484 



THE CLOVEN-HOOFED ANIMALS. 



during the severe, long winter they find some pro- 

 tection against the storms on the lee side of a 

 mound of earth thrown up to break the force of 

 the freezing winds prevailing. If such a mound is 

 provided with a miserable piece of roof on one 

 side, it is considered an excellent stable. Among 

 these herds the Cattle rank first in point of num- 

 ber, and have naturally many advantages over the 

 others: they are hardier and do not perish so easily 

 in the snow storms which play such dire havoc 

 among the Horses and Sheep, as they do not lose 

 their instinct of locality and become bewildered, but 

 hurry straight home to shelter— unless, indeed, as 

 sometimes happens, the storm is too high. In most 

 of these regions the herds are left to roam at will. 

 The animals had to shift for themselves, and were 

 given neither shelter nor food. Some of them were 

 so wild that they would let no human being ap- 

 proach them. The calves were suckled as long as 

 they craved milk, and herdsmen never thought of 





■t^. 



Ill 





DURHAM OE SHOBT-HORN COW. The Durham breed of Cattle is a famous English variety now com- 

 mon also in the United States. Its large, unwieldy body, straight back, and small head and horns, make it an 

 ungainly looking animal, but it is famous for the quantity and quality of beef it furnishes. (Bos taurus dunelmensis.) 



separating them from their mothers until they had 

 reached their second year. This method of Cattle 

 raising has been greatly changed in recent years, 

 however. 



Even in Italy there are still Cattle living in a half- 

 savage condition. In the Maremmas, those strips 

 of coast country between Pisa and Naples, which are 

 nearly perfectly level, fertile in spots and marshy 

 throughout the remainder of their extent, ill-famed 

 for their unhealthy, miasmatic climate and thinly 

 populated, numerous herds of Cattle rove about, 

 living outdoors year after year, migrating over ex- 

 tensive tracts of territory, and guarded only by the 

 hardiest Men. In Wallachia, Servia, Bosnia, Bul- 

 garia and Syria similar conditions of life prevail 

 among the Cattle. 



In the mountainous countries of central Europe, 

 especially in the Alps, the valuable domestic ani- 

 mal receives quite a different sort of care, though 

 there is yet much left to be desired. Tschudi says: 

 "Usually there is no provision made for a suitable 



stable, or even for any shelter at all. And yet these 

 badly protected beasts apparently thoroughly enjoy 

 the beautiful, calm period of their existence in the 

 Alps. One has only to bring the large bell, which 

 in spring sounds the signal for the departure to and 

 the return from the Alps, among the Cattle in the 

 valley, and it will excite immediate and general 

 attention. The cows collect, lowing and jumping- 

 with joy, thinking they hear the signal for departure, 

 and when they set out, and the finest cow has the 

 largest bell hanging from a gay ribbon around her 

 neck and a bouquet of flowers between her horns; 

 when the beast of burden is packed with cheese- 

 kettles and provisions, when the milk stools are set 

 between the horns of the Cattle, and the neatherds- 

 men begin their Alpine songs and the yodling re- 

 sounds through the valleys, then, indeed, one ought 

 to see the manifestations of pleasure with which the 

 good-natured and mischievous creatures take their 

 places in the procession, and, lowing, shape their 



course towards the 

 mountain. Cows left in 

 the valley often escape 

 the vigilance of their 

 owners and follow their 

 mates to distant mount- 

 ains." 



In the very high 

 northern latitudes win- 

 ter is a particularly hard 

 time for Cattle. The 

 short summer of Nor- 

 way and Lapland does 

 not produce enough 

 vegetation to supply the 

 Cattle with winter prov- 

 ender, therefore they are 

 fed in winter not only 

 'hay and straw, leaves 

 and birch branches, 

 reindeer-moss, aquatic 

 plants, algae and so on, 

 but also fish and espe- 

 cially the heads of Had- 

 docks, which are caught 

 in great quantities dur- 

 ing the time forage is 

 scarcest. 



In most other coun- 

 tries of Europe, the cow 

 is a miserable slave of man; in Spain, however, the 

 bull is esteemed of some importance, and may be- 

 come the hero of the day and occasionally aro'use a 

 great deal more sympathy than anything else in the 

 breast of a Spaniard. This is because the Spaniards 

 —both those dwelling in their own country and those 

 living abroad, especially in the warmer parts of 

 the New World— are passionately fond of spectacles 

 such as were in vogue in ancient Rome, but are 

 not now in favor with any other civilized nation; and 

 every bull passing under the observation of a Span- 

 iard is mentally estimated by a standard the highest, 

 excellences of which are great capacity and invari- 

 able inclination for fighting. 



Mental Attributes After all that has already been said, 

 and Capacities I need not further predicate much 

 of the Ox. about the intellectual qualities of the 

 domestic Ox. The animal undoubtedly occupies a 

 low plane of intelligence: for it is certainly the most 

 stupid of our domestic animals except the Sheep. It 

 learns to know its keeper and evinces a certain 



)j^-.<^;^-V"'' 



