LESSON XXXI.
1. Among our four-footed friends the cow comes next, and we wish to find out something about her. Will, do you think you can help us?
2. Yes! Since we began these lessons I have watched our cows, and have found out some things that I did not know before.
3. The cow has a heavier body and shorter legs than a horse. She has a short neck, and a long tail, with a bunch of coarse hair on the endof it. Her head is larger than that of a horse, and her nose is wider. Her ears stand out on each side of her head, and above them she has a pair of horns that spread out.
4. Her hoof is not round, like that of a horse, but is split into two parts, and is called a cloven hoof. She has a thick coat of coarse hair, which keeps her warm in all but the very coldest weather.
5. In front, the cow has six teeth on her under jaw, but none on her upper jaw. In place of teeth is a ridge hard as a bone. In the back part of her mouth she has six broad, flat teeth on each side of each jaw, with which she chews her food.
6. Cows are of different colors. Some are red, some are black, some are white, and some are spotted or striped. I have seen one kind that looked like a black cow with a white blanket on.
7. When the cow eats grass, she swallows it without chewing. When she has enough, she stands still or lies down, and the grass comes up into her mouth in little balls, and these she chews fine and swallows again.
8. The ball she chews is called a “cud,” and she will chew one cud after another, until she has chewed up all the grass she has eaten.