ANTLER AND FERN, 69 



an interval, till some way up the beam, or 

 main stem, a third — the tray — appears. At 

 the upper end the antler divides into three 

 points, called three on top. This is a full 

 horn ; brow, bay, tray, and three on top, or 

 six points a side for each antler — twelve for 

 the pair. Sometimes there are additional 

 points starting from the beam like the tray, 

 but not so long, making thirteen, or more, 

 points to the antlers. Besides these, little 

 knobs appear on the beam like points about 

 to grow, which are said to be ' offers,' as if 

 a point had offered to grow there. 



In reckoning an antler with these they 

 say twelve points (or more, as the case may 

 be) and an offer. Twelve is sometimes 

 exceeded, as many as fifteen, and even 

 in one case twenty points and offers having 

 been known. Not all the antlers reach 

 twelve, generally failing in the top points. 

 Often there are only two on the top 

 instead of three, and sometimes the top 

 of the antler is not divided and only gives 



