CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 45 



form, they will never grow again. If performed 

 after the horns have begun to grow and before they 

 have come to maturity, the horns will cease to grow, 

 and will remain during the animal's life cased in 

 velvet. If partial castration be adopted, the before- 

 mentioned results will, I believe, follow on the side 

 on which the mutilation is effected. But I cannot 

 assert that this would be the case from actual 

 experience. Not unfrequently I have found deer 

 killed by the hounds with horns deformed or wanting-. 

 I used to attribute this to injuries done to the horn 

 during their growth by fighting or otherwise, but 

 from frequent investigations and dissections I have 

 come to the conclusion, that the appearances have 

 generally been due to the shot or slug of the poacher 

 injuring the deer on the testicle before his horns are 

 shed, or during the growth of the new horn, l^he 

 accompanying is a sketch of an irregular head of a 

 deer killed by the Devon and Somerset hounds. 

 This deer had, as I discovered upon careful exami- 

 nation, received shot wounds on the testes on the side 

 where the defective horn appeared. 



I ought, however, to add, while writing on this 

 subject, that I have a very peculiar head presented to 

 me by Captain West, late the Master of the Chelten- 

 ham staghounds, and who for more than one season 



