RUMINANT QUADRUPEDS. 511 



rubbing against trees, and peel off in long 

 shreds, leaving the antler exposed, which, by 

 the continued effects of the same kind of friction, 

 soon acquires a polished surface. 



During many months the antler being suffi- 

 ciently nourished by its own interior vessels, 

 continues in a living state, and preserves its 

 connexion with the system. But at length the 

 arteries, whether from the effect of the progres- 

 sive deposition of osseous matter, or from some 

 change in the balance of the vital powers, shrink 

 and become by degrees obliterated. The antler 

 dies in consequence, and although it continues 

 to adhere to the skull, it is only as a foreign 

 body, and it is not long destined to remain thus 

 attached ; for the absorbent vessels are now ac- 

 tively employed in scooping out a groove of se- 

 paration between the living and the decayed 

 substance, at the place where the base of the 

 antler is contiguous to the frontal bone. As 

 soon as this has proceeded to a sufficient depth, 

 the adhesion ceases, and the slightest concussion 

 occasions the fall of the whole structure. After 

 the separation of the antler, the eminence of the 

 frontal bone on which it stood is left rough and 

 uneven like that of a fractured part : but the 

 surrounding integuments soon close over, and 

 cover it completely ; until the period arrives 

 when it is to be replaced by a new antler, which 

 exhibits the same succession of phenomena in 

 its growth and decay as its predecessor, only that 



