sumable parts, are for the supply, mainly, of bone, hair, and
horn, but also of muscle and of blood, and to supply the waste which
continually goes on.

Now, there are several qualities which are essentially characteristic of
a disposition to fatten. There have not, as yet, been any book-rules
laid down, as in the case of M. Guenon's indications of milking-cows;
but there are, nevertheless, marks so definite and well understood, that
they are comprehended and acted upon by every grazier, although they are
by no means easy to describe. It is by skillful acumen that the grazier
acquires his knowledge, and not by theoretical rules; observation,
judgment, and experience, powerful perceptive faculties, and a keen and
minute comparison and discrimination, are essential to his success.

[Illustration: POINTS OF CATTLE.]

The first indication upon which he relies, is the _touch_. It is the
absolute criterion of _quality_, which is supposed to be the keystone of
perfection in all animals, whether for the pail or the butcher. The skin
is so intimately connected with the internal organs, in all animals,
that it is questionable whether even our schools of medicine might not
make more use of it in a diagnosis of disease. Of physiological
tendencies in cattle, however, it is of the last and most vital
importance. It must neither be thick, nor hard, nor adhere firmly to the
muscles. If it is so, the animal is a hard grazer, a difficult and
obstinate feeder--no skillful man will purchase it--such a creature must
go to a novice, and even to him at a price so low as to tempt him to
become a purchaser. On the other hand, the skin must not be thin, like
paper, nor flaccid, nor loose in the hand, nor flabby. This is the
opposite extreme, and is indicative of delicateness, bad, flabby flesh,
and, possibly, of inaptitude to retain the fat. It must be _elastic_ and
velvety, soft and pliable, presenting to the touch a gentle resistance,
but so delicate as to give pleasure to the sensitive hand--a skin, in
short, which seems at first to give an indentation from the pressure of
the fingers, but which again rises to its place by a gentle elasticity.

The _hair_ is of nearly as much importance as the skin. A hard skin will
have straight and stiff hair; it will not have a curl, but be thinly and
lankly distributed equally over the surface. A proper grazing animal
will have a _mossy_ coat, not absolutely curled, but having a
disposition to a grace