ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 53 



ancestral form may perhaps be looked for among the extinct 

 oxen whose remains are found in the gravels of the Narbada 

 Valley. Some have, indeed, considered that humped cattle 

 originated in Africa, where they are represented by the 

 so-called Galla ox ; but it is more probable that they are 

 really of Oriental extraction and have been introduced into 

 the Dark Continent. 



During the immense period that they have been domesti- 

 cated, the true oxen have displayed great adaptability to 

 modification, as is exemplified by the difference between 

 such breeds as Highland, Polled Angus, Galloway, Kerry, 

 Devon, Longhorns, Shorthorns, and Jersey. Not so the 

 buffalo of Asia, which, although long domesticated in India, 

 and subsequently introduced into Egypt, and thence into 

 Italy, has in nowise departed from the wild type, save as 

 regards a somewhat smaller stature and a diminished 

 length of horn. Certain other species of cattle, such as the 

 gayal (Bos frontalis) of North-East India and the banting 

 {B. banting) of the Malay countries, have been more or less 

 domesticated by various Oriental races, although in the 

 latter case the domesticated breed seems to be renovated 

 from time to time with a cross of the wild stock. All these 

 forms seem to be unadapted for variation, and consequently 

 breed true. No attempt ever seems to have been made to 

 domesticate the bison ; while, true to their instincts, the 

 natives of South Africa have never enthralled the buffalo 

 of that country. 



Till within the last few years the origin of the domesti- 

 cated ass was a matter of some uncertainty, seeing that 

 all the Asiatic wild asses differ considerably from the 

 familiar animal. Recently, however, a wild ass has been 

 brought from Somaliland which differs in no important 

 character from the domesticated form, and is its undoubted 



