508 



THE WHITE CATTLE OF GHILL1NGHAM. 



position of the knee, the beard of the male, and the formation of the muzzle, as means for 

 further subdivision. 



The Domestic Ox of Europe has been so modified in form, habits, and dimensions, by its 

 long intercourse with mankind, that it has developed into as many permanent varieties as the 

 dog, the pigeon, or the rabbit, and would in many cases be thought to belong to different 

 species. Among the principal varieties of this animal may be noticed the Long Homed, the 

 Short Horned, and the Polled or hornless breeds, and the Alderney cow, so celebrated for the 

 quantity and quality of the milk which it daily furnishes. In almost every part of the world 

 are found examples of the Ox, variously modified in order to suit the peculiar circumstances 

 amid which they are placed, but in all instances they are susceptible of domestication, and are 

 employed in the service of mankind. 



There are few animals which are more thoroughly useful to man than the Ox, or whose 

 loss we should feel more deeply in the privation of so many comforts. Putting aside 

 the two obvious benefits of its flesh and its milk — both of which are so needful for our 



comfort that we almost forget to think about them 

 at all — we derive very great benefit from its powers 

 while living, and from many portions of its body 

 when dead. 



In many parts of Europe Oxen are still employed 

 in agricultural labor, drawing the plough or the wagon 

 with a slow but steady plodding gait. The carpenter 

 would find himself sadly at a loss were his supply of 

 glue to be suddenly checked by the disappearance of 

 the animal, from whose hoofs, ears, and hide-parings 

 the greater part of that useful material is manufac- 

 tured. The harness-maker, carriage-builder, and shoe- 

 maker would in that case be deprived of a most 

 valuable article in their trade ; the cutler and ivory 

 turner would lose a considerable portion of the rough 

 material upon which they work ; the builder would 

 find his best mortar sadly impaired without a proper 

 admixture of cow' s hair ; and the practical chemist 

 would be greatly at a loss for some of his most 

 valuable productions if the entire Ox tribe were swept 

 from the earth. Not even the very intestines are allowed to be wasted, but are employed for 

 a variety of purposes, and in a variety of trades. Sometimes the bones are subjected to a 

 process which extracts every nutritious particle out of them, and even in that case, the remain- 

 ing innutritions portions of the bones are made useful by being calcined, and manufactured 

 into the animal charcoal which has lately been so largely employed in many of the arts and 

 sciences. 



SKUTJ. OP OS. 



The best living example of the original British Ox is to be found in the celebrated White 

 Cattle op Chillingham. The beautiful oleograph representing these cattle is remarkably 

 true to nature. 



The color of these beautiful animals is a cream-white, with the exception of the ears and 

 muzzle, the former of which are red, and the latter is black. Mr. Bell observes, that in 

 every case of white cattle which have passed under his personal notice, the ears are marked 

 with red or black, according to the breed. The white tint extends even to the horns, which 

 are, however, tipped with black. They are rather slender in their make, and curve boldly 

 upwards. 



As these Chillingham cattle are permitted to range at will through spacious parks in which 

 they are kept, they retain many of the wild habits of their tribe, and are so impatient of 



