726 
THE COLOUR OF ANIMALS. 
or gold wire in a lady's ear, for instance, shortly after being 
pierced. All the agriculturist need do therefore is to insert 
metal studs in the “ ears 99 of his oxen. Distinguishing marks 
could be made by the position occupied in the ear by the 
stud. Thus, one set might all beat the tip or extreme point; 
another set at the bottom of the lower edge; another at the 
middle of the lower edge ; another in the centre of the 
“ear;" and so forth. If still more distinguishing marks 
were needed, the head of the stud at the outer aspect could 
be varied in shape, such as the round, the square, the oblong, 
the triangle, &c. The variety of distinguishing marks by 
position and shape of stud might be very great with a little 
ingenuity ; and if still more were required, letters or num¬ 
bers could be engraved on the stud. 
To insert studs even in a restless cow, held by the nose, 
would be quite easy with a cobbler’s punch, an instrument 
like a pair of pinchers carrying a punch, made the size of the 
shaft of the stud. I would recommend that the end of the 
stud be a male screw, and that the female screw be broad 
enough so as to run no risk of the hole in the ear admitting 
it. The only expense would be one punch and the studs 
(which could be made of tinned iron and sold by the gross). 
The shafts of the stud and, therefore, the hole punched for 
its reception, need not be thicker than the shaft of an ordi- 
dary pen-holder. The punch should be kept free from rust 
and putrid organic matter from previous use, and dipped in 
carbolic acid (olive oil 20 parts, carbolic acid 1 part) before 
each puncture. Clean studs so inserted would cause hardly 
any sore, especially with the carbolic oil precaution, and very 
likely there would be no objection raised to it.—W. F. 
THE COLOUR OF ANIMALS. 
Are white animals more delicate in constitution than those of 
other colours? In a meeting of the Ayrshire Breeders'Asso¬ 
ciation one of the speakers quoted Agassiz in the affirmative, 
and added for himself that ft consanguinity carried too far in 
breeding is likely to develop too much white in the colour of 
the stock." A correspondent in the New York Tribune says, 
he never met with a proof of this assertion; on the contrary, 
so far as his experience is concerned, red or brown, rather 
than white, most often followed close breeding. But as for 
white animals being more delicate than other colours, look at 
horses, and especially sheep, white shorthorn cattle, and, 
above all, the pure white breed of Charolais in France. A 
