THE DISEASES OF CATTLE. 149 



smart colt, tliat will, eventually, command a high price. But 

 alas for such milk-and-water calculations ! The expected 

 specimen of equine animality, inherits and exhibits its parental 

 infirmities and deformities, and ultimately becomes a living 

 monument of the folly of its owner. 



There is no beauty in the faults and defects which must nec- 

 essarily occur through the sexual congress of faulty and de- 

 fective animals ; neither can there be grace in the motions of 

 an overfed or ill-conditioned animal ; beauty, symmetry, grace 

 and soundness, are defunct in the ill-conditioned creature, or 

 otherwise defective one — a mere apology for the handiwork of 

 nature. The muscular system of a horse, or cow, may in some 

 regions of the body be well developed ; but should their limbs 

 be unnaturally curved, or any part of their system be out of 

 proportion to the other parts of the body, then beauty has 

 never seated itself on their thrones ; yet we can improve the 

 appearance of such animals by artificial means and costly 

 adornments ; this artificial kind of beauty is what most men 

 seek after, and at a high price to their sorrow obtain it ; 

 whereas, the real beauty of form and endowments which prac- 

 tical husbandmen really require, must originate unartificiallr, 

 in the living citadel ; must be the work of nature and not of 

 art. 



It is a fact well known to many men, that animals of fault- 

 less form — having symmetrical proportions, are exempt from 

 many diseases which are the heritage of faulty and inferior 

 animals, and insurance companies take advantage of this 

 knowledge and insure the former at less rates than the latter. 

 As an illustration of the above, I may be permitted to remark 

 that the " Arabian Courser," English " blood horse," American 

 " Black Hawk," and pure ""Devon " cow, — all remarkable 

 for good points, beauty and endurance, — are exempt from 

 many of the common and unnecessary diseases and abortions. 

 Beauty and symmetrical proportions contribute to health ; be- 

 cause there is a certain degree of relationship between external 

 and internal organs and functions. For example, a fine exte- 

 rior, good depth of chest, well-proportioned muscles and ^^race- 

 13* 



