LECTURE I, 



ORIGIN AND DOMESTICATION OF CATTLE. 



All hollow-horned ruminants, or descendants of such are 

 classified under the general term oxen, the generic name of 

 which is Bos. 



The subordinate groups included under the generic title 

 Bos are: 



1. Ovibos musk ox. 



2. Bubaline group buffalo of Asia and Africa. 



3. Bisontine group yak of Thibet and European and 

 American bison. 



4. Bibovine group the gaur, gayal, and several allied 

 Asiatic forms. 



5. Taurine group common domestic ox. Two forms are 

 recognized the humped cattle, known as the Bos indicus; 

 this, under the common name of Zebu, is the domestic ox of 

 Asia and Africa; all other cattle are classed as Bos Taurus, 

 and it is to this group that the domestic ox of Europe and 

 America belongs. 



The Zebu, or humped ox, is indigenous to Asia; and its 

 original form is unknown. It is used for purposes of draught, 

 for riding, and to some extent for food, though the religious 

 views of the Hindoos prevent them from eating beef as we 

 do. This species is of no direct importance to us. 



The Bos Taurus is the species in which we are inter- 

 ested, for it is to it that our cattle belong. The exact 

 origin of this species has given rise to more or less dispute, 

 but modern writers are inclined to consider tire Bos primi- 

 genius (an extinct form), as the ancestors of all our domestic 

 breeds. This animal is described by the early Roman writers 

 as being "great in strength and great in swiftness," and as 

 approaching the size of elephants, but of the form of the 

 bull. These animals roamed wild in the forests of practic- 

 ally all continental Europe and Great Britain, and while they 

 were extraordinarily fierce and wild, it is known that they 

 were domesticated in pre-historic times, for remains of an 



