RAPID GROWTH OF ANTLERS 59 
with minute hairs. When fairly started the antlers of a 
healthy and vigorous elk or caribou grow at the rate of one- 
third of an inch per 
day, or even more. 
They are soft, spongy, 
warm, full of blood, 
are easily injured and 
if cut will bleed freely. 
The material of which 
they are composed, 
internally, is the same 
as that which forms 
the hair. The drain 
upon the animal’s 
vitality during this 
“DO ELK SHED THEIR 
ANTLERS?” 
An answer from the New York 
Zoological Park. 
3. April 30. 4. May 15. 
period is very severe, 
and it is not strange 
that the animal is 
then meek and spirit- 
less. 
A large pair of elk 
antlers, dropped in 
the Zoological Park 
on March 21, had 
been renewed to their 
full length by June 21, but the tips were flat and club-like. 
The first sign of the hardening process was the shrinkage of 
