VIII 



CATTLE 



I. The Bull, the Ox, and the Cow thought to be a descendant of the iinis exist- 



These horned beasts belong to an important ing m Csesar's day, and French beeves are 



group of domestic animals, if n.jt from all supposed to be descended from the bison. The 



points of view, at an\- rate from that of their 



utility to man. In fact no domestic animal 

 contributes so much to man's welfare as the 

 cow and her kind. She gives us milk, our 

 most important food, to drink ; she provides 

 us with butter and cheese, both wholesome 

 and rich in food nutriments ; her flesh enters 

 largely into our dietaries ; the leather made of 

 her hide covers our feet and provides us with 

 necessities and luxuries in other directions ; 

 and finally her bones, blood, and offal fertilize 

 our gardens and fields. 



This race, together with the sheep and the 

 goat, forms part of the great family of rumi- 

 nants, the members of which differ very httle 



Podolian or Hungarian ox, whitish gray with 

 long horns, and of immense height, which 



Cow WITH Uneven Hokns 



draws the heaviest loads over hundreds of miles, 

 is related to the great white oxen of Italy, 

 Sj^ain, and Algeria mentioned bv Varro. 



It is, however, difficult to determine at what 

 ]ieriod the race appeared in Europe. We find 

 it by the side of man in all peoples and tribes 

 as they issued from barbarism. The Egyptians 

 utilized it thousands of years ago ; in fact they 

 had such respect for certain bulls that they 

 worshiped them as gods. The Chinese and 

 from one another in the conformation of their the Japanese, ci\'ilizcd nations while Europe 

 teeth and stomachs. The bovines form a sub- 

 division of the class of horned beasts by reason 



'J'\v< 



( >i;i'ii.\xs 



of their horns being hollow. 



This race (bos tauyns) must have had many 

 ancestors. For instance, the Frisian ox is 



was still in its swaddling clothes, also used 

 oxen as draft animals thousands of years ago, 

 and do so still, just as we do. After Europe 

 became civilized we find bulls or oxen serv- 

 ing as reproducers of their species or as 



:oS 



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