The North American Cervidce. 133 



with ordinary hairy skin, except upon the upper flat circular surface 

 of its extremity, on which the horn of the preceding year was sup- 

 ported. Here the skin is naked and black. In the spring, usually 

 about May 1, the time varying somewhat in the different species, 

 and even in different individuals of the same species, this flat surface 

 becomes convex, gradually swells outward, becomes longer, and soon 

 takes the shape of a short spike. At first, it is straight and swollen 

 and is shaped somewhat like a cucumber. It is now little more than 

 a mass of coagulated blood inclosed in a sack of thin skin, which is 

 covered by a coat of fine brown hair called "velvet," and during the 

 first part of its growth there is but little trace of bony structure 

 apparent in it. The horn is soft to the touch, and may be somewhat 

 compressed in the hand or bent a little in any direction. It is hot 

 and feverish, too, and the pulsation of the arteries which supply it 

 with blood may be felt. It is also extremely sensitive and tender, 

 and the deer is extremely careful to avoid striking it against the 

 trees or undergrowth near which he may pass. 



When the point is reached at which the first tine is to be put off, 

 the extremity of the growing horn becomes somewhat flattened 

 from side to side and then divides, the tine at first being quite small, 

 and increasing in length much more gradually than the beam. The 

 same thing takes place with each of the succeeding branches, so that 

 the beam and all the tines attain their full length at the same time. 

 During the whole period of their growth, the horns are abundantly 

 supplied with blood-vessels, three distinct sets of arteries, according 

 to Caton, passing up through and without the pedicel. The horns 

 grow with very great rapidity, usually attaining their full size in 

 about three months. Huxley, in speaking of this marvelously rapid 

 growth, refers to a pair of antlers, weighing seventy-two pounds, 

 which were produced in ten weeks. As might be imagined, the pro- 

 duction of such a mass of osseous tissue in so short a time is a severe 

 drain upon the animal's system, and in most species the males at this 

 time become very thin and weak. During the growth of the horn 

 a circular notched and jagged ridge makes its appearance at the 

 base of the horn just above the pedicel. This "burr" serves in a 

 measure to protect the blood-vessels which pass along beneath the 

 skin of the pedicel, and these take their way through it and between 

 its projections, and thence along the channels in the surface of the 



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