XX 
THE OX. 
HISTORY. 
uses for which they are designed mainly communicated by the art of the breeder. They will be all treated of in detail in 
the sequel; but it will be seen that, to introduce them before the more natural breeds are described, would be to invert the due 
order of description. The larger and finer races occupy the attention of a numerous class of skilful breeders; but others are of 
high importance, as occupying extensive tracts, and affording a large proportion of the supplies of the animal food of the country; 
and a knowledge of such races is essential to those who would bring enlarged and liberal views to the investigation of this source 
of public industry and wealth. 
Of the properties which artificial breeding is employed to call forth, that which holds the first place in this country is, an 
early maturity of the animal, and a tendency to the secretion of fat. The production of milk is likewise important, and particular 
breeds are valued for the dairy; but, generally speaking, it is to the production of flesh as human food that the aim of breeders 
has been mainly directed in this country. Even when Oxen are used for labour, the breeder looks to fattening as the ultimate 
end, and therefore directs his attention to the development of that property rather than to that of mere size and strength. 
The natural form of the Ox differs greatly from that of the Horse, to be hereafter described, and there is an equal divergence 
in those characters of form which we endeavour to communicate to the animals respectively with the design of suiting them to our 
uses. In the Horse we require the exertion of physical force, for the carrying of loads, for the drawing of weights, or for rapid 
motion. These purposes may be also sought for in the Ox intended for labour, but almost always, as has been said, the purpose 
of rearing the Ox in this country is the production of human food. The Horse, when viewed in profile, stands, exclusively of his head 
and neck, nearly within a square ; the Ox, under the same circumstances, stands within a rectangle. The body of the Horse, inde¬ 
pendent of his limbs, may, for certain purposes, occupy too much of the square, and be otherwise too much loaded with muscle and 
fat. In the Ox, cultivated for food, these characters never exist to the degree of being defects ; the greater the volume of fatty and 
fleshy substance which his body bears, and the larger the space of the rectangle which his body fills in proportion to his limbs, the 
more adapted is his form to the uses to which he is to be applied. In all cases, then, of an Ox to be fattened, we desire that the 
body shall be large in proportion to the limbs; or, in other words, that the limbs shall be short in proportion to the body. 
The muscular tissue or flesh of an animal consists of a series of fine fibres or threads. These fibres united form fasciculi or 
bundles, which united form larger fasciculi. The fibres and fasciculi are separated by a fine intervening tissue, in which is secreted 
the oily substance, fat. This latter secretion, then, is intermingled with the muscular or fleshy substance; and it is found in large 
quantity beneath the skin and the muscular tissue connected with it, and surrounds or is intermingled with the various viscera 
within the body, as the intestines, the heart, the kidneys, and other organs. It affords nourishment to the system, is exhausted 
when the animal is deprived of food, and increases largely in quantity when the animal receives abundant sustenance. 
The muscular tissue or flesh grows with the animal, and is essential to its existence and power of motion. When it arrives 
at its full growth, little further addition can be made to it by means of food. But it is otherwise with the fatty matter which sur¬ 
rounds and is intermingled with its substance. When the food which the animal assimilates by the action of its organs of nutrition 
and circulation is no longer needed to form muscle and bone, it is converted into fat; the muscles become enlarged, and the inte¬ 
guments extended, and the accumulation of fat takes place in great quantity within the trunk. By merely feeding an animal we 
may not have the power of increasing its muscular substance, but we have a great power over the increase of the fatty matter, which, 
along with the fleshy fibre, forms food. 
Now a certain set of characters indicates the property in the Ox, as in other animals, of arriving speedily at maturity of bone 
and muscle, and of readily secreting fat. As the property of quickly assimilating nourishment depends on the action of the diges¬ 
tive and respiratory organs, so it may be inferred that a large chest for containing the organs of respiration, and a capacious trunk 
for containing the stomach and other viscera employed in digestion, are connected with the property of easy digestion and assimi¬ 
lation. This we are likewise entitled to infer from effects observed; for, in every case of a healthy animal, we find the property of 
fattening quickly combined with an expanded chest and capacious body. Further, as an indication of the property of secreting fat, 
there should be an absence of thickness, or coarseness, as it is termed, of the bones of the extremities, as of the head, limbs, and 
caudal vertebrae, or tail. A thick and large head, massy limbs below the hock and knee, and a thick tail, may indicate strength 
and large muscles, but they do not manifest that peculiar delicacy which experience shows to exist in an animal that can be fattened 
with facility And, besides those indications of a tendency to fatten readily which are exhibited by the external form of the animal, 
there is one of essential importance indicated by the touch. The skin should be soft, and, as it were,- expansive. This property 
differs from mere thinness of the integuments, which, as indicative of want of hardness, would be regarded as a defect. It is a 
softness combined with elasticity, conveying the idea of a fine membrane spread over a soft cushion. The difference between the 
mellow feel, as it has been termed, of an animal which fattens readily, and of the hard inexpansive skm of an animal which does 
not possess this property, is readily discriminated. 
