SACRED ANIMALS 83 



As an instance of the extraordinary regard in which these 

 creatures are held, the same writer states that, "in the early days of 

 the railway in India a Brahmin Bull charged a locomotive, with 

 somewhat disastrous results to the holy animal. It was feared 

 that the natives would view the railway as a menace to their religion. 

 To the great satisfaction of the authorities, the people did not take 

 offence; they simply accepted the Engine as a superior divinity, 

 and decorated it with flowers." 



Before passing on to consider the salient features inseparably 

 connected with these Humped Cattle, it will be as well to give some 

 particulars regarding Oxen in general, that is so far as concerns 

 their structure and mode of life, for, being so accustomed to see 

 Domestic Cattle, we are somewhat apt to overlook many interesting 

 points concerning them. 



Dr. Otto Schmeil, in his excellent Text Book of Zoology, sets 

 out in a concise way a vast array of details connected with animals, 

 treating of his subject from a biological standpoint, and in getting 

 out the following summary respecting the Ox, I am much indebted 

 to the work in question. 



The origin of the Ox has already been treated of in a previous 

 section (Chapter I), and little need be added here, excepting to 

 state that the Urus survived in Poland until the sixteenth century, 

 that in Germany it has been extinct since the year 1100, "but in the 

 form of our Domestic Ox, which naturalists have recognized as a 

 descendant of that primeval giant, it survives to the present day, 

 and will probably prolong its existence far into future ages. The 

 Urus was domesticated long before the beginning of history. By 

 the constant selection for propagation of individuals most useful 

 for his purpose (compare Dog), Man, in the course of thousands 

 of years, has succeeded in transforming the Urus into the Domestic 

 Ox, numerous varieties of which are now spread, as the most 

 important of domestic animals, over a great portion of our Earth." 



A comparison between the eyes of the Wild Oxen and our 

 Domestic Cattle reveals the fact that the first-named have, as a rule, 

 bright, brilliant eyes, "evidently endowed with such visual powers 

 as are required for a life in a state of Nature," whilst the latter have 

 large and dull eyes, which indicate feeble sight. 



That these wild beasts are possessed of keen powers of scent 

 is proved by the widely-opened and constantly-moistened nostrils 

 of their domestic brethren. The wild beasts are, according to one 



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