91 



piece of chamois leather, and covered with thick, glossy, soft 

 hair." 



The description given in an English treatise of an animal 

 best suited to the stall, is so skilfully drawn up, that I will not 

 forego the pleasure of transcribing it. It follows : — "Attention 

 should be paid to compactness and symmetry of form, deep 

 fore 'quarters, wide carcase, fine small bones, moderately thin 

 hide, a protuberance of fat under the root of the tongue, and 

 large full eyes. A well-shaped ox should then have a small 

 head with a placid countenance, as indicating docility, and a 

 consequent disposition to get fat ; a fine muzzle and open nos- 

 trils ; the throat should be clean ; long and thin in the neck, 

 but wide and deep in the shoulders ; the back should be broad 

 and straight near to the setting on of the tail, with the rump 

 points fat and coming well up to it ; the barrel should be round, 

 wide across the loins, and the girth deep behind the shoulders, 

 with the space between the hip-bone and the first rib very 

 small ; the fore-legs should be short and wide apart, so as to 

 present a broad appearance to the chest, and the thighs of the 

 hind-legs should be shut well in the twist, the seam in the 

 middle of which should be well filled, and the flanks should 

 be full and heavy. A form such as this is not only the best 

 for affording the greatest weight, but will be also generally 

 found to lay the flesh upon the prime parts, to produce the least 

 quantity of offal with such a large quantity of tallow, as, em- 

 phatically speaking, in the butcher's phrase, will cause the ani- 

 mal to die well. These marks, however, are not the only in- 

 dications of a propensity to fatten quickly. On the contrary, 

 it has been found by experience, that many coarse beasts with 

 large bones and gummy legs, have often proved superior in 

 that particular to other animals of undoubted superiority in 

 point of shape ; but those coarse thick hides handled soft and 

 silky, with a sleeky degree of mellowness, which is the char- 

 acteristic of a healthy habit, while the skin of the others was 

 wiry, and their flesh felt hard. The state of the hide and 

 flesh, therefore, is of the first importance as the essential prop- 

 erty of handling welV^ 



