THE JERSEY, ALDERNEY AND GUERNSEY COW. 63 



and shape of the horn vary, but In all there is an annual 

 mark left of continual development. In castrated ani- 

 mals the horns sometimes attain extraordinary propor- 

 tions, but this in no way affects the appearances I have 

 to describe. 



Shortly after birth the development of the frontal pro- 

 cesses on each side of the head indicate the position of 

 the future horn, which appears through the skin within 

 the first month. At the ao-e of four or five months the 

 little horn is firm, and protected by a scaly cuticular 

 covering, which exfoliates when an animal is about a 

 year old. At this period the base of the horn becomes 

 knotty, and a circular depression between the skin and 

 the bulging horn is the sign that the animal has fully 

 attained its first year. A second bulge forms, and a 

 depression below it, by the second year, a third by the 

 third, and so on as long as the animal lives. 



But, in calculating the as^e of a cow at five or six, an 

 error may be incurred by supposing that the first marks 

 formed can be readily perceived. It is only the third 

 year's circle which is very distinct. 



The teeth of animals develop with great regularity, 

 and indicate, by periodical changes, how long they have 

 been growing. So universal are these marks of age 

 amongst the lower animals, that an attempt has been 

 made to determine by the teeth the age of human 

 beines. But an artificial existence, with circumstances 

 occasionally favoring a tardy development, and at others 

 a very rapid growth, completely set at naught any tables 



