336 ANIMALS OF THE 



and ages, as to the stag : thus they called it the 

 first year, a hind; the second, a gyrle; and the 

 third, a liemuse; but these names at present are 

 utterly useless, since the animal no longer exists 

 among us. Even in France, where it was once 

 extremely common, it is now confined to a few 

 provinces ; and it is probable that in an age or 

 two the whole breed will be utterly extirpated. 

 M. BufFon indeed observes, that in those districts 

 where it is mostly found, it seems to maintain its 

 usual plenty, and that the balance between its de- 

 struction and increase is held pretty even ; how- 

 ever, the number in general is known to decrease, 

 for wherever cultivation takes place, the beasts of 

 nature are known to retire. Many animals that 

 once flourished in the world may now be extinct ; 

 and the descriptions of Aristotle and Pliny, though 

 taken from life, may be considered as fabulous, as 

 their archetypes are no longer existing. 



The fawns continue to follow the deer eight or 

 nine months in all; and upon separating, their 

 horns begin to appear, simple and without antlers 

 the first year, as in those of the stag kind.* These 

 they shed at the latter end of autumn, and renew 

 during the winter ; differing in this from the stag, 

 who sheds them in spring, and renews them in 

 summer. When the roebuck's head is completely 

 furnished, it rubs the horns against trees in the 

 manner of the stag, and thus strips them of the 

 rough skin and the blood vessels, which no longer 

 contribute to their nourishment and growth. 



* Buffon, vol. xii. p. 88. 



