102 
THE STORY OF THE DEER. 
Antlers of the common red deer have been known to weigh nearly ioo 
pounds, while those of the Irish deer exceed that figure. 
The red deer is the largest of our deer. It bears different names according 
to the size of its horns, which increase year by year. All the male deer have 
horns, which they shed every year, and renew again. The process of renewal 
is most interesting. A skin, filled with arteries, covers the projections on 
which the horns rest. This skin, called the “velvet,” is engaged in continually 
depositing bone on the footstalks, which rapidly increase in size. As the bud¬ 
ding horns increase the velvet increases also, and the course of the arteries is 
FATAL DUEL BETWEEN RED DEER STAGS. 
marked on the horn by long furrows, which are never obliterated. When the 
horn has reached its full growth it can not be at once used, as the velvet is 
very tender, and would bleed profusely if wounded. The velvet cannot be 
suddenly removed, as the blood that formed the arteries would rush to> the brain 
and destroy the animal. A ring of bone forms round the root of each horn, 
leaving passages through which the arteries pass. By degrees, these passages 
become narrow, and finally close entirely, thus gradually shutting off the 
blood. The velvet, being deprived of its nourishment, dies and is peeled off by 
the deer, by rubbing against a tree, leaving the white hard horn beneath. 
