114 BEASTS OF LABOUR AMONG THE ROMANS. 
remedy such imperfections but by injurious parings of the hoof, 
or through suffering parts of it to grow which ought to be re¬ 
moved, he will relinquish the attempt altogether ; at least, he will 
only be justified in prosecuting it so far as he can find' expedi¬ 
ents in altering the form or substance of the shoe. Not only, 
however, is it his duty to examine if the imperfections of the 
limbs so far correspond with those of the feet that both admit of 
the same remedy, but also to observe whether, employing means 
to rectify some deformity in the superior joints, which are ope¬ 
rating, in spite of him, more upon the joints below, he is not 
doing more harm to the parts generally than good, and at the 
same time running the risk of ruining the animal altogether at so 
tender an age 
Recueil de Med. Vet. 
Beasts of Labour among the Romans. 
These were chiefly oxen, sometimes the ass and mule for 
burdens, but rarely the horse. The respect in which the ox was 
held among the Egyptians, Jews, and Greeks, w 7 as continued 
among the Romans; he was considered the companion of the 
husbandman; and almost all their writers record an instance of a 
man having been indicted and condemned for killing one to gra¬ 
tify a w r anton boy who longed for a dish of tripe. 
In breeding both horses and cows, the form of the female was 
chiefly attended to, and was thought to have the greatest influ¬ 
ence on the symmetry of the offspring. 
They were so anxious to have their oxen properly trained 
that they commenced their education when calves. “ Calves/ * 
say Virgil, “ which you intend for labour, should be instructed 
while their youthful minds are tractable; first encircle their necks 
with w 7 ide w 7 reaths of tender twigs, and afterwards put real collars 
upon them.” Before being yoked, they were tied for a few days 
between tw r o stakes, and then put into the plough along with a 
veteran, or, if refractory, between two. Some oxen, Columella 
observes, are disposed to lie down in the plough, and stripes will 
be applied in vain ; but when they do this, he advises the plough¬ 
man to bind their feet so as to prevent them from rising, walking, 
or feeding; and hunger will soon effectually cure them. Both in 
the cart and plough they were yoked in pairs, and were care¬ 
fully matched, that the stronger might not overwork the weaker. 
They w r ere yoked either by the horns or neck ; but the latter w 7 as 
greatly preferred; the former, according to Columella, being con¬ 
demned by almost all who have written on husbandry. From a 
remark of Homer, “ that from around the roots of the oxen’s horns 
