HISTORY. 231 



browse on shrubs and tender shoots of trees : they repair to 

 the jungle in search of their natural food, and ruminate under 

 the shade of trees. They have not the habit of the Yak and 

 the Buffalo of wallowing in water, but rather, in their habits, 

 approach to the domestic race. The female goes with young 

 eleven months : she yields very rich milk, but neither abun- 

 dant nor lasting : she receives the male of the common race, 

 and the progeny, it is said, is fruitful. 



The Gayals are hunted by certain tribes for their flesh, 

 but they are also reclaimed to some extent in the East. 

 They are perfectly docile in their domestic state, and are so 

 fleet and active, that they may be used for the saddle. Cer- 

 tain sects in India, it is said, sacrifice this animal to their 

 gods ; but the Hindoos will not shed the blood of the Gayal ; 

 their sacred books informing them that the female of the 

 Gayal is like the Cow, and to be held in the same veneration. 



The Taurine group of Bovidae comprehends the DOMESTIC 

 Ox, Bos Taurus, under its several modifications of varieties 

 or species. Whether the various members of this group are 

 to be regarded as species, or merely as modifications of a 

 common stock, that is, varieties or races, depends upon the 

 meaning which is to be assigned to these terms. The 

 Taurine group throughout the world possesses characters of 

 resemblance, which may allow the naturalists to regard 

 them as a single species, just as we may so regard the 

 various races of Dogs : but, at the same time, there are dif- 

 ferences between the members quite as great as in other 

 cases are employed to discriminate species. The Zebu of the 

 East differs as much, in external characters, from the Ox of 

 Europe, as the Ass from the Zebra ; and there are subor- 

 dinate races so divergent, that it is" difficult to resist the 

 conclusion, that the Domesticated Oxen of different parts of 

 the world have been derived from animals so distinct in the 

 natural state, that they may either be regarded as species, 

 or very permanent varieties. 



Of the wild species of Ox, we have authentic records of 



