CAST-OFF ANTLERS. 89 



growth being perceptible in a few hours. They are, 

 of course, very soft and tender, and during this period 

 the animal suffers much from the stings of insects and 

 from contact with any hard substance, such as trees, 

 rocks, or bushes. 



As soon as the antlers are finally complete — about 

 the end of June — they begin to harden rapidly. The 

 sensitive nerves lose their vitalitv, the velvet is fraved 

 off by friction against bushes, and the animal possesses 

 a perfectly-formed, insensible weapon. 



Not only to myself, but to other hunters it has been 

 a mystery as to what becomes of the cast-off antlers of 

 the deer. Although for many years I hunted in the 

 forests of Texas, where the forests were well stocked 

 with game, yet I very rarely found any. Far more fre- 

 quently I came across some head and antlers, which in 

 true hunter fashion had been severed from the animal 

 and thrown into the fork of a tree. The only way in 

 which I could account for this unusual circumstance 

 was that sunshine and rain, together with constant 

 contact with the earth, rendered them soft and friable, 

 and that they were in that vstate devoured by the deer 

 themselves, or by other wild cattle, for the sake of 

 some saline particles which they might possess. 



Another peculiarity of the deer is worthy of notice. 

 About two inches above the hoofs, just where the cleft 

 in the skin ends, there will be found a small hollow, 

 partly filled with a waxy secretion of a yellow colour 



