Mammal Study 297 



elements of beauty which artists have recognized, especially those 

 of the Dutch school. The ancients also admired bovine eyes, and 

 called their most beautiful goddess the ox-eyed Juno. 



The cow's ears can be turned in any direction, and her sense of hearing 

 is keen; so is her sense of smell, aided by the moist, sensitive skin of the 

 nose; she always sniffs danger and also thus tests her food. Although a 

 cow if well kept has a sleek coat, when she is allowed to run out of doors 

 during the winter, her hair grows long and shaggy as a protection. The 

 cow walks on two toes, or as we say has a split hoof. She has two lesser 

 toes above and behind the hoofs which we call dew-claws. The part of 

 her leg which seems at first glance to be her knee, is really her wrist or 

 ankle. Although short-legged, the cow is a good runner, as those who 

 have chased her can bear witness. She can walk, gallop and has a pacing 

 trot; she is a remarkable jumper, often taking a fence like a deer; she 

 also has marvelous powers as a swimmer, a case being on record where a 

 cow swam five miles. But a cow would be illy equipped for comfort if it 

 were not for her peculiar tail, which is made after the most approved 

 pattern of fly-brushes, and is thus used. Woe betide the fly she hits with 

 it, if the blow is as efficient as that which she incidentally bestows on the 

 head of the milker. It is to get rid of flies, that the cattle, and especially 

 the buffaloes, wallow in the mud, and thus coat themselves with a fly- 

 proof armor. 



There is a fairly extensive range of emotions expressed in cattle 

 language, from the sullen bellow of the angry animal to the lowing which 

 is the call of the herd, and the mooing which is meant for the calf; and 

 there are many other bellowings and mutterings which we can partially 

 understand. 



Every herd of cows has its leader, which has won the position by fair 

 fight. Add a new cow to the herd, and there is at once a trial of strength, 

 to adjust her to her proper place; and in a herd of cows, the leader leads; 

 she goes first and no one may say her nay. In fact, each member of the 

 herd has her place in it ; and that is why it is so easy to teach cows each 

 to take her own stanchion in the stable. In a herd of forty cows which I 

 knew, each cow took her stanchion, no matter in what order she happened 

 to enter the stable. 



A cow at play is a funny sight ; her tail is lifted aloft like a pennant and 

 she kicks as lightly as if she were made of rubber. She is also a sure- 

 footed beast, as anyone can attest who has seen her running down the 

 rocky mountain sides of the Alps, at a headlong pace and never making a 

 mistake. In lying down, the cow first kneels with the front legs, or 

 rather drops on her wrists, and then the hind quarters go down, and then 

 the front follow. She does not lie flat on her side when resting, like the 

 horse when at ease, but with her legs partially under her. In getting up, 

 she rests upon her wrists and then lifts the hind quarters. 



The Usefulness of Cattle 



When man emerged from the savage state, his first step toward civili- 

 zation was domesticating wild animals and training them for his own use. 

 During the nomad stage, when tribes wandered over the face of the 

 earth, they took their cattle along. From the first, these animals have 

 been used in three capacities : First, for carrying burdens and as draught 



