SELECTION OF MILK COWS. 395 



milk. "We often see cows equally well shaped, having exactly 

 the same scutcheon, and placed under the same hygienic con- 

 ditions, yet not giving either equal quantities, or equal qualities, 

 of milk. It could not be otherwise. Assuming that a given 

 tuft has the same value at birth, it cannot be the same in adult 

 age ; since, during hfe, an infinite number of circumstances occur 

 to diversify the activity of the milky glands, without changing 

 the figure or size of the tuft. 



" Is it not sufficient to refer to the inequality of milk given by 

 the same cows, according as they have had one, tv/o, or three 

 calves, in order to make it clear that M. Guenon has assigned 

 too much value to the mark which he has discovered? 



"It often happens that two horses, having exactly the same 

 structure, and the same external forms, have not the same 

 energy, the same fitness for work. The difference is owing, 

 evidently, to the temperament, and the activity of the principal 

 external organs; in other words, to conditions which it is often 

 impossible to estimate by any direct method. 



"Now, seeing that temperament has an influence on muscles 

 and bones, the action of which, however, is partly mechanical, 

 resembling that of a lever, and exerts this influence so power- 

 fully as to render their movements unequal, in respect both of 

 power and promptness, can we suppose that it has no influence 

 on the entirely vital, or, at least, the entirely molecular working 

 of the mammary gland? 



"It might, therefore, have been argued d priori that the mathe- 

 matical precision, assigned to a classification of cows, is contrary 

 to the most general laws of physiology; to propose a mark indi- 

 cating that a cow will give so much milk daily, and for so many 

 days, is to deceive ourselves, or to attempt deceiving others ; the 

 study of the phenomena of life, proves that the action of the 

 organs depends, not merely on their size and their form, but on 

 the general condition of each individual. 



