 dread and persecution of man, the bony sexual appendages of the 

 skull have attained grand proportions. The largest which I have 

 personally examined are of a Red-deer, killed some centuries ago 

 in Wallachia. The length of each antler from burr to extreme 



o 



tip, following the curve of the beam is 5 feet 8 inches : the 

 crown divides into four primary tynes, the subdivisions or snags 

 of which, included with the ordinary tynes, give a total of up- 

 wards of 20 points : the weight of the pair is 74 Ibs. avoird. These 

 antlers are now in the possession of Earl Powerscourt, by whom 

 I have been favoured with the opportunity of inspecting them. 



In the Fallow-deer the yearling fawn s puts up ' a conical, 

 commonly slender dag, fig. 

 495, a ; so long as it is car- 

 ried the animal is a f pricket' : 

 the antler of the following 

 year is longer, and sends off 

 two tynes, ib. b ; such antlers 

 characterise the ' sorel ' : the 

 third pair, increasing in size, 

 show, in addition to the two 

 anterior tynes, an expan- 

 sion of the beam with two or 

 more short snags, ib. c ; they 

 characterise the ' sore or 

 buck of the fourth year: in 

 the fifth the antlers assume the form characteristic of the species, 

 ib. (/; and the animal is a ' buck of the first head.' In the seventh 

 year the antlers have acquired their full size and their best 



1 The foregoing terms, with those applied to the Fallow-deer, belong to ' Venery,' 

 or the Art of the Chase. 



Antlers of 2nd tooth year in the Fallow-deer. 



