| 
| 
| 
738 
a 
of finer texture in the fibre than coarse flesh; it 
also contains fat in the tissue between the fibres. 
This arrangement of fat and lean gives a rich- 
ness and delicacy to the flesh. The other parts, 
though not all of the same quality, are used for 
salting and making soups, and do not fetch so 
high a price as the parts just described. A full 
twist lining the division between the hams, called 
the ‘closing,’ with a thick layer of fat, a thick 
flank, and a full neck-vein, are generally indica- 
tive of tallow in the interior of the carcass; but 
it frequently happens, that all these symptoms 
of laying on internal fat fail. The disposition to 
lay on internal fat altogether depends on the na- 
ture of the individual constitution ; for it is often 
observed, that those individuals which exhibit 
great fattening points on the exterior do not fill 
with internal fat so well as others which want 
these points. On the contrary, thin-made oxen, 
with flat ribs and large bellies, very frequently 
produce large quantities of internal fat. The 
first part which shows the fat in a feeding ox, is 
the point or top of the rump, which, in high- 
bred animals, is a prominent point; sometimes 
it protrudes too much, as the mass of fat laid on 
these is out of proportion to the lean, and there- 
fore useless to the consumer. This is the part 
which frequently misleads young or inexperi- 
enced judges in the true fatness of the ox, be- 
cause fat may be felt on this part, when it is 
very deficient on most of the other points. The 
parts, on the other hand, which are generally 
the last in being covered with flesh, are the point 
of the shoulder-joint and the top of the shoulder. 
If these parts are, therefore, felt to be well cov- 
ered, the other and better parts of the animal 
may be considered ripe. Ripeness of condition, 
however, can only be rightly ascertained by hand- 
ling, for there is a great difference between the 
apparent and real fatness of an ox. The flesh of 
an apparently fat ox to the eye, may, on being 
handled by a judge, feel loose and flabby ; but a 
truly fat ox always feels ‘hard fat.’ With such 
the butcher is seldom deceived; while loose 
handlers give no assurance of killing well.” 
Polled Catile——The polled or hornless breeds of 
cattle are either jointly aboriginal in Britain 
with the middle-horns, or, as already hinted, 
they are more probably the offspring of an an- 
cient accidental variety. They have existed 
from time immemorial in Galloway; they have, 
for a very long period, been favourites in various 
districts of the east and south-east of Scotland, 
particularly in Aberdeenshire and Forfarshire ; 
they have, for upwards of a century and a half, 
been sent in great numbers from Galloway far 
into England, especially to the counties of Nor- 
folk and Suffolk; and they are in high esteem, 
throughout many parts of both Scotland and 
England, for their large size, the firmness of 
their flesh, and the readiness of their disposition 
to fatten. They are generally designated, in 
Scotland, dodded cattle and humble cattle, or 
CATTLE. 
familiarly doddies and humlies. The principal 
varieties or breeds of them, or those which are 
most distinctively known in the market, are the 
Buchan doddies, the Angus humlies, the Gallo- 
ways, the Suffolks, and the Norfolks. 
The Buchan or Aberdeenshire doddies are 
generally symmetrical. Their back is straight 
and nearly level, but has the rump-top and the 
tail-head rather too much elevated. The ribs 
have a roundish outline, and are a little flat 
near the backbone. ‘The side-view is pretty rec- 
tangular; but the brisket is deeper than the 
flank, and the rump-top and tail-head are higher 
than the back and the shoulder-tops. The back, 
as seen from above, is a little too narrow, and, 
from the hooks to the shoulder, is wedge-shaped. 
The eye is good; the touch is, in general good; 
the bones are strong and well-set; and the flesh 
is well developed in the most valuable parts. 
The colour is generally black, but sometimes red, | 
dun, and brindled, with scarcely any white. A 
well-fed ox of this breed usually attains, at four 
years of age, a weight of between 50 and 60 
stones; but, in favourable circumstances, it at- 
tains a weight of between 70 and 80 stones; and, 
in some instances, it attains, at five or six years 
of age, a weight of 100 stones. 
land ; and their beef is of fine quality, and adapt- 
ed either for the home market or for shipping. 
The Angus humlies have external characters 
intermediate between those of the Buchan dod- 
dies and those of the Galloways; and, probably 
by means of a cross with the latter, they have | 
been much improved from what they once were. 
They extend over all Forfarshire, all Kincardine- | 
shire, a large portion of Aberdeenshire, and many 
parts of Fifeshire; and large droves of them are 
annually sent to the south of Scotland and to Eng- 
land, and are generally confounded in the latter 
country with Galloways. They have, for some 
time past, been constantly under a course of im- 
provement; and they are, at present, so far from 
being a fixed or finished breed, that the propa- 
gators of them, even in Forfarshire, cannot al- 
ways depend on the precise points of the parents | 
being perpetuated in the offspring. The back of 
most of them is a little depressed over the loins; 
the rump-top and the tail-head are rather too 
high; the shoulder-top is a little below the line 
of level; the buttocks are too thin; and the 
brisket is not sufficiently forward. The body, 
viewed either in front or in rear, is too narrow, 
—the hook-bones not being broad enough, the 
ribs flattish at the back, and both the hind legs 
and the fore legs not sufficiently asunder ; and, 
viewed from above, it is somewhat wedge-shaped, 
the breadth across the shoulder being less than 
that across the hooks. The legs are well-boned 
and of moderate length; the muzzle is rather 
coarse; the eye is good; the ears are rather too 
thick and hairy ; the head is tufted with hair 
and pretty well shaped; and the neck is rather 
This breed find | 
their way into every part of the south of Scot- 
