305 



COVENANTERS. 



COW. 



306 



entitled to the benefit of all covenants entered into by a lessee with the 

 lessor, his heirs and assigns, provided such assignee be the owner of 

 the reversion immediately expectant on the term, and provided the 

 estate he has be the same estate which, or a portion of which, the 

 lessor had at the time of granting the lease. If there be a title 

 paramount by escheat or otherwise, the covenant is at an end, if such 

 title defeats the lessor's estate. 



It was a common practice, in order to secure the performance of a 

 covenant, to take a bond as an additional security. It enabled the 

 obligee to elect between an action of debt for the penalty of the bond, 

 or to proceed upon the covenant. The reason of the practice was, that 

 at common law a devisee of the real estate of the covenantor was not 

 liable to an action for a breach of covenant, though by the statute of 

 fraudulent devises (3 Will, and Mary, c. 14), he was liable to an 

 action for breach of the condition of the bond. This is now re- 

 medied by the 1 Will. IV. c. 47, which extends the provisions of the 

 3 Will, and Mary to the case of a covenant. 



By the 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 42, actions on covenants must be brought 

 within twenty years after the cause of action has arisen. 



Covenants may be discharged by a release, by their performance, by 

 the destruction of the seal, or by the destruction of the interest upon 

 which the covenant depends. They may be void at the time of their 

 creation upon account of the personal incapacity of one of the parties 

 to contract, as being an idiot or a lunatic, or upon account of their 

 object being illegal, as relating to bribery, gaming, illegal insurances, 

 lotteries, sales of offices, simony, smuggling, stock-jobbing, usury, or to 

 wagers. They will also be void if opposed to public policy, as not to 

 trade generally, though a covenant not to trade in a particular place, 

 or with a particular person, would be valid. 



COVENANTERS. [CAMERON, RICHARD, in Bioo. Dnr.] 



COVERED- WAY, a road surrounding a fortified post along the side 

 of the ditch which is opposite to the ramparts. It is usually about 

 30 feet broad, on the level of the natural ground, and is protected by 

 the mass of earth called the glacis. Its situation is indicated by the 

 unshaded space above the line R R in the article BASTION (Jig. 1). As 

 the works of a fortress form a scries of angles which are alternately re- 

 entering and salient, the covered-way necessarily changes its direction 

 at each angle ; and the spaces which are there formed by its branches 

 (as at L and above the curve line at E in the article and figure above 

 cited) are respectively designated " re-entering and salient places of 

 arms." 



Under the name of orlo the covered-way is met with in the writings 

 of the first Italian engineers, and it is said to have been invented by 

 Tartaglia in the 16th century. 



In the defence of a fortress this work is of great importance. A 

 constant fire may be kept up from thence while the trenches of the 

 besiegers are being slowly executed on the surface of the glacis ; and 

 in the systems of Vauban and Cormontaingne it is purposely made so 

 narrow as to render the construction of a breaching battery upon it 

 impossible, except by the tedious operation of removing a large part of 

 the glacis. 



The covered way also affords the besieged opportunities of forming 

 under cover, from which they can issue in large bodies for a sortie with 

 an extended front, and having accomplished their object, or been driven 

 back, retire to and cover their re-entry into the place while defiling 

 through the narrow posterns and crossing the ditch, of necessity a 

 work of time. Without the covered-way, troops making a sortie would, 

 after having crossed the ditch, be scarcely capable of deploying under 

 the fire of the enemy ; and, in retreating, if pursued, they might be cut 

 in pieces on the counterscarp before they could descend into the ditch, 

 or tj-nin, by the bridges, the posterns of the fortress ; whereas by the 

 sally-ports, or by steps temporarily formed along the interior side of 

 the glacis, the departure from, or the return to, the covered way is 

 readily accomplished by a large body of troops. 



An attack on the covered- way is, moreover, a difficult enterprise, and 

 is usually attended with great loss to the besiegers ; the thickness of 

 the glacis renders it impossible to facilitate the assault by forming a 

 breach in it ; a grazing fire of musketry from the covered-way disorders 

 tin- luwailanU during their approach ; and, when arrived at the crest of 

 the glacis, one, and sometimes two, rows of palisades form a serious 

 impediment to a descent into the work. Even if an entrance should 

 be gained, the assailants are confined between the traverses and annoyed 

 by the fire of the defenders who have retired behind them, or by a 

 plunging fire from the parapets of the fortress. It is easy to conceive, 

 therefore, that such an attack will scarcely be made unless those fires 

 have been previously in part silenced, and the palisades in the 

 covered- way deranged by a fire of guns or howitzers from the enfilading 

 batteries. 



COVERTURE. [WIFE.] 



COW, one of the most useful of the domestic animala. Her milk 

 is peculiarly adapted to nourish infants and invalids, and requires no 

 preparation to make it palatable or wholesome. In the article CATTLK, 

 ive given an enumeration of the various breeds of cows ; and 

 under BUTTKK and CHEESE an account of their principal produce. We 

 shall here confine ourselves to the proper management of a cow, so as 

 to rnakt her most productive ; and to the most common diseases to 

 which this animal is subject. 



Where only one or two cows are kept, especially where they are to 

 ARTS AND 8CI. DIV. VOL. IH. 



be maintained on a limited portion of pasture, it is of great importance 

 that a good choice be made when they are purchased or reared. Some 

 breeds no doubt are much superior to others ; but as a general rule, 

 there is a better chance of having a profitable cow, if she be reared on 

 the land on which she is to be kept. When the common breed of the 

 country is decidedly inferior, it may be profitable to bring a cow from 

 a distance, in which case it should be from some district of which the 

 pasture is rather inferior to that to which she is brought, or at least 

 not better. The best breeds are found in the richest pastures, but 

 they do not thrive on worse. On poor land a small active cow will 

 pick her food and keep in condition, where a fine large cow would 

 starve, or at least fall off rapidly. This is particularly the case in the 

 mountains, near the tops of which no domestic animal will live but 

 the goat, and next to it the smallest breed of cows. Where the pas- 

 tures are poor but extensive, cows give little milk, and the number 

 which can be kept must make up for the produce of each. Where, on 

 the other hand, cows are stalled, as in Flanders, and fed on artificial 

 food brought to them in sufficient quantity, large bulky cows give the 

 best return for the food ; at least, this seems to be the opinion of the 

 Flemish farmers in general. In France, where the cows are led along 

 the roads to pick up the herbage growing by the road-side, or are 

 tethered on a small portion of clover or lucern, a small lean cow is 

 preferred ; and in general the cows commonly met with, and which 

 are bred in each district, seem the best adapted for the mode in which 

 they are fed. Whatever be the breed or quality of a cow, she should 

 always have plenty of food, without which no considerable produce in 

 milk can be expected. This food should be succulent as well as 

 nourishing, or else fat will be produced instead of milk. A cow well 

 fed may be safely milked till almost within a month of her calving. 

 It is better that she should be dry before the new milk begins to 

 spring in her udder. A little attention will readily prevent her be- 

 coming dry too soon, or being milked too long. Heifers with their 

 first calf should be allowed to go dry sooner than older cows ; because 

 their growth would be impeded by the double drain of the milk and 

 the calf. It is best to let a heifer go to the bull when nature prompts 

 her to it, provided she be not less than fifteen or eighteen months old ; 

 for if they are thwarted in their first heat, they are apt to become 

 irregular ever after ; and it is advantageous for a cow to calve regularly 

 at the same season of the year. The best time is May, when the grass 

 begins to be succulent. In some countries, such as Switzerland, the 

 cows calve regularly in April or May, and are then sent to the pastures 

 among the mountains. The calf is killed almost immediately, unless 

 it be reared for stock, veal being of little value. In populous countries 

 where veal is considered a luxury, the calves are kept and fattened by 

 letting them suck the cows, or by giving them warm milk to drink. 

 Near large towns this is a profitable mode of employing the milk, 

 when it cannot be sold for immediate consumption. 



A cottager with two or three acres of moderate land may keep a 

 cow, and thus add much to his earnings as a labourer. For this pur- 

 pose he will require a small portion of permanent grass fenced off, to 

 allow the cow to take exercise, which is necessary to her health. Her 

 food must be raised in regular succession,- and cut for her. The 

 earliest green food is rye ; then tares ; then clover, which may be 

 made so to succeed each other as to give an ample supply. Cabbages, 

 beet-root, parsnips, potatoes and turnips will continue the supply 

 during winter ; and the dung and urine of the cow carefully collected, 

 will be sufficient to keep the land in condition. This system, when 

 lately introduced into some parts of Ireland, greatly improved the con- 

 dition of the industrious poor. There is very good advice on this manage- 

 ment in Cobbett's ' Cottage Economy," a useful little publication. 



Where cows are allowed to be in the open air, with proper shelter 

 in cose of stormy and wet weather, they are subject to few diseases. 

 They must be carefully looked to at the time of calving, but except in 

 urgent cases nature must be allowed to perform her own office. A 

 little common sense and experience will soon teach the possessor of a 

 cow to assist nature, if absolutely necessary ; and in case of difficulties 

 the safest way is to call in an experienced person. Drinks and medi- 

 cines should be avoided ; a little warm water, with some barley or 

 bean meal mixed with it, is the most comfortable drink for a cow after 

 calving. The calf, and not the cow, should have the first milk, which 

 nature has intended to purge its intestines of a glutinous substance 

 which is always found in the new-bom calf. . A very common disease 

 with cows is a disordered function of the liver, producing a yellowish 

 tint in the eyes, and sometimes in the skin. A gentle purge, con- 

 sisting of half a pound of Glauber salts, an ounce of ginger, and two 

 ounces of treacle, with two quarts of boiling water poured over them, 

 may be given when it is milk-warm, and repeated every other day ; 

 keeping the cow warm, if it be in winter, by a cloth over the loins, 

 and in a shed. This will in general restore her health. Should the 

 cow appear to have a chronic affection, the safest course for a cottager 

 is to part with her at any price to those who may be better skilled in 

 curing diseases ; for it is seldom that a cow is worth the expense of 

 the farrier's attendance in such cases. The symptoms of a diseased 

 liver or lungs in a cow are leanness, with a staring coat, a husky cough 

 with loss of appetite, a difficulty of breathing, and a great diminution 

 in the secretion of the milk. The first loss by the sale of the cow is 

 always the least in the end. In accidents, or acute diseases, the at- 

 tendance of a clever veterinary surgeon is indispensable. 



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