Bull-baiting is a very cruel sport; this mode of killing Bulls is derived from one kind of ancient hunting, very like the Spanish bull-fights of the present day. On notice being given that a wild Bull would be slain on a certain day, the inhabitants of the neighbourhood assembled, sometimes to the number of a hundred horsemen, and four or five hundred foot, all armed with guns or other weapons. Those on foot stood upon the walls or got into trees, while the horsemen rode off a Bull from the rest of the herd, until he stood at bay, when they dismounted and fired. At some of these huntings twenty or thirty shots have been fired before the animal was killed. This dangerous sport is now but little practised. There is scarcely any part of the Ox that is not of some use to mankind. Boxes, combs, knife-handles, and drinking vessels, are made of the horns. Glue is made of the sinews, gristles, and the finer pieces of cuttings and parings of the hides, boiled in water till they become jelly-like, and the parts sufficiently dissolved, and then dried. The bone is a cheap substitute, in many instances, for ivory. And the thinnest of the calves-skins are made into vellum. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE COW. [Illustration: THE COW. ] The Cow is the most important animal of the farmer’s stock. Being equally capable of enduring heat and cold. It is an inhabitant of the frozen, as well as of the most scorching climates. There are a great variety of kinds; and they are all of a very humble and gentle disposition. The climate and pastures of Great Britain are well adapted to the nature of this animal; and we are indebted to the variety and abundance of our wholesome vegetables, for the number and excellence of our cattle, which range over our hills, and enliven our plains—a source of wealth and boast to this happy country. Not having the upper fore-teeth, the Cow prefers the high and rich grass in pastures, to the short and more delicate herbage generally selected by the horse. For this reason, where the grass is rather high and flourishing in our pastures than large and full, the Cow thrives well; and there is no part of Europe in which this animal grows larger, gives more milk, or fattens sooner. The quantity of milk given by Cows is various; some give only about six quarts in a day, whilst others give from fifteen to twenty. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE RAM. [Illustration: THE RAM. ]