548 THE BRAHMIN OX. 



victims of repletion, consists/' as a writer observes, " in their 

 being unable to perform a single function of their nature, or to 

 enjoy one moment of their lives ; and the value of their flesh 

 is in exact proportion to the degree in which it is unfit to be 

 eaten."* Another writer makes a still stronger objection -, for 

 he remarks that " oxen and sheep panting under the weight 

 of their own fat, are not in a state of perfection but of disease, 

 which is unsightly to the eye and unwholesome as food."f 

 If a state of great corpulence be so admirable in the opinion 

 of agricultural noblemen and experimental farmers, let them 

 be consistent, and fatten everything, not excepting hunters, 

 greyhounds, and poor people. 



THE BRAHMIN Ox, OR LARGE ZEBU. (Bos Zebu.) 



The zebu cattle inhabits India, China, the Indian islands, 

 Madagascar, and the eastern coast of Africa, from Abyssinia 

 to the Cape of Good Hope. 



Zoologists, from Linnaeus to Bennett, have regarded this 

 animal as merely a variety of the common ox ; but its differences 

 are so great and so many that, if taken in the aggregate, they 

 offer strong proofs of its specific distinction. Mr. Ogilby justly 

 remarks that, " narrow high withers, surmounted by a large 

 fatty hump, an arched back rising at the haunches, and suddenly 

 falling to the root of the tail, slender limbs, a large pendulous 

 dewlap falling in folds, long pendant ears, and a peculiarly 

 mild expression of the eye, distinguish the zebu oxen, a race 

 varying in size from that of our largest cattle to that of a 



young calf." 



* The Mirror of the Months (1826), p. 270. 

 f The Gardeners' Gazette, Nov. 10, 1839. . 



