Imperfections and Tufts. 11 



As Gucnon continued his examinations, he found that his classes did not 

 sfford a place for all animals, or rather that there were occasionally to be 

 found cows whose escutcheons while apparently belonging to one of these 

 classes, had at the same time, certain distinguished features which he 

 styled imperfect escutcheons. These Mr. Hazard, the secretary of the 

 commission, described as follows : 



" The perfect escutcheon of each Class is the one which is in Order No. 1. 

 All variations from this are rated lower in the scale ; these variations may 

 consist of a smaller size, therefore, the escutcheon would not be so broad 

 or high upon the thighs, nor so broad upon the vertical portion ; they may 

 consist of the lack of ovals, which would place them below the first order ; 

 they may consist of blemishes, which are tufts of hair growing alongside 

 of the vulva, or below it ; or they may consist of strongly marked imper- 

 fections, which may be cuts or slices taken out of the escutcheon ; or, coarse, 

 harsh, wiry hair on the back and upper part of the udder. Finally, they 

 may be so decided as to place the animal among the bastards. 



Of the tufts, Guenon says all tufts encroaching on the escutcheon dimin- 

 ish its value, except the oval ones on the udder ; that is to say, they indi- 

 cate a diminished aptitude for yielding milk. The size and location of 

 these tufts make the animals descend one or more orders in the classifica- 

 tion. It is, therefore, important to attend to all the patches of descend- 

 ing hairs which lessen the size of the escutcheon, whether these occur in 

 the middle of it or form indentations on the sides. These indentations, 

 partly concealed by the folds of the skin, are sometimes perceived with 

 difficulty. Manj^ cows, which at first glance appear to be well-marked, on 

 close examination display their deficiencies, and want of this scrutiny 

 often causes mistakes in estimating the value of cows, and thus the system 

 suffers. 



Guenon says the cause of the defects, as exhibited by the tufts on the 

 thighs, is that the veins situated beneath, on either side of the belly, ha\^e 

 a peculiarity ; that they are contracted, and there is a small opening for it 

 where it pierces the abdominal muscles. 



Sometimes there is an intermingling of two forms of escutcheons. This 

 depends upon the crossing between a cow of one class and a bull of an- 

 other. This is one of the difficulties to be encountered in precisely esti- 

 mating the value of the animal. 



Guenon classified the seven tufts, into two kinds : Those on which thrf 

 hair ascends, and those on which it descends. Those with ascending hairs 

 are simply traces which encroach on the descending hair outside the escutch- 

 eon, either on one side or beneath the vulva. Those with the descending 

 hair are on the escutcheon, and are five in number. 



1. Epi ovale, oval tuft. These are situated on the udder, like those on 

 class one, two, three, four, order first. They are good signs, if of descend- 

 ing fine hair, small, and regular. They are mostly seen on only the best 

 cows, though occasionally to be met with in some of the lower orders. 



2. Epifessard, ischiatic tuft. These are found on the vertical escutcheon 

 on one or both sides of the vulva, as in class four, five, orders two, three, 

 four; and very conspicuously in the bastards of class three, four, five, six. 

 They are of ascending hair, and never seen in first class cows, but in most 

 others to a limited extent. 



3. Epi babin, lip-shaped tuft. This is only seen as a sign of deteriora- 

 tion in the two first classes ; it is made by descending hairs, and is a, defect 

 for milking qualities. It is like a string hanging over the top of the vulva, 

 and making its outline a little below it on each side. It is seldom seen 



2 



