Volume 1

Cassell's popular natural history.

Date:
[1865-1866]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Cassell's popular natural history. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    714/824 (page 276)
    27« The Bearncme cow, which inhabits the basin of the A dour, has generally a clear bay coat, some- times rather dark ; horns white as ivory, round, fine, elevated in the air, long and pointed; the fore- quarters more developed proportionably than the hinder ones; much dewlap; fine bones; remarkable ability; small or medium height; weight variable ; aptitude for work. The Gascon race is a variety of the medium size, very robust, bad for the production of milk ; thick skin ; dewlap hanging almost to the ground ; horns short, thick, smooth, turned to the side. The Dutch race is spotted with black and white ; the head long and fine; small horns ; skin fine and supple ; thin neck; fine bones; great or medium size; very good milking powers. This race is found the whole length of the coast from the frontiers of France to Holstein. The horned cattle bred on the luxuriant pastures of Hungary are some of the finest in Europe. A race peculiar to the country, of a grayish white, with large, spreading horns, is remarkable for size and beauty. In Spain and Portugal, where extensive wilds and forest lands afford ample pasturage, large herds of oxen, born in freedom, wander uncontrolled and untroubled, excepting by man, from whom they flee with precipitation, till, roused to fury by his assaults, they attack him with restless im- petuosity. It is from these herds that the Spaniards and Portuguese select the fiercest and boldest for the revolting contests of the arena; while others are tamed and broken in for the purposes of husbandry. In Switzerland there is an excellent breed of cattle, and in no country are these animals more carefully attended to, or held in greater esteem for their utility, as far as the dairy is concerned. The richer proprietors and breeders in the Alps possess tracts of pasturage, and sometimes houses at different heights. In winter they live at the foot of the mountain in some sheltered valley, but this they quit in the spring, and ascend gradually, as the heat calls forth vegetation on the higher lands. In autumn they descend by the same gradation into the valley. The cattle of the upland pasture strike the traveller as being particularly clean, neat, and heal thy-looking, with much more of the slim make and breed of wild animals than our own cattle. They are, however, far from wild in reality, allowing strangers to come near, and even touch them more readily than the cows in an English meadow. They are usually small, and, from their size, as well as their general appearance, remind the English visitor of the “black cattle” of the north, though they are certainly of a finer breed than the Scotch. The cows are very active, fond of gambols, and full of spirit. Often do they follow strangers from rock to rock, merely to observe them ; while the bulls, though their looks are fierce, do not make any attack. It is a beautiful .sight to behold the herd itself, consisting often of more than a hundred cows, thickly dotted over the open green slopes at the base of some high cliff above, or appearing here and there amidst the woody glades of some valley, far, far beneath. Almost every cow in Switzerland has a large bell suspended around her neck; and, in passing through the valleys or wooded slopes of the mountains, it is very pleasing to hear the continuous tinkiings of these bells from a large herd, more especially when approaching, as they often do, from a considerable distance. The finest black cow is adorned with the largest bells, and the two next in appearance wear smaller ones. It is surprising to see the pride and pleasure with which the cows stalk forth when ornamented with their bells; and, though it would be hardly expected that such animals would be sensible of their rank, and affected by vanity and jealousy, yet such appears to be the case. If the leading cow is deprived of her honour, she indicates her sense of disgrace by lowing incessantly, abstaining from food, and losing condition. On the other hand, the happy rival on whom the badge of superiority has been placed, becomes the object of her vengeance, and is butted, wounded, and persecuted by her in a furious manner, until she regains her bell, or is entirely removed from the herd. I’lie herd are frequently adorned with a harmonious set of bells, chiming in accordance with the celebrated Ranz des Yaches. [he Ranz des Vaches is commonly supposed to be a single air; it stands, in fact, for a class of melodies, lhe literal meaning of the phrase is “ cow-rows,” and all the airs in use are derived from the manner in which the cows walk home along the Alpine paths at milking time. In allusion to them, Wordsworth says :—