COW KIND. 235 



form as the cow and the bison ; nevertheless, 

 the former are distinct animals, as their breed is 

 marked with sterility ; the latter are animals of 

 the same kind, as their breed is fruitful, and a 

 race of animals is produced, in which the hump 

 belonging to the bison is soon worn away. The 

 differences, therefore, between the cow, the urus, 

 and the bison, are merely accidental. The same 

 caprice in nature that has given horns to some 

 cows, and denied them to others, may also have 

 given the bison a hump, or increased the bulk of 

 the urus ; it may have given the one a mane, or 

 denied a sufficiency of hair to the other. 



But, before we proceed farther, it may be pro- 

 per to describe these varieties, which have been 

 thus taken for distinct kinds.* The urus, or wild 

 bull, is chiefly to be met with in the province of 

 Lithuania, and grows to a size that scarcely any 

 other animal, except the elephant, is found to 

 equal. It is quite black, except a stripe mixed 

 with white, that runs from the neck to the tail 

 along the top of the back ; the horns are short, 

 thick, and strong ; the eyes are fierce and fiery ; 

 the forehead is adorned with a kind of garland of 

 black curled hair, and some of them are found to 

 have beards of the same ; the neck is short and 

 strong, and the skin has an odour of musk. The 

 female, though not so big as the male, exceeds 

 the largest of our bulls in size ; nevertheless, her 

 udder and teats are so small that they can scarce- 

 ly be perceived. Upon the whole, however, this 



* This description is chiefly taken from Klein. 



