AMERICAN INSTITUTE 493 



Water is known to us all to be necessary to many parts of the 

 animal economy, as for example tlie gastric juice, all the secre- 

 tions, and the blood, which contains eighty per cent, and in fact 

 three quarters of the weight of all animals consists of pure water; 

 grass contains eighty per cent, and in order to discover whether 

 grass would supply the requisite amount of water, for a growing 

 animal to subsist on, I placed a fine yearling bull, weighing eight 

 hundred pounds, in an eight acre lot, Avithout water, for one 

 month, July, during which time he grew finely, and never ap- 

 peared to suffer for water. At the expiration of thirty-one days, 

 he drank sixty quarts. He was kept fifteen and a half days 

 longer without water, and then drank only eight quarts, leading 

 me to suppose that his constitution was adapting itself to the 

 quantity contained in the grass, as we know habit will accustom 

 the stomach to peculiar kinds of ,diet, and water, though essen- 

 tial in performing the very important office of dissolving nutritive 

 substances, so that the lacteals may convey them into the blood, 

 is not in itself nutritious. 



The Devon, or red cattle of Connecticut, are a very beautiful 

 and peculiar variety of animals, being remarkably well defined 

 in their character, and readily known from every other breed. 

 The horns are long and taper gradually towards the point; their 

 eyes are bright and prominent ; the ibrehead indented, flat and 

 small; the nose yellow, muzzle very fine; and the cheek medium 

 sized; the skin is thin, and hair in some instances curly, in others 

 smooth and glossy; but those having curly hair are supposed to 

 be more hardy, better w^orkers, and feeders. The color is a bright 

 red, and any departure from this, indicates a mixture with some 

 other breed; even a few white hairs in the forehead, are looked 

 upon with suspicion. The head of the Devon ox is smaller than 

 many other breeds ; he is quick in his movements, being a fiist 

 walker, and of free action, notwithstanding his legs appear to be 

 badly placed under his chest for speed, still he possesses it in an 

 eminent degree, and is of long endurance. His legr> are very 

 straight, and the fore arm strong and muscular; the bones below 

 the knee are small and delicate; the tail is set even with the level 

 of the back, though sometimes elevated above, but never depressed 

 belowj and has a small bunch of hair at the end. 



