Nearly all children make pets of the house cat, and although the cat is a domestic animal of thieving propensities and an enemy of birds, yet it would be unwise to teach the younger children any enmity toward her. The establishment of sympathy with animal life, the humanizing effect upon child nature of having a kitty for a playfellow, will offset many times over the amount of depredation of which she may be guilty.
COMPARISON OF THE HORSE AND COW
Assign problems for the pupils to solve by observations made upon the animals in the field or farmyard.
1. What features of build give to the horse greater speed than the cow?
2. Compare the movements of the heads of the horse and cow while cropping grass. Account for the difference.
3. How has nature fitted the cow and the horse respectively, for defence?
4. Which end of the body does the horse raise first when it is getting up? Which end of its body does the cow raise first? Account for the difference.
To the teacher.—The horse is the swifter and more graceful runner because the body is less bulky and the legs are longer and straighter. In cropping grass the cow pushes its nose forward and breaks the grass off, a process which is made necessary because the cow has no upper front teeth. The strong, sharp horns, short, powerful neck, and heavy shoulders are an efficient equipment for the cow's method of defence, while the long, strong legs and powerful hindquarters of the horse enable it to deal terrific blows with its hard hoofs. The horse rises upon its forelegs before raising the rear of its body, while the cow raises its hindquarters first.