HORNS, PRONGS, AND ANTLERS 301 



when the Deer lock and entangle their antlers in fight- 

 ing, as they often do, then the stump bleeds profusely 

 and causes pain. In either case a sort of plaster of 

 veins and thick skin soon grows over the wound." 



'^ These antlers are the same as teeth, tlien,"' said 

 Dodo, solemnly ; '' one of mine ti})ped over itself and 

 scarcely bled at all or hurt, but the other had to be 

 jerked with a string, and it bled lots I " 



'* Or more like leaves," said Olive. " Don't you re- 

 member the great leaves on the magnolia ; in the sum- 

 mer, they held fast to the branch and sap came out of 

 the socket, but after the first frost they dropped off 

 themselves, leaving a little dry scar? " 



''Oh, yes, I do," said Rap. '' How soon after the old 

 antler is shed does the new one grow. Doctor? You 

 said the Antelope's new horn was sprouting under the 

 old one when it fell off." 



" With the true Deer there is a time of rest as there 

 is with trees, and the antler does not begin to sprout 

 until spring, when the Deer finds fresh green food once 

 more. Tlien the veins and skin, which covered the scar 

 that the old antlers left, begin to swell like a dark- 

 colored bubble, tlie straight beam of the antler appears, 

 and after a time begins to brancli at the top. It goes 

 on growing until midsummer, tine after tine developing, 

 according to the age of the animal. As yet the whole 

 antler is covered by the film of skin-covered veins that 

 have enlarged with it and aid the inside veins in supply- 

 ing the bone food needed for such raj)id growth. Up 

 to this time the outside of the antler is rough and has 

 a furred feeling to the touch ; ' being in the velvet ' this 

 is called. 



