Antler

“ The two antlers described under this name were derived from Ardé, Puy de Dome, and are, so far as I know, without any figures or descriptions, the names merely being those attached to the specimens in the British Museum by their discoverer, M. Bravard. The name is selected because the antler to which it belongs is in a better state of preservation than the other, which is crushed and flattened.
Definition.—The antler of Cervus cylindroceros (fig. 11) is, like those of C. etueriarum, possessed of three tynes and a sigmoid curve; it is round and grooved. ”

“ Whether this kind of antler belongs to a well-marked variety of Fallow Deer or to a closely-allied species, I will not offer an opinion. It seems, however, safer to follow Professors Lartet, Gaudry, and most of the naturalists since the days of Cuvier, in keeping the fossil separate from the living forms, none of which present, so far as I know, a similar variation of antler. ”

“ When the first or a new antler is about to be formed, the summits of these pedicles become tender, and bear small velvet-like knobs, which have a high temperature, and are supplied by an extra quantity of blood, which commences to deposit bony matter. This deposition of bony matter progresses very rapidly, and although in young deer and the adults of some species the resulting antler merely forms a simple spike, or a single fork, in full-grown individuals of the majority it assumes a more or less complexly branched structure. ”

“ It is, of course, easy for anyone to classify the flat antler as belonging to one species and the round to another; but the value of the determination depends upon the number of species living at the same time in the same place, possessed respectively of round and flattened antlers. In the pleistocene and prehistoric ages, there were four animals which had portions of their antlers flattened—the Reindeer, Irish Elk, true Elk, and Stag—to which, according to Dr. Jeitteles, must be added the Fallow Deer. ”

“ Tools of Antler and Bone
A problematical artifact is the base of an elk (Cervus canadensis) antler shown in Fig. 55. The working end of this is a tapering blade which ends in a flat chisel-like tool about 3⁄4 inch broad.
Flakers (Fig. 55)
There are four fragments of horn that appear to have been flakers. Two are pointed implements 11⁄4 inches long, two are fragments that lack tips. These are about 31⁄2 inches long. All are of deer antler (Odocoileus hemionus) , and show various gouges and worn places.
One bone 71⁄4 inches long also appears to have been used as a flaker. ”

“ The antlers of the red deer are very complex. “In the spring of the year following its birth the antlers are nothing more than straight, conical, and unbranched ‘beams,’ the animal being then known as a ‘brocket.’ In the following spring the antler has, besides the ‘beam,’ a small branch from its base, directed forwards, known as the ‘brow antler’ ”

“ A few antler arrow-points have been found in Wisconsin. These are similar to those recovered in Ohio during the recent explorations of Dr. W. C. Mills. In the H. P. Hamilton collection is a portion of an antler which is ornamented with incised designs. It was found in the city of Manitowoc. In the same collection is a small human effigy carved from a piece of antler. Other antler objects found in Wisconsin include awls, a pendant, a tube, and several articles the exact function of which is still undetermined. ”

“ Only a single perfect palm was found, while, on the other hand, the fragments were found by hundreds. As the chief offsets or 'tynes' of a strong antler could apparently be utilised probably as handles for flint implements, they were in general separated from the main antler somewhat more carefully, by making with a flint saw incisions on the opposite sides of the horn down to the porous part, and then breaking them off. A large number of specimens of this kind were found. ”

“ Antler is besides easily obtained, not only when the deer is killed for food, but by picking up shed antlers on the tundra, and is consequently employed for many purposes. The haft usually has a knob at the tip to keep the hand from slipping, and the grip is sometimes roughened with cross cuts or wound with thong. There are usually as many holes for the lashing as there are eyes in the head, though there are two holes when the head has only one large eye. ”

“ They were a handsome pair, spreading and branching very gracefully over his forehead, and bearing four tines to each beam. It is a mistake to suppose, as so many people do, that the number of tines on each antler invariably corresponds to the number of years that its owner has lived; but it very often does, especially before he has passed the prime of life.
No sooner were the antlers finished than the Buck began to grow fat. He had been eating heartily for months, but he hadn't been able to put much flesh on his ribs as long as he had that big, bony growth to feed. ”

“ The difference between these antlers is so very slight that I feel inclined to view their possessors as homologous species, using the term so happily employed by Dr. Heer to denote a lineal ancestry. In the Dicroceros of the Middle Miocenes we find the antler at a minimum of development, consisting merely of a forked crown springing directly from the burr, while in the Deer of the Upper Miocene the forked crown is separated from the burr by a short beam ”

“ The first antler-bearing Deer which appears in the geological record is the Dicroceros elegans (Lartet) [3] of the Middle Miocene of Sansan and Simorre, in which the antler is composed of a simple fork springing close to the burr, and crowning the summit of a long and slender pedicle like that of the Muntjak. Similar antlers have been met with in the Canton of St. ”

“ Each minute cell, working for the general good, takes up from the nutrient blood the special materials it requires; elaborates the crude bone-stuff, at first soft as wax, but ere long to become hard as stone; and then, having done its work, having added its special morsel to the fabric of the antler, remains embedded and immured, buried beneath the bone-products of its successors or descendants. No hive of bees is busier or more replete with active life than [16] the antler of a stag as it grows beneath the soft, warm velvet. ”

“ Any person who visits a zoological garden in midsummer will see that the old antlers have dropped off bodily, just below the burr, and that new antlers, covered with hair, soft, full of blood, and with club-like “points,” have sprung up like mushrooms in place of the old ones. In supplying the great drain on the system necessary to support this remarkable growth, the Elk grows thin, and the fear of hurting his tender young antlers makes him quite timid and inoffensive. He is no longer the tyrant of the herd, and a constant menace to his keepers. ”

“ The incident of Bighorn making fun of the bone dagger is introduced to illustrate the conservative tendency which is still present in society, a tendency less powerful now than in early times, yet strong enough to keep many people out of sympathy with the forces which work for progress.
Let the children examine a real antler, if possible, and notice its fitness for being made into a variety of tools and weapons. If no antler can be found let them examine the picture of one, so as to determine what part of it is used in making a dagger, a hammer, a baton, a tent peg, and an awl. ”

“ The Eskimos make odd use of an antler as a brake for a sleigh, to prevent the harnessed dogs from running after any Caribou they may sight; on other occasions it retards the sleigh in descending a hill. Such an antler, that I found at the Windy River post, is notched near the base; a rope or thong, 2 or 3 feet in length, is fastened at one end to this notch, and at the other to the side of the sleigh. To apply the brake, the driver simply presses down the points of the antler into the snow or ice. ”

“ Up to the time when the antler has acquired the full growth which it is to attain in each year, this skin continues to receive the requisite flow of blood; it retains, in fact, its living action. But as soon as the growth is complete, and it becomes bony, the burrs increase in size, strangulate the vessels, and stop the flow of the alimentary fluid. This skin then withers and 147comes away from the antler, which, thus laid bare and no longer receiving nourishment, gradually wastes away or decays, and falls off at the end of a few months, again making its appearance in the approaching season. ”

“ The odour of either horn, when burnt, drives away serpents and detects epilepsy. They also bear the marks of their age on the horns, every year, up to the sixth,1819 a fresh antler being added; after which period the horns are renewed in the same state, so that by means of them their age cannot be ascertained. Their old age, however, is indicated by their teeth, for then they have only a few, or none at all; and we then no longer perceive, at the base of their horns, antlers projecting from the front of the forehead, as is usually the case with the animal when young. ”

“ A horn is a hollow sheath, growing over a bony core, and except in the case of the prong-horned antelope, is never shed. Horns are worn by both sexes of all bison, buffaloes, cattle, antelope, sheep, and goats.
An antler is of solid bone throughout, growing from the skull; it is shed every year close to the skull, and quickly renewed. Usually antlers have several branches. They are worn by nearly all male members of the Deer Family—moose, elk, caribou, deer, etc., and also by the female caribou. The prongs on an antler are no index of the wearer’s age. ”

“ The new antlers push off the old ones, and when they appear they resemble scars on the animal’s forehead, but soon take the form of two black-velvet buttons about the size of silver dollars. As they continue to grow they gain in length only, and by the first of July they have attained their full size. If you could examine them now, you would find them soft, rather flexible, nourished by blood, and incased in a thick, tough skin covered with velvety fur. The antlers are now
American Elk, or Wapiti, antlers full-grown. ”

“ In the first illustration the animal has just lost one of its antlers, and fright and pain cause it to throw its head upward and become disturbed and uneasy. The remaining antler draws down one side of the head and is very inconvenient for the animal. The remaining antler becomes soon detached from its base, and the deer turns--as if ashamed of having lost its ornament and weapon--lowers its head, and sorrowfully moves to the adjoining thicket, where it hides. A friend once observed a deer losing its antlers, but the circumstances were somewhat different. ”

“ He shows, in the first place, the substantial identity of structure between the antlers and the ordinary bones; in fact, the antlers are external bones, of very rapid growth, which mature speedily, die, and are soon thrown off; while all other bones are very slow of growth, and persist through life.
The process of growth is as follows: The old antler having fallen off, the blood-vessels of the periosteum at its butt are ruptured, producing a copious flow of blood. Next, the periosteum grows over the cavity in the top of the pedicel, or process of the skull on which the antler stood. ”

“ The gloom and splendour of the mountains brooded over the big log house.
IN THE ALTAI: KIRGHIZ TOMBS NEAR MEDVEDKA
On the veranda were a whole series of green, many-branching antlers just sawn away from heads of marals—an unusual sight in any cottage. They were velvety and hairy; if you touched them you found them soft. Not the antlers hunters bring home and hang on their walls, nothing hard or sharp or fearsome, but gentle, rounded and smooth-knobbed, unripened [223] antlers, sawn off from a stag’s head with a saw. ”

“ When bounding along through the forest, his beautifully spotted skin flashing through the dark green foliage, his antlers laid back over his withers, he looks the very embodiment of grace and swiftness. He is very timid, and not easily stalked. ”

“ Upon one of them, found at a depth of 6 meters (20 feet) , there are only two animals with antlers in the circle round the sun, and at the end of each antler, and connected with it, is an exceedingly curious sign resembling a large candlestick or censer, which is certainly an especially important symbol, for it is repeatedly found here standing alone. [137] Upon a second, there is below a rough representation of a man who seems to be praying, for he has both arms raised towards heaven; this position reminds us forcibly of the two uplifted arms of the owl-faced vases ”

“ And, as it turned out, the scent grew cold again, and the doe never heard that eager patter of hoofs hurrying down the runway behind her.
The bucks came together like two battering-rams, with a great clatter and clash of antlers, but after the first shock the fight seemed little more than a pushing-match. Each one was constantly trying to catch the other off his guard and thrust a point into his flesh, but they never succeeded. A pair of widely branching antlers is as useful in warding off blows as in delivering them. ”

“ Deer have large eye-pits, but no groin-pits; feet-pits in all four, or sometimes only in the hind feet. The female has four mammæ.
At the time of reproduction of the antlers a strong determination of blood to the head takes place, enlarging the vessels, and a fibro-cartilaginous substance is formed, which grows rapidly, and takes the form of the antler of the species. The horns in their early stage are soft and full of blood-vessels on the surface, covered with a delicate skin, with fine close-set hairs commonly called the velvet. ”