There are various terms used to indicate the growth of the antlers. In the first place, on the brow of the young animal, two small elevations or knobs are seen to make their appearance, above each of which there soon grows a projection of cartilage, which finally assumes a bony texture. Until they become perfectly hard, these two early sprouts are protected from any external friction by a kind of velvety skin, which dries up as soon as the cartilage turns to bone. The short horns which then adorn its brow take the name of dags. At the commencement of the third year the dags fall off, but soon after they are replaced by other and longer ones, which throw out their first tines; and from this time they are considered as entitled to the name of antler. The falling off and periodical renewal of these bony projections is really a very curious phenomenon. It seems as if it ought to take several years for the horns to regain, as they do, equal or even larger dimensions than their predecessors; nevertheless, they shoot out all complete in the space of a few weeks. Still, the explanation of this fact is simple enough. The skin which covers the base of the antlers of this animal is traversed by a large number of blood vessels, which supply the phosphate of lime necessary to solidify the bony parts. 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 comes 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. Nearly all the members of this family are remarkable for the elegance of their shape, the dignity of their attitudes, the grace and vivacity of their movements, the slenderness of their limbs, and the sustained rapidity of their flight. They have a very short tail; moderately sized and pointed ears, and their eyes are clear and full of gentleness. The coat of Ruminants which shed their horns is generally brown or fawn-colored. It is composed of short, close and brittle hair, which assumes a somewhat woolly nature in the inclement regions of the extreme north, more especially in the winter season. These Ruminants live in small droves or herds in forests, on mountains or plains, and feed on leaves, buds, grass, moss, or the bark of trees, etc. They are distributed over all the surface of the globe, both in the hottest and coldest climates. The Reindeer and Elk are peculiar to the northern regions of both continents; but numerous species are, on the contrary, found in hot and temperate countries.