2IO NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



and soup is made from his tail." The value of the Ox ia 

 drawing waggons abroad may be gathered from the following 

 quotation from Mr. Gordon Cumming's " Hunting Adventures 

 in South Africa." " They (the oxen) are expected, unguided 

 by reins, to hold the rare-trodden roads, which occur through- 

 out the remoter parts of the Colony, either by day or night; 

 and so well trained are these sagacious animals, that it is 

 not uncommon to meet with a pair of fore-oxen which will, 

 of their own accord, hold the "spoor" or track of a single 

 waggon, which has perhaps crossed a plain six months pre- 

 viously." 



The Cow. The Cow after supplying enormous quantities 

 of milk during life is almost as valuable as the Ox when 

 dead. It is from the Cow moreover that we get the lymph 

 used in vaccination, which has proved such a wonderful 

 safeguard against small-pox. In its quiet way the Cow some- 

 times shows sagacity. Mr. Bell gives us the following illustra- 

 tion: — '"A cow which was feeding tranquilly in a pasture, the 

 gate of which was open to the road, was much annoyed by 

 a mischievous boy who amused himself by throwing stones 

 at the peaceful animal, which, after bearing with his impertinence 

 for some time, at length went up to him, hooked the end 

 of her horn into his clothes, and lifting him from the ground, 

 carried him out of the field and laid him down in the road. 

 She then calmly returned to her pasture, leaving him quit 

 with a severe fright and a torn garment." Cows have been 

 taught to graze close to forbidden crops without yielding to 

 the temptation to eat them. 

 The Pride A writer in Frank Leslie's popular monthly gives 

 of a Cow. an amusing instance of vanity as shown by a 

 cow. This cow, he was told, claimed precedence in all cases ; 

 she always went ahead of the herd and claimed the best piece 

 of pasture as her exclusive domain. So far did she cany 

 her pretensions, that if any of the other cows entered the 

 stable before her, she would refuse to follow. Anxious to 



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