96 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



that he (the owner) had to take out a washtub every time he 

 milked the cow (ordinary milk pails would not hold her 

 milk), and tlie washtub was inconvenient to carry to the stable. 

 This was probably an exaggeration, but it serves to emphasize 

 the milk-producing capacity of the modern dairy cow. 



That man was early impressed with the value of cows is 

 indicated by a recent discovery of a perfectly preserved shrine 

 and image of the Egyptian goddess llathor. This shrine 

 dated probably fifteen hundred to two thousand years B. C. 

 We read : — 



The shrine in which this particular cow o'oddess was placed 

 was a cave about ten feet Ion"' and eiiiht feet high, cut into the 

 solid rock and lined with slabs of sandstone. This sandstone, which 

 is covered with sculptured designs and inscriptions representing 

 the king- and his wife in various acts of worshij^ toward the god- 

 dess, had been used evidently because the native rock was of a 

 marly nature and could not be brought to a smooth surface. There 

 was nothing else in the chapel when it was discovered save the 

 cow and the sculjitured sandstone walls. 



We thus see that in very early days, among a people noted 

 for their advancement in wealth, learning, art, science, manu- 

 facture and all that goes to make a nation civilized, the cow 

 was worshipped by kings and queens. (We also note that the 

 cow was kept in a cave. Some men follow this idea to-day, to 

 the disadvantage of both cow and man.) We read further: — 



The cow, like the slal)s of the chapel, is of sandstone, cut out 

 of an enormous piece of stone the full thickness of the animal and 

 sufficiently high to reach to the top of the plumes on its head. 

 The figure is of natural size, and the shape is said to be a perfect 

 likeness of the cows of the present day, though the body seems to 

 be straighter and thinner than is natural. The color is reddish 

 brown, Avith spots which look not unlike four-leaved clovers. The 

 head, neck and horns of the cow were originally covered with a 

 very thin coating of gold leaf. The goddess is represented as 

 suckling a boy and protecting a man who stands luiderneath her 

 neck. Both these figures are no doubt intended to represent the 

 king, the idea intended to be conveyed being that Hathor was the 

 divine mother of the king, that had nourished and was still pro- 

 tecting him. 



