2 JUDGING FARM ANIMALS 



the various parts of the body, have their special conforma- 

 tions ^ and values. The outline of an animal of the cattle 

 group, for example, clearly indicates whether or not he 

 belongs to the beef producing type. The separate mem- 

 bers and parts of the body also have distinctive and special 

 values of their own, as compared with similar parts in 

 cattle of another type. If the hindquarter is thick and 

 fleshy, producing meat to a marked degree ; if the back is 

 covered with a deep layer of flesh, these parts, viewed 

 separately, are as an open book to the experienced judge, 

 who knows the type of animal from whence they came. 

 His knowledge of animal form and function is such as to 

 impress clearly upon his mind that, in nature, there is 

 always a rational co-relationship between the parts, where- 

 by is produced a whole that is adapted to certain condi- 

 tions and uses. Cuvier, the great comparative anatomist, 

 claimed that ^ "all organized beings, in their structure, 

 form a complete system, of which the parts mutually cor- 

 respond and conduce to the same definite action by a recip- 

 rocal reaction. Each of these parts cannot be changed 

 without the others changing also; and, by consequence, 

 each of these taken separately indicates and gives all the 

 rest." In the complete, naturally formed whole, we find 

 harmony of relationship in all the parts to each other. The 

 forms of our domestic animals, however, vary more or less, 

 both in perfection and efficiency of purpose. Remarkable 

 changes have taken place during the course of domesti- 

 cation, so that we find wide extremes between the wild, 

 ancestral parent, and the most highly developed product 

 of present day breeding. The contrast between the wild 

 hog and modern Berkshire, or shaggy Highland cattle 

 and the Holstein-Friesian of to-day, are striking illustra- 

 tions of wide differences in type. Undoubtedly we have 

 cases where the harmony of parts in the animal form seems 

 lacking, yet often this is more apparent than real. Stu- 



1 Conformation is a word used to express the relationship of the various parts 

 to the whole. 



' On the Anatomy of Vertebrates. Eichard Owen, 1866, Vol. I., p. 27. 



