ZOOLOGY. 353 



Africa. It is supposed that the " zimb," mentioned by Bruce, is the 

 same as the Tsetse. 



The most curious fact about this insect is, that while its sting is 

 harmless to man and wild animals, it is certain destruction to horses, 

 cattle, sheep, dogs, or any other domesticated brute, except goats and 

 young calves. Several instances are known where ail the cattle, 

 "horses and dogs of a traveller have been swept off by it. A horse 

 was taken among them by a doubter ; about fifty settled on him, and 

 immediately he began to lose flesh ; in eleven days he was dead. 

 When an ox is bitten, at once the countenance stares, the eyes run, 

 he loses strength, swells under the jaw, staggers, grows blind, and 

 becomes emaciated, which continues, sometimes, for months, when 

 death ensues. Upon removing the skin, a great many air bubbles 

 are found on the surface of the body, under the cellular membrane. 

 The fat is of an oily, glary consistence, and of a greenish yellow 

 color. The heart is soft and pale, lungs and liver diseased, and the 

 gall bladder unusually distended with bile. The muscles are flabby, 

 the blood contains very little coloring matter, and not a pailful is 

 found in the body. 



There is no such thing as becoming accustomed to them, and the 

 natives, in localities where they abound, are unable to raise a single 

 domestic animal. In these same districts, elephants buffaloes, zebras, 

 gnus, &c., live unaffected by the Tsetse. A dog fed on the meat of 

 game, lives ; one reared on milk, falls *a victim to them. It is said 

 that game meat is possessed of a peculiar acid found but sparingly in 

 tame animals ; perhaps this may be the antiseptic. But then why do 

 calves, who subsist on milk, escape ? Sometimes an entire herd of 

 cattle is cut off* excepting the calves, and these follow likewise, if 

 kept in the region for a year or two." 



FATTENING CATTLE IX STALLS AND IX SHEDS. 



Ax experiment has been made in Scotland to try the comparative 

 value of these two modes of fattening cattle. Ten animals having 

 been chosen were divided as equally as possible ; five were put in a shel- 

 tered court with plenty of shed room, and the others into boxes. At 

 the beginning of October it w T as soon found that those in the court eat 

 134 pounds per day, while those in the boxes eat only 112 pounds, or 

 22 pounds less, thus proving that a certain degree of warmth is 

 equivalent to food. After seven months, toward the end of April, 

 they were all slaughtered, and the following results were found : 



Cattle fed in boxes Beef 3,262 Ibs. Tallow 6,678 Ibs. 



Cattle fed in courts Beef 3,416 Ibs. Tallow 6,054 Ibs. 



These results show the superiority of feeding in boxes. It is thought 

 that in a less mild winter they would have been more striking. In the 

 course of the experiment the thermometer rose to 50 degrees, and the 

 cattle under cover seemed to suffer from being too warm. It was 

 found a trifling expense to comb them regularly, which speedily pro- 

 duced a very marked improvement. 



