ANIMAL FORM AN INDEX OF QUALITIES. 383 



nervous system that brings them into action, will be 

 subjected to a degree of tension that must impair 

 their ability to sustain continued action, and diminish 

 their durability. When great activity or a high rate 

 of speed is required, the upper bones of the legs 

 should be long and the lower bones comparatively 

 short, together with an oblique shoulder that allows 

 the greatest range of motion to the forearm. 



For heavy-draught purposes the shoulder may be 

 more upright, as strength rather than freedom of 

 motion is required. A broad, flat limb, with well- 

 developed joints, will have advantages in leverage 

 over one that is round, from the better position of 

 the tendons that transmit the power supplied by the 

 muscles. 



The so-called " milk-veins " of the dairy-cow are 

 superficial blood-vessels, that represent in their devel- 

 opment the general condition of the circulatory appa- 

 ratus throughout the system, and the consequent ten- 

 dency to the secretion of milk. The " escutcheon " 

 of Guenon, 1 although perhaps not so infallible an 

 index of milking qualities as it hr.i been claimed to 

 be, is undoubtedly correlated with the milk-producing 

 function, and may therefore be of use, in connection 

 with other points, in estimating the probable value of 

 an animal for the dairy. From the complex relations 

 of the various parts of the living animal, it will be 

 seen that any single indication of quality cannot, in 

 all cases, be assumed to represent the tendencies of 

 the organization as a whole, for the obvious reason 

 that the dominance of some other condition or charac- 



1 Frequently called the "milk-mirror" by other writers. 



