296 BOMBAY NATURAL IHSTORY SOCIETY. 



bone in a skeleton that I measured was 15 inches, but I forget 

 whether this was along the bone, which as I have said slopes backward, 

 or vertical measurement. The highest point was about the 5th or 6th 

 rib, the exact spot I omitted to make a note of. The height of the dorsal 

 ridge at the highest point above the line of back of an animal in the 

 flesh looks about 5 or 6 inches only. The dorsal ridge terminates 

 abruptly at the last rib. I have said the Indian bison has only 1 3 pairs 

 of ribs, which is the same number as are possessed by domestic cattle. 

 In fact naturalists tell us that the Indian bison is not a bison at all; 

 but belongs to the Taurine group. The Bisontine group comprises 

 the bison of Europe and North America, the Musk Ox and the Yak. 

 The European bison is stated by Jerdon to possess 14 pairs of ribs. 

 The American bison J 5 pairs. 1 have here a photo of a bison 

 skeleton cleaned by vultures, the remnants of skin and flesh 

 sticking to the bones prevent the details being so clear as they 

 would be in a photo taken from a skeleton properly prepared. 



The foot in shape and appearance is like a deer's, though of course 



larger. It does not, however, approach the size of the common china 



plate mentioned by Dr. Johuson. It is probably the smallest foot of 



any animal in proportion to the size and weight it has to support. 



The forefeet are rather larger than the hind feet. The eye I should 



describe as brown, though all books state it is pale blue. It is true 



that when the light falls on it at particular angles it looks a beautiful 



blue. This is caused by the tapetum lucidum, a membrane behind the 



eye-ball of a lovely peacock blue colour. It is this membrane which 



causes an animal's eyes to shine in the dark. In the human eye it 



is opaque and black. The bison has no dewlap, although the skin of 



the neck about half way down the throat suddenly gets thicker and 



in some old bulls looks like the beginning of a dewlap. The head 



has also certain peculiarities, the forehead being concave, and the top 



of the skull rising in an arch above the base of the horns. The face 



in profile shows a distinctly aquiline and ram like nose. Most 



stuffed heads fail to reproduce this. The height of a bull bison at the 



shoulder in the Central Provinces in my opinion does not exceed 5ft. 



9 in. or 5ft. 1 0. I have shot many very old bulls. I have only measured 



the height when they struck me as particularly large, and the largest 



measured 5ft. 94 inches. He was a coal black bull, with horns broken, 



and very blunt at the points, sticking out almost horizontally, with 



hardly any curve. The measurements were : — Widest span, 38 ^ inches; 



between the points, 34 inches ; round base, 18 inches; right horn 



