[Three Hundred Animals Contents]
IS a very strong, fierce creature; his strength, in all his body, is very great, but particularly about the head and neck; his forehead seems to be made for fight, having short thick horns, with which he can toss up into the air a large dog and other weighty things: his voice is deep and loud, and, when furious, nothing can stop his devastations. The species is divided in several breeds; the two following specimens present, first, a Cow as they generally are in Essex and adjacent counties; and secondly, one of the Scotch breed. The Bull holds the second place among the signs of the Zodiac, as a mark of respect bestowed upon him by the ancient Egyptians for his usefulness in tilling the ground, whilst, on the contrary, he has been, and is still, the object of one of the most sanguinary amusements in Spain and other countries. The Bull does not live longer than sixteen or eighteen years. He is represented, in mythologic subjects, as the usurped form under which Jupiter deceived and stole away Europa; in scriptural paintings he is the attribute of St. Luke, the Evangelist.