AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 307 



as the common American bull did, and the conclusion to which 

 he had come from these and similar investigations was, that the 

 races of animals remained, on the average, of the same dimen- 

 sions in the various ages of the world. 



Prof. Mapes w'as of an entirely different opinion. He contend- 

 ed that the facts adduced had nothing to do with the average; 

 that the god Apis might be an extraordinary specimen of his 

 race in that period, and was therefore no indication of what was 

 tlie real average at that time; and as hew^as accompanied by two 

 smaller gods of the same species, it would seem that he was of 

 unusual dimensions then. The average weight of cattle in Smith- 

 field market, London, a record of which has been kept for three 

 or four hundred years, shows that within that period the aver- 

 age -weight has increased from 4(JU or 500 pounds to 1,000 pounds 

 a head. It would be remembered too that a pair of animals was 

 exhibited at Worcester some time since which weighed 4,780 

 pounds, which showed that enormous animals might at any time 

 be produced which would not much aflect the average. From all 

 the sculptures of the oxen of antiquity which had been preserved, 

 it was clear that that animal had greatly increased in its average 

 size since the time of the Pharaohs. Fortunately exact plaster 

 casts of Eelzoni's ancient sculptures, from the originals in the 

 British Museum, can be seen in Twenty-third street in this city. 

 It is believed by the best artists that they are the size of life, and 

 if so, they substantiate the view that the races of animals as well 

 as of man have increased in their average structure dui'ing the 

 progress of the ages. 



Dr. Waterbury, in reply, contended that the paintings and 

 sculptures of antiquity might or might not be the size of life. It 

 was a question they w^anted to settle, but had not done so. Prof. 

 M. appeared, however, to take it for granted that they were the 

 size of life. He (Dr. W.) could not. These measurements of 

 this most ancient bone did not necessarily contradict modern im- 

 provement in weight of cattle. The hypothesis by which they are 

 most readily explained is, that there is a typical size from wliicli 

 the varieties of the ox have come by processes of artificial feeding. 



In the days of the Pharaohs an ox Avas produced equal in size 

 to large modern oxen, and probably by the same means, for we 

 are to suppose the sacred animals were well fed. There was cer- 

 tainly ample time during the intermediate period, from the an- 

 cient Egyptian ox to the early Smithfield ox, for an obliteration 

 of varieties and a return to the original type. There nmst be 



