October 1, 1900 ] 



KNOWLEDGE 



217 



Founded by RICHARD A. PROCTOR. 

 LONDON: OCTOBER 1. 1900. 



CONTENTS. 



The Smallest of the Wild Cattle. By E. Ltdekkeh. 

 {lUuslrated) " 



The Borders of the Karst. By Gbestillk A. J. Cole, 

 M.B.H.. F.r..*. .. 



On the Respiration of Certain DragonFly Nymphs. 

 Bt the Rov. .ARTHfK East 



The Evolution of Simple Societies. - V.— The Meta- 

 morphosis of Herders into Tillers. By Prof. Aifhed 



C. HaDDON. M A.. SC.l).. F.B S. ... ... 



Astronomy without a Telescope. — IX. Auroras. By 



K. Walter ilArsDBB f. b.a.s. 

 Dark Markings in the Solar Corona. By W. H. Weslet, 



F K A.S. (Illustrated) 



The Corona of 1900. (Plate) 

 Letters : 



AsiBOLOov. By B. Chatley and Alas Leo. Jiotes liy 



E. Walieb Maundbe 



The Zodiacal Light in Relation to the Cobona. By 

 A CorNTBY Lad. Xotc by E. Waltee Maunder ... 

 The 100 Bbightest Stabs. By L. Cpthbebtsoj; 



OcCrLTATION OF SaTUBN on .SsrTBMBEB 3. By W. F. 



DEN.viNe. JrriTEB. By W. F. Dbnnino '. 



Obituary ... . ' 



British Ornithological Notes. Conducted by Hasbt F. 



WiTHBBBT, P.Z.S., M.B.O.tl. ... 



Notices of Books ... 



Books Recbited 

 Wireless Telegraphy.— IV. Electric Waves. By G. W. 



D8 Tr.vzELirAXX, li.fC. {Illustrated) 

 Plants and their Food.— IV. By II. H. W. Peaeson, m.a. 



(Illustrated) 



Notes on Comets and Meteors. By W. F. Dbnnino, f.b.a.b. 



Microscopy. By John H. Cookb, f.l.s., p.o.s 



The Face of the Sky for October. By A. Fowlee, 



F.B.A.8. ... 



Chess Column. By C. D. Lococx, b.a. 



PACK 



217 

 2-'(.l 



223 

 225 



227 



228 

 22i) 



229 



2.30 



230 

 231 

 231 



232 



23.5 



238 

 238 



239 

 239 



THE SMALLEST OF THE WILD CATTLE. 



By R. Lydekker. 



Among the larger mammals the species or varieties in- 

 habiting islands are more or less markedly inferior in 

 point of size to their nearest continental relatives. In 

 the case of the smaller islands, like Sardinia and Corsica, 

 the reason of such a diminution in stature is not far to 

 seek, and it is therefore not in the lea.st surprising to 

 find that the Corsican red deer is a very inferior edition 

 of its prototype of the mainland. The buffalo of the 

 small island of Mindoro, in the Philippines, is greatly 

 inferior in size to the wild buffaloes of the tall gi-ass- 

 jungles of Assam. In the case of islands of the 

 dimensions of Sumatra and Borneo the reason of the 

 phenomenon is by no means apparent, especially when 

 we find them inhabited by a man-like ape (the orang- 

 utan) almost rivalling in bulk and stature the gorilla 

 of Western Africa. Nevertheless, even in such areas 

 the same feature is to a certain extent noticeable, the 

 wild buffalo of Borneo being considerably smaller than 

 its Indian relative. As regards its actual area, the 

 island of Celebes occupies a kind of intermediate 



I position, since it is much inferior in extent to either 

 Sumatra or Borneo, although far too extensive to come 

 under the dcnoinination of a small island. From its 

 peculiar shape, which recalls the form often a.ssumcd 

 by an amoeba, it has, however, a much smaller area 

 than could be enclosed by a ring fence than many 

 islands of less than half i*^s acreage, and this may 

 really bring it, so far as the development of animal 

 life is concerned, into the sa.me category ;us a small 

 island. 



Be this as it may, Celebes has the distinction of being 

 the home of the smallest living representative of the 

 wild cattle, or, indeed, of the wild cattle of any period 

 of the earth's history, for no equally diminutive fossil 

 member of the group appcaj-s t« be known to science. 

 An idea of the extremely diminutive proportions of the 

 anoa, or sapi-u'^an, a.s the animal in question is re- 

 spectively called by the inhabitants of Celebes and the 

 Malays, may be gained when it is stated that its height 

 at the shoulder is only about 3 feet 3 inches, wherea.s 

 ^hat of the great Indian wild ox, or gaur, is at least 

 6 feet 4 inches, and may, according to some writers, 

 reach as much as 7 feet. In fact the anoa is really not 

 much, if at all, larger than a well-grown South Down 

 sheep, and scarcely exceeds in this respect the little 

 domesticated Bramini, cattle shown a few years ago at 

 the Indian Exhibition held at Earl's Court. 



The anoa has many of the characters of the large 

 Indian buffalo, but its horns are relatively shorter, less 

 cui-ved, and more upright. In this, as well as in certain 

 other respects, it is more like the young than the adult 

 of the last-named species ; and as young animals fre- 

 quently show ancestral features which are gradually lost 

 as maturity is approached, it would be a natural sup- 

 position that the anoa is a primitive type of buffalo. 

 This idea receives a remarkable confirmation from the 

 circumstance that in the latter Tertiaiy strata of 

 Northern India there occurs skulls of anoa-likc buffaloes, 

 which, however, in correlation with the continental area 

 where they are met with, indicate animals of consider- 

 ably lai-ger dimensions than the living Celebes animal. 

 In fact the latter, together with the somewhat larger 

 wild buffalo, or tamarau, of the island of Mindoro, and 

 the aforesaid extinct Indian species, constitute an alto- 

 gether peculiar and primitive gi-oup of the buffalo tribe. 



In its young state and during middle life the anoa 

 is covered with a fairly thick coat of somewhat woolly 

 hair, which is at first yellowish brown, but eventually 

 becomes daik brown or blackish. In common with 

 other Asiatic buffaloes, the hair is reversed along the 

 middle line of the neck and back as far as the haunches; 

 that is to say the tips are directed towards the head 

 instead of towards the tail. What may be the precise 

 object of this reversal (which is also met with among 

 many antelopes and doer) is not yet ascertained. Pos- 

 sibly it may have something to do with the manner in 

 which the animals rub themselves against the stems or 

 boughs of trees and bushes. 



In old individuals, especially those of the male sex, 

 the coat of hair almost completely disappears, leaving 

 the black skin bare and shining, like that of old buffaloes 

 in general. This condition has been attained by the 

 bull shown in the foreground of the accompanying 

 photograph. And here it should bo remarked that this 

 particular animal has suffered the loss of the greater 

 portion of its tail, which somewhat alters the appearance 

 of its hindquarters. And, with the usual fatality that 

 attends the grouping of animals, it has happened that 

 the hind-quarters of the bull are in full view, while those 



