44 CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 



after they are dropped, the chances are that they 

 will be found mutilated and partially destroyed by 

 the hinds. In our country, I have never from my 

 own experience, or from reliable information, dis- 

 covered or ascertained that this curious habit prevails, 

 and as the stags generally retire to the thick and 

 deep coverts at the season of shedding the horns, it 

 is seldom that the discarded antlers are discovered. 

 ' Plinie saith that the first heade which an hart 

 beareth is dedicated and given to nature, and that 

 the foure elements do every of them take a portion. 

 Isodore is of another opinion, saying that the hart 

 doth hyde his first heade in the earthe, in such sort 

 that a man shall hardly finde it' * 



I have stated that injury to a stag has a pre- 

 judicial effect upon the horns. If a deer be seriously 

 injured by shot or otherwise on one side, the pro- 

 babilities are that a short, stunted, or otherwise 

 deformed horn, and in some cases no horn, grows on 

 that side of the head in the ensuing season. Castra- 

 tion of a stag has, what I may describe as a certain 

 effect on the growth of the horn. If the operation 

 be performed before the horns are shed, they will 

 never again be cast. If effected after the horns are 

 shed and before the new bony substance begins to 



' Art of Venerie,' p. 42. 



