JUDGING DAIRY CATTLE 81 



132,... Nervous System. Besides the organs performing 

 the work of digestion and secretion, there is another 

 feature of the physiology of the dairy cow, which is of 

 equal importance. Reference is made to the brain, the 

 spinal cord, and the numberless nerves connected with the 

 nervous system. These control the action of most of the 

 organs of the body and have an effective influence over the 

 amount of work that they may accomplish. The nervous 

 system is represented by the brain and the spinal cord 

 with its branches. The spinal cord runs through the verte- 

 bra from the head to the tail and sends out from each 

 vertebra branches that connect with the various organs of 

 the body. The feature connected with the nervous system 

 that has special application to the dairy cow is that of 

 temperament. More study has been given this in the 

 instance of men, and those who have given most attention 

 to it have divided their temperament into four classes 

 nervous, lymphatic, bilious and sanguinary. In cattle the 

 two divisions, nervous and lymphatic are most in evidence, 

 and they are very markedly characteristic of two classes 

 of cattle, dairy stock and beef animals. In an animal of 

 nervous temperament, the nervous organization is strong 

 and well developed. Such an animal is able to stand labor 

 beyond what would be expected of it from its physical 

 appearance. The animal of lymphatic temperament is 

 sluggish in disposition and inclined to fatten or become 

 fleshy. It should be stated that the common conception 

 of nervous temperament is not the same as that which 

 is referred to here. Generally when reference is made to 

 an animal's having a nervous temperament it is commonly 

 supposed to mean that it is irritable and excitable which 

 actually indicates the lack of nervous control. The term 

 as properly used in reference to dairy cattle means an 

 animal that is full of nerves, one that has strong nerves 

 which gives tone to the various organs of the body. The 



