164 NOTES ON FIELDS AND CATTLE. 



From centre point (o) of AD throw' out the 

 rounded girder (on) for first rib. Continue AD 

 one-third further to Q, and you have the length the 

 nose should extend out when the animal stands at 

 ease. In the case of the sheep and cow, much style 

 is gained by the crest rising above the line Q D. In 

 a horse it does so of necessity. In a pig it does not. 

 Now dot about these square lines the specific contour 

 of the animal you want to represent : put on head 

 and tail, and you have a rough likeness at once of a 

 cow, or pig, or sheep, or horse. In the case of a " low 

 and lengthy " animal, B c will be about " longer than 

 A B or c D. Go through all this patiently upon paper 

 yourself. Experiment upon the proportions, now 

 lengthening, now shortening, a few times, and you 

 will be surprised at the amount of familiarity you 

 will obtain with the animal's frame. You must trace 

 with ruler and pencil for yourself. It is no more use 

 just reading jt with your eyes only than it is to work 

 out the Binomial theorem only so : a plan of opera- 

 tion with which*too many, at least in statu pupillari, 

 are inclined to content themselves. Having made 

 yourself well acquainted with these characteristics — 

 having stored them in your memory — and having 

 come further (which is not quite so easy at first) to 

 recognise them on the live animal, take every possible 

 opportunity of comparing points ; never pass by an 

 animal without notice — lean, fat, plain, picturesque, 

 in health, or ailing, and some morning the knowledge 

 you aim at will burst upon you in a degree of fullness 

 which you can never again lose. The sketches of 

 animals used in illustration I have borrowed from 

 Youatt, and that excellent publication the Farmer's 

 Magazine. 



