“Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, and other eminent naturalists in France, are beginning to consider the domestication of animals which have hitherto been known to Europe only as objects of scientific curiosity. They have recently received for the Jardin des Plantes a number of Yaks from China—an animal which Comte de Buffon (1707–1788) said ‘is more precious than all the gold of the New World.’ In Tibet and China this animal draws large loads, supplies milk, has flesh which is excellent, and hair which can be wrought into warm clothes. To naturalize it, therefore, in Europe, would be an immense service to mankind. By the way, the late Lord Derby made the attempt and failed.”
—Scientific American, June 1854
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