NATURAL HISTORY OF THE OX. 19 



amongst us. The gait of the ox is slow and laborious, but the 

 strength of the animal enables it to perform a considerable 

 amount of slow and steady work without exhaustion, provided 

 that the animal is treated with due care. It requires intervals of 

 rest, partly for chewing the cud, and it is by no means able to 

 put itself to strenuous exertion as the horse can. The ox is 

 especially valuable by reason of its flesh and its milk ; but 

 almost every part of the animal is of use — the skin, the horns, 

 the fat, and even the hair, and the intestines. 



We now give in brief the general characters of the frame and 

 build of the ox. In the first place it is to be noted that 

 perhaps the most important point is that there should be a 

 sufficient capacity of chest, in order that both heart and lungs 

 may perform their due functions properly. The thoracic cavity, 

 therefore, should be both wide and deep, and over the whole 

 length of the ribs both length and roundness should be obser- 

 vable. The barrel must be both hooped and deep. The space 

 intervening betwixt the ribs and the hips should be but small. 

 As for the cow, the belly may be somewhat large and drooping 

 without disparagement, and should her milk-veins be large and 

 swollen so much the better, for this will imply capacity for 

 giving milk. It is most desirable that the roundness and depth 

 of the belly should be marked behind the point of the elbow 

 rather than between the shoulders and fore-legs, and also that 

 the belly should extend low down rather than upwards towards 

 the withers. The loins should be wide, for they are the prime 

 parts, and they should also rather seem to extend far along the 

 back, and although the belly should not hang down in a 

 pendulous manner, the flanks should be round and deep. The 

 hips should not be ragged ; but they ought to be large and round 

 ratber than wide, and have plenty of muscle and fat on them. 

 The thighs, too, should be full and also long, and, when looked 

 at from behind, in close proximity ; and to this it may be added, 

 that the further down they continue to be near together the 

 better may they be considered to be. The legs should be short, 

 since with the possession of short legs power of fattening is 

 supposed to be allied. The bones of the legs should be small, 

 but not, of course, so unduly small as to indicate weakness of 

 constitution, and liability to the ravages of disease. In like 

 manner, the hide should be thin, but not, of course, unduly 



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