82 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



data of. I have never, gentlemen, seen it fail in a dairy 

 cow. I could show you numerous instances of cows that 

 have gone down under their work, and invariably that 

 expression was wanting. It is also indicative of the power 

 to resist disease. Large vitality is valuable to any form of 

 life ; it enables its possessor to resist disease. I lost a most 

 valuable Guernsey cow last spring, of milk-fever. When I 

 bought her, the gentleman who sold her to me pressed me 

 to take her. She was a cow of great talent. I said to him, 

 " Mr. Clapp, she has not constitution, I do not want to take 

 her ; " but he said he would almost give her to me if I would 

 take her, and finally nearly made me a present of her. I 

 cared for her with the greatest assiduity and watchfulness, 

 and always what I saw in her had large expression of talent, 

 but a very weak constitution ; and finally she died. 



The mammary gland is a wonderful piece of machinery. 

 I have never studied anything that seemed to me to be such 

 a maze of difficulties ; and yet how indifferently we treat it, 

 how rudely, how foolishly ! The formation of the udder is 

 indicative of the talent of the cow, indicative of her purpose, 

 indicative of her ability. It should rise high in the rear, 

 and extend well forward upon the abdomen. Draw a line 

 from the farthest point on the abdomen to the highest point 

 in the rear, and the length of that line will be a measure to 

 you of the power of the udder over the cow, the narrowness 

 of it of the power of the cow over the udder. Now, a narrow 

 udder has but very little power over the purpose of the cow ; 

 a long line keeps her busy, keeps her to her work. This 

 mammary gland is enveloped with the most marvelous net- 

 work of nerves, called " the sympathetic plexus," — the most 

 wonderful network in all the body. This network completely 

 envelops the mammary gland, and passes from there to the 

 uterus, and from there to the lumbar region of the spine. 

 Now, reflect on the course that milk-fever pursues. Milk- 

 fever is a mysterious disease, but it very clearly illustrates 

 in its reflex action the close connection between the nervous 

 machinery and the mammary function. It is generally pre- 

 ceded by a chill caused by a draught of air, drinking cold 

 water, a sudden fright, or anything which disturbs the 

 nervous action of the system ; and instantly, before you 



