JUDGING DAIRY CATTLE 81 



132. Nervous System. Besides the organs performing the 

 work of digestion and secretion, there is another feature of 

 the physiology of the dairy cow, which is of equal importance. 

 Reference is made to the brain, the spinal cord, and the 

 numberless nerves connected with the nervous system. These 

 control the action of most of the organs of the body and have 

 an effective influence over the amount of work that they may 

 accomplish. The nervous system is represented by the 

 brain and the spinal cord with its branches. The spinal 

 cord runs through the vertebrae from the head to the tail, 

 and sends out from each vertebra branches that connect with 

 the various organs of the body. The feature connected with 

 the nervous system that has special application to the dairy 

 cow is that of temperament. More study has been given 

 this in the instance of men, and those who have given most 

 attention to it have divided their temperament into four 

 classes — nervous, lymphatic, bilious and sanguinary. In cat- 

 tle the two divisions, nervous and lymphatic are most in 

 evidence, and they are very markedl^^ characteristic of two 

 classes of cattle, dairy stock and beef animals. In an ani- 

 mal of nervous temperament, the nervous organization is 

 strong and well developed. Such an animal is able to stand 

 labor beyond what would be expected of it from its physical 

 appearance. The animal of lymphatic temperament is slug- 

 gish in disposition and inclined to fatten or become fleshy. 

 It should be stated that the common conception of nervous 

 temperament is not the same as that which is referred to 

 here. Generally when reference is made to an animal's hav- 

 ing a nervous temperament is commonly supposed to mean 

 that it is irritable and excitable which actually indicates the 

 lack of nervous control. The term as properly used in refer- 

 ence to dairy cattle means an animal that is full of nerves, 

 one that has strong nerves which gives tone to the various 

 organs of the body. The animal of nervous temperament 

 is one that is sensitive and active, giving all regions the 



