46 TREATISE ON MII.UH COWS. 



my secret entirely ; my object was to g^et the reality of my discovery and its re- 

 sults attested to. The Academy, without adopting my conclusions, did neverthe- 

 less make honorable , mention of me, at its sitting of the 3d of June following, in 

 these terms : 



" M. Francis Gn^non, of Libonme, possessor of a method which he deems infallible for jadg- 

 ingi by mere visual examination, of the goodness of Milch Cows, and the qaantity of milk which 

 each can yield, has solicited the Academy to canse the efficacioosness of this method to be tested 

 by repeated experiments. The case presented by this request was one of a secret method of 

 judging, which the possessor was not willing to reveal. On the other hand, it seemed difficult to 

 admit that the external signs, whatever they might be. by which M. Gu^non judges, could al- 

 ways bear a proportional relation'to the qnanti^ of milk yielded by a Cow. Nevertheless, the 

 Academy deemed it proper to appoint a Committee charged with making the examination. ' 



"Trials have been made, with the care and under the precantions necessary for precluding all 

 collusion. The Cows used for the purpose belonged to three different herds, and amounted tc 

 thirty in number , and the result has been to establish, to the satisfaction of the Committee, that 

 U. Gaenon really possesses great sagacity in this line. So long, hctwever, as his metliod shall be 

 kept secret, it cannot be judged of nor rewarded by the Academy. 



" Governed by these consideratioBs, the Academy, having ascertained from M. Gu^non that he 

 is willing to submit to every test that may be proposed, and to disclose his secret upon receiving 

 a. just indemnity, has referred him to the Prefect, and has engaged to recommend him to die fa- 

 vorable notice of that magistrate, who is ever disposed to promote all that tends to improvement." 



Here the matter rested at that time. I did not then make up my mind to give 

 my secret to the public ; but I persev«Ted m my observations and experiments, 

 ill order to perfect my discovery. In 1837, th«s Agi'icuUurai Sooiety of Bordeaux 

 determined to ascertain for itself what reality there might be in my system. — 

 The result surpassed its expectation ; the experiments made, in presence of the 

 Committee appointed for the purpose, left no doubt as to the certainty of my 

 method. Here are the terms in which the Committee expressed themselves in 

 their report : 



AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF BORDEAUX. 



GUENON DISCOVERY. . . . MILCH COWS. 

 Report to the Agricultural Society of Bordeaux. 



Gentlemen: The Committee appointed by you to examine into the discoveries of M. Francis 

 Gannon, of Libonme, have the honor to submit to you the result of their investigations. 



M. Gu^uon has established a natural method, by means of which it is easy to recogidze and 

 class the different kinds of Milch Cows, according to 



1st Tke quantity of milk which they can yield daily. 



8d. The period during which they toill continue to. give miVc. 



3d. The quality of their milk. 



Down to the present day, Gentlemen, the writers 'and professors who have the most particu- 

 larly occupied themselves with the bovine race have been unable to do anything more than indi- 

 cate some vague signs for judging of the fitness of Cows for secreting milk. 



.\B:er more than twenty years of observations and researches, M. Gn^on has succeeded at 

 Iiagth in discovering certain natural and positive signs, which constitute the basis of his method ; 

 a method henceforward proof against all error. 



Sensible of the necessity that your Committee should be fully convinced, and that they could 

 not but look with some degree of distrust upon any results of the proposed trials of his method, 

 unless they should know that those results rested upon tangible facts, and were nowise depend- 

 ent upon guess work, M. Oudnon began by imparting his secret to your Committee, and making 

 them fully acquainted with the poffltive signs upon which he has founded his method. By means 

 of these signs, which are all external and apparent, he has established eight classes or iainilieiv 

 which embrace all the varieties of die Cow that are to be met with in the different parts of this 

 kingdom. Each of these classes or families is subdivided into eight orders. It is divided, also^ 

 into three sections, so that each of the sections comprehends the eight orders ; this last divisioa 



