THE DEER TRIBE 



927 



Antlers 



known by the name of antlers. Unfortunately, so far as simplicity of classification 

 is concerned, these appendages are not present in all the members of the family, and 

 the zoologist has, therefore, to rely partly on other characteristics in defining the 

 group. Still, however, as these antlers are the most characteristic features of the 

 deer tribe as a whole, their importance cannot be overrated, and we accordingly take 

 them first into consideration. 



With regard to the meaning of the term antler, it appears that the 

 word is derived from the old French antoillcr, a corruption of the 

 late Latin antoculorum (before the eyes), which was originally applied to that 

 branch of the antler which descends over the forehead, and is now designated the 

 brow-tine. At a subsequent period the word antler seems to have been employed 

 indifferently for all the branches of these appendages, while still later it was used 

 to designate the entire appendages themselves. It is in the latter sense that it is 

 now employed, the various branches of the antlers being termed tines. 



In addition to being generally more or less branched, the most characteristic 

 feature of an antler when fully developed is that its outer surface is rugged and 

 devoid of any covering of skin or horn. In fact, for all practical purposes, an 

 antler may be regarded as a mass of dead bone borne for a certain period by a living 

 animal. Except occasionally, as an individual peculiarity, antlers are shed once 

 every year, and, save in the 

 reindeer, are present only in 

 the male sex. They arise 

 from a pair of longer or 

 shorter bony pedicles situated 

 on the skull above and behind 

 the eyes, and forming part of 

 the skull itself. 



When the antlers of a 

 stag have been recently shed 

 the above-mentioned bony 

 pedicles are completely cov- 

 ered with skin, and merely 

 form small prominences upon 

 the upper part of the fore- 

 head. In a short time, how- 

 ever, there appear on the 

 summits of these pedicles 

 small velvety knobs, which 

 are highly sensitive and 

 tender, and are supplied by 

 an unusual number of blood 

 vessels. These knobs are 



formed by a deposition of bony matter, and increase very rapidly in size. In young 

 deer and a few of the smaller forms their growth is limited to the formation of a 

 simple spike, or a spike with one fork, but in the adults of the more typical kinds 



HEAD OF RED DEER WITH NEW ANTLERS IN 

 THE "VELVET." 



