284 ANECDOTES OF ANIMALS. 



then hard and serviceable ; for had they been used and 

 wounded when their covering was so full of blood, the 

 shock would have sent a rush of it back to the brain, 

 and probably have killed the deer. Before I under- 

 stood this arrangement, I have seen these animals with 

 wounded horns, and have wondered much at the large 

 flow of blood which issued from them ; and others have 

 probably done the same. When the skin is gone, the 

 antlers remain, as it were, mechanically ; and as it is one 

 of the great laws of life to throw off everything which 

 is no longer a part of itself, they obey the rule. Ab- 

 sorption takes place beneath the bony ring ; particle 

 after particle disappears, and down go the antlers, either 

 from their own weight or some accidental touch ; the 

 part where they stood is quickly covered with skin til] 

 spring returns, when a new growth commences, and a 

 larger pan- ensues. The common stag loses his antlers 

 early in the spring ; and they sprout forth again very 

 soon after. 



There is no part of the game laws of various countries 

 more stringent than that which relates to the killing 

 of deer, or then* management. Whatever concerned 

 Yenerie, as it was called, was a necessary part of a noble- 

 man's or a gentleman's education. The private histories 

 of kings are very much mixed up with the deer laws, 

 and also some of the public transactions ; for many a 

 fine has been paid, many a worthy person sent into exile, 

 and many a life lost, in consequence of their infringe- 

 ment ; and the technicalities with which the science and 

 the laws were loaded, appear in the present times most 

 absurd and tiresome. 



Deer are still to be found wild in Scotland, but most 

 rarely in England. In the north of Europe and America 



