340 
UNGULATES. 
whole antler is then completely invested with a soft and vascular skin clothed 
with exceedingly fine hair, hence termed the “ velvet.” When, however, the growth 
of the antler is completed in its upper part, a deposition of bony matter takes place 
at its base, just above the point of union with the pedicle of the skull, in the form 
of a prominent ring. This ring, of course, constricts the blood-vessels supplying 
the velvet, and ultimately causes them to dry up. In consequence of this cutting 
off of the supply of blood by the ring or “ burr,” the velvet itself likewise dries 
up, and is eventually removed by the animal rubbing its newly-formed antlers 
against the stems of trees or other convenient objects. The antlers are then com¬ 
plete. They attain their full development shortly before the commencement of 
the pairing-season, and during that period they are employed as most efficient 
weapons in the contests which then take place between the males of all the species 
of the deer-tribe. Subsequently the living bone beneath the skin below the burr 
of the antlers is absorbed, when the antler itself is shed, to be renewed in the 
following season in the same manner as before. 
In the fawns the antler takes the form merely of a simple conical spike, and 
this type is retained in certain South American species throughout life. In the 
following year the antler gives off a branch near the base, and this form also 
constitutes the highest development attained by some of the smaller species. In 
the more typical deer the antlers, however, become more and more branched with 
each succeeding year, till in the red deer they may occasionally have as many as 
forty points. The amount of bony matter annually secreted to form the antlers of 
the larger deer is enormous, antlers of the red deer having been obtained which 
weighed upwards of 74 lbs., while those of the extinct Irish deer must have 
probably scaled 100 lbs. during life. 
The different tines borne by the antlers of the red deer and other allied species 
have received distinct 
names, and, as it is of 
the highest import¬ 
ance that these should 
be clearly understood, 
they may be referred 
to at once. In the red 
deer group (A of the 
accompanying figure) 
the shaft or beam of 
each antler carries 
three tines on its 
lower front edge, of 
which the lowest (a) 
is termed the brow- 
tine, the second ( b ) the 
bez-tine, and the third 
(c) the trez-tine, or 
A. Hangul, or Kashmir deer \ B. sambar; C. spotted deer; D. swamp-deer ; E. 
Eld’s deer ; a, brow-tine ; b, bez-tine ; c, trez-tine ; d, e, anterior and posterior . 6 r ®y ai 
surroyals.—After Blanford and Forsyth. tine. The Summit of 
LEFT ANTLERS OF ASIATIC DEER. 
