THE NATURALIST. 



THE GROWTH OF THE HOENS 



OF THE 



RED DEEE, 



BY J. CLARKE, LYNTON. 



Various accounts have been written respecting the 

 red deer ; but as controversies on the subject of the 

 growth of the horas arise from time to time, I am 

 induced to present the following observations, although 

 they will be found to vary very materially from what 

 has been written by others who are considered good 

 authorities. The best description, and nearest the truth 

 which T have yet met with, is in the eighth volume of 

 the Penny Cyclopaedia, published by Charles Knight 

 & Co., in the year 1838. This however is not exactly 

 correct, for, in the first place, it states that the horns 

 of a male red deer do not appear till his second year, 

 whereas they do appear in his first year as a knob, or 

 single straight horn, varying in length from one to 

 nine inches, but are not shed until he is twenty 

 months old. 



The formation of horns commences by an increase 



