330 THE RED DEER. 



additional one every year till their sixth, from 

 which time the animals may be considered at ma- 

 turity. It is about the end of June that the large 

 Stags have the upper part of their head somewhat 

 elongated with the new horns. About this time 

 also their heads begin to itch, and they con- 

 sequently rub them against the trees, in order to 

 break through the velvety skin which covers the 

 young shoots. At the commencement of August, 

 their head assumes that proper degree of firmness 

 and strength, which it retains through the rest of 

 the year. 



It is known that if a Stag be cut before it has 

 attained its horns, these will never afterwards shoot; 

 and, says the Marquis d'Amezaga, a French noble- 

 man of great experience in the chase, if the Stag 

 be cut when its horns are in perfection, it will al- 

 ways retain them. Some persons have conjectured 

 that slender nourishment would greatly retard the 

 growth of the horns of this animal ; and a letter 

 which M. de Buffon received from M. le Count de 

 Mellin seems to prove, that if the nourishment be 

 particularly slender, the horns will not grow at all. 

 An old Stag was killed in the grounds of this noble- 

 man in the month of June, 1783, which had no horns. 

 The wretched animal had, some time before, lost 

 part of its under jaw, by a musket shot. The wound 

 was healed; but, from the lean and uncommonly 

 emaciated appearance of the body, it was plain 

 that the animal could have received very little 



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