148 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



soup-making is owing to the fact that the bones 

 composing it are Hght, porous, and gelatinous, and 

 are surrounded by numerous muscles and tendons 

 so as to enable the animal to swing the organ 

 freely from side to side. Wild cattle inhabit 

 damp and wooded regions, which during the 

 summer are swarming with bloodthirsty flies ; 

 and the tail of the ox is, and ever has been, its 

 main protection against these maddening pests. 

 If you watch cattle in a pasture-field you will find 

 that the long tassel at the end of the tail is per- 

 petually and automatically sweeping the surface 

 of the body to drive away noxious insects. The 

 Americans have drawn a most telling comparison 

 between a man in a state of frantic exasperation 

 and a "stumped-tail bull in fly-time." Had it 

 not been for the need of continual protection 

 against small enemies of this kind, the caudal 

 member among cattle would not have become 

 what the modern disciples of Alexis Soyer find it. , 

 When next you enjoy a basin of ox-tail soup — 

 thank the flies ! 



One function of the tail of the ox is that of 

 a signalling apparatus when there is some special 

 danger threatening him or the herd. The hoist- 

 ing of this natural semaphore is a sign of anger 



