India in 1887 as seen by Robert Wallace / [Robert Wallace].

  • Robert Wallace
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: India in 1887 as seen by Robert Wallace / [Robert Wallace]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    travelling had lost the instinctive desire for the male. This is quite a natural consequence in a temperate climate, and it is even more likely to occur in the heat of India. I lad those cows remained quietly at home, and had the bull been taken to them, the contact would most probably have taken place naturally at the same time. It is a fact that the instinctive desire becomes weakened before the periodical activity of the organs of generation is past, and that an animal of the lower orders is capable of conceiving for a time after the desire to mate has disappeared. In the case of restless and excitable females, it would seem that the chances of conception after contact with the male arc then actually increased. Brahmani or Sacred Bulls are animals that have been dedicated to the gods. In most districts they arc branded with figures emblematical of the gods Siva and Vishnu. On one hip may be imprinted a trident or a figure of a cross, with triangle or spear-head-like terminations to the three upper limbs. On the other hip a discus, somewhat like the above, but with a circle in addition touching the four barbs. The two figures described are shown on the right of the accompanying electro print, and were seen by the Brands on Sacred Bulls. author at Jessor. The two figures on the left were copied from brand markings common in Gujerat.1 A bull calf is selected, and let loose at the death of a 1 Sir George Birdwood, who has made a special study of Indian art, symbols, and cognate subjects, and whose book on “ The Industrial Arts of India touches on this question, says : ‘ What stamps the sacred oxen bear on their flanks depends on the god to which they are dedicated. The down-pointed triangle y, expressing (female) reproduction, is the mark of \ islina, and is used by Vaishnavas. The up-pointed one A, symbolizing generation (male),