268 
THE FRONTAL BONES 
cally into numerous laminrn or plates, but no nerves or blood¬ 
vessels have, after the most careful injection, been traced into it, 
although they doubtless exist there. 
Towards the base of the horn the covering is very thin. It 
seems to be a continuation of the cuticle. After the most care¬ 
ful examination, it does not appear to be separable from the cuti¬ 
cle, but the process of maceration will distinctly separate them. 
It has been disputed whence or in what way the horn is pro¬ 
duced. Some have contended that, as the crust of the horse’s 
hoof is principally secreted from the coronary ligament, so the 
horny covering of the bullock is secreted by, or is a prolongation 
of, the cuticle at the base. That a portion of it is derived from 
the integument at the base cannot be doubted. It was the ori¬ 
ginal covering of the bone; and the rings, which increase yearly 
in number and recede from the root of the horn, .clearly point out 
this origin; but as the horn recedes from the base, it thickens very 
much, and this thickening, and indeed the greater portion of the 
homy covering, is secreted from the vascular bone underneath. 
The thinness of the horn at the base enables us.to account for 
the common practice of farriers and cowleeches, of placing the 
hand on the root of the horn in order to judge of the degree of 
fever ; and they do ascertain it with considerable correctness, for 
the skin is thin, and the bone beneath is highly vascular. It is 
covered by a mesh-w T ork of vessels, and the temperature of the 
frame, being one indication of the degree of fever, is at once 
evident: this bone is likewise lined by a continuation of the 
Schneiderian membrane, which would sympathise with any in¬ 
tense affection of the thoracic viscera. 
. Brutal fellows are too apt to strike the ox over the root of the 
horn. The thin covering over a vascular and sensible part is an 
inadequate defence, and the animal suffers great pain from the 
blow. It is said that some fool-hardy persons, armed with a stout 
stick, will not shrink from the attack of the most ferocious bull. 
A few smart blows on the root of the horn will inflict so much 
pain, that the animal will retreat from the combat. 
On account of the thinness of the horn at this part, and the 
imperfect formation of the supporting bone at an early age, some 
brutal fellows have undertaken to give any desired form and di¬ 
rection to the horn. The process is painful enough, for the horn 
is softened by the application of hot irons about its root; and it 
is said that many of the beautifully-turned horns, which are so 
much admired in various breeds, had their shape and curve arti¬ 
ficially given to them. 
Influenced by this thinness of the covering of the bone of the 
horn at its base, the French recommend fomentations and poul¬ 
tices around the root of the horn for inflammatory affections of the 
