RUMINAN r gUADUUl'EDS. 451 



state of high inflammation.* Presently the skin is 

 elevated by the growth of a tubercle from the sub- 

 jacent bone: this tubercle is at first a cartilage, 

 and after it has attained a certain size, becomes 

 ossified, and grows like other osseous structures, 

 first shooting into the form of a lengthened cylinder, 

 and then dividing into branches. It is followed in 

 its elongation by the skin, which during the whole 

 time that the antler is growing is extended over it 

 in every part, forming what is called, from the deli- 

 cate investment of hair, its velvet coat. The blood-^ 

 vessels of the proper membrane of the antler, or 

 periosteum, still continuing to supply it with the 

 materials required for its growth and consolidation, 

 deposit so great an abundance of bony matter, that 

 its enlargement is exceedingly rapid. The whole 

 antler, which often weighs nearly thirty pounds, 

 has been known to be completely formed in ten 

 weeks from the time of its first appearance. There 

 is no other instance in the animal kingdom of so 

 rapid a growth ; which is the more remarkable 

 from its occurring in a small part of the system, 

 and in a bony structure. 



After the antler has attained its full size, a depo- 

 sition of osseous substance still continues at its base, 

 around the trunks of the arteries which are pro- 

 ceeding along the investing membrane of the bone 

 for the purpose of conveying nourishment. The 

 accumulation of this substance raises a ring, called 

 the burr, round that part of the antler; and by en- 

 croaching on the arteries themselves, it gradually 

 diminishes their capacity of conveying blood, and 



* These phenomena are connected with periodical changes in the 

 constitution relating to the reproductive functions. 



