96 



FIRST CLASS OF THE VERTEBRATED ANIMALS. 



cultural enterprises depends in general upon the extent to which these animals are 

 multiplied and improved. 



The acknowledged importance of the domestic animals, in an economical point of 

 ■view, has led agriculturists in all ages to pay peculiar attention to them, in order to 

 bring up, feed, dress, treat, and shelter these animals in such a way, as to draw from 

 them the greatest possible amount of benefit in the most economical manner ; and, by 

 multiplying and improving the breeds, to render them proper for their several des- 

 tinations. 



Without entering into those details, which belong to Agriculture rather than Zoo- 

 logy, it may be proper here to point out some of the important advantages which re- 

 sult to the cultivator himself, as well as to society at large, by the successful culti- 

 vation of the domestic animals. 



In respect to the former, unless the cultivator can easily and economically procure 

 a sufficient supply of those manures, of which he is in almost daily want, the produce 

 of the soil will in general be feeble and uncertain. Destitute of these animals, the 

 agriculturist would be deprived of the principal articles of his daily consumption. In 

 fact, rural establishments would want that activity which renders them at once agree- 

 able and useful. 



When considered as objects of public utihty, the domestic animals possess many 

 claims to our regard. The cultivation of the Cereal plants, which contribute so 

 largely to our maintenance, deservedly occupies the first consideration, and those 

 animals, which are raised for ahmentary purposes, possess at least a second claim to 

 our regard, since they tend directly, on the one hand, to increase the former by their 

 manures, and indirectly to economize their consumption. In equal bulks of animal 

 and vegetable food, nearly twice the quantity of nutritive particles is contained in the 

 former as in the latter ; and a pound of meat will in general be as nutritions as two 

 pounds of bread. 



The numerous and important advantages which Man derives from the domestic 

 animals, have led all nations from their earliest origin to regard them with the most 

 scrupulous attention. On referring back to the first ages of which we have any au- 

 thentic records, we see the chiefs of tribes, the patriarchs and first sovereigns, paying 

 a special attention to the management of cattle, and founding on this solid basis, not 

 only their own prosperity, but that of their contemporaries and descendants. The 

 sacred books and the most ancient historians furnish ri'peated examples of these facts, 

 which are too well known to be repeated here. At this remote period, when Man, 

 just formed by the Divine Power, entered upon the dawn of his civilization, the do- 

 mestic animals were considered not only as the most firm support of Agriculture, but 

 they yielded the most valuable materials for Commerce. As the principal wealth of 

 the times consisted in domestic animals, these naturally became the first medium of 

 exchange between nations. Cattle were therefore the first money that existed, as 

 they were the first article which possessed exchangeable value. We have a confirmation 

 of this fact in the circumstance, that the first acknow-ledged representatives of mer- 

 cant'le value, the earliest metallic money which passed current, was decorated with an 

 image of these animals, indicating that it maintained an equal value. They were also 

 the earliest ofl'erings presented by most nations to their deities; and the ancient 

 ^Egyptians worshipped the Bull, Apis, with the highest veneration. If we turn to 

 that nation, which has left us the most extensive and important written monuments of 

 its experience in the different branches of rural economy, we shall find the ancient 

 Romans applying themselves with remarkable zeal to the training and management 

 of cattle. We have an evidence of this fact in the term jumeiita^ which they ap- 

 plied generally to all kinds of cattle, derived from jnvare^ to help. There is also the 

 term joeCHMza, money, from which we have derived our English adjective pecuniary ^ 

 and the Latin term peculium, from which we have derived our peculation, alike de- 

 rived from pecns, which the Romans applied to cattle in general. Cato the elder, 

 the first of their agriculturists who has transmitted his precepts to our times, on being 

 asked by some persons to point out that particular branch of rural speculation which 

 should command their first attention, if they wished to acquire wealth in the quick- 

 est possible manner, is said to have replied, " Mr-.nage your cattle well;" and on 

 being again asked, what was the next best object of their attention, if they wished to 

 derive only a tolerable return for their labour, he replied, " Manage your cattle toler- 

 ably well." In the countries of civilized Europe, we find that a large portion of the 

 w^ealth of their inhabitants consists in cattle ; and we can commonly form a good no- 

 tion of their respective degrees of agricultural prosperity, as well as of the comforts 

 of the cultivator, by noticing the number and quality of the domestic animals. 



Since the proper management of Cattle is thus an undoubted and inexhaustible 

 source of wealth, it may be interesting here to trace the principal rules of conduct, 

 which should form the guide of the Agriculturist and Grazier. These remarks will 

 be equally valuable to the Naturalist, as they are more or less applicable to all terres- 

 trial Mammalia. The chief points to which our remarks are confined are the influ- 

 ence of station, soil, climate, food, exercise, lodging, dressing, as well as the applica- 

 tion of these to the several purposes for which the animals are finally intended. 



"The station in which the domestic animals are maintained may be low or elevated, 

 tJry or moist ; and these four qualities impart corresponding properties to the animals 

 which receive their influence. Peculiarities of station are often combined together in 

 pairs ; thus, an elevated station is often dry, while a low station is usually damp. 



When an elevated station is dry, it is generally more healthy than a low one when 

 damp. The air in the former is lighter, keener, and more pure; and communicates 

 its bracing qualities to such animals as are continually exposed to its influence. The 

 vegetable nutriment which it yields is more scanty, but it is, at the same time, more 

 substantial, and rather imparts force and energy to the animals which are fed thereon 

 than volume of body. This kind of soil is best adapted for the Goat, the Sheep, and 

 the greater part of the Ruminantia, which select it naturally when allowed to run at 

 large. 



A low soil, when damp, appears to be unfavourable to most constitutions. The 

 air seems overloaded with heterogeneous miasmata; it is, therefore, less healthy, and 

 being of greater specific gravity, communicates a corresponding dulness of motion to 

 those animals which are habitually exposed to its influence. The excessive moisture 

 constantly surrounding them relaxes the fibres of their bodies, elongates their mem- 



branes, extends their limbs, and renders the whole animal more massive, ponderous, 

 and slow in its movements. Vegetable food is more abundant in these situations, 

 but it is more watery, and less nutritious ; it loses in quality what it gains in quantity, 

 and induces corpulence rather than energy ; and while it promotes an increase of size, 

 diminishes strength. Poisonous plants appear to be more abundant in these situa- 

 tions than in stations of an opposite kind, and animals are not only exposed to the 

 prevailing miasmata, but are, as it were, in a continual bath of vapours. This kind 

 of station is best adapted for the Buffalo, the Bull, and the Hog. 



The middle point between both extremes, as in many other matters, seems to be 

 the most favorable to a large number of domestic animals. It is best suited, in par- 

 ticular, when accompanied by a proper degree of heat, to the Horse, the Ass, the 

 Dog, the Cat, the Rabbit, and the Hare. Plains are especially adapted for the Soli- 

 peda, in which stations they are more at liberty to exercise their limbs. 



We may perceive from these general observations, that there necessarily exists a 

 most intimate relation between the nature of the places inhabited by the domestic 

 animals, and the general aspect of these animals. The prevalent character of each 

 race appears greatly to depend upon that of its station. Thus, we see in low and 

 moist districts, that these animals exhibit an aqueous temperament ; their flesh appears 

 soft, and the animals themselves acquire a certain degree of apathy and stupidity. 

 Upon an elevated and dry soil, they possess, on the contrary, a certain degree of 

 fineness of structure ; their flesh is delicate and muscular ; their girth slendfr ; their 

 movements rapid; and they assume an increased sensibihty corresponding to their 

 agility and vigour. 



The quality of the soil likewise exercises a considerable influence upon the average 

 bulk of animals, and it has been observed, by a law which is equally applicable to 

 Plants, that those frequenting elevated mountains, whether granitic or schistous, and 

 silicious soils when dry and arid, are smaller than those frequenting calcareous plains, 

 luxuriant in herbage, as well as low and moist countries. In the latter case, their 

 fibres are soft and better supplied with nutriment ; the meshes of their animal tis- 

 sues remain more lax, and acquire a greater degree of extension than in the preceding 

 case, where the fibre continues dry and short. On this account, in low and moist 

 soils, and in fertile valleys, the same races of domestic animals exhibit greater bulk and 

 corpulency than upon a dry, elevated, stony, and steril soil. It is also from this 

 cause that the Horses, Bulls, and Sheep of Holland, Belgium, aud the rich pastures 

 of Switzerland and France, become more bulky than animals of the same species brought 

 up in the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Appenines, and all rough and mountainous si- 

 tuations. 



It thus appears unquestionable, that the nature of the soil exerts a powerful influ- 

 ence over the constitution of the domestic animals, and that it demands the most scru- 

 pulous attention on the part of the rural Economist. 



Climate acts in a powerful manner upon the physical constitution of animals, and 

 demands at least an equal share of attention. By the terras difference of climate, we 

 commonly include, in a general manner, all those conditions of the atmosphere which 

 occasion a greater degree of heat and moisture to prevail in one place rather than in 

 another ; and it may be easily imagined, that if the nature of the media, in which 

 animals habitually reside, exercises an important influence over them, they will also 

 be influenced by the temperature and moisture of the climate. They are more sus- 

 ceptible than Man to the immediate influence of changes of temperature, from being 

 continually exposed to the inclemency of the air, and seem acutely sensible of great 

 and sudden changes of the atmosphere. We even observe them foretelling and an- 

 nouncing an approaching change of the weather by various premonitory signs. 



As the climate may be either hot or cold, dry or moist, each of these conditions 

 induces very different results in respect to their reproduction, constitution, ameliora- 

 tion, and, in general, all the vital functions of the domestic animals. 



Heat being one of the most powerful stimuli of the vital reproductive powers, seems 

 conducive both to fertility and growth, especially when accompanied by moisture ; 

 cold, on the contrary, is generally injurious. We remark that Nature develops all her 

 treasures of fertility in the ardent climates of the South, while the icy regions of the 

 North are generally less peopled, more uniform and inanimate in their general aspect. 

 Melancholy solitudes replace, in these desolate regions, the most active and well- 

 marked scenes of animation, which, however, are less permanent, and pass more rapid- 

 ly away. 



It thus appears, that the active force of heat, which bears an intimate relation to 

 that of light, exalts the intensity of all the faculties and properties, and gives them 

 the fullest energy which they are capable of acquiring. By the same law which as- 

 F.igns to the plants of the South more exquisite flavours, aroToata, essential oils, per- 

 fumes, and colours, than to those of the North, we find the animals of warm countries 

 also exhibiting a greater richness and variety in their hues, more vivacity and ener- 

 gy of character, more activity and strength in all their parts. Everything proclaims 

 in Nature the beneficial influence of warmth over reproduction, as well as upon the 

 form and qualities of its productions. 



It appears, however, that heat, while it augments the energy of the vital powers, 

 contributes a more diminutive growth to the organs of the different functions, proba- 

 bly because the moisture which contributes much to this development is less abundant, 

 and because the solids of the animal body bear a greater ratio to the fluids, which 

 are more or less dissipated by heat. Climates of dry and warm character render 

 their fibres rigid, slim, moveable, and irritable, and they become deprived of that 

 moisture, which had lessened their sensibility by softening them. Thus, we constantly 

 observe that Horses, Bulls, Sheep, Goats, Dogs, and other domestic animals, are pro- 

 portionably smaller, but more vivid, ardent, and active in wai'm countries, than ani- 

 mals of the same species in colder regions, provided always that the cold be not too 

 intense. An excess of cold is, however, still more injurious to growth. The largest 

 races of cattle are found in temperate climates, which are moderately cold and moist. 

 A moderate degree of cold, by giving density and elasticity to the animal fibre, when 

 influenced by an adefiuate supply of moisture, becomes at once favorable to the growth 

 and multiplication of the species. 



AVe may also remark, that the influence of climate upon the reproduction of animals 

 imported from foreign countries merits a high degree of attention from the Agricultu- 



