340 



UNGULATES. 



whole antler is then completely invested with a soft and vascular skin clothed 

 with exceedingly fine hair, hence termed the " velvet." When, however, the growth 

 of the antler is completed in its upper part, a deposition of bony matter takes place 

 at its base, just above the point of union with the pedicle of the skull, in the form 

 of a prominent ring. This ring, of course, constricts the blood-vessels supplying 

 the velvet, and ultimately causes them to dry up. In consequence of this cutting 

 off of the supply of blood by the ring or " burr," the velvet itself likewise dries 

 up, and is eventually removed by the animal rubbing its newly-formed antlers 

 against the stems of trees or other convenient objects. The antlers are then com- 

 plete. They attain their full development shortly before the commencement of 

 the pairing-season, and during that period they are employed as most efficient 

 weapons in the contests which then take place between the males of all the species 

 of the deer-tribe. Subsequently the living bone beneath the skin below the burr 

 of the antlers is absorbed, when the antler itself is shed, to be renewed in the 

 following season in the same manner as before. 



In the fawns the antler takes the form merely of a simple conical spike, and 

 this type is retained in certain South American species throughout life. In the 

 following year the antler gives off a branch near the base, and this form also 

 constitutes the highest development attained by some of the smaller species. In 

 the more typical deer the antlers, however, become more and more branched with 

 each succeeding year, till in the red deer they may occasionally have as many as 

 forty points. The amount of bony matter annually secreted to form the antlers of 

 the larger deer is enormous, antlers of the red deer having been obtained which 

 weighed upwards of 74 Ibs., while those of the extinct Irish deer must have 

 probably scaled 100 Ibs. during life. 



The different tines borne by the antlers of the red deer and other allied species 



have received distinct 

 names, and, as it is of 

 the highest import- 

 ance that these should 

 be clearly understood, 

 they may be referred 

 7 to at once. In the red 

 deer group ( A of the 

 accompanying figure) 

 the shaft or beam of 

 each antler carries 

 three tines on its 

 lower front edge, of 

 which the lowest (a) 

 is termed the brow- 

 tine, the second (b) the 

 bez-tine, and the third 

 (c) the trez-tine, or 



A. Bangui, or Kashmir deer; B. sambar ; C. spotted deer; D. swamp-deer; E. oomp^i +V, P TWITO! 

 Eld's deer ; a, brow-tine ; 6, bez-tine ; c, trez-tine ; d, e, anterior and posterior . ^ 



surroyals. After Blanford and Forsyth. tine. The Summit of 



LEFT ANTLERS OF ASIATIC DEER. 



