I grew up playing with cow magnets (and still have several). My grandfather worked at a meat packing plant and regularly brought them home from work (they were removed during slaughter). I was told exactly what you found; they go into the first stomach and stay their for the life of the cow (which for cattle raised for beef is not necessarily a long time). I think they are becoming less common as beef cattle are increasingly raised in more controlled environments.
Doug Doug Peterson, PhD Director of University Honors Associate Professor of Psychology The University of South Dakota 414 E. Clark Vermillion SD 57069 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone (Honors): (605) 677-5223 phone (Psychology): (605) 677-5295 -----Original Message----- From: beth benoit [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 29, 2008 10:19 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] cow magnets (was Mesmer) Holy cow! That little tidbit of information was inserted into a novel I just finished reading, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (which IMHO soundly deserves the praise it got), but I thought it sounded like fiction. The only difference is that the reference in the novel said the cow excretes the magnet, with nails and such attached, which sounded excruciating, as well as dangerous. The site Stephen found says the magnet "lasts for the life of the cow." Not that it matters, as our friend Jerry Seinfeld classically said, but Scientific Minds may want to know. So I searched further, and found a Veterinarian site that says the magnet usually end up in the bottom front of the cow's stomach, where it can stay for years and keep the metal pieces from working themselves through the wall of the stomach and into the lungs and/or heart. http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/vet00/vet00032.htm Now what I really want to get is the "Cow Magnet Activity Kit," which features "Bessie Bovine," who "guides youngsters through 12 exercises that teach them the principles of modern magnetism." Maybe I don't want to know just how it's demonstrated. http://www.magnetsource.com/Consumer%20Pages/Moo_Mag_Kit.html But I'm enjoying this thread more than an attempt to consider what Freud would say about Hillary's wardrobe choice of pantsuits. Beth Benoit Granite State College New Hampshire -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 29, 2008 6:48 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Mesmer Allen E. reported: > After Dr Haygarth published his results, according to Mackay, some friends > of Perkins tried the Tractors [magnets] on sheep, cows, and horses, alleging the > animals received benefit from the metallic Tractors, but none from the > wooden ones. But apparently no one believed them, "and Perkins made his > exit from England, carrying with him about ten thousand pounds, to soothe > his declining years in the good city of Pennsylvania". Following up on Allen's charming account, I believe I can combine at least two different threads, this one and another recent one on cow herds orienting to the magnetic pole. I speak of cow magnets. These are not, as you might think, hunky cow- pleasing bulls. They are instead magnets swallowed by cows. Apparently lots of cows do, at the behest of their farmers. Lasts for the life of the cow! See http://www.magnetsource.com/Solutions_Pages/cowmags.html Note also the reference to "Hardware Disease". If it wasn't for this informative site, I might have thought it referred to heat-packing Americans or my own addiction to big-box hardware stores. Stephen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
