THE BOVINE TRIBE OR OXEN. 193 



world, the varieties of the European domesticated 

 races are almost the only animals which are used, 

 few of the other species having yet been found ca- 

 pable of being domesticated to any extent, or easily 

 reared in confinement. 



Wherever the breeds may have originally arisen, 

 or from whatever primitive stock they may have 

 sprung, they have spread far and wide, over the 

 European continent ; they have reached north am/ 

 south Africa, and now xist in innumerable herds. In 

 the latter countries, they form a most important 

 source of wealth, and are tended with the utmost 

 care, their skins regularly dressed, and their horns 

 twisted and variously ornamented. In North Ame- 

 rica, they are more numerous now than the wild 

 buffalo ; and in the steppes of the southern conti- 

 nent they range in immense droves, almost in a state 

 of unreclaimed nature. 



In tracing the origin of these breeds, so exten- 

 sively spread, and affording a boon of such import- 

 ance to mankind, there is much difficulty, no records 

 of introduction or of produce existing ; and we are 

 driven to a comparison of the parts least subject to 

 variation with corresponding parts of the wild spe- 

 cies with which we are acquainted. In the British 

 collections at this moment, we believe there are not 

 materials for such a comparison ; but in the works 

 of Cuvier we shall find this in a great measure sup* 

 plied, and whatever additional information may be 



\y e sna j| bem 



