6 THE OX AND ITS KINDRED 
As will be shown later, the wild ox of Europe 
became extinct during the Middle Ages, its last 
refuge being a Polish forest ; and after its disappear- 
ance the name aurochs — although not ur — became 
transferred to the bison, which still exists in the 
Caucasus and central Russia. This misuse of the 
term aurochs was adopted by the French naturalists 
Buffon and Cuvier, whose usage was followed in 
England by Sir Richard Owen, who does not appear 
to have been acquainted with the fact that the 
names urus and aurochs are from the same root, and 
were applied in antiquity to the same animal. This 
was, however, well known, as indicated above, to 
Professor Dawkins, which renders it the more strange 
that he should have followed the practice of employ- 
ing aurochs to denote the bison and urox or urus for 
the extinct wild ox. 
This practice naturally gave rise to a great amount 
of confusion ; and it is mainly owing to the writings 
of the late Professor Alfred Nehring, of Berlin, that 
matters were put right during the closing decade of 
the nineteenth century, and the name aurochs re- 
instated in its proper and original signification. 
Here it may be mentioned that Dr. Max Hilzheimer,^ 
who has devoted much attention to living and extinct 
cattle, refuses to employ the term auerochs, or aurochs, 
on the ground that in modern German it signifies a 
castrated male. The same objection applies, as has 
been already mentioned, -to the use of the term ox as 
the modern English designation of Bos taurus. 
As regards the scientific, or Latin, designation of 
the species, there is fortunately no difficulty or 
^ " Wie hat der Ur ausgesehen ?" /ahrbuch der wissenschaftliche und 
praktische Tierzucht, 1910, vol. v.' p. 42. 
