480 



THE CLOVEN-HOOFED ANIMALS. 



old Egyptian long-horned breed, especially the one 

 with the lyre-shaped horns, very decidedly resembles 

 the Abyssinian Sanga. 

 Mumped Oxen— The Sanga (Los africanus) may prob- 



The Sanga and ably be regarded as the most beauti- 

 Zebu. f u ] breed of all humped Oxen. It is 



large, slender, yet vigorous, long-legged and rather 

 long-tailed and the hump is well developed. The 

 horns are very strong, and differ materially from 

 those of most European species; they are fully 

 forty inches long, stand rather close together at 

 their bases and curve first outward, then straight 

 upward, in the last third inward, and the tips again 

 turn outward. The hair is straight and fine and the 

 general color is chestnut brown. 



The Zebu (Bos indiais) must be regarded as closely 

 allied to the Sanga, though it markedly differs from 

 it and also is divided into a series of sub-breeds. It 



definitely settle the problem. According to Ruti- 

 meyer three different species of wild Oxen took 

 part in the production of the forty or fifty breeds 

 of domestic Cattle now existing and classified in 

 Europe and America; first iheBos primogenius, which 

 probably belonged to the same species as the Urus 

 or Aurochs described by ancient authors; second 

 the Bos longifrons and the Bos frontosus, the remains 

 of which have been found in different parts of 

 Europe. 



Rutimeyer gives it as his opinion that direct lineal 

 descendants of the Bos primogenius, although much 

 degenerated, still live in a half wild state in some of 

 the larger forests of the north of England and Scot- 

 land. An animal the description of which is very 

 similar to that of the Park Ox, existed in Wales as 

 early as the tenth century. Four hundred head of 

 white Cattle with red ears were sent to King John, 



THE ZEBU. This East Indian animal, which is one of the humped varieties of domestic Cattle, is imt.a-al.le h.r ii^imii, straight horns and its 



long ears. The cow and calf in the picture are of the lighter breed, although there are also Zebus of other colors, and some that are pied. (Bos indicus.) 



attains in some regards about the same physical 

 proportions, but is comparatively stouter and shorter 

 legged than the Sanga. The ears are long and pend- 

 ent; the horns are very short. The coloring is less 

 uniform than that of its African relative, the usual 

 reddish or yellowish brown frequently merging into 

 a dingy yellow or a white hue, pied Zebus being no 

 rarity. In India individuals of this species are not 

 infrequently true dwarfs, barely attaining the size 

 of a small Donkey. The zoologist still searches in 

 vain for a species to which he can positively ascribe 

 the most active agency in the production of the 

 Zebu breeds. Various experiments have clearly 

 proven that the Zebus readily propagate with other 

 breeds of domestic Cattle, and that the hybrids are 

 fertile to the most remote relationship. 

 Probable Ancestors The solution of the question as to 

 of Humpless the origin of the humpless Euro- 

 Cattle. pean breeds seems to be somewhat 



easier, though in this case also we can not hope to 



and one hundred were required of culprits as a pen- 

 alty for some misdemeanors, according to an old 

 statute. It has been proven that the animal then 

 lived in a wild state in a virgin forest, extending 

 transversely all over the north of England and south 

 of Scotland from Chillingham to Hamilton; and in 

 the two parks bearing these two names, lying on the 

 margins of the larger main forest, the Cattle are still 

 preserved. As early as 1260 William of Farrars 

 caused Chartley Park in Staffordshire to be guarded 

 by an enclosure, with a view to preserving the wild 

 Oxen on that stretch of swampy woodland, and this 

 example found followers. As the Ox became rarer, 

 other owners of large estates acted on the hint, and 

 thus the Park Ox was seen only in enclosures even 

 at a period antedating the Reformation. Fourteen 

 of these parks were still in existence in the begin- 

 ning of the present century, and five are preserved 

 to the present day, each of them stocked with herds 

 of these British wild Oxen. 



