80 THE JERSEY, ALDERNEY AND GUERNSEY COW, 



a line of bristly hair, turned backwards, and formed by 

 the meeting of the upward and the downward hair. 



" Still, when the hair is very fine and very short and 

 mixed with long hairs, when the skin is much folded, 

 and when the udder is of large size and pressed by 

 the thighs, it is necessary, in order to be able to dis- 

 tinguish the part enclosed between the udder and the 

 legs, and perceive the full size of the scutcheons, to 

 examine them attentively, to place the limbs of the cow 

 apart, and even stretch the skin in order to efface its 

 folds. 



" The scutcheons may also be perceived by leaning 

 the back of the hand against the perinaeum, and then 

 drawino the hand from above downwards. The nails 

 rub against the ascending hair, and give sensible indica- 

 tion of the parts covered by it. 



*' As the hair of the scutcheon has not the same direc- 

 tion as the surrounding hair, it may sometimes be dis- 

 tinguished by a difference in the shade reflected by it ; 

 but for the most part it is thin and fine, and allows the 

 color of the skin to be seen. Were we to trust only to 

 the eye, we should often be deceived. 



"In some countries dealers shave the buttocks of 

 cows. Immediately after this operation, it becomes im- 

 possible to discern the tufts, either by sight or touch ; 

 but the inconvenience ceases after some days. We 

 ought to add that this shaving, intended, as the dealers 

 say, to beautify the cow, is resorted to most frequently 

 for the single purpose of destroying the scutcheon, and 



