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DEER. (Cervws.) Among the various 

 animals which embellish the forests and 

 nimate the solitudes of nature, none are 

 superior to the cervine race. These well- 

 known ruminants are distinguished from 

 the antelopes by their horns, which are com- 

 posed of a bony substance, caducous, or fall- 

 ing off annually, and again renewed of a 

 larger size than in the preceding year. The 

 fonn of these is various. Sometimes they 



spread into broad palms, which Bend out 

 sharp snags around their outer edges ; some- 

 times they divide fantastically into branches, 

 some of which project over the forehead, 

 whilst others are reared upward in the air, 

 or they may be so reclined backwards, that 

 the animal seems almost forced to carry its 

 head in a stiff, erect posture : yet, in what- 

 ever way they grow, they appear to give an 

 air of grandeur to the animal. It may, then, 

 speaking in general terms, be said, that the 

 easy elegance of their form, the lightness of 

 their motions, their size, their strength, their 

 flcetness, and the extraordinary develop- 

 ment of those branching horns, which seem 

 fully as much intended for ornament as de- 

 fence, all contribute towards placing them 

 in the foremost rank of quadrupeds. 



RED DEER, or STAG. (Cervus elapMs.') 

 Before we speak of the habits &c. of this 

 noble animal, it will be we_ll to enter into a 

 few particulars relative to its distinguishing 

 characteristic, the horns. The first year the 

 stag has properly no horns, but only a kind 

 of corneous excrescence, short, rough, and 

 covered with a thin hairy skin ; the second 

 year the horns are single and straight ; the 

 third year they have two antlers ; the fourth, 

 three; the fifth, four; and the sixth, five. 

 When arrived at the sixth year, the antlers 

 do not always increase ; and though the 

 number may amount to six or seven on each 

 side, the Stag's age is then estimated rather 

 from the size and the thickness of the branch 

 that sustains them, than from their number. 



The proportional length, direction, and cur- 

 vature of the antlers vary ; and it often 

 happens that there is one more or less on the 



RBD DBBR MATJ5. (OERVU8 BL4.PHUS ) 



one side than on the other : the horns also 

 become larger, the superficial furrows more 

 marked, and the burr is more projecting. 

 Notwithstanding their magnitude, these 

 horns are annually shed in the spring of the 

 year, and succeeded by new ones. Of the 

 old horns, which are of a solid, firm texture, 

 a variety of domestic articles are made ; but 

 wliile young they are remarkably soft and 



(OERVUS BLAPHU8.) 



tender ; and the animal, as if conscious of 

 its want of power, instantly retires from the 

 rest of the herd, and, hiding itself in thick- 

 ets and unfrequented places, ventures abroad 

 for the sake of pasture only at night. It is 

 nearly three months before the new horns 

 attain their full growth and solidity ; and 

 then, by rubbing them against the boughs of 

 trees, they at length clear them of that co- 

 vering of skin, which had before contributed 

 to their growth and nourishment. "The 

 growth of the horns," says Mr. Bell, " is an 

 astonishing instance of the rapidity of the 

 production of Ixjne under particular circum- 

 stances, and is certainly unparalleled in 

 its extent in so short a period of time. 

 A full grown Stag's horn probably weighs 



