52 MOSTLY MAMMALS 



horns are more or less corkscrew-like. As the wild markhor 

 of the Himalaya has horns of a similar type, it has been 

 suggested that many of the Asiatic breeds are derived 

 from that species. Against that view is the circumstance 

 that the direction of the spiral in the domesticated breeds 

 is generally, although not invariably, just the reverse of 

 that in the markhor. Although it is possible that some 

 Asiatic breeds may trace their origin to the latter, it is more 

 probable that they are derived from the pasang but have 

 been crossed with the markhor. Most likely the goat was 

 first domesticated in Western Asia, whence it was imported 

 into Africa, where it has departed very widely from the 

 original type. A superstition prevails in countries so wide 

 apart from one another as Scotland and Kashmir that goats 

 are deadly foes to snakes (the name " markhor " signifying 

 snake-eater), and it would be very interesting to discover 

 whether the legend has any foundation in fact. 



The numerous breeds of domesticated cattle of Europe 

 all trace their ancestry to the great extinct wild ox, or 

 aurochs, which, as stated in another article, lived on in 

 England at least as late as the Neolithic period, and sur- 

 vived to a much later date on the Continent. It has often 

 been said that the white cattle of Chillingham Park are the 

 direct descendants of the aurochs, but it is practically 

 certain that they are derived from a domesticated breed. 

 Many breeds, such as the so-called Celtic shorthorn, were 

 established at an early period of human progress, and 

 these have been incorrectly regarded as distinct species, 

 although there is no doubt that they have the same ancestry. 

 The geographical range of the aurochs was very extensive, 

 and the original domestication may have taken place in 

 Western Asia. The humped cattle of India seem to trace 

 their origin to a distinct wild species now extinct, and the 



