THE DOMESTIC OX 295 



or angulated, but they are never spirally twisted, or marked 

 by knots or excrescences of any kind. Domesticated 

 animals are cosmopolitan ; they are spread throughout 

 the entire globe, excepting only the extremely cold regions. 

 In a wild state Oxen are gregarious, roaming grassy plains 

 or dense forests, and in one or two cases even cold 

 mountainous regions. 



DOMESTIC OX (Bos taurus). 

 Coloured Plate XVIII. Fig. 5. 



The ancient wild Ox of Europe was the Urus, or Aurochs. 

 Julius Caesar has left it on record that the animal was little 

 less than an elephant in size, and that a man's prowess was 

 gauged by the number of horns he had secured in the 

 chase. The domesticated cattle of Europe are doubtless the 

 descendants of this wild species, although 

 it is quite probable there were others. 



The domestication of the animal, the 

 growth of population, and the ever in- 

 creasing toll of man in search of the best 

 of meat would naturally cause a diminu- 

 tion in the numbers of the wild species ; 

 and upon this in 1348 came the Black 

 Death, in which animals suffered terribly, 

 though in a less degree than human 



beings. FOOT OF THE cow. 



In various parks in England and Scot- 

 land are still herds of wild or semi-wild cattle (Plate XXVIII. 

 Fig. 2), that are often claimed to be the direct descendants 

 of the Aurochs ; but it is far more likely that their imme- 

 diate ancestors were some of the earlier domesticated breeds. 

 One of the best known herds is that in Chillingham Park, 

 Northumberland, which certainly dates back for nearly 

 three centuries. The animals present features that are 

 distinctly interesting ; they graze chiefly at night ; they 

 hide their young ; and, though shy and moving off while 

 some approaching object is at a considerable distance, 

 they exhibit much fierceness when pressed. 



