OCCASIONAL HOKNS Ui\ THE GALLOWAYS. 151 



nothing can be more dangerous. He also gains from the horn an 

 indication quite as important. The horn at the base is very thin ; as 

 much so as the cuticle or scarf-skin, and covers one of the most vas- 

 cular bones in the whole body. Nowhere else can the practitioner 

 get so near to the circulating fluid, or to so great a quantity of it. 

 He, therefore, puts his hand on the root of the horn, to see the pre- 

 cise temperature of the blood, and thus to judge of the degree of 

 general fever or constitutional disturbance. 



THE HORNS THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTER OF THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. 



We have classed the different breeds of cattle according to the 

 length of horn, and we cannot have a better guide. In the crosses 

 between them, the horns follow a determined course ; as long as the 

 breed remains pure, cattle may be increased or diminished in size, 

 be changed in the proportions of various parts for certain purposes — 

 be made true grazing or dairy cattle, but the horn remains the 

 same ; it is the distinguishing badge of the breed. 



In the present race of short-horns there is a great variety in the 

 form of the horn. Some think this of little or no consequence ; we are 

 not of that number. It sometimes tells tales of crosses long gone by or 

 forgotten, and totally unsuspected ; and it is possible that they indi- 

 cate certain peculiarities, excellences or defects, reaching perhaps to 

 no great extent, yet worthy of notice. A treatise on the horns of 

 cattle might be made a very interesting work ; but it would require 

 experience that rarely falls to one man's lot, and an unusual freedom 

 from hypothesis and prejudice. 



THE INFLUENCE OF SEX ON THE HORNS. 



Of the influence of sex on the horn, we have proof every day ; but 

 it is exerted in our domestic cattle in a manner different from all 

 other ruminants. It is the head of the male, when in his wild state, 

 that is usually horned ; the castrated male loses his altogether, or 

 wears diminutive ones ; while the female is generally hornless. On 

 the contrary, the tame bull is distinguished by a short, straight, in- 

 significant and ugly horn ; while a weaker, but longer, handsomer, 

 and beautifully curved horn adorns the head of the ox ; and a still 

 more delicately-shaped one the cow. 



OCCASIONAL HORNS ON THE GALLOWAYS. 



The most singrular horn is that which now and then hanefs from 

 the brow of some polled cattle. It is no prolongation of the frontal 

 bone ; is not attached to that or any bone of the head ; but grows 

 from the skin, and han^s down on the side of the face. 



