STAG. 281 



willow, and hazel ; the flowers and buds of the 

 cornel, c. In summer, \\lu-n they huvc great 

 choice, they prefer rye to all other grain, and the 

 black benryrbearing Alder (Khainnus i'rangula) 

 to all othir wood. The fle->h of the fawn is very 

 good : that of the female or hind not bad, but 

 of the stag is strong, and of an unpleasant fla- 

 vour : the skin and the horns are the most use- 

 ful parts of the animal ; the former making a 

 pliable and durable leather, while the latter 

 are used by cutlers and other artificers for various 

 purposes of manufacture." 



Stags in general cast or shed their horns sooner 

 or later in the month of March, in proportion to 

 their ages. At the end of June they are full- 

 grown, and the animal rubs them strongly against 

 the boughs of trees, or any convenient object, in 

 order to free them from the skin, which is now 

 become useless, and by the beginning of August 

 they begin to assume the full strength and con- 

 sistence which they retain throughout the re- 

 mainder of the year. 



It is hardly necc.vsiry to add, that the longevity 

 of the Stag, which became proverbial among the 

 ancii . in .some degree, a vulgar error ; for 



though the animal, compared \\ith many other 

 quadrupeds, may be justly considered as long- 

 lived, since it i> Mi|>|>e<l in some instances to 

 arrive at the a-e of thirty-fix e 01 forty \earx \U it 

 JN by m> means posseted of the longe\ it\ anciently 

 attributed to it, which is merely a popular preju- 



