284 
i, 
opinions, tlie discovery of Francois Guenon, a farmer of Gironde, 
should be welcomed with as much pleasure as surprise : it asserted 
the possibility of determining at once, from a mere examination 
of the Cow, both the quantity and quality of the milk it would 
furnish, as well as the period of its lactation. Does not this 
statement rather savour of exaggeration ? Do the data on which 
it is based present any degree of scientific value ? A commission, 
nominated by the ^National Government of 1848, was charged to 
solve these questions. 
This Cow-dealer and farmer — for such was Guenon’s business 
— was in a position to observe practically a great number and 
variety of cattle. He remarked that in Cows the hairs on the 
hinder face of the udders are turned upwards, and added to this, 
these hairs extend more or less over the region of the perinseum, 
so as to form a figure, which he describes under the name of an 
escutcheon. By a multiplicity of observations, he became assured 
that a Cow’s power of giving milk varied in proportion to the size 
of this escutcheon, and he divided Cows into orders and classes 
accordingly. He certainly somewhat exaggerated the merits of 
his plan, and his indicia , in some points, were clearly contradicted. 
This the commission did not fail to see. Still, however, they had 
to confess that the basis of his hypothesis was correct, and that 
the longer and wider the so-called escutcheon of the animal is, 
the greater are its milking qualities. Hence results a proba- 
bility of knowing approximately, by the inspection of the 
udder, the quantity of milk that may be expected from a Cow.* 
By taking notice of certain outward indications, such as those 
furnished by the bulk, size, and consistence of the udder, the 
development of the lacteous veins, &c., it is very seldom that a 
careful or experienced observer can be in fault. 
As far as regards the richness of milk, Guenon considers that 
it finds its maximum in those Cows which have the skin of their 
udders of a yellowish hue, freckled with black or reddish spots, 
furnished with fine and scanty hair, and covered with a greasy 
substance, which becomes detached when it is scratched on the 
surface. 
This escutcheon exists in males also, but is much less extensive 
* See Guenon’s work, Choix de Vaches laitieres, published at Paris in 1847, and 
accompanied with plates exemplifying his system. 
