36''2 * , R. J. Goss 



cortisone acetate into 4 castrated sika deer with antlers in velvet 

 failed to induce shedding of the velvet (in contrast to the effective- 

 ness of testosterone, estradiol, and norethynodrel ) . Similarly, semi- 

 weeklv injections of 250 mg of cortisone acetate into a castrated sika 

 buck with mature antlers failed to prevent shedding of the antlers, 

 which were lost 61 days after operation (Table I). 



In view of the known effects of testosterone and estrogen on 

 antlers, it would seem especiallv important to undertake studies of 

 other sex steroids. Waldo and Wislocki (1951) administered pro- 

 gesterone to a normal deer without obtaining noteworthy efiFects on 

 subsequent antler development. In another animal lacking antlers 

 because of prior castration as a fawn, this hormone failed to bring 

 about antler growth ( in contrast to the efficacv of testosterone under 

 similar circumstances). Neither did progesterone stimulate antler 

 growth in a female deer, an effect which has been achieved with 

 testosterone, as reported by Wislocki et al. ( 1947), Aub et al. ( 1949- 

 1950), and Waldo and Wislocki (1951). Progesterone has also been 

 investigated by the present author and found incapable of inducing 

 shedding of the velvet in 3 castrated sika deer given 8 weeklv doses 

 of 500 mg. 



Partlv by default and partly by analogy with other secondary 

 sexual characters, the possible existence of an antler-stimulating 

 hormone of pituitary origin has often been assumed (Wislocki, 

 1943; Tachezy, 1956). This is supported by the reports of Taft et al. 

 ( 1956 ) and Hall et al. ( 1960 ) that hypophysectomy of an 8-month- 

 old Virginia deer resulted in the failure of antlers to grow and in 

 the absence of molting during the next 13 months that the animal 

 survived. Had this deer not yet developed pedicles, it would have 

 been comparable to a castrated fawn, inasmuch as the lack of gonad- 

 al development following hypophvsectomv would have precluded 

 the development of pedicles owing to insufficient testosterone secre- 

 tion. Growth of antlers in the adult, however, is not dependent on 

 testosterone, as castration studies have shown. Since this animal 

 possessed distinct, albeit small, pedicles at the time of operation in 

 January (Taft, 1962), its subsequent inability to grow antlers was 

 probably the direct result of hypophysectomy and not of secondary 

 testicular atrophy. Taft et al. (1956) also indicated that massive 



