118 THIRTIETH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



man who had been drafted. The man was a fine looking 

 specimen but he rejected him, I asked him. "Why did you re- 

 ject that man?" and he replied, "He has no constitution." 

 He stated that strength of build was no indication of consti- 

 tution. 



The man was stripped and the doctor said : " Look at his 

 abdomen." I saw there was something lacking-, I didn't 

 know what. He said tome: " Here is the finest indication 

 of constitution. Constitution is implanted by the mother and 

 if the babe is born with the umbillious thin and spindling 

 every physician knows it will be very hard to raise that babe, 

 but if on the contrary the umbillical cord is full and large, 

 showing that the 'foetal circulation has been perfect the little 

 fellow has been started right, he may not be strong in one 

 sense, but he is vigorous and comes into the world with a 

 whoop, and that baby is not easily thrown off his feet, he is 

 not easily cast down. He has an enduring constitution. This 

 is the law running through the animal creation." I said: 

 "Doctor, have you ever carried your observation any further?" 

 and he replied, " I have with horses." I went to studying 

 it, I took it up with cattle, I wanted to know if I was right, 

 and I say to you I have never been deceived once in my life 

 upon the constitution of a cow. The minute I feel of her ab- 

 domen and press upward and against the abdominal walls, and 

 find them strong, heavy and thick, I know she is an enduring 

 cow, and that her mother started her right, that she has got 

 a strong constitution. It is no indication of capacity but it is 

 an indication of sufficient constitution to stand the work of 

 capacity and not go down with disease. 



Now one or two things more. Here you see the head of this 

 cow, you see the full eye, and indications here of a large 

 brain power. The full eye makes the dishing face ; then you 

 have a strong back bone and this is one of the most important 

 things in determining dairy cattle. This high rise just back 

 of the hips is the pelvic arch. Here is a picture of a cow that 

 Mr. Aitken brought in here yesterday. I want you to note 

 how high the pelvic arch is in that cow, the value of it is to 

 indicate the strong structure of the back. Why is a strong 

 structure of the back necessary? The dairy cow carries large 

 weight, she carries much food and drink ; she is making a lot 

 of milk every day and she must have a strong back because 

 the back is the bridge between the two piers, the legs. She 

 carries a great deal more than the beef animal. And every 

 day she makes a heavy draft on the nervous system, as every 

 woman on earth knows — although every man does not know 

 — that the mammary function greatly affects the nervous sys- 

 tem. It is recorded in books that mothers have been thrown 



