NATURAL HISTORY. 



157 



deer have horns, which they shed every year, and renew again. 

 The process of renewal is most interesting. A skin, filled with 

 arteries, covers the projections on which the horns rest. This 

 skin, called the "velvet," is engaged in continually depositing 

 bone on the footstalks, which rapidly increase in size. r As the 

 budding horns increase, the velvet increases also, and the course 

 of the arteries is marked on the hom by long furrows, which 

 are never obliterated. "When the horn has reached its full 

 growth, it cannot be used, as the velvet is very tender, and 

 would bleed profusely if wounded. The velvet cannot be sud- 

 denly removed, as the blood that formed the arteries would rush 

 to the brain and destroy the animal. A ring of bone forms 



CEKYU-. 



Cimaderisis (Lai^ belonging to Canada], the Wapitt. 



round the root of each horn, leaving passages through which 

 the arteries pass. By degrees, these passages become narrow, 

 and finally close entirely, thus gradually shutting off the blood. 

 The velvet, being deprived of its nourishment, dies, a,nd is peel- 



