CORPORATE BEHAVIOUR 17 
appearance at a short distance from the base. This is the 
“burr,” which divides the antler into a short “pedicel” next 
the skull, and the “beam” with its branches above. The 
circulation in the blood-vessels of the beam now begins to 
languish, and the velvet dies and peels off, leaving the hard, 
Fic. 5.—Wapiti with velvet shredding off. 
bony substance exposed. Then is the time for fighting, when 
the stags challenge each other to single combat, while the 
hinds stand timidly by. But when the period of battle is over, 
and the wars and loves of the year are past, the bone beneath 
the burr begins to be eaten away, through the activity of 
certain large bone-absorbing cells, and, the base of attachment 
C 
