Chap. III. 



THEIR PARENTAGE. 



83 



degree, according to Biitimeyer, 32 than do the fossil and 

 prehistoric European species, namely, Bos 'primigenius and 

 longifrons, from each other. They differ, also, as Mr. Blyth, 33 

 who has particularly attended to this subject, remarks, in 

 general configuration, in the shape of their ears, in the point 

 where the dewlap commences, in the typical curvature of 

 their horns, in their manner of carrying their heads when at 

 rest, in their ordinary variations of colour, especially in the 

 frequent presence of " nilgau-like markings on their feet," 

 and " in the one being born with teeth protruding through 

 the jaws, and the other not so." They have different habits, 

 and their voice is entirely different. The humped cattle in 

 India " seldom seek shade, and never go into the water and 

 there stand knee-deep, like the cattle of Europe." They have 

 run wild in parts of Oude and Kohilcund, and can maintain 

 themselves in a region infested by tigers. They have given 

 rise to many races differing greatly in size, in the presence 

 of one or two humps, in length of horns, and other respects. 

 Mr. Blyth sums up emphatically that the humped and hump- 

 less cattle must be considered as distinct species. When we 

 consider the number of points in external structure and 

 habits, independently of important osteological differences, in 

 which they differ from each other ; and that many of these 

 points are not likely to have been affected by domestication, 

 there can hardly be a doubt, notwithstanding the adverse 

 opinion of some naturalists, that the humped and non-humped 

 cattle must be ranked as specifically distinct. 



The European breeds of humpless cattle are numerous. 

 Professor Low enumerates 19 British breeds, only a few of 

 which are identical with those on the Continent. Even the 

 small Channel islands of Guernsey, Jersey, and Alderney 



32 ' Die Fauna der Pfahlbauten,' 

 18(31, s. 109, 149, 222. See also 

 GeofFroy Saint-Hilaire, in ' Mem. du 

 Mus. d'Hist. Nat.,' torn. x. p. 172 ; 

 and his son Isidore, in ' Hist. Nat. 

 Gen.,' torn. iii. p. 69. Vasey, in his 

 1 Dplineations of the Ox Tribe,' 1851, 

 p. 127, says the zebu has four, and 

 common ox five, sacral vertebrae. 

 Mr. Hodgson found the ribs either 



thirteen or fourteen in number ; see a 

 note in 'Indian Field,' 1858, p. 62. 



33 'The Indian Field,' 1858, p. 74, 

 where Mr. Blyth gives his authorities 

 with respect to the feral humped 

 cattle. Pickering, also, in his ' Races 

 of Man,' 1850, p. 274, notices the 

 peculiar grunt-like character of the 

 voice of the humped cattle. 



