70 JOURXAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1890. 



derable, and will well admit of expansion and systematisation, In 

 the Government Records are numerous Reports of Cattle Diseases 

 and cognate subjects which deserve careful study, and the official 

 cattle statistics of trade, population, attendance at fairs, imports and 

 exports ought to be carefully worked out if we would thoroughly 

 realise the importance of cattle to India. A little study will show 

 that although Natives know how to feed cattle in this country and 

 can select them for work with much skill, their knowledge fails most 

 lamentably when it comes to deal with injuries and disease, so that 

 the unfortunate animals when most they need scientific care and 

 special nursing, are subjected to barbarous cruelty of treatment, or to 

 utter neglect. Fortunately Government and the public now recog- 

 nise this unsatisfactory state of affairs, and are taking measures to 

 remedy it. 



Much confusion exists even in native nomenclature ; for example, 

 we often find a number of terms used in description of cattle which 

 have a very general significance, but might be mistaken to be the 

 names of breeds ; thus Hanum cattle are those which come from 

 " down-south " and might be taken to mean Mysori in some parts of 

 the country. In reply to a letter asking the true meaning of the 

 term, I was on one occasion informed it was applied to very small 

 but beautifully-shaped breed of cattle of the Mysore stamp, and 

 coming from the western part of that State, where they run practi- 

 cally wild. Khilari means simply " herd " cattle as contrasted with 

 those tended individually, and Deshi means simply common country 

 cattle. Talabdai, again, is the term applied in Guzerat to local 

 village cattle which have more or less of the blood which we know as 

 Guzerathi. The frequency of these general terms is apt to mislead 

 a casual observer into multiplying breeds unnecessarily and errone- 

 ously. 



The ox of India is recognized as a species distinct from that of 

 Europe, and is termed by Zoologists the Zebu or Brahmini Ox. The 

 respects in which he differs from his European cousin are — (1) the 

 presence of a hump, (2) lightness of build and agility, (3) large size 

 of the dewlap, (4) certain minor differences of colour and shape. 

 The principal characteristic consists in the presence of a hump. This 

 is similar to the hump of the camel, and consists mainly of fat 



