THE 



ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE 



AND 



DISEASES OF CATTLE 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE STRUCTURE AND DISEASES OE THE HEAD 0> THE OX. 



Having described the various breeds of cattle, and touched in- 

 cidentallv on some of the principles of breeding, we are now prepared 

 to enter into the consideration of the structure of the ox. This will 

 afford us opportunity of more satisfactorily elucidatmg the peculiari- 

 ties, or points, on the development of which the excellence of the 

 beast, for certain purposes, is supposed to depend ; and will also 

 enable us to understand the nature and proper treatment of the 

 diseases to which neat cattle are subject. The first is an important 

 but disputed topic : it has been founded too much on mere assertion ; 

 it has varied with the caprice of individuals, or the fashion of the 

 day ; and it has rarely been referred to principle, and to the neces- 

 sary effect of certain conformations on the capacity of the animal for 

 certain purposes : the latter, more important still, has been aUo- 

 gcther neglected, for until lately there did not exist, in the English 

 language, "and scarcely in any other, a scientific and satisfactory ac- 

 count of the nature and causes and cure of the maladies of neat cat- 

 tle ; but these animals were, with few exceptions, abandoned to the 

 tender mercies of those whose practice may be characterized as a 

 compound of ignorance and bi'utality. 



For the purpose of future reference, we first introduce the skele- 

 ton of the ox. 



