Cattle 1853 - Lewis Family Farm

OCCASIONAL HORNS ON THE GALLOWAYS. 151
nothing pah be more dangerous. He also gains from the horn an
indication quite as important. The horn at the base is very thin ; as
much so as the cuticle or scarf-skin, and covers one of the most vascular
bones in the whole body. Nowhere else can the practitioner
get so near to the circulating fluid, or to so great a quantity of it.
He, therefore, puts his hand on the root of the horn, to see the pre-
" cise temperature of the blood, and thus to judge of the degree of
general fever or constitutional disturbance.
THE HORNS THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTER OF THE DIFFERENT BREEDS.
We have classed the different breeds of cattle- according to the
length of horn, and we cannot have a better guide. In the crosses
between them,' the horns follow a determined course ; as long as the
breed remains pure, cattle may be increased or diminished in size,
be changed in the proportions of various parts for certain purposes
be made true grazing or dairy cattle, but the horn remains the
same ; it is the distinguishing badge of the breed.
In the present race of short-horns there is a great variety in the
form of the horn. Some think this of little or no consequence ; we are
not of that number. It sometimes tells tales of crosses long gone by or
forgotten, and totally unsuspected ; and it is possible that they indi-
cate certain peculiarities, excellences or defects-, reaching perhaps to
no great extent, yet worthy of notice. A treatise on the horns of
cattle might be made a very interesting work ; but it would require
experience that rarely falls to one man's lot, and an unusual freedom
from hypothesis and prejudice.
THE INFLUENCE OF SEX ON THE HORNS.
Of the influence of sex on' the horn, we have proof every day ; but
it is exerted in our domestic cattle in a manner different from all
other ruminants. It is the head of the male, when in his wild state,
that is usually horned ; the castrated male loses his altogether, or
wears diminutive ones ; while the female is generally hornless. On
the contrary, the tame bull is distinguished by a short, straight, insignificant
and ugly horn ; while a weaker, but longer, handsomer,
and beautifully curved horn adorns the head of the ox ; and a still
more delicately-shaped one the cow.
OCCASIONAL HORNS ON TUB GALLOWAYS.
The most singular horn is that which now and then hangs from
the brow of some polled cattle. It is no prolongation of the frontal
bone ; is not attached to that or any bone of the head ; but grows
from the skin, and hangs down on the side of the face.
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