206 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS 
CHAP. 
Although the horns were perfectly hard when 
I shot the animal, the ends of these tines 
were bloody, and instead of sharp terminations, 
they were round and thick, showing that a 
chronic inflammation had prevented the horns 
from hardening, and had kept the blood-vessels 
in continued action. 
As the stag becomes old, and its powers are 
on the wane, the annual horns become shorter 
and thinner, the rough exterior loses its knobby 
appearance and becomes smooth, the tines are 
short and fewer in number, and the antlers, 
which in former years were the signs of 
vigour, exhibit in their reduced appearance an 
evidence of decay. Should a stag be castrated, 
the horns cease their growth. 
The female carries about eight months, and 
has only one calf. None of the females of the 
genus Cervus have horns except the reindeer ; 
but I have had no personal experience of the 
latter species. 
It is to be deeply regretted that the red-deer 
no longer exist in the New Forest in Hampshire, 
the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, and other 
places, where in 1838 they were sufficiently 
numerous. I remember them when they were 
strictly preserved by the Crown, and the heads 
of those in the Forest of Dean were very 
superior to any that exist in Scotland. I am 
surprised that such persons who are the fortunate 
proprietors of deer - forests do not import fine 
