ISO WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



and Bunker's Hill are records of great turning- 

 points in history. Nowadays the gadfly is but 

 a casual and puny foe. Even if it be successful 

 in planting its eggs in the skin of a cow, the 

 result does not in the least imperil the beast's 

 existence. In modern times the gadfly merely 

 causes some fear and a little discomfort to an 

 animal, and some loss of money and temper to 

 its owner when he finds that the hide has been 

 perforated, and is therefore held cheap by the 

 tanner. But there must have been occasions 

 when the war between gadflies and cattle was 

 a much more serious affair. So strongly marked 

 a protective instinct can only have been produced 

 at a time when the very existence of the species 

 was threatened by parasites of this order. 



The peculiarities of temper of the ox, to which 

 some allusion was made when we were speaking 

 of his usefulness in hauling lumber, may to some 

 extent be explained by the kind of life which he 

 led before man interfered with his liberty. He 

 is undoubtedly a sociabl^^animal, and it is owing 

 to this fact, as I shall explain further on, that 

 he is, when young, fairly easy to teach and to 

 control. Oxen have a peculiar kind of stolid 

 courage which has been many times made use 



