Species of Bovine Animals, 6367 



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the breast ; the eyes are larger, considerably more full and lustrous — 

 indeed worthy of the famous comparison of Homer, his " ox-eyed " 

 Juno ! Again, the voice is utterly different, a mere grunt ; and the 

 typical flexure of the horns is not the same. The ordinary varieties 

 of colouring are different, especially the Nil-gai markings of the feet 

 not unfrequently seen in the humped cattle ; the quality of the coat 

 also is different, and the forehead is smooth or not shaggy.* At rest 

 the humped bull carries his head low as any bison, the neck sloping 

 down in a line with the fore part of the hump. But enough ! We 

 shall believe that the humped ox or zebu is a climatal variety of Bos 

 Taurus, when we are persuaded that the knobbed goose (Anser cyg- 

 noides) is a mere variety of the European tame goose {A. cinereus), 

 and not till then; the said geese interbreeding freely as the taurines 

 in question, and producing mutually prolific hybrids ! The yak also 

 produces a prolific hybrid with the humped cow ; and if they are not 

 distinct species there is no meaning in the term. Both species of 

 smooth-coated domestic cattle are well and characteristically repre- 

 sented in the ancient Egyptian paintings, f 



Occurrence of Whales at Lynn. — A fine specimen of Hyperoodon honfloriensis 

 was found on the 22nd of September last, stranded upon a sand-bank in the Wash, 

 near the mouth of the river Ouse, called the " Ferrier Sand.'' It measured 

 24 ft. 8 in. long ; the gape of the mouth 2 ft. 3 in. ; nose or beak 1 ft. 8 in. to the 

 rising of the crest of the head, which rose nearly at a right angle to a height equal to 

 the length of the beak ; the pectoral fin was 3 ft. long ; from the tip of the beak to the 



* The hair of the crown and forehead is slightly elongated in all taurines, as 

 especially seen in the calves; but it mostly requires to be looked for to be observed. 

 The proper curly front is peculiar to the European type. 



\ The humped cattle are remarkable for most extraordinary variation of size, from 

 the huge bullocks [of Western India (the ordnance cattle) down to the pygmy gyna ; 

 but the latter is not a distinct race — merely casual dwarfs, which, when they propagate, 

 usually produce offspring of the ordinary size. For some notice of the Indian breeds 

 of humped cattle, vide Hamilton's 'Journey to Mysore,' vol. ii. p. 8 and plates; also 

 'Transactions of the Agri- Horticultural Society of Calcutta,' vol. vii. p. 112. As in 

 the next group, we think it probable that more than one aboriginal wild race have 

 contributed to produce our domestic races of humped cattle. The books tell us that 

 there is a race or breed in Surat, with a second hump ! We should be glad of any 

 information concerning it. We also find that it is currently stated that " the hump is 

 almost wholly composed of fat!" In India, where salt hump is so commonly seen 

 and much relished at table, we happen to know rather better. 



