240 



BOAKD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



If the animal to be killed is to be buried without removine: 

 the skin, a pit may be dug, large enough for a grave, one 

 end of which should be so excavated as to make an inclined 

 plane, down which the horse can be led. When in the pit, 

 his head is in a convenient position for the axe or the bullet, 

 and when he drops he falls in his grave, and the labor of 

 removing the body is entirely avoided. 



The skull of the ox is thicker and heavier than that of the 

 horse, and the brain still smaller in comparison with the entire 

 head. The frontal bone (Letter a) is composed of two plates, 

 which are separated by bony ridges, forming cells or sinuses. 

 This arrangement gives to the parts great strength, and 

 forms a secure defence against injuries to the brain, which 

 lies beneath (Fig. 3). 



Fig. 3. 



Fig. 4. 



Cattle are most readily and conveniently destroyed by Mows 

 on the head with a heavy axe or hammer, followed by imme- 

 diate blood-letting. The animal which is to be killed should 

 be secured by means of a rope passed round the horns and 

 fastened to a post, or, if practicable, carried through a ring 

 in a floor and held by an assistant or made fast. The animal 

 being blindfolded, the operator, armed with a heavy axe or 

 hammer, stands to the left and a little in front of it, and aims 

 his blow at a spot in the middle of a line drawn across the 

 forehead al)out one inch and a half belov/ the ])ase of the horns, 

 or, perhaps better, at the spot where two diagonal lines inter- 

 sect, drawn from the eyes to the base of the horns (Fig. 4). 



In most cases, if the blow is heavy and properly directed, 

 the animal falls instantly ; but it is better even then to repeat 

 the blow and to follow it by immediate bleeding. This is ac- 

 complished either by drawing back the head, and cutting 



