y 
3 Wyvis, Inverness-shire, Scotland, shot a hornless stag in 
_ autumn of 1880. Mr. Ross then wrote: “ When I tell yo 
_I never before saw a similar stag dead, you see that it must 
_ this great forest seen hummelied stags,—that is, full-grow? 
Be : k. The stag killed the other day is a splendid animal, W 
Ing 16 stones, perfectly clean.” ` 2 
d 
732 ; Flornless Ruminants. 
throughout life. I have not discovered any instances of teff 
absence of these peculiar horns. But their structure im ther) 
earlier stages seems somewhat similar to some developments it . 
hornless deer, etc. , $ 
- Deer—In deer the hornseare solid. They have a peculiar 
manner of growth familiar to most. After the third year, whe) 
their horns are named “antlers,” they are annually shed and 
annually reproduced in a more and more complex manner til | 
they attain their limit of “royalty” and maturity. This proces) 
as will soon appear, it is of the utmost interest to notice. t 
may be termed the individual-life development, and this it wil | 
be of importance to compare with the species-life developmet | 
With a single exception of the Arctic reindeer, all female) 
are normally hornless. The exception in this case must prove 
of advantage to the female of this species. It may enable bi 
by the shovel-like processes that overhang the brow, to procu 
access to food in her snow-bound home. Abortive or ru¢ wg: 
tary horns occasionally appear in female deer. The male also 
Srequently without them. jt 
Lord Walsingham and Sir Ralph Payne-Gallway, Bart, in t 
book on “Shooting” (Badminton Library) give some inter pH 
notes on Deer by Lord Lovat, who says, “ Sometimes stags ™ K 
no horns. These are called humle stags. If naturally th T 
otherwise perfect, they will thrash any other stags of their o" 
Ae 
“4 
ie 
ier 
. 
Tare specimen. It is a ‘ hummelled’® stag. I have frequen 
without horns. I once shot a stag of that description pi 
_ Ina note in the “ Naturalist” department of Zhe Field (I £ 
I made reference to one of the hornless stags of Ben wy 
to that note Mr. Edward Ross, son of the gentleman ee 
tioned, writes thus, March 1, from The Rounds, Wimble 
