306 SPECIES. 
This has happened at two places to M. Roulin’s 
knowledge, the one in the province of San Mar- 
tin, in a property belonging to the Jesuits, at 
the time when this religious order was expelled, 
the other in the province of Mariquita at Paramo 
de Santa Isabel, in consequence of the abandon- 
ment of some works where the natives washed 
for gold. In the latter place, the cattle have not 
remained in the districts where they were origin- 
ally placed, but have mounted the heights of the 
Cordilleras to seek the region of the grasses, and 
there live in a temperature almost uniform of 
48° to 50° Fahrenheit. To this spot the peasants 
of the villages Mendez, Piedras, and some others 
situate in the plains, sometimes come to hunt 
them. They drive with knotted cords small 
divisions of the herd towards the places where 
snares have been previously prepared. When- 
ever they obtain possession of one of these ani- 
mals, it is often impossible to conduct it alive 
from among the mountains. This does not arise 
from the resistance which the captive makes, for 
after a little time its violence begins to diminish ; 
but when the animal begins to perceive the 
futility of its efforts to escape, it is often seized 
with so great a tremor over the whole body, that 
it falls to the ground; to make it rise becomes 
impossible, and it dies in a few hours. The want 
of salt to preserve the meat, the distance from 
any inhabited district, and the difficult nature 
of the roads, prevent the hunters from deriving 
any other advantage from the slain animal than 
the portion which they can consume upon the 
spot. These disadvantages render the hunting of 
wild cattle by no means frequent; and the hun- 
ters always run the risk of being surprised by the 
snow, which often falls in these elevated regions. 
When the snow lasts many days, these unfor- 
tunate men, accustomed to the continual warmth 
of the adjoining valleys, are sure to perish. If, 
however, they are so fortunate as to bring one 
of these animals from the mountains, it is not 
difficult to tame; this is effected by confining it 
near to the farm, by supplying it regularly with 
salt, and habituating it to the sight of men. M. 
Roulin never had an opportunity of seeing one 
of these animals alive, but he tasted the flesh of 
a wild calf which had been killed on the evening 
of his arrival. Its flavour did not in any respect 
differ from that of the common domestic calf; 
the hide was remarkably thick, in other respects 
of the usual size; the hair was long, thick, and 
rough. In the province of San Martin he, how- 
ever, saw a wild bull of a chestnut colour, pas- 
turing in the Llanos in the midst of the domestic 
cattle. The wild bulls pass the morning in the 
woods which cover the base of the Cordilleras, 
and do not appear in the Savannah until about 
two hours after noon, when they come out to 
feed. As soon as they perceive a man, they 
hasten to regain the forest at a full gallop. The 
hide of the wild bull does not appear to differ in 
any respect from that of the domestic cattle 
——_—$—$—_—_$_—$ $$ 
SPECULARIA. 
which inhabit the same districts. In both they 
are much heavier than the hides of the cattle 
brought up on the plateau of Bogota, and the 
latter yield in this respect, as well as in respect 
to the thickness of their hair, to the wild cattle 
of Paramo de Santa Isabel. In the warmest 
parts of the provinces of Mariquita and Neyba, 
there are some herds of horned cattle with their 
hair extremely scanty and fine; they are given, 
by antiphrasis, the epithet of Pelones. This va- 
riety is transmitted: to their descendants, but no 
care is taken to preserve the breed, as the Pe- 
lones are unable to bear the cold of the elevated 
regions of the Cordilleras, where the cattle in- 
tended for consumption or exportation must re- 
main for some time to fatten. There is also an- 
other variety of cattle in this district called 
Calungos, having the skin entirely naked like 
the Barbary dog. As these animals are more 
feeble and delicate, it is usual to kill them before 
they are old enough for breeding. These never 
appear in the cold districts. 
In Europe, where the milk of the cow forms a 
very important article of rural economy, it is 
usual to milk her continually from the moment 
of the birth of her first calf until she ceases to 
be fertile. This practice, continually repeated 
upon all these animals for a long series of gen- 
erations, has had the effect of producing per- 
manent alterations in the species. The udders 
have acquired an extraordinary size, and the 
milk continues to be secreted even after the calf 
has been removed. In Columbia, however, the 
introduction of a new rural system, the abun- 
dance of cattle in proportion to the number of 
inhabitants, their dispersion in pastures of very 
great extent, and a number of other circum- 
stances which need not here be detailed, have 
counteracted this effect of domestication. The 
organization and function of the udder soon 
resume their original state when freed from the 
long-continued influence of habit. At present 
if a cow of Columbia be intended to yield milk 
for the dairy, the first care must be to preserve 
the calf; it is allowed to remain along with its 
mother for the entire day, during which she is 
permitted to suckle it. They can be separated 
only at night, and the milk secreted during the 
interval of their separation alone becomes avail- 
able for economical purposes, and accordingly it 
is abstracted every morning. If the calf happen 
to die, the secretion of the milk is immediately 
stopped. 
SPECKLINIA. A genus of ornamental, tro- 
pical, epiphytous plants, of the orchis order. It 
comprises a number of species which have been 
commonly but mistakenly assigned to the genus 
dendrobium. 
SPECULARIA. A genus of ornamental, har- 
dy, annual plants, of the bellflower family. It 
was recently constituted out of the genus pris- 
matocarpus, just as that was constituted out of 
the genus campanula ; and it takes for its type 
