, 1880-10-08
The Intellectual Cow.

separate characterlstlcs ana peeullhrtUlss,
inst as surely as each human being has,
and that the popular idea of her as be,
inc merely feod'machine is both mis-
taken and unfair. From what the pres.
ont writer has noticed about the COW
very limited as that knowledge is--the
conclusion is warranted that she has
never vet had full Justice done to her;
that her mental and moral good quail
ties have not been developed, as they
might have been, by cultivation; and
that-though less highly gifted with
brains than the dog 4she yer Possesses
enough intelligence to entitle her to- a
more respectful consideration than she
usually receives. That cows acknowl-
edge individuality among themselves is
evident, from the fact that in every
herd there is sure to be found one mas
ter.cow, who domineers over all the
rest. Is not this clear proof that that
particular COW is endowed with an un-,
usual amount Of talent, Strength OF char
acter, gifts of leadership, decision, or
some such Distinguishing quality which
her companions are capable OF recognlz-
ing9 -"" '1.'''.'' s','., .,,.,.,..,
The stop boss" in the present writer's
herd is a COW named 'IDulas.p She is
neither the biggest nor the strongest, nor
the longest-horned Of the party, and
how she has acquired her supremacy we
know not, but we imagine that it must
be through sheer force of character and
will. Weine day had an opportunity
of watching her lead her companions to
q piece Of mischief which they all evi.
IDENTIFY knew to be against the laws of
their human superiors, and therefore to
be done on the sly, if possible The
COWS were.in field joining rick-yard,
and in the rick-yard was an clubhouse,
wherein some mangelsw were stored. The
field was separated from the rick-yard
by hedge, in which was gap stopped
by hurdle; and twice il one day had
the cows broken through the gap, got at
their beloved mangels. and been driven
out again ignominiously. Undaunted
by this, they made third attack, and
we happened to arrive just in time to
see it done. Whilst the men who had
driver. them back to the field were still
near, the cows all pretended to be graz
ing as TRANQUILITY as though no higher
ambition than grass had ever entered
their innocent minds. But no sooner
did the coast appear to be clear than off
set Dulas toward the hurdle, with q
quick and resolute step, shaking her
head with most defiant and jaunty air
as she walked. Instantly every other
COW left off eating, and followed her, all
evidently perfectly aware of what she
meant to do. Sticking ner horns skill
fully under bar Of the hurdle, an6
heaving np her head to extract the hur-
die from the ground, she very soon man
aged to remove the obstacle, and then
proceeded triumphantly to the mangels,
with all her companions at her heels.
Now, in this case, Dulas seems to have
used some kind Of reasoning power; for
there was no attempt made to batter
down the gate by brute force, and she
had discovered the necessity of lifting it
upward. She has q talent for opening
gates with easy .fastenings which is
rather Troublesome, putting her horns in
and worsing her head abont until she
gets the fastening undone. And in this
also she seems to show reason or obser-
walton, for else how would she know
which part of the gate to attack
We have another COW named Eithiu,
whose situation, when tied up in the
.cow-house, enabled her to eat out OF the
division CT the manger appointed to her
right-hand neighbor, though her own di-
vision was out Of the reach of
any COW except herself. Again and
again have We seen Eithen, when each
cow received her allowance Of decorticat
ed cotton-cake, turn at once toaaher
neighbors helping of the dainty (Eithin
being the more masterful Of the two
,tInimals), eat that up first, and then
polish off her own share afterward, her
understanding being quite capable of
showing her that it must be "now or
never" if she meant to get aouble por
ton Of the much-relished cake. We
need scarcely observe that this piratical
proceeding Of Eithins was easily over
come, by substituting a more mastery
COW as her neighbor, who would allow
no liberties to be taken. Another proof
of the intelligence. of cows, of which
many people are not aware, that they
soon learn TO know their own names,
and can bepnade to answer to them
readily. This we baye often seen ex-
emplihed when our animals are brought
into their house for the night, Each
COW knows well which stall belongs to