614 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OXEN. 
two excrescences, which are generally armed with horns, particularly in the male animal. 
The structure of the stomach and gullet is very remarkable, and is employed in producing 
that peculiar action which is called “ruminating,” or chewing the cud. Although the 
horns have in many varieties of domesticated Oxen been eradicated by a long course of 
careful management, they are always present in the wild species, and are permanently 
retained through life, instead of being annually shed lke those of the deer. The peculiar 
characteristics of the bovine skull 
are so well shown in the engraving, 
that further description is needless. 
The Oxen, or Bovidee, as they are 
called, from the Latin word Bos, or 
Ox, are extremely difficult of syste- 
matic arrangement, as it is not easy 
to select any particular characteristic 
on which to base the distinctions of 
genus and species. Some writers 
have founded their arrangement upon 
the hoofs, others upon the muzzle, 
others upon the direction of the 
horns, and others upon the structure 
of their bony nucleus. Mr. Gray, 
in his elaborate elucidation of the 
36videe, considers that “the form of 
the horns affords the most natural 
character for subdividing them into 
eroups,” and employs other charac- 
teristics, such as the position of the 
knee, the beard of the male, and the 
formation of the muzzle, as means 
for further subdivision. 
The Domestic Ox of Europe has 
SKULL OF ox been so modified in form, habits, 
and dimensions, by its long inter- 
course with mankind, that it has 
developed into as many permanent varieties as the dog, the pigeon, or the rabbit, and 
would in many cases be thought to belong to different species. Among the principal 
varieties of this animal may be noticed the Long Horned, the Short Horned, and the 
Polled or hornless breeds, and the Alderney cow, so celebrated for the quantity and 
quality of the milk which it daily furnishes. In almost every part of the world are 
found examples of the Ox, variously modified in order to suit the peculiar circumstances 
amid which they are placed, but in all instances they are susceptible of domestication, 
and are employed in the service of mankind. 
There are few animals which are more thoroughly useful to man than the Ox, or 
whose loss we should feel more deeply in the privation of so many comforts. Putting 
aside the two obvious benefits of its flesh and its milk—both of which are so needful 
for our comfort that we almost forget to think about them at all—we derive very great 
benefit from its powers while living, and from many portions of its body when dead. 
In many parts of England, Oxen are still employed in agricultural labour, drawing 
the plough or the wagon with a slow but steady plodding gait. The carpenter would find 
himself sadly at a loss were his supply of glue to be suddenly checked by the disappearance 
of the animal, from whose hoofs, ears, and hide-parings the greater part of that useful 
material is manufactured. The harness-maker, carriage-builder, and shoemaker would in 
that case be deprived of a most valuable article in their trade; the cutler and ivory turner 
would lose aconsiderable portion of the rough material upon which they work ; the builder 
would find his best mortar sadly impaired without a proper admixture of cow’s hair; and 
