GOOD AND BAD POINTS OF CATTLE, AND THE FORMATION OF FAT AND MUSCLE. 
371 
to fat easily, must possess large lungs. All that 
we ever examined, we found thus constituted, and 
we shall adhere to the opinion of these authorities 
rather than Dr. Playfair’s, till we find something 
more convincing than he has yet adduced to the 
contrary. Mr. Read fully explains that horses 
with large lungs fat easily; but it was a great 
error on the part of Dr. Playfair, to compare the 
kings of a horse with those of an ox. Animals of 
the same species should be compared with, each 
other, and not with those of a different species, 
as they are constructed for different purposes. We 
do not breed the horse for his meat. We have no 
doubt that horses with the largest and best-formed 
lungs, other things being equal, will be found bet¬ 
ter feeders than those with small lungs. We 
again recommend what follows to attention ; it 
should be studied rather than read. 
The skin or external envelope in the ruminan- 
lia herbivora is an important feature in developing 
the disposition of cattle to fatten, and is of much 
import to the farmer and grazier. 
A good skin' is known by the familiar name of 
touch —that is, the animal should possess a mellow 
skin, with resiliency moderately thick, yet loose 
and yielding to the fingers when gently elevated, 
and resuming its station with an elastic spring, as 
if there was underneath a tissue of wool impregna¬ 
ted with oil. The resilience of good skin in an 
animal depends on the organization beneath it, 
and the presence or absence of cellular or adipose 
tissue. The existence of this membrane consti¬ 
tutes the good handler—its deficiency the reverse.. 
The pilary or hairy covering should be thick, 
not coarse; glossy and soft, with an inclination to 
yellow, and in proportion as this exists as a quality 
or constituent, so is the propensity to make fat: on 
the other hand, a thinness of hair, and coarseness 
in fibre denotes an unthrifty animal, more especial¬ 
ly if conjoined with a dense firm hide or skin, and 
with short hair. This implies a bad handler, and 
is a sure indication of being a slow feeder, with a 
tardy disposition to increase in volume, either of 
fat or muscle. It is by the feel of the cutaneous 
tissue that a judgment is formed as to the state of 
maturity now, and that an opinion be formed of the 
condition and worth hereafter. The beautiful 
mossy skin that seems like soft velvet; its peculiar 
feeling, as if it were stretched over a bed of down 
when the fingers are applied; and its easy resil¬ 
ience when traction is made use of; these are the 
best and surest prognostics as to the future worth 
of the animal. 
Physiologically speaking, a mellow skin arises 
from a free circulation of the vascular system 
through the meshwork of the cellular or adipose 
tissue, or those cells that are destined for the re¬ 
ception of fat. These tissues are considered by 
some alike synonymous anatomically. They are 
always in a moist state, from the internal cavity 
of the cell performing the office of exhalation. 
Want or supply of interstitial deposite makes a bad 
or good skin. 
The adipose and reticular tissues are extremely 
vascular, more especially that portion in immediate 
connexion lying under it. A good and kindly 
handler has a full development of this material 
well spread over the superficies of the external 
frame under the skin. The membraneous tissue 
is a bed for the origin of the absorbents, and the 
adipose tissue is the depository in which the fat is 
deposited by the exhalents peculiar to it. These 
membranes participate in the character of the hide 
They are more dense and inelastic, and less ex¬ 
pansive. They do not admit of being so readily 
dilated by the interstitial deposite, and consequent¬ 
ly are longer in acquiring a mature state in the prog¬ 
ress of making fat. 
A thick and unyielding hide, not succumbing to 
the internal deposite in the adipose tissue under the 
skin, is thus continually reacting by pressure on 
the absorbents, and in this manner makes the an¬ 
imal slow in accumulating fat on the external 
parts of the frame. The difference in the feel be¬ 
tween the glossy and coarse-haired animals is de¬ 
pendant on the secretion from the cutis. In the 
thick skin it is more inspissated, and exfoliates 
in branny scales. In the mellow and glossy skin 
it is more oleaginous, which may also be ac¬ 
counted for. Its having a greater freedom for the 
assimilation of nitrogen—one of the compounds 
of ammonia—a chemical agent that is abundantly 
given off from the skin, and uniting with the 
unctuous exudation of the cutis, gives to the skin 
that peculiar saponaceous feel, so necessary as the 
index of that organ performing its healthy func¬ 
tions, and may be ranked as a sure symbol of ear¬ 
ly maturity. 
The ears should be of a fair proportion, not over¬ 
large, thin in texture, and capable of free and quick 
motion. A good ear denotes good quality ; a 
coarse ear, thick and large, is generally associated 
with much coarseness in the animal. A good ear 
is nearly always found in combination with a 
prominent and beaming eye, with thin palpebrse 
or eyelids. 
This development of eye is most times in unison 
with a good and clean horn, tending to a very* 
slight red at the radicals or roots. This indicates 
also a kindly disposition to early maturity. The 
happy and beaming eye of the healthy animal 
shows contentment, a very desirable omen as to 
the quick growth of the animal; while, on the 
contrary, a heavy eye, with a want of vivacity, 
with thick eyelids, and a too visible conjunctiva 
or white of the eye, is indicative of an unhappy 
and restless temper, incompatible with a good and 
profitable feeder. The eye of contentment, of 
quietude, and of calm expression of countenance, 
is alone compatible with that temperament so con¬ 
ducive to accumulation of flesh and fat. These 
qualities, if derived hereditarily, will be maintain¬ 
ed throughout the whole evolution of growth: 
they are also well-known signs of early disposition 
to maturity. The hereditary principle should al¬ 
ways be borne in mind. The old adage of “like 
will beget like,” whether applied to the symmet¬ 
rical law of external form, of quality, of temper, 
(either good or bad,) of constitution, of a disposi¬ 
tion to make either fat or muscle, or to any other 
