i68 Darivin and Ronia)i€s dealt with. 



limp and practically dies off for a while — only at the 

 proper season to renew his brilliancy and, as it were, 

 his youth. 



There has been a great deal of discussion about 

 the cause or causes of the malformations of horns in 

 deer. Mr. Tom Speedy having pointed out that, 

 after maturity in the twelfth or thirteenth year, the 

 antlers gradually fall off in size and appearance, he 

 proceeds to account for the excessive size of the 

 antlers in certain breeds or herds by saying that no 

 doubt high feeding is the cause, as they are never 

 met with so large in the wild state. He also con- 

 cludes that the malformation of antlers, single or 

 unicorn in some cases, at different angles in others, 

 and in yet others, one antler growing normally and 

 the other growing downward, may generally be trace- 

 able to close breeding or to former wounds. We 

 should say that the former is the cause, pointing to 

 modification of the sexual organs. It is well known 

 that in castrated animals the horns wholly cease to 

 appear or are of the most rudimentary character. 



Mr. Parker Gilmore found among the stags of 

 Vancouver Island many with malformed antlers, and 

 this he accepted as an unquestionable proof that their 

 surroundings were not exactly such as nature intended 

 them to enjoy."- Questions about deer and bearings 

 of points in their life-history here, will be treated 

 more fully by me in another volume. We, for our 

 part, have no doubt that the unsuitability of the sur- 

 roundings directly affected the sexual organs of which 

 the malformation of the horns was but a sign. 

 Haeckel has noticed a peculiar point about the 



* Speedy, p. 259. 



