222 



BRANCH VERTEBRATA. 



The Llama, representing the camel of the New World, 

 is of small size and has no humps. To adapt it to its 

 home in the Andes, its cushioned toes are completely 

 divided, and its nails project so as to hook downward, 

 and give it a secure hold among the crags. 



FIG. 384 



FIG. 385. 



Au che' rii a lid' ma. Llama. 



Foot of Llama. 



The Deer family have solid, deciduous horns, which 

 are cast annually, and at each renewal grow larger and 

 more branching. In the adult, the horns first appear as 

 cartilaginous outgrowths, and remain covered by a vel- 

 vety skin. This is supplied with blood-vessels, until the 

 ultimate branches are formed. Ossification now begins, 

 and the arteries are constricted by a circular bur of bone 

 round the base of each horn, which in its growth gradu- 

 ally shuts off the blood, that it may not by a sudden 

 stoppage rush to the brain and produce apoplexy. The 

 velvet, now deprived of its nourishment, soon withers, 

 and is rubbed off, leaving the white horn beneath. 



