LIVE STOCK. 



93 



Pulse, Respiration and Temperature of Farm Animaltt 



The pulse is a dilation of the elas- 

 tic wall of an artery at the moment 

 of the heartbeat. Its character is 

 some indication of the state of health. 

 It is felt in the horse on the lower 

 jawbone; in the ox, on the jaw, the 

 inside of the elbow and cannon, and 

 at the base of the tail. The number 

 of beats of the pulse per minute will 

 vary to a considerable extent in the 

 normal animal. It is slower in the 

 male than in the female, and is more 

 rapid in the young than in the old. 



Respiration is the act of taking 

 in, and giving out of air by the lungs. 

 The number of respirations per min- 

 ute will vary considerably under dif- 



ferent conditions. Muscular exercise 

 will cause a rapid increase. In cer- 

 tain diseases the respiration is ab- 

 normally reduced; in others, an in- 

 crease is the result. 



The normal temperature of an ani- 

 mal is remarkably constant under 

 varying conditions, and any consid- 

 erable departure from the normal is 

 of considerable value as indicating 

 the animal's health. 



The accompanying table gives the 

 number of pulsations, the frequency 

 of the act of respiration and the 

 internal temperature of normal ani- 

 mals when at rest: 



ANIMALS WHEN AT REST 



Animal 



Horse , 



Ox 



Sheep , 



Swine 



Dog 



Pulse, per minute 



36 to 40 



40 to 45 

 70 to 80 

 70 to 80 

 90 to 100 



Respiration per 

 minute 

 8 to 10 

 12 to 15 

 12 to 20 

 10 to 15 

 15 to 20 



Temperature Fahr 



100*' 



101 *> to 102.5*' 

 103" 

 103» 



102.5* (very 

 changeable) 



Definition of Terms Ordinarily Met with in Breeding 



Pure-Bred and Thoroughbred. — 



These two terms are too frequently 

 used as if their meanings were the 

 same. The term Thoroughbred is 

 only correctly applied to the breed 

 of English running horses known by 

 that name. Pure-bred is a term ap- 

 plied to animals of such breeding as 

 will entitle them to be admitted for 

 registration in the records estab- 

 lished for the particular breed to 

 which they belong. The standards 

 for admission to the records of the 

 various breeds differ, so that a uni- 

 form definition of what w^ould be ac- 

 cepted as pure-bred cannot be given. 



Pedigree. — As spoken of in connec* 

 tion with animals, means a certified 

 list of ancestors issued by a recog- 

 nized institution, where such ances- 

 try is recorded, or registered. 



Literally speaking, all animals 

 possess a pedigree, for all animals 

 possess ancestors. The value of a 



pedigree does not lie in the mere fact 

 of its possession, but in the informa- 

 tion which it furnishes with regard 

 to the ancestors of the individual ani- 

 mal under consideration. The an- 

 cestry recorded on the pedigree may 

 have been of great individual excel- 

 lence or otherwise, and it is of great 

 importance that the breeder be in 

 possession of this information when 

 forming an estimate of the value of 

 an animal. 



Line-Breeding. — By this term is 

 meant the mating together, for suc- 

 cessive generations, of animals of a 

 common line of descent; or, to ex- 

 press the same idea in other words, 

 to restrict the selection of animals 

 for mating to the members of a single 

 family or strain. The purpose of 

 such a system of breeding is to con- 

 centrate the characters possessed by 

 a certain family as far as possible, 

 and to develop the best that may be 



