146 CATTLE. 



point in a bull. A deficiency here argues deficiency of ccns;itutional 

 power, and materially diminishes his value as a stock-getter; a cow 

 with a large head and broad forehead, in other respects loses the 

 most valuable points of tlie feminine character — she is neither a good 

 milker, nor a good mother, nor does she often fatten kindly ; there is 

 coarseness in her whole form, and her very flesh is coarse, when 

 slaughtered. There is no point more generally assented to by 

 breeders that this — that a tine small head, tapering towards the 

 muzzle, usually indicates a good milker and a good feeder, and a good 

 temper too. 



Tiie cut of the head of the bull, page 145, except somewhat too 

 narrow a muzzle, is a good illustration of the masculine character of 

 a superior bull of the improved short-horn breed. 



In some species of hornless cattle the expanse of this bone not 

 being wanted as a base for the horn, is not found ; but the frontal 

 bones begin to contract a little above the eyes, and terminate in a 

 comparatively narrow ridge at the summit of the head. This narrow- 

 ness of the parietal ridge is a characteristic of the purity of the breed 

 and its grazing qualities, particularly among the Gallow^ay and xVngus 

 cattle, showing fineness of form, and smallness of bone everywhere. 



THE FRONTAL SINUSES. 



If this expanse of bone were solid, its weight would be enormous, 

 and it would weigh the animal down. To obviate this, it is divided 

 into two plates, separated by numerous cells ; these extend through 

 the whole of the bone, even through the parietal and occipital bones. 

 Hence the frontal sinuses extend from th^ angle of the eye to the 

 foramen through which the brain escapes from the skull, and to the 

 very tip of the horn (vide a and c, p. 144.) 



There is a septum, or division, in the centre of the frontal sinuses. 

 Commencing about half way up the nose, the septum is wanting at 

 the lower part, and the two nostrils are thrown into one ; and the 

 frontal sinuses communicating with the nasal, there is one continuous 

 cavity from the muzzle to the tip of the bone of the horn, and from 

 one nostril to the other. 



INFLAMMATION OF THE FRONTAL SINUSES. 



The whole of this cavity is lined by a prolongation of the mem- 

 brane of the nose, and when one part of it is inflamed, the whole is 

 apt to be affected. This accounts for the very serious character 

 which a discharge from the nostril sometimes assumes in cattle. 

 The sooner a gleet from the nose of an ox is examined and properly 

 treated the better, for the inflammation is extensive generally. 



After a little cough, with slight nasal discharge, we occasionally 



