68 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I915. 



of the neck and head is the most striking male secondary char- 

 acter. 'This character was very coirtpletely developed by the 

 cow Dorothy of Orono. Unfortunately, owing to a misunder- 

 standmg, we have no photographs of the animal, showing the 

 condition before and after the change. 



The change in beliavior of the animal was as striking as that 

 in conformation, though not go easy of interpretation. Before 

 considering this, it should first be noted that after the cow 

 dropped her third calf on February 24, 1912, she was put to 

 the bull and received service on the following dates, all in 1912 : 

 May 30, June 23. July 15, August 13, October 15, October 30, 

 and November 16. On each of these occasions she showed 

 some evidence of oesftrum, but on the later dates in the series 

 the manifestations were slight, and an increasing disin- 

 clination to take the bull became evident. After November 

 16, 1912, she never came again in heat up to the time sihe was 

 killed (February 19, 1914J, nor would she receive the bull. 



During this time she showed the. sex behavior of a bull, at- 

 tempting copulation with the co-ws. At first this behavior was 

 discriminatory, only those cows which were in heat being 

 mounted. In fact this cow Dorothy of Orono was during this 

 time used by the herdsman to test other cows for the presence 

 of oestrum. Later all discrimination was lost and she would 

 mount any cow within reach. 



At no time did she show characteristic symptoms of nym- 

 phomiania, unless the mounting of other cows be so interpreted. 

 Such behavior ("bulling"'") is, to be sure, one of the manifes- 

 tations of oestrum in many normal cows, and is sometimes 

 observed in n}Tnphcmania.'^ Hess (quoted in Wilhams, loc. cit., 

 p. 174) says on this point: "In some cases of mTuphomania, 

 the affected animals attempt to mount neighboring cows, bulls, 

 oxen, and even persons and continue to ride the former for a 

 long interval ; on the other hand they permit bulls and also 

 other cows to mount them constantly." The difference between 

 the latter type of behavior and the case here described is 

 evident. Hess howei^er says, farther on, that cases of nympho- 

 mania associated with cystic ovaries do occur, in which the 

 individuals refuse to receive the bull, or to be mounted by 

 other cows. 



^Cf. ^^"illiam=, 'W. L. Veterinar}' Obstetric?, Ithaca, 1909. 



