100 



KNOWLEDGE 



[May, 1902. 



fult ill two sections of tlie legs only, the others beinjj 

 almost (Iwarfeil in [iioi)Oi-tion to these. Tin' liasiil joint, 

 or coxa, which, as nlreadj- pointed out under P/oJOi/a, is 

 usually embedded in the general armature of the body, is 

 here attached V>y one end only, and is elongated so mueh as 

 to project far iu front of the head. It thus forms a sort 

 of handle, on to which is attached so much of the leg as 

 we generally see projecting from the body. Thus great 

 freedom is secured in the movements of the legs, which 

 are eminently adai)ted to the predatory operations in 

 which they are concerned. The raptorial character of the 

 leg is further conditioned by the elongation of the thigh 

 and the Ju-arfing of the tibia and tarsus ; the latter two 

 parts are together no more than half the length of the 

 thigh, and they fold back upon it, fitting into a groove 

 along its edge, and so constituting a gripping instrument 

 for the seizure of prey, and presenting that superficial 

 resemblance to the claws of a scorpion, which has sug- 

 gested the popular name of the insect. 



Alike as all these insects are in the length and sleuder- 

 ness of their legs, and in the stilt-like appearance this 

 produces in walking, we are not to regard these resem- 

 blances as indicating close relationship. The insects, in 

 fact, do not form a natural group, but, as we have already 

 seen, they belong to at least four distinct families, and 

 the jieculiarity of their configuration and development 

 apjiears ]>erhaps more striking when they are seen, not all 

 grouped together as iu this paper, but placed in their 

 proper zoological position amidst the rest of the species of 

 their order, with insects of quite normal form on 

 both sides of them. The order Hemiptera, as a whole, 

 is never indeed noted for thickness of legs, but still these 

 particular species have carried the general tendency to a 

 far greater extreme than the rest of the order, and indeed 

 one can hardly imagine the possibility of any further 

 development in the same direction. And, further, except 

 one section of the order Diptera, there is no other order of 

 British insects that can show similar extremes of develop- 

 ment. It is remarkable too, under what diversity of 

 circumstances this similarity of form has l»een acquired ; 

 for, as we have seen, some of our examples are inhabitants 

 of the land, and some of the water ; some are vegetarian, 

 others carnivorous ; and of those that are vegetarian, some 

 are attached to particular plants, while others are geuei-al 

 feeders ; , some, again, are habitually winged, others 

 habitually apterous, and so on. 



THE ANCIENT WILD OX OF EUROPE, AND 

 ITS LIVING REPRESENTATIVES. 



By R. Lydekker. 



Among many. losses attributable, directly or indirectly, to 

 the first French revolution appears to be one which is 

 absolutely irretrievable, and must ever remain a source of 

 the deejiest regret to the naturalist. Up to that time there 

 were preserved in Alsace two huge horns commonly 

 reputed to belong to the givat extinct wild ox of Europe. 

 The one was preserved in the cathedral at Strassburg, the 

 other in the ejjiscopal palace at the. neighbouring town of 

 Zabern, or Saverne. The former was of great length 

 ((U feet), and comparatively slender, while the second 

 (which was mounted with silver and used as a drinkinc- 

 horn) was also very large and apparently stouter. Its 

 length is not given, biit its capacity was so great that it 

 would hold four litres of wine. 



The French naturalist, Buffon, who saw the Strassburg 

 specimen, believed that it was tndy the horn of a 

 wild ox, or aurochs, but this opinion is dis[)uied by Prof. 



Nehring, of Berlin, who, on account of its great length and 

 slenderness, considers that it belonged to a domesticated 

 Hungarian bullock. This is confirmed by an ancient 

 tradition that the horn in questi<m was that of one 

 of the oxen employed in carting stones for building the 

 cathedral, and Dr. Nchring's view may accordingly be 

 accepted. 



On the other hand, the Zabern horn, whose capacity, as 

 already said, was four litres, may, in the opinion of the 

 same authority, he confidently regarded as that of an 

 aurochs. For if it be assumed that its capacity has been 

 somewhat enlarged by shaving away the inner surface, it 

 would seem to accord fairly well in size with large fossil 

 specimens of the bony horn-cores of that animal. For 

 three centuries the Zaljern horn was the emblem of an 

 association known as " the brotherhood of the horn " 

 This society was founded iu May, 1580, by Bishop John 

 von Mauderscheid, who came into possession of the horn 

 as a hunting trophy, or heirloom, from his ancestors. The 

 meeting-place of the society was the castle of Hoh-Barr, 

 near Zabern. The horn was regarded with great veneration 

 by the members of the confraternity, to which distinguished 

 strangers were occasionally admitted as "honorary' mem- 

 bers." Like the Strassburg ox-horn, the Zabern aurochs- 

 horn mysteriously disajipeared during or soon after the 

 French revolution. 



With its disappearance vanished apparently the last 

 relic of an aurochs killed within the historic period. It is 

 true that Prof. W. B. Dawkins* has stated that a pair of 

 aurochs-horns were borne in procession on certain occasions 

 in the canton of Uri, Switzerland, so late as about the 

 year 18(56, but I am unable to find evidence that the 

 practice is continued, or that the horns are still in 

 existence. 



In the middle ages aurochs-horns were commonly pre- 

 served —although even then as rarities — in churches and 

 castles, where they wei'e generally used as drinking- vessels; 

 and it is mentioned in the Commentarieg of Julius Csesar, 

 that even in his time, such horns, mounted in silver, were 

 employed for the same purpose. In the year 1550, 

 Conrad Gesner mentions that an entire aurochs-skull 

 (apparently with the horns) was preserved in the town- 

 hall at Worms, and another at Mayence. Probably both 

 have long since perished. 



Seeing that horns are almost unknown in a fossil state, 

 it might well have been thought that, with the loss of the 

 historic Zabern specimen, the last example of an aurochs- 

 horn had disappeared for ever. By a lucky chance, a 

 nearly perfect horn of the wild ox has, however, been 

 recently discovered in a peat-bog in Pomerania, together 

 with a fragment of the bony horn-core on which it was 

 sii2)ported during life. The specimen has been described 

 by Dr. Nehring, and proved to belong unquestionably to 

 the aurochs, as distinct trom the bison. 



The mention of both aurochs and bison in the preceding 

 sentence, renders it desirable to allude to a matter which 

 has lieen the cause of considerable confusion and miscon- 

 ception. Until within the last few years, nearly all 

 naturalists regarded these two names as synonymous, and 

 a])plied them both to the bison ; or rather, iu many cases 

 drojiped the latter name altogether, and miscalled the 

 animal to which it belongs the aurochs. The same prac- 

 tice is largely followed by sportsmen at the present day. In 

 old German the wild ox appears to have been called 

 indifferently either iir or aucroch ; the former name being 

 Latinised by Cajsar into Urns. .4 HfrocZ/jt, according to the 

 usual interpretation, signifies mountain, or wild ox ; but 

 opinions differ as to whether tir has a similar meaning, or 



* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe., A'ol. XXII., p. 393. 



