3Y2 PRINCIPLES OF STOCK-BREEDING. 



eral form, there are certain peculiarities in the devel- 

 ment and texture of the horns that may serve alike in 

 all breeds as an index of internal qualities. 



The horns of the hollow-horned ruminants, in- 

 cluding cattle and sheep, consist of a hollow bony 

 core developed from the frontal bone, and a sheath 

 or covering of true horn which, as is the case also 

 with the horn forming the hoofs, is composed of ag- 

 glutinated hairs developed from a papillary layer of 

 the skin. 1 



In young animals this horny sheath is thickened 

 by an epidermal layer that is shed as the animal grows 

 older, leaving the horns smoother, and at the same 

 time diminishing their size. In texture the horn form- 

 ing the sheath of the horns, and the hoofs, seems to 

 be correlated with the general bony skeleton, the coat, 

 the skin, the flesh, and the organs of nutrition ; a 

 clear, fine-grained texture being an indication of good 

 feeding quality and a general refinement of the sys- 

 tem ; while a coarse-grained, spongy texture indicates 

 a poor feeder and a predominance of the coarser and 

 less valuable parts of the carcass. Although the head 

 is of but little value in the slaughtered animal, its 

 peculiarities in the development of its appendages, as 

 well as its form and proportions, may, through the 

 correlations of structure, aid in forming an opinion in 

 regard to the condition of other parts of the system 

 that have a greater intrinsic value. 



1 " Hand-Book of Zoology," by Van Der Hoeven, vol. ii., p. 650 ; 

 " Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology," vol. v., pp. 478-516 ; " Anat- 

 omy of the Vertebrate Animals," by Huxley, p. 327 ; " Comparative 

 Anatomy," by Wagner, p. 2. 



