AT DAGGERS DRAWN 53 



that the fever of Love becomes epidemic in the spring. 

 This, however, is by no means true, at any rate in so far 

 as what we are pleased to call the " lower animals " are 

 concerned. For with many, as for example the Deer 

 and the Bats, this fever is not aroused till the time ot 

 autumn plenty. With regard to the deer, we can find 

 a reason for this. It is determined in part by the period 

 of gestation, and in part by the peculiar character of the 

 most conspicuous of the male secondary sexual characters 

 — the antlers. The deer, at any rate of the northern 

 hemisphere, carry their young about eight months. Now 

 it is important that they should make their entry into the 

 world just as the food supply is increasing and the tem- 

 perature is rising. With the summer before them the 

 young have time to gather strength for the encounter 

 with their first winter. We have a striking witness to the 

 truth of this contention in the fact that when the Indian 

 Spotted Deer, or Chital, was first introduced into Europe, 

 nearly all the fawns perished owing to having been born 

 in winter ; later, the females took to calving in spring, 

 and from thence onwards the species has held its own 

 among us. 



As touching the stags. The antlers, as everybody 

 knows, are shed annually, and their renewal entails a very 

 considerable strain on the system. As a consequence, 

 it is necessary that this period of stress should fall after 

 the trial of winter is overpast, and with the genial summer 

 before them. From the end of March, when the old 

 weapons are shed, till July, the masterful males of the 

 community wander at large, seeking seclusion and avoid- 

 ing all occasion of quarrel ; for they are not only defence- 

 less, but threatened with disaster should any accident 

 befall the growing horns, which, during their formation, 



