90 INITIATIVE IN EVOLUTION 



less the " lie " of the hairs. They have not formed into a feathering 

 or complete reversal, but have come near to it. 



Farther down the haunches of the cow there is on each side 

 at the back of the thigh a curving reversed area of hair which 

 turns upwards and towards the middle line. This is the place 

 where the tail as it swings from side to side sweeps over the limb 

 and brushes upwards the hair of the thigh towards which it is 

 swinging. So that the activity of the tail is responsible for another 

 of the patterns in which the cow's hair is arranged. 



The lower segment of the hind leg exhibits one more reversed 

 area of hair due to the cow's habit of lying on the ground slightly 

 inclined to one side, for the more comfortable disposing of her 

 limbs, the effect of this attitude being seen in the manner in which 

 the hair on the back of the leg turns inwards. 



On the dewlaps and flanks are certain variable curls and turns 

 of hair produced by the frequent twitchings of a muscle situated 

 just under the skin called the" Ely Shaker " or panniculus carnosus 

 This muscle is seen any day in the carcase of an ox hanging up in a 

 butcher's shop, and it is interesting to notice the fact that it is 

 distributed over only the lower half of the flank, for the purpose 

 of shaking off flies from a region which the tail does not reach 

 efficiently. None of this sheet of muscle is found within the 

 effective range of the cow's light artillery, as on the haunches or 

 hinder portion of the spine. This sums up the equipment of 

 patterns of hair on the species of this group of ungulates, which is 

 more adorned with them than any I have examined, and it will be 

 admitted that compared with those of the horse, it is a poor exhibi- 

 tion, but one which it is easy to understand if the fundamental 

 principles of this inquiry are kept in miud. 



Light Occupations of the Cow. 



I watched lately a little act of this drama among a herd of 

 cows on the Stray at Harrogate during a hot day. There were 

 105 of them and this was what they were doing all day — some were 

 browsing with their muzzles close to the ground, their necks making 

 a considerable angle with the line of their trunks, others standing 

 stock still with their heads raised at a level with the body, gazing 

 vacantly into space, others lying on the grass more advanced in 

 the strenuous work of their day, ruminating with head level, also 

 gazing at nothing in particular, with their bodies gently rolled to 

 one side, their fore legs doubled straight under them and their 

 hind legs planted to one or other side, and a fourth group still 

 nearer the end of the cycle of work, lying with their chins resting 



