OF FARM CATTLE. 125 



lated to other parts of the globe. Be this fact as 

 it may, her uses are so many, so various, and so 

 important, that we cannot hesitate to transfer from 

 the horse the distinction bestowed upon him by an 

 eloquent writer of the last century, and to pro- 

 nounce the cow " the noblest conquest made by maw."* 

 During two thirds of her life, which may be pro- 

 tracted to twelve years, she is annually producing 

 her species, and during the same period yielding an 

 abundant supply of that beverage so universally 

 known and so generally acceptable ; a beverage so 

 happily adapted, from its compound nature (part 

 animal and part vegetable), to all ages and condi- 

 tions, to the young and to the old, to the poor and 

 to the rich, to the sick and to the sound ; and which, 

 in its concrete forms of butter and cheese, has, in 

 all civilized countries, become an article of the first 

 necessity. Nor is her value diminished by death; 

 for, having been fatted and prepared for market, her 

 flesh forms our most savoury and substantial food ; 

 her tallow, in the form of candles, supplies the ab- 

 sence of natural light ; her skin, wrought into leath- 

 er, furnishes shoes and other articles rendered ne- 

 cessary by habit or custom ; her horns are convert- 

 ed into combs and lanterns ; her blood is essential 

 to the refinement of our sugars ; chymistry draws 

 from her hoofs important uses ; her hair is made 

 to pad our collars and saddles, and, by entering into 

 the construction of our buildings, adds to their 

 beauty, comfort, and solidity. If in her progeny 

 (the ox) strength and speed be less combined than 

 in the horse, it will be also remembered that his 

 subsistence is cheaper, and his labour more contin- 

 ued and persevering ; that he is, besides, less liable 

 to accidents which diminish his value, and that he 

 may even become lame and blind without eventual 

 loss to his owner : for, when prepared for the sham- 



* Button's Nat. Hist., vol. 22. 

 L 2 



