SACRED ANIMALS 87 



force is saved, and the animal is consequently able to do with less 

 food than it otherwise would." 



We now come to the last point we set ourselves out to consider 

 in regard to the Ox, namely — 



2. The Ox as a Domestic Animal. — Having agreed that rumina- 

 tion — or, as it is better known, perhaps, to the average individual, 

 the act of chewing the cud — undoubtedly implies a saving of force 

 and also, as a result, of food, we find that this capacity is not 

 only of immense service to the animal, but also to Man. The 

 eminent German zoologist, to whose work we are already indebted 

 for almost the whole of this section of our book, thus concludes 

 his observations : "The Ox, in fact, in virtue of this ruminating 

 capacity, from a certain amount of food unfit for human con- 

 sumption (grass, flowers of the field, etc.), produces a larger 

 quantity of food suitable for human nourishment (meat, fat, milk) 

 than it otherwise would, and, if supplied with an abundance of 

 fodder, is more rapidly and easily fattened. 



"All mammals produce milk only as a nourishment for their 

 young. When these are capable of finding their own food, the 

 parents refuse them further access to the teat, and the nourishing 

 spring dries up. With his domestic cattle, however (Cow, Goat, 

 Reindeer, Camel and in some parts even Horses), Man does not 

 allow matters to proceed so far. He assumes to himself the part 

 played by the young, for by constant removal of the milk (milking) 

 he stimulates the milk-glands so that they continue to secrete for 

 a long period. The Cow, having but one or at most two calves at 

 a time, is provided with only four teats. (Compare, on the contrary, 

 the large number of teats in the Pig, Dog, Cat, etc., in relation 

 to the large number of their young.) The value of Cow's milk 

 to Man (as a source of butter and cheese), and the further uses 

 of this animal by reason of its flesh, fat, hide, hair, horns and 

 bodily strength, are too well known to need further discussion." 



We may now return to the Humped Cattle after this somewhat 

 protracted but important consideration, which affects them equally 

 well. 



The common domesticated cattle of India and the humped 

 beasts of Africa and China are distinguished from the breeds of 

 cattle in Europe by the characteristic hump, which is so well shown 

 in the animals illustrated in Figs. 65, 66, 67 and 68. Beyond this 

 hump on the withers, they also possess further distinguishing 



