XIV 
THE BUFFALO 
5 
weight of horns. There cannot be a better example 
of a theory than this animal, as it has been domesti¬ 
cated for so great a length of time that we are 
enabled to observe the peculiar changes effected 
by local peculiarities. This proves that various 
conditions of localities produce special results in the 
development and character of animals. 
The buffaloes of Ceylon are the same as those of 
India, but the horns are very inferior. The horns 
of all animals in Ceylon are comparatively small, as 
there is a deficiency of the necessary ingredients in 
the pasturage for their production ; we therefore see 
elephants without tusks, and both deer and buffaloes 
with horns far smaller than those of India belonging 
to the same species. 
In Ceylon the so-called domestic buffaloes are 
extremely vicious. In Egypt and Italy they are 
the reverse, and children are seen mounted upon 
their backs or driving them to pasture. In China 
they are equally good-tempered. 
The horns of the Indian buffalo are enormous, 
and, when measured in the curve from tip to tip, they 
have been frequently known to exceed 12 feet. 
Like all other wild animals, the buffaloes of India 
are much reduced in numbers. The modern breech¬ 
loaders, with increased facilities for communication, 
which enable Europeans to penetrate without much 
difficulty to their haunts, threaten to exterminate 
everything which has been attractive to the hunter, 
and in another twenty years the game will have 
disappeared. 
