MILK-FAULTS. 51 



of the hairs around the nose, the eyes, the ears, and the stomach, the 

 inside soft portions of the bone, the anus, the tail, and the hoofs. 



(6) A general feminine appearance of the whole body. This is im- 

 portant, inasmuch as the activity of the milk-glands is intimately connected 

 with the discharge of the functions of the sexual organs of the female 

 animal. 



(7) A fine head and tail, and fine limbs; in short, a fine bone system, 

 carrying a weighty body which has been built up by previous rich feeding. 



(8) A barrel-shaped belly, deep, and the hind part of which should not 

 be tucked up, indicates the existence of good organs of digestion and the 

 capacity of making good use of food. 



(9) A wide distance between the tuft of hair on the line of the back 

 and the edge of the frontal bone, wide interspaces between the spinous 

 process of the chest and the lumbar vertebrae, and a large space between 

 the ribs, as indications of a long chest and a lengthy body. 



(10) A deep breast, as wide as possible, and a deep, broad pelvis. 



The presence of the above characteristics may be taken as an indication 

 that the animal belongs to a carefully developed, good breed. 



Although none of the above indications can be regarded as infallible, 

 all are worthy of careful attention. Bulls for breeding should be regarded 

 as specially valuable when they have had for their ancestors cows with 

 feminine qualities and good milk yields. Special care should be taken, in 

 the case of a bull, to have an animal with an equable temper and a body 

 free from defects. External signs of the latter are fine skin, glossy hair, 

 fine horns, widely-placed ribs, a broad posterior, and a well-formed escut- 

 cheon. Great stress is also laid on having the four rudimentary teats 

 of the scrotum well formed, and placed relatively in proper position. 



21. Milk-faults. Under the designation of milk-faults were for- 

 merly described the extraordinary behaviour shown by milk, which 

 sometimes suddenly occurred from causes quite unknown, and which 

 seriously interfered with the dairy industry. When we read that, 

 in the period between 1815 and 1830, in an agricultural district 

 of Mecklenburg, the disease of blueness in milk lasted for eight 

 years, and that in earlier times, in the best agricultural districts of 

 Schleswig-Holstein, butter was unsaleable owing to the fact that 

 the cream became cheesy in summer for months at a time, we realize 

 that the subject of milk-faults possesses the greatest practical interest. 

 It is of less practical importance at the present time, as such defects 

 seldom now occur. As the practice has extended of creaming milk 

 by centrifugal force, a practice which permits any quantity of milk 

 to be dealt with in a few hours, and as the use of ice in the treatment 



