190 
Publications of Interest to Agriculturists. 
include, according to M. Gayot, the administration of salts during 
the second month of gestation), abrupt changes of temperature, and 
various diseases. To the foregoing are added the placing of fodder 
racks at too great a height above the animal’s head, thereby causing 
a straining, which M. Morel de Vinde insists is very dangerous, 
and the too pronounced inclination of the floors of byres and stables. 
The control of sex is another subject which has, at various times, 
aroused considerable discussion. The author revives M. Thury’s 
theory, according to which the sex of the offspring is determined by 
the exact period at which the service takes place. Although, 
however, he quotes the testimony of a breeder of cattle, who certifies 
that in the course of twenty-nine experiments there was not one 
failure in securing the desired end, it is evident that the author still 
regards the problem as unsolved. 
The subjoined table is quoted as showing the normal number of 
respirations and beats of the pulse per minute in adult healthy 
animals : — 
Respiration. 
Pulsation 
per minute. 
Horse . , 
, 9 or 10 . 
. . 36 to 40 
Ox 
. 15 to 18 . 
. . 45 to 50 
Sheep, goat . 
. 12 to 15 . 
. 70 to 80 
Dog 
. 16 to 18 . 
. . 90 to 100 
These numbers vary, of course, with the age. A young horse, 
for example, makes fourteen or fifteen respiratory movements per 
minute, whereas in an old horse the number may fall to nine or ten. 
In a young ox the number is from eighteen to twenty-one, in an old 
one it varies from twelve to fifteen. 
Directions are given for feeling the pulse. In the case of the 
horse (fig. 1) the operator applies his right hand to the inferior 
border of the left lower jaw, where the beatings of the glosso-facial 
artery may be perceived. In the case of the ox -(fig. 2) the root 
of the tail is grasped between the hands, when the pulsations of 
the coccygeal arteries are felt on the under face. In smaller 
animals (fig. 3) the beating of the radial artery can be felt on the 
internal face of the fore-leg, in the groove just above the knee. 
In the classification of the varieties of the several groups of live 
stock the work is scarcely up to date, and the affinities and the rela- 
tive importance of English breeds are hardly estimated at their true 
value. Of horses, the Shire is not classified, though the Lincoln- 
shire, the Staffordshire, and the Black Horse are referred to. An 
estimate is made of the horse population of Europe, which is 
placed in the aggregate at 33,000,000 head, thus distributed : — 
Russia 17,000,000 I United Kingdom . . . 2,700,000 
Austria-Hungary. . . 3,500,000 | Italy 1,200,000 
Germany 3,300,000 | Other countries .... 2,300,000 
France 3,000,000 ( 
In discussing the varieties of cattle the author assigns the place 
of honour to the British breeds. After a review of the various 
