NATURAL HISTORY: 187 



" If milk be thy design : with plenteous hand 

 Bring clover grass ; and from the marshy land 

 Salt herbage for the foddering rack provide, 

 To fill their bags, and swell the milky tide." DRYDEN. 



554. Why are horns of tame cattle generally shorter than those 

 of wild? 



Because these appendages, being obviously intended for weapons 

 of offence and defence, their development naturally followed the 

 ratio of their necessity, and decreased in proportion to their 

 domestication. 



5.55. It would seem that while domestication softens the manners of animals, it 

 also smooths the asperities of their forms. All animals, when under the influence 

 of strong and angry passion, become much more rugged than when they are pleased, 

 The *hair stands up, the muscles swell into ridges, the skin is puckered, and the 

 animal puts on an aspect as forbidding as possible.* 



556. Wliy do wild cattle feed in flocks, while the tame varieties 

 scatter and browse separately? 



Because the former experience a sense of insecurity and dread 

 of attack ; they act instinctively upon the maxim that union is 

 strength, and thus guard against surprise. The domesticated ox 

 has no such dread, and follows its individual caprice, or sense 

 of enjoyment. 



557. Why has the giraffe such a long slender neck? 



Because it browses upon the branches of tall trees, for which 

 purpose its long neck is admirably adapted. 



558. Why has the giraffe a head so small in proportion 

 to its size ? 



Because a larger head at the extremity of the lever formed by 

 the long neck would possess a weight disproportioned to the 

 muscular power of the animal, and be a serio'js encumbrance. 



Partington's " Cyclopaedia." 



