CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 37 



duced in so short a space of time. Yet. so it is ; 

 and the mode by which the Ahnighty has provided 

 for the annual renewing of the chiefest ornament 

 and most powerful weapon of offence, of the 

 monarch of the wilds, is so succinctly and accurately 

 described by Dr Bell, that I venture to transcribe 

 the passage in which he alludes to it : — 



' The growth of the horn is an astonishing instance 

 of the rapidity of production of bone under particular 

 circumstances, and unparalleled in its extent in so 

 short a period. During its growth the branches of 

 the external carotid arteries, which lend their 

 assistance in the formation, are considerably en- 

 larged for the purpose of carrying the great flow 

 of blood required for the production of bone. It 

 extends by means of the velvet (a plexus of blood 

 vessels) all over the external parts of the horn ; it 

 is quite soft and highly vascular, so that the slightest 

 injury causes blood to flow freely, and the horn, 

 when this occurs, to be imperfectly developed.' 



The period at which stags shed their horns is the 

 spring, and generally about the middle or latter end 

 of April. The exact time depends in some measure 

 on the age of the stag and the temperature of the 

 winter and early spring. Should the winter be cold 

 and the spring protracted, I have known the stags 



