Part 24

See, in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society, Professor Owen's 'Account of his Dissection of the Aurochs.'

APPENDIX

THE FREE MARTIN.

Cows usually bring forth but one calf at a birth; occasionally, however, they produce twins. John Hunter, in his 'Observations on the Animal Economy,' says: "It is a fact known, and I believe almost universally understood, that when a cow brings forth two calves, one of them a bull-calf, and the other to appearance a cow, that the cow-calf is unfit for propagation; but the bull-calf grows up into a very proper bull. Such a cow-calf is called, in this country, a FREE MARTIN, and is commonly as well known among the farmers as either cow or bull. It has all the external marks of a cow-calf, namely, the teats, and the external female parts, called by farmers the bearing. It does not show the least inclination for the bull, nor does the bull ever take the least notice of it. In form it very much resembles the Ox, or spayed heifer, being considerably larger than either the bull or the cow, having the horns very similar to the horns of an Ox. The bellow of the Free Martin is similar to that of an Ox, having more resemblance to that of the cow than that of the bull."

Free Martins are very much disposed to grow fat with good food. The flesh, like that of the Ox or spayed heifer, is generally much finer in the fibre than either the bull or cow; is even supposed to exceed that of the Ox and heifer in delicacy of flavour, and bears a higher price at market. However this superiority of the flavour does not appear to be universal, for Mr. Hunter was informed of a case which occurred in Berkshire, in which the flesh of a Free Martin turned out nearly as bad as bull beef. This circumstance probably arose from the animal having more the properties of a bull than a cow.

Mr. Hunter, having had many opportunities of dissecting Free Martins, has satisfactorily shown that their incapacity to breed, and all their other peculiarities, result from their having the generative organs of both sexes combined, in a more or less imperfect state of development, in some cases the organs of the male preponderating, in others those of the female.

The above, which is copied from an engraving in Hunter's work on the 'Animal Economy,' is a representation of a Free Martin, five years old; it shows the external form of that animal, which is neither like the bull nor cow, but resembling the Ox or spayed heifer.

Although, as Hunter observes, "it is almost universally understood, that when a cow brings forth two calves, one of them a bull-calf, and the other to appearance a cow, that the cow-calf is unfit for propagation," it is by no means universally the fact, as instances of such twins breeding were known even in Hunter's time, and have been witnessed more recently. The following is recorded in Loudon's 'Mag. of Nat. History,' and occurred a few years previous to 1826: Jos. Holroyd, of Withers, near Leeds, had a cow which calved twins, a bull-calf and a cow-calf. As popular opinion was against the cow-calf breeding, it being considered a Free Martin, Mr. Holroyd was determined to make an experiment of them, and reared them together. They copulated, and in due time the heifer brought forth a bull-calf, and she regularly had calves for six or seven years afterwards.

"If," says Hunter, "there are such deviations as of twins being perfect male and female, why should there not be, on the other hand, an hermaphrodite, produced singly, as in other animals? I had the examination of one which seemed, upon the strictest inquiry, to have been a single calf; and I am the more inclined to think this true, from having found a number of hermaphrodites among black cattle, without the circumstance of their birth being ascertained."

If Hunter had carried this reasoning a little further, he might have asked,--Why should there not be a Free Martin, or hermaphrodite, produced in the case of twins, when they are both apparently males, or both apparently females? Had he done this, he would not, probably, have made the following observation: "I need hardly observe, that if a cow has twins, and they are both bull-calves, they are in every respect perfect bulls; or if they are both cow-calves, they are perfect cows." What is this but saying that a bull-calf is a bull-calf, and a cow-calf is a cow-calf? For a Free Martin, or hermaphrodite, is not, in any case, either a bull or a cow.

There does not appear to be anything known of the peculiar circumstances under which, what is termed a Free Martin is produced.

The most general observation that can be made on the subject appears to be, that cows sometimes produce calves, which, by reason of their imperfectly developed generative system, are incapable of procreating.

THE SHORT-NOSED OX.

The common Ox, originally taken over to America by the early Spanish settlers, now runs wild in immense herds on the Pampas, where it is hunted and slain for its hide. Some idea may be formed of the immensity of these herds, from the circumstance that nearly a million of hides are annually exported from Buenos Ayres and Monte Video to Europe.

Some of the herds in these wild regions have undergone a most singular modification of the cranium, consisting in a shortening of the nasal bones, together with the superior and inferior maxillaries. There is a skull of this variety in the Museum of the College of Surgeons, of which the above is a sketch.

ON THE UTILITY OF THE OX TRIBE TO MANKIND.

How eminently serviceable to man these animals are, is shown in the following table, in which are set forth the most important uses to which their various parts are applied:

SKIN.--The skin has been of great use in all ages. The ancient Britons constructed their boats with osiers, and covered them with the hides of bulls; and these boats were sufficiently strong to serve for short coasting voyages. Similar vessels are still in use on the Irish lakes, and in Wales on the rivers Dee and Severn. In Ireland they are called curach, in England coracles, from the British cwrwgl, a word signifying a boat of that structure.

Boots, shoes, harness, &c. for horses, and various kinds of travelling trunks are made from hides when tanned. The skin of the calf is extensively used in the binding of books, and the thinnest of the calf skins are manufactured into vellum. The skin of the Cape Buffalo is made into shields and targets, and is so hard that a musket ball will scarcely penetrate it.

HAIR.--The short hair is used to stuff saddles and other articles; also by bricklayers in the mixing up of certain kinds of mortar. It is likewise frequently used in the manuring of land. The long hair from the tail is used for stuffing chairs and cushions. The hair of the Bison is spun into gloves, stockings, and garters, which are very strong, and look as well as those made of the finest sheep's wool; very beautiful cloth has likewise been manufactured from it. The Esquimaux convert the skin covering the tail into caps, which are so contrived that the long hair falling over their faces, defends them from the bites of the mosquitoes.

HORNS.--The horns of cattle consist of an outside horny case, and an inside conical-shaped substance, somewhat between hardened hair and bone. The horny outside furnishes the material for the manufacture of a variety of useful articles. The first process consists in cutting the horn transversely into three portions.

1. The lowest of these, next the root of the horn, after undergoing several operations by which it is rendered flat, is made into combs.

2. The middle of the horn, after being flattened by heat, and its transparency improved by oil, is split into thin layers, and forms a substitute for glass in lanterns of the commonest kind. [The merit of the invention of these horn plates, and of their application to lanterns, is ascribed to King Alfred, who is said to have first used lanterns of this description to preserve his candle time-measurers from the wind.]

3. The tips of the horns are generally used to make knife-handles; the largest and best are used for crutch-stick heads, umbrella handles, and ink-horns, and the smallest and commonest serve for the tops and bottoms of ink-horns.

Spoons, small boxes, powder flasks, spectacle frames, and drinking horns are likewise made of the outer horny case.

The interior or core of the horn is boiled down in water, when a large quantity of fat rises to the surface; this is sold to the makers of yellow soap.--The liquid itself is used as a kind of glue, and is purchased by the cloth-dressers for stiffening.--The bony substance which remains behind, is ground down, and sold to the farmers for manure.

Besides these various purposes to which the different parts of the horn are applied, the chippings which arise in comb-making are sold to the farmer for manure, at about one shilling a bushel. In the first year after they are spread over the soil they have comparatively little effect; but during the next four or five their efficiency is considerable. The shavings, which form the refuse of the lantern-maker, are of a much thinner texture. Some of them are cut into various figures, and painted and used as toys; for they curl up when placed in the palm of a warm hand. But the greater part of these shavings are sold also for manure, which from their extremely thin and divided form, produce their full effect upon the first crop.

FEET.--An oil is extracted from the feet of oxen--hence called Neat's-foot-oil--of great use in preparing and softening leather.