THE BULL. 209 



affords another illustration : " A bull had gored so many cattle 

 that he was lassoed, and his horns blunted at the tips to 

 prevent further mischief. A few weeks after, a panther (jaguar) 

 killed a cow ; and from the torn condition of the bull's head 

 and neck, and the trampled state of the ground, he had 

 evidently done battle for the cow. He was secured, his wounds 

 plastered up, his horns made sharp again, and turned out 

 into the savannah. The wild dogs and vultures having been 

 kept from the body of the cow during the day, the panther 

 returned to his feast at night, and a furious engagement took 

 place between him and the bull; for the former was found 

 dead close by the cow the next morning, pierced through 

 and through. The bull returned again and again to him with 

 fury, and was himself again wounded; but his gashes were 

 sown up, and he remained so fierce that his horns were 

 obliged to be re-blunted." 



The Brahmin The Brahmin Bull of India, is a sleek, tame 

 Bull. animal of a different species to the ordinary 

 working ox. He is protected as sacred and allowed more 

 liberty than is sometimes either convenient or pleasant, as he 

 is apt to become obtrusive and his devotees fear to check 

 or thwart him. Sacred as he is he does not believe in the 

 eighth commandment and so helps himself without scruple to the 

 wares of the fruiterer and the gardener's preserves. 



The Ox. The Ox is one of the most useful creatures of 

 the animal world. It is used as a beast of burden and employed 

 to draw waggons and to drag the plough in England, and in 

 a variety of useful labours abroad. "Every part of the Ox 

 is of value," says the Rev. J. G. Wood. "We eat his flesh, 

 we wear shoes soled with his skin, our candles are made 

 from his fat, our tables are joined with glue made from his 

 hoofs, his hair is mixed with the mortar of our walls, his 

 horns are made into combs, knife-handles, drinking-cups, etc., 

 etc., his bones are used as a cheap substitute for Ivory, and 

 the fragments ground and scattered over the fields as manure, 



14 



