BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 45 
The skull of the ox is thicker and heavier than that of the horse, 
and the brain still smaller in comparison with the entire head. The 
frontal bone is composed of two plates which are separated by bony 
ridges forming cells or sinuses. This arrangement (seen in Fig. 3, 
which. represents a longitu- Fig. 3. 
‘ dinal section of the head) 
gives to the parts great 
strength, and forms a secure 
defence against injuries ‘to 
the brain, which lies be- 
neath (a). 
Cattle are most readily 
and conveniently destroyed by blows on the head with a heavy axe 
or hammer, followed by immediate blood-letting. The animal which is 
to be killed should be secured by means of a rope passed round the 
horns and fastened to a post, or, if practicable, carried through a ring 
in a floor and held by an assistant or made fast. The animal being 
blindfolded, the operator, armed with a heavy axe or hammer, stands to 
the left and a little in front of it, and aims his blow at a spot in the mid- 
dle of a line drawn across the forehead about one inch and a half below 
the base of the horns, or, perhaps better, at the spot where two diagonal 
lines intersect, drawn from the eyes to the base of the horns. (Fig. 4.) 
In most cases, if the blow is heavy and properly directed, the ani- 
mal falls instantly ; but it is better even then to repeat the blow and 
to follow it by immediate bleeding. This is accomplished either by 
drawing back the head, and cutting deeply across the neck at the 
Fig. 4. upper portion of the windpipe, severing all 
the blood-vessels, or by plunging a long 
and sharp-pointed knife into the heart and 
large blood-vessels at a point corresponding 
to the upper portion of the brisket, and 
"just above the breast-bone.- 
Failure to fell the animal at the first 
blow cannot be attributed to any difference 
in the anatomical structure of the part, but 
rather to the fact that the blow was ill- 
directed, almost invariably too low, that it was not sufficiently power- 
ful, or that both of these faults were combined. 
