EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF JEALOUSY IN A COW.

Otago Witness, Issue 2004, 21 July 1892, Page 44

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF JEALOUSY IN A COW.

In the Spectator Mr C. Hunter Brown, of Nelson, N.Z , tells the following story of a cow's jealousy of a dog:— A few years ago I had a quiet milch cow, Rose, wLich certainly was fond of Thomas, the man who milked her regularly, and she also showed an aversion to dogs even greater than is usual in her species. One night, for what reason I now forget, I bad tied np a young coliie dog in the littie cowshed where she was accustomed to be milked. The following morniug, I had just begun to dress, when I heard the puppy barking in the cowthed. "Oh ! " thought I, " I forgot to tell Thomas about the puppy, and now the cow will get in first and gore it." The next minute I heard a roar of unmistakable fear and acguish — a human roar. I dashed down to the spot, and ?it tho same moment arrived my son, pitchfork in hand. There lay Thomas on his face in a dry gutter by the side of the road to the cow house, and the cow butting angtily at him. We drove off the cow, and poor Thomas scuffled across the road, slipped through a wire fence, stood up, and drew breath. " Why, Thomas," paid I, •• what's the matter with Kobe 1 " " Well, sir," said Thomas, " I heard the pup bark and untied him, aud I was just coming out of the cowhouse, with the pup in my arms, when Rose caone round the corner. As soon as she seed the pup in my arms she rushed at me without mere

ado, knocked me down, and wonld have killed me if you hadn't come np." Thomas had, indeed, had a narrow escape. His trousers vere ripped up from end to end, and red marks all along his legs showed where Rose's horns had grazed along them. "Well," said 1, "you"d better not milk her this morning, since she's in such a fury." " Oh, I'll milk her right enough, Eir, by-and-bye. Just give her a little time to settle down like. It's only jealousy of that 'ere pup, sir. She couldn't abide seeing me afondling of it." " Well, as you like," said I. " Only take care and mind what you're about." "All right, sir." In about 20 minutes Thomas called me down to see the milk. The cow had stood quiet enough to be miked. But the milk was deeply tinged with blood, and in halt an hour a copious red precipitate had settled to the bottom of the pail. Till then I had doubted the jealousy theory. After that I believed. Growth of an Insect. The life of a butterfly is a continued series of changes from the time when it leaves the egg until it arrives at its perfect condition, not merely in the gradual acquisition of new organs, but in. the shedding of the larval, or caterpillar skins, at intervals beforo it attains its full growth. In most moths and butterflies these changes of skin are said to occur about five times, but in some speciea this number is known to double itself. The eggs of butterflies vary considerably both in form and sculpture, being in some species more or less pear-shaped, in others spherical, cylindrical, or barrel-shaped, with concentric, longitudinal, or netted lines or ridges, the apex being frequently more or less depressed. When first deposited upon the food plant they are usually of a pale yellow colour, which gradually deepens as the young caterpillar is developed within, so that just beforo hatching they are of a dark purplish or blackish tint. Almost immediately after exclusion the caterpillar attacks its food, generally beginning upon the empty shell from which i; has emerged. Its size at this time is very small, tbo common silkworm being then, according to Count Dandolo, scarcely a line in length, and weighing not more than the 100 th of a grain, whereas at the end of 30 days, when it has attained ila full size, its average weight is about 95gr, and its length occasionally 40 lines, so that its weight in the course of this time has increated 9500fold.— Science for All. A Snake's Movement. — A snake moves by means of the ribs and the scales on the abdomen, to which each rib is attached by a set of short muscles. These scales take hold of the surface over which the serpent may be passing, and in that manner aid the creature to glide, often very rapidly, round the trunks of trees and along the smaller branches. Some species climb trees with wonderful agility, gliding up the straight trunks with as much ease as if they were moving along the level ground. The Giraffe: at the Zoo.— The last giraffe living at the Zoological Gardens died ju3t lately. It was in the summer of 1835 that some early visitors to tho city were startled one morning by meeting four of these animals with tteir Nubian attendants stalkiDg along what was then known as the New road on their way from the docks to Regent's Paik, and during the 57 years which have since elapsed, the society havo never, until now, been without one or more specimens. During the last year they have had only two, aud now these have successively disappeared, and with the diminution of the species, and the difficulty of aocess to the Soudan, it is hardly likely that their place can be supplied for some time to come. Painting reached its height immediately after Michael Angely's death. Who shall rival the splendors, the profusion of Veronese, the opulence of Tintoretto, the richness cf Titian, the Pomp of Rubens ? Or who shall challenge the technical beauty of Velasquez or of Halj, or the technical dexterity of Terburgb, or Metzu, or Dow, or Adrian van (Made ? — George Moore.