SECRETARY'S REPORT. 81 



but should, we think, even in a state of health, from time to 

 time be administered. Shade, a plentiful supply of water for 

 the animal to stand in during the heat of the day, I conceive to 

 be of all things the most essential." 



It is well known that much disappointment has been experi- 

 enced in importing Arabian horses into England, where they 

 not unfrequently become wholly unfruitful, or give birth to a 

 progeny far inferior to themselves. It is by no means improba- 

 ble that a like effect will be produced on the sheep which have 

 been carried from the north to the south of our own country 

 within the last few years. 



Animals should gradually be accustomed to a new climate, 

 otherwise deterioration must inevitably follow. This was 

 observed even by the earliest settlers of New England, and the 

 cows raised from those first imported were very soon found to 

 be smaller than their dams. If we consider for a moment the 

 distinguishing characteristics of animals which have been ac- 

 customed to a warm climate, and compare them with those of 

 the same variety after they have been long exposed to a colder 

 one, we shall see still more clearly the importance of care and 

 caution where the change is great. Animals bred in a warm 

 climate will answer in the main to the following description : 

 " Their skin is thin, supple and oily ; their hair scanty and fine ; 

 their limbs long, the tendinous parts distinct ; their horns hard, 

 dry and brittle ; the hoof contracted ; the feet narrow and sound ; 

 the muscles dry, and but slightly fat; and their temperament 

 rather sanguineous than lymphatic. The circulation of the 

 blood becomes accelerated ; they possess much ardor, energy 

 and courage ; while the several parts of their bodies seldom 

 acquire very voluminous proportions." If we look, now, at the 

 characteristics of the animals of a colder region, we find that 

 they have " more strongly marked proportions ; have their skin 

 thicker, harder and drier ; their hair longer, coarser, and more 

 bushy ; their extremities shorter, with the tendons less strongly 

 pronounced ; the horns softer and more spongy ; the feet larger, 

 broader, more flattened, and less compact; the muscles 

 stronger, closer, and well supplied with fat. Their tempera- 

 ment is rather lymphatic than sanguineous, their circulation is 

 slower, they possess less physical and mental energy, and may 

 11 



