28 THE ANTELOPE OF AMERICA. 



ifest during the growth and the shedding of the horn of the ante- 

 lope and will then proceed to examine more minutely the origin 

 and process of that growth. 



Although, as before shown, both male and female antelopes 

 have horns, we can only distinctly detect even the rudiments of 

 the horns on the male at the time of its birth. It then may be 

 felt as a slight protuberance on the skull. This rapidly increases 

 in size, and when about four months old the horn breaks through 

 the skin, and a horny knob appears. At this time it is not 

 firmly set upon the core, which as yet is but rudimentary, and the 

 little horn may be moved about appreciably. After this the core 

 grows pretty rapidly, and soon fixes the horn more firmly in its 

 position. On an early kid, in my grounds, this little horn ma- 

 tured and was cast off on the second day of January, when I 

 found it quite tlirown off the core, and suspended by a slight fibre 

 on one side, and so I saved it. The next day I found the other 

 horn in the same condition, which I likewise saved. At this 

 time the horn was fully one inch long. 



The new horn had already commenced its growth, and the tip 

 was already hardened into perfect horn, and was extended ap- 

 preciably above the core, which at that time was less' tlian nine 

 lines long. The new horns grew very rapidly through the win- 

 ter, so that in six weeks the cores had more than doubled in 

 length, and the horns were extended more than an inch above 

 the cores, and the hardened, perfected horns had extended down 

 to near tlie top of the cores. 



But tliis process is better observed on the adult males. This 

 law seems to govern the times of shedding the horns of the ante- 

 lope, — the older the animal, the earlier the horn matures, and 

 the sooner it is cast. On old bucks the horn is shed in Octo- 

 ber, while on the eai-ly kids it is shed in January, and still later 

 on later kids, or else it is carried over till the next year. A late 

 kid in my grounds on the first of December, the horn was not 

 more than a quarter of an inch above the skin. It grew slowly 

 all winter, and till the time of its death in May following. 



Let us observe the horn of the adult male antelope, which is 

 shed in October. If we make our examination so soon as the horn 

 is cast off, we can readily understand the process by which it is 

 removed. By looking into the cavity of the cast-off horn, we 

 shall see that it extends but about half way its length, or a little 

 way above the prong ; and we shall also see that it contains a 

 large number of coarse lightish-colored hairs, all of which are 



