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Show 88 CATTLE. CHAP. m. nieation, several distinct breeds of cattle now exist or :or~er~y . ·t d At tho CarJe of Good Hope Leguat observe ' m eXIS e • d ' t · the year 1720, three kindsY At th~ present ay ;anous ~~- ve 11 ors h ave no tI.C e cl tlle differences m the breeds m Southern Africa. Sir Andrew Smith several years ago 1~emarked to me that the cattle pos ossed by the different tnbes. of Caffr~s, thouo·h livin()' near each other under the same latLtudo and m the s~me ki:d of country, yet differed, and he expressed much · t tl f: ct Mr· Andersson has described 62 snrpnse a 1e a . . . . . the. Damara, Bechuana, and Namaqua cattle; and he mf~rms. me .m a letter that the cattle north of Lake Ngami are hkeWJso different, as 1\Ir. Galton has hoard is the case with the cattle of Benguela. The N am aqua cattle in size and shape nearly resemble European cattle, and have short stout horns and large hoofs. The Damara cattle are very peculiar, being big-boned, with slender legs and small hard feet ; their tails are adorned with a tuft of long bushy hair nearly touching the ground, and their horns are extraordinarily large. The Bochuana cattle have oven larger horns, and there is now a skull in London with the two horns 8ft. St in. long, as measured in a straight line from tip to tip, and no less than 13ft. 5 in. as measured along their curvature ! Mr. Andersson in his letter to me says that, though he will not venture to describe the differences between tho breeds belonging to the many different sub-tribes, yet such certainly exist, as shown by the wonderful facility with which the natives discriminate them. That many breeds of cattle have originated through variation, independently of descent from distinct species, we may infer from what we see in South America, '"'here the genus Bos was not endemic, and whore the cattle which now exist in such vast numbers are the descendants of a few imported from Spain and Portugal. In Columbia, Roulin 63 describes two peculiar breeds, namely, pelones, with extremely thin and fine hair, and calongos, absolutely naked. According to Castelnau there arc two races in Brazil, one like European cattle, the other different, with remark- 61 Lcguat's Voyogo, quoted by Vasey in his ' Delineations of tho Ox-tribe,' p. 132. 62 'Travels in South Africa,' pp. 317, 336. 63 ':M:cm. do l'Institut present. par divers Savans,' tom. vi., 1835, p. 333. For Brazil, see 'Comptes Rondus,' June 15th, 1816. See Azara, 'Quaclrupedes du Paraguay,' tom. ii. pp. 359, 361. CHAP. III. TIIEIR VARIATION. 89 able horns. In Paraguay, Azara describes a breed which certainly originated in S. America, called chivos, "because they have straight vertical horns, conical, and very large at the base." He likewise describes a dwarf race in Corrientes, with short logs and a body larger than usual. Cattle without horns, and others with 1·eversed hair, have also originated in Paraguay. Another monstrous breed, called niatas or natas, of which I saw two small herds on the northern bank of the Plata, is so reiD;arkablo as to deserve a fuller description. This breed bears the same relation to other breeds, as bull or pug dogs do to other dogs, or as improved pigs, according to H. von N athusius, do to common pigs.64 Riitimeyer believes that these cattle belong to the primigenius type. 65 The forehead is very short and broad, with the nasal end of the skull, together with the whole plane of the upper molar-teeth, curved upwards. ~he lower jaw pr~jects beyond the upper, and has a correspondIng upward eurvature. It is an interesting fact that an almost similar conformation characterizes, as I have been informed by Dr. Falconer, the extinct and gigantic Sivatherium of India, and is not kno~vn in any other ruminant. The upper lip is much drawn back, the nostrils are seated high up and are widely open, the eyes project outwards, and the horns are large. In walking the head. is carried low, and the neck is short. The hind legs appear to be longer, compared with the front legs, than is usual. The exposed incisor teeth, the short head and upturned nostrils, give those cattle the most ludicrous, self-confident air of defiance. The skull which I presented to the College of Surgeons has been thus described by Professor Owen : 66 "It is remarkable from the stunted development of the nasals, premaxillaries, and fore-part of the lower jaw, which is unusually 64 'Sohwoinoschadol,' 1864, s. 104. Nathusius states that the form of skull characteristic of tho ni:~ta cattle occasionally appears in European cattle; but he is mistaken, os we sh:.tll hereafter sec, in supposing that these cattle do not form a distinct moo. Prof. ·wyman, of Cambridge, United State , informs me that the common cod-fish presents a similar monstro~ity, called by tbo fishermen the " bulldog cod." Prof. Wyman also concluded, after makiug numerous inquhies in La Plata, that the niata cattle transmit theh peculiarities or form a mce. 65 Ueber Art des Zahmon Europ. Rindes, 1866, s. 28. 66 'Descriptive Cat. of Ost. Collect. of ~ollegeofSurgcons,' 1853, p.G24. Vasey, 1n his 'Delineations of the Ox-tribe ' has given a fignro of this skull; o.nd I sent o. photograph of it to Prof. Rlitimeyor. |