52 MOSTLY MAMMALS 
horns are more or less corkscrew-like. As the wild markhor 
of the Himalaya has horns of a similar type, it has been 
suggested that many of the Asiatic breeds are derived 
from that species. Against that view is the circumstance 
that the direction of the spiral in the domesticated breeds 
is generally, although not invariably, just the reverse of 
that in the markhor. Although it is possible that some 
Asiatic breeds may trace their origin to the latter, it is more 
probable that they are derived from the pasang but have 
been crossed with the markhor. Most likely the goat was 
first domesticated in Western Asia, whence it was imported 
into Africa, where it has departed very widely from the 
original type. A superstition prevails in countries so wide 
apart from one another as Scotland and Kashmir that goats 
are deadly foes to snakes (the name “ markhor” signifying 
snake-eater), and it would be very interesting to discover 
whether the legend has any foundation in fact. 
The numerous breeds of domesticated cattle of Europe 
all trace their ancestry to the great extinct wild ox, or 
aurochs, which, as stated in another article, lived on in 
England at least as late as the Neolithic period, and sur- 
vived to a much later date on the Continent. It has often 
been said that the white cattle of Chillingham Park are the 
direct descendants of the aurochs, but it is practically 
certain that they are derived from a domesticated breed. 
Many breeds, such as the so-called Celtic shorthorn, were 
established at an early period of human progress, and 
these have been incorrectly regarded as distinct species, 
although there is no doubt that they have the same ancestry. 
The geographical range of the aurochs was very extensive, 
and the original domestication may have taken place in 
Western Asia. The humped cattle of India seem to trace 
their origin to a distinct wild species now extinct, and the 
