Family III. Cervidæ.
(Deer.)
The Deer form a numerous, widely-extended, and extremely natural Family of quadrupeds. They possess bony horns, which are very rapidly produced, fall off, and are reproduced at regular periodical intervals. This “single character," observes Mr. Bell, "of deciduous osseous horns, without any corneous covering, is at once so tangible and so important, as to leave no doubt as to the relation of any one species of the whole group." The horns are in all cases when fully developed, either spread into broad palms, irregularly indented at the edge, or divided into branches, or both; and with the exception of the Reindeer or Caribou (Rangifer) are confined to the male sex.
The form of these animals is graceful and elegant, though somewhat compact and plump. Their limbs are slender, but strong; and they are distinguished for agility and fleetness, and, in particular, for the enormous bounds which they are capable of performing. There are cavities beneath the eyes, which secrete a wax-like substance of strong odour, and which are occasionally applied to substances, apparently to test their qualities, in some manner to us unknown.
The geographical range of the Deer embraces the whole world, with the exception of Australia and Southern Africa. The species which inhabit the colder regions are marked in general by superior size, and by a greater development of the horns.
Genus Cervus. (Linn.)
In the Stags the horns are not palmated, but branched, three antlers proceeding from the main stem or beam, called respectively the brow-antler, the bez-antler, and the antler-royal, besides the snags or crown, called also the sur-royal, into which the beam divides at its termination. The males have canine teeth: the cavities beneath the eyes are large and distinct; the muzzle is naked.
The Stag, Hart, or Red-deer of our own island, (Cervus elaphus, Linn.) is the only species of the genus found in Europe, but others inhabit North
STAG.
America, and several more occur in India and the Oriental Islands. In England, the gradual disappearance of the great forests, which in former times sheltered immense numbers of wild animals, has caused the Stag to be rarely seen, except in a few of the larger parks and chaces but on the mountain-ranges of Scotland, and particularly in the vast forest of Athol, large herds yet remain. "In the glens of the Tilt and Bruar," observes Mr. Martin, "these deer are often seen in herds of upwards of a thousand and when, in a tract where there is no human abode for twenty or thirty miles, a long line of stags appears on a height with their branching horns relieved upon a clear mountain sky, the sight is very imposing." [1]
The chace of the Hart was formerly among the most highly esteemed of rural sports and a noble breed of dogs, the old Stag-hound, was devoted to this pursuit, which is now falling into disuse. In the northern portion of this island hunting has given place to deer-stalking the sportsman endeavouring with much caution to approach the herd without being perceived until he can bring down his victims with the rifle.
The horns, of which the female, called a Hind, is destitute, are shed in the spring, the old ones losing them first. During the summer they are reproduced, each year (up to a certain period of lite) larger than before. Their growth is very rapid a full-grown horn weighs about twenty-four pounds, the whole of which mass of bone is produced in about ten weeks. The process is so curious and interesting, that our readers will peruse with pleasure the following luminous description of it from the pen of Mr. W. C. L. Martin.
"The horns are seated upon an osseous peduncle or footstalk, rising from each frontal bone, at its central point of ossification; these peduncles are enveloped in skin. It is not until the spring or beginning of the second year, that the first pair of horns begin to make their appearance. At this epoch a new process commences; the skin enveloping the peduncles swells, its arteries en-
SPECIMENS OF STAG'S HORNS, IN SUCCESSIVE DEVELOPMENT.
large, tides of blood rush to the head, and the whole system experiences a fresh stimulus. The antlers are now budding; for on the top of these footstalks the arteries are depositing layers of osseous matter, particle by particle, with great rapidity: as they increase, the skin increases in an equal ratio, still covering the budding antlers; and continues so to do until they have acquired their due development and solidity. This skin is a tissue of blood-vessels, and the courses of the large arteries from the head to the end of the antlers are imprinted on the latter in long furrows, which are never obliterated. In ordinary language, the skin investing the antlers is termed velvet, being covered with a fine pile of close short hair. Suppose, then, the antlers of the young deer now duly grown, and still invested with this vascular tissue; but the process is not yet completed. While this tender velvet remains the deer can make no use of his newly-acquired weapons, which are destined to bear the brunt of many a conflict with his compeers: it must, therefore, be removed, but without giving a sudden check to the current of blood rolling through this extent of skin, lest by directing the tide to the brain, or some internal organ, death be the result. The process then is this:—as soon as the antlers are complete (according to the age of the individual), the arteries at their base, where they join the permanent footstalk (always covered with skin) begin to deposit around it a burr, or rough ring of bone, with notches through which the great arteries still pass. Gradually, however, the diameter of these openings is contracted by the deposition of additional matter; till at length the great arteries are compressed as by a ligature, and the circulation is effectually stopped. The velvet now dies for want of the vital fluid; it shrivels, dries, and peels off in shreds, the animal assisting in getting rid of it by rubbing his antlers against the trees. They are now firm, hard, and white; and the stag bears them proudly, and brandishes them in defiance of his rivals. From the burr upwards these antlers are now no longer part and parcel of the system, they are extraneous, and held only by their mechanical continuity with the footstalk on which they were placed; hence their deciduous character; for it is a vital law that the system shall throw off all parts no longer intrinsically entering into the integrity of the whole. An absorptive process soon begins to take place just beneath the burr, removing particle after particle, till at length the antlers are separated and fall by their own weight, or by the slightest touch, leaving the living end of the footstalk exposed, and slightly bleeding. This is immediately covered with a pellicle of skin, which soon thickens, and all is well. The return of spring brings with it a renewal of the whole process with renewed energy, and a finer pair of antlers branches forth." [2]
In the Muntjaks (Styloceros), a genus inhabiting the Indian islands, the peduncles on which the horns are placed, are greatly lengthened, and in the Giraffe, which seems to belong to this Family, these peduncles alone remain, surmounted by a tuft of hair. By these we are conducted to the verge of the following group, where the horns are permanent.