24 THE DISEASES AND DISORDERS OF THE OX. 



The bulls of Palestine are gentle in comparison with our own 

 animals, and in fact in that country a pair of bulls may constantly 

 be observed attached to the same yoke, a thing that never would 

 be seen in this country. The cattle are branded with the mark 

 of their owners, so that there might be no difficulty in knowing 

 them when they are recaptured for the plough and the cart. In the 

 olden times of the Israeli tish race, herd-keeping was looked upon 

 as an honourable occupation, in which men of the highest rank 

 might engage without any derogation from their dignity. Even 

 Saul himself, after he had been appointed king, was acting as 

 herdsman when the people saw the mistake they had made in 

 rejecting him as their monarch, and came to fetch their divinely 

 appointed leader from his retirement. 



That the ox was tamed at a very early date is shown by the 

 writings of Moses, and also by the worship of the animal in 

 Egypt, which worship was imitated by the Israelites when they 

 made their golden calf at Mount Sinai and at subsequent times. 

 It is indeed well known that the ancient Egyptians worshipped 

 the ox, and similarly it is the case that the same animal was held 

 in veneration by the Indians, whose legends record that the ox 

 was the first animal created by the three kinds of gods who were 

 commanded by the Supreme Being to people the earth with 

 living things. Again, according to the traditions of every 

 Celtic nation, the cow was one of the earliest productions, and 

 in some measure was even supposed to be a fit representative 

 of some divine principle. As we have above implied, the 

 Israelites learned to worship cattle during their long residence in 

 Egypt. 



Chief among the idols or symbols was the god Apis represented 

 by a bull. Many other animals, especially the cat and the ibis, 

 were deeply honoured among the ancient Egyptians, as indeed 

 we learn both from their own monuments and from the works of 

 the old historians. All these creatures were, it seems, symbols 

 in the eyes of the educated, but idols in those of the ignorant. 

 The bull. Apis, was held in highest honour. The particular 

 animal which represented the deity was lodged with great state 

 and honour in his temple at Memphis. It was thought to be 

 divinely selected for the purpose. The colour of this animal was 

 black, with the exception of a square spot on the forehead, a 

 crescent-shaped white spot on the right side, and the figure of an 



