1876.] The American Antelope, or Prong Buck. 201 
shape to the thin, flat core, only that the new horn projects its 
anterior edge far beyond the core, thus forming the prong; and so 
the growth proceeds downward, involving but-a limited portion 
of the skin which covers the core, below which it appears to be 
in a normal condition and above which is the perfected horn, till 
finally it reaches the base of the horn, when the growth may be 
considered perfected. This occurs about the last of July or early 
in August. The progress of the growth is much slower on the 
lower part of the horn than it was on the upper part. The 
lower part of the horn, which envelops the core, is covered more 
or less with hairs which penetrate it from the skin beneath. 
These we find more abundant as we pass down the horn in our 
examination. These at last, however, nearly disappear fromthe 
surface, probably by abrasion. As soon as or before the commence 
ment of the rutting season, the horn has completed its growth 
and has become a perfect weapon, and so continues during that 
season, which so excites the males to belligerency. As this 
Passes by, the growth of the new horn commences at the top of 
the core and proceeds as before described, lifting the old horn 
from its seat and finally throwing it off. 
, < May not occupy the space requisite to describe the pecul- 
larities of the growth of the successive horns and of the cores, 
while they are growing from the kid to the fully adult, although 
they show some interesting phenomena. Suffice it to repeat that 
the first horn of the kid is shed in January; the next year it com 
pletes its growth earlier and is shed in December, and so on each 
year, the horn being shed a few weeks earlier than was its prede- 
fessor, till when the animal becomes fully adult the horn is cast 
soon after the rutting season is past. ; 
T have never had in domestication an adult female, with horns 
developed, and cannot say whether they mature and are thrown 
om at the same times as those of the males. 
; Apparently the skin covering the core of the horn is converted 
into horn. The microscope alone can reveal the truth of this, 
and by its aid the whole is made plain. The core of the horn is 
arst covered by the periosteum. Next, and without any interven- 
mg tissues, comes the skin, with its proper epidermis. The horns 
Previously described have their roots in the cellular tissue, or 
Wer stratum of the skin, as we will call it. When sufficiently 
magnified, the upper or outer part of the skin shows the uneven 
*ppearance occasioned by elevations and depressions called papille, 
“818 observed on other portions of the skin. Upon this uneven 
