l6o REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



The deer is a ruminant, and as it both parts the hoof and chews the cud, no one aside 

 from a vegetarian could take exception to its meat as an article of food. The savory, 

 digestible qualities of venison, when properly killed and skillfully cooked, are so well 

 known that further mention in this respect is unnecessary. Like all ruminants it has 

 four stomachs, the two first forming receptacles for the bruised and partially moistened 

 vegetable food, from which the animal has the power to raise portions of the undigested 

 mass to its mouth, to be more fully masticated whenever it is at rest. The animal 

 has no front teeth in its upper jaw, and crops the grass or browses in the same manner 

 as a cow when feeding. 



The male is distinguishable by its greater size and by the antlers which in various 

 forms grace its head at most seasons of the year. These horns are solid, thus creating 

 a natural distinction from the hollow-horned ruminants such as antelope and oxen. 

 The antlers, which are large and branching, are shed and renewed each year, those of 

 the Adirondack deer falling off in January. 



When the horns have dropped, or been knocked off by the action of the buck in 

 rubbing them against trees as if desirous of getting rid of them, the bony process of 

 the skull in which each antler rests is left naked and bloody for a time. These cavities 

 are soon covered with a vascular growth that is protected by a rough, dark colored 

 skin. This growth is succeeded within twenty or thirty days by a convex swelling, 

 soft and tender, through which the blood circulates somewhat freely, and which will 

 bleed if cut or injured. From these knob-like elevations the new horns originate, 

 lengthen rapidly, and branching into several prongs soon become hard and smooth. 



The full size of the antler is attained in July. Up to this time the horns are 

 covered with a soft, hairy skin or covering, and the horns are then said to be " in the 

 velvet." This peels off in ragged strips, the animal evincing an itching propensity to 

 rub its antlers against trees and limbs, by which action it denudes its horns of this 

 covering. While in the velvet the horns are soft and warm to the touch, indicating 

 still a circulation of the blood. If the horns are prematurely divested of the velvet, as 

 sometimes done by hunters, the antlers present a raw, bloody appearance. While in the 

 velvet the points and prongs have a blunt, stumpy appearance, the ends being thick and 

 rounded and not completely ossified; but having shed this coating the horns not only 

 grow smooth and hard, but the prongs and terminal branch become sharply pointed. 



The antlers vary greatly in size, in the number of prongs, and number of points. 

 A full-grown buck has generally four prongs on each antler, and quite often five or 

 more. If five, it is then known as a ten-prong buck, and its antlers are said to have 

 ten points, the terminal prong, or end of the beam, counting as one point. Sometimes 

 an antler with, say five prongs, may show a larger number of points, owing to short, 

 undeveloped prongs, or to bifurcations at the termini of the prongs. 



