Yak 



55 



used in India are made. Near Darjiling there exists a very small breed of 

 yak, some individuals of which are black, and oth^ers black and white. Of 

 this and other breeds living at comparatively low elevations there is a polled 

 form, which probably keeps true. Domestic yak are freely crossed with 

 the ordinary Indian cattle. It is only the comparatively lowland breeds of 



Fig. 9. — Head of Bull Yak. From Darraii's Sport in tie Highlands of Kashmir. 



yak which will stand the climate ot India even tor a short time, and 

 it is such alone that are exhibited alive in Europe. 



In the characters of the skull, yak are to a considerable extent inter- 

 mediate between the taurine oxen and the true bisons. The comparative 

 length and narrowness of the forehead, as well as its flatness, are taurine 

 characters, as is also the want of prominence of the sockets of the eyes. 

 On the other hand, the occipital region shows a distinct approximation to 

 the bisons. In place, however, of the summit of the true occipital surface 

 being seen in a front view of the skull, as in the latter, only a small boss 



