312 JUDGING FARM ANIMALS 



escutcheon. The author of this theory thus describes it : 18 

 ."The surface of the escutcheon is distinguished by its up- 

 ward growing hair, which takes a direction opposite to 

 that which covers the other parts of the skin. The hair of 

 the escutcheon is also distinguished by its tint, which is 

 duller than that of the other hair. The escutcheon starts 

 from the middle of the four teats, a part of its hair extend- 

 ing forward under the belly, in the direction of the navel, 

 while the other part, beginning a little above the hocks, 

 spreads as far as the middle of the hinder surface of the 

 thighs, ascending on the udder and in some classes running 

 up as high as the top of the vulva. The form or pattern 

 of the escutcheon indicates the class to which the animal 

 belongs, while the extent of surface covered by it denotes 

 the milk-giving capacity. This extent, varying in decreas- 

 ing proportion, gives rise to several orders, in which I 

 range the members of each class. The fineness of the hair 

 of the escutcheon, and the color of the skin, indicate the 

 quantity and quality of the milk. ... In all the classes and 

 orders, the escutcheon is the sole indicator of the internal 

 capacity of the udder, so that if the escutcheon is large, 

 we can pronounce without hesitation that the internal reser- 

 voir is large, and the yield of milk will be abundant, while, 

 if the escutcheon be small, the reservoir is small, and the 

 yield of milk will be small." Guenon also describes a 

 special growth of the hair which he termed "feathers," 

 of which there are two kinds, ascending and descending. 

 These he classifies into seven groups, five of which occur 

 on the escutcheon and two outside of it. This system in- 

 cludes an escutcheon classification for bulls. This theory, 

 which was so widely discussed and advocated many years 

 ago, is practically discarded to-day, notwithstanding the 

 fact that the Ayrshire, Guernsey and Holstein-Friesian 

 scales of points each recognize the escutcheon. It will 

 be difficult to assign value to this theory so long as high- 

 class producing cows show escutcheons of low order. 



18 Guenon on Milch Cows, translated by T. J. Hand, New York, 1883, p. 28. 



