GESTATION. 145 



but the order in which they were born would, nevertheless, be the only- 

 rational assignment. 



The female Ass more frequently brings forth twins than the Mare ; but 

 even in this animal such an occurrence is rare. In an average of thirty 

 she- Asses, kept for the production of milk by a man at La Chapelle Saint- 

 Denis, only four had twins in a period of seventeen years. 



Cow. 



Double, and even triple, births are not so unusual in the Cow, the for- 

 mer being far from uncommon. Indeed, it is so frequent in some breeds, 

 and with individuals, that it has been suggested to produce by selection 

 a breed of Cows which would habitually have twins. 



Mr. J. Macgillivray, of Banff, in an excellent little " Manual of Veterinary Science 

 and Practice," published in 1857, writes : — " A neighbor of mine, Mr. Peter Low, had a 

 Cow, a splendid animal, of the cross breed, which had twin calves yearly for six suc- 

 cessive years. Two of her female progeny have had. twin calves repeatedly. Mr. Low 

 kept one of her male twins, a bull ; to him two Cows have had twin calves, and there 

 are a number of Cows in calf to him just now. From this and other similar cases, I 

 think there is no doubt but, by oroper selection and management, a race of twin-bearing 

 cattle might be established." ' And again he says : — " From a paper now lying before 

 me, I shall record what I believe to be a unique case of a calf-producing Cow. I am 

 indebted for the particulars to Mr. James Stephen, Balfluig Cottage, Alford. ' Memo- 

 randum regarding a small Cow of the black Polled breed, which belonged to the late 

 Mr. Alexander Stephen, Farmton, Alford :— 



Year. Number of Calves at a birth. 



1842 I — first calf. 



1843 3 — came to maturity. 



1843 4 — °"^ ^\^di ; seven in one year. 



1844 • • • • •• - — came to maturity. 



1845 3 — c^rne to maturity. 



1846 6 — died prematurely. 



1847 2 — came to maturity. 



1848 4-' " 



Rueff says that, with the Simmen thaler breed of cattle at Hohenheim, 

 during an interval of ten years, there were four per cent, twin births. 



Triple gestation is of course much more uncommon, but the instances 

 on record are numerous. 



Dupuy mentions a very unusual instance of fecundity in a Cow which, at three births 

 in successive years — 1817, 1818, and 1819 — brought forth nine calves, only two of which 

 were not reared by the mother ; these calves afterwards had only one offspring at each 

 birth. Rainard speaks of one of his pupils delivering a Cow of three calves in the 

 neighborhood of Lyons ; and Roche-Lubin gives two similar instances. In one of these 

 the first two calves were born alive and reared by their mother, but the third, which was 

 in a bad position, was removed dead six days later. In the second instance, the Cow, 

 after producing a living and properly-developed calf, continued to strain and make fruit- 

 less efforts to get rid of the other foetuses, until she died five days afterwards, when two 

 calves attached to each other by the sternum were found in the uterus. Sperling records 

 the case of a Dutch Cow which produced three calves; the first was a male, the second 

 a heifer, and the third a heifer in a wrong position In England Mr. Snowdon has seen 

 a Cow which brought forth a living calf some hours after a dead one, and in a few 

 minutes an anidian monster. 



In the Ipswich yournal for October, 1875, mention is made of a Cow which produced 

 six calves in twentv months, all living : first three fine calves, then one, and again two. 



The Liverpool Mercury (April 9, 1847) mentions a Cow which produced sixteen calves 

 in eight years — two calves at six births, three at one birth, and one at another birth. 

 The Mark Lane Express (May ii, 1852) alludes to a Cow which brought forth three 

 calves at a birth — making eleven calves before she was seven years old. The Chester 

 Chronicle (February 18, 1865) reports the birth of three full-sized calves by a Cow, all 

 of which did well ; and the Shrewsbury Chronicle (July 5, 1844) gives a similar instance, 



10 



