MAMMALS. 45 



and Gamelopardalidce (GiraflFes), but also the large 

 family of Cavicornia, to which, amongst others, the 

 ox, sheep, and goat belong, will be passed over in this 

 book. I need only mention the — 



Family: Cervidae (Beer Family). 



Deer have branched horns, known as antlers. With 

 the solitary exception of the reindeer, they are only 

 found in the males. They are bony structures 

 borne upon projecting knobs (horn cores) of the 



i z 3 ^ S 



Fig. 27.— Development of Roebuck Antlers. 



frontal lines. After each rutting-season the antlers 

 are cast, new ones, clothed at first with a soft skin 

 [the " velvet "], are developed. Before the next 

 rutting-season the dermal part of the skin unites 

 firmly with the underlying antler, and becomes 

 itself ossified, while the epidermis shrivels up, partly 

 peels off' in bits, and is partly rubbed off" by the 

 animal against tree trunks. If the conditions of life 

 (food, weather) are favourable, the animal acquires a 

 new side branch to each antler every year, at any 

 rate, so long as he continues to get bigger and stronger. 

 The one-year-old male (" brocket ") has therefore a 

 simple unbranched antler, the two-year-old (•'spayad ") 



