OHAPTEE II. 



GuENON Examined. 

 Also /lis Illustrated Udder Forms, and other growths. 



For the information of readers wlio may not have read 

 Guenon's Treatise on the escutcheon — the heraldic name 

 he gave to the Yield Mark, by which latter name it is uni- 

 formly designated in this work — we may briefly state that 

 the writer of that essay, Francis Guenon, of Libourne, 

 France, was the first writer, so far as we are informed, who 

 published a description of the Yield Mark, by him called 

 Escutcheon, by which is meant the upturned plate, or fig- 

 ure of reversed hair on the upper back udder, or twist, of 

 nearly all cows that yield much milk. This mark, on good 

 milk cows, is clearly visible, and may be seen plainly by 

 any person. It is probable that many cow-keepers have 

 noticed it, who have not read Guenon's Essay, nor any 

 other description of this mark of yield. Guenon was very 

 enthusiastic and persevering in examining cows. Between 

 1822 and 1828, he created in his own mind, " a system," 

 or classification of the Yield Marks according to their size 

 and form, on the twists of different cows.* He says, "A 

 system was to be created, and I created it." In this, Gue- 

 non, like others that are more enthusiastic than reflective, 

 took an erroneous course. There is nothing wrong in en- 

 thusiasm itself; on the contrary, it is an excellent stimu- 

 lant. But Guenon's mistake consisted in endeavoring to 



* \A'(! have two copies of Guenon's Essay, one pnblislied by Thctnms McEl- 

 ratli, N. Y., in 1803; the oilier by OrimL'e Jiidil & Co., N. Y., 18(iT. So it ii])- 

 pejire tlie woi-lt was long ago trauslatea, and pretty widely read in tliis coun- 

 try, causing niucli discussion. 



