THE ANTLERS. 171 



in thickness. When the beam has attained the height where it 

 is to throw off a brancli, it first becomes flattened at the end, and 

 then the bifurcation takes place, and the two parts grow on pari 

 passu, ever increasing in length but not in diameter, that which 

 is to be the longest growing faster than the other, and so on to 

 the completion of the external growth, so that all the parts shall 

 be completed at about the same time. The burr of the antler is 

 however an exception. It does not attain its full diameter at 

 first, but is gradually enlarged during the growth of the antler, 

 though it attains its full size before the growth of the antler is 

 completed. When this growth is finished externally, the vascu- 

 lar covering, called the velvet, and which consists of the perios- 

 teum overlaid with a black thin skin covered with a short dense 

 fur, is rubbed off by the animal against small ti'ees or other con- 

 venient objects. At the time it is thus rubbed off this outer 

 covering is quite tenacious and gorged with blood. I once saw a 

 large elk in my grounds, soon after he had commenced this work 

 of denudation. This velvet was stripped into long strings, which 

 depended from various parts of the antlers, souie reaching as 

 low as his knees. These shreds looked like red cords ; the head, 

 neck, and breast were covered with fresh blood, and the entire 

 antlers appeared smeared with blood still moist. The animal 

 appeared flushed and irritated, and soon rushed away to the 

 thicket, and when I next saw him not a vestige of the blood or 

 the shredded skin remained, but the antlers were clean and very 

 white. 



I had a vei'y tame bnck of the common species, with which I 

 desired to try the effect of castration upon the immature ant- 

 lers. I delayed the operation as long as I dared, and then, with 

 the aid of some stout men, caught him, but he thrashed about at 

 such a rate that in spite of us he hit his antlers against the 

 ground and other objects, and to my surprise I observed the skin 

 to peel off in long strings, scattering the blood with whicli it was 

 fully charged in every direction. I saw at once that it was too 

 late to execute my original purpose, and so I contented myself 

 with a careful study of the antlers and their late covering, and in 

 detaching portions still remaining. The surface of the antlers 

 seemed hard and well matured, and the points hard and sharp, 

 but I detected no interception of the blood-vessels around the 

 burr, although that part of the antler had attained its full devel- 

 opment more than a month before. There I could distinctly see 

 the unobstructed arteries, some passing through holes and others 



