THE OX 291 



of its toilsome service, it gives abundant, firm, and 

 savory meat. The cow, if well fed, can furnish as 

 much as twenty liters of milk a day. 



1 ' The Breton breed stocks the five departments of 

 ancient Brittany. It is characterized by smallness 

 of body, readiness for work, and remarkable excel- 

 lence of milk, which is rich in butter-fat. The cow's 

 coat is spotted with white and black in large 

 splashes, and she has a black muzzle, slender horns, 

 bright eyes, and determined gait. The ox, similarly 

 spotted with black and white, has powerful and very 

 pointed horns ; but the peaceful beast never dreams 

 of using its formidable weapons. 



1 ' The Normandy breed furnishes animals of enor- 

 mous size, little adapted to work, and hence reserved 

 for the butcher. Some of these gigantic animals 

 raised in the rich pastures of Normandy are said 

 to have attained the weight of 1970 kilograms. In 

 the Normandy ox the head is long and heavy, muzzle 

 broad, the mouth deeply cut, the skin thick and hard, 

 the hair close, sometimes red, sometimes brown, 

 sometimes black and white. The horns are rather 

 short and are borne well forward on the forehead. 

 On an average the cow gives 3000 liters of milk a 

 year. 



"The Garonne breed, occupying the basin of the 

 Garonne Eiver from Toulouse to Bordeaux, is like- 

 wise tall, corpulent, and almost as highly esteemed 

 for butchering as the Normandy breed. Its coat is 

 uniform in shade, resembling in color the yellow of 

 wheat. The horns, which turn forward, are white 



