Game Animals of India, etc. 



muzzle is devoid of hair, with a moist skin ; there are 

 no glands on the face, on the legs, or between the 

 hoofs ; and the cows have four teats. The horns 

 (which, in common with those of all the members of 

 the Bovid^^ form a transversely situated pair, and 

 consist of hollow sheaths of horn surmounting conical 

 bony cores arising from the skull) are present in both 

 sexes, and not very much smaller in the cows than in 

 the bulls. They are placed on or near the vertex of 

 the skull, and are usually widely separated at the base. 

 Their direction is at first more or less outwards, after 

 which they curve upwards, and generally more or less 

 inwards towards the tips. Although cylindrical in the 

 more typical members of the group, in the buffaloes 

 they are distinctly triangular in cross-section ; and 

 while in the former they are almost completely smooth 

 externally, in the latter they are marked with irregular 

 transverse groovings and ridges. In colour the horns 

 may be of any shade between olive-green and black. 

 The ears are of medium size and bluntly pointed ; and 

 the long cyhndrical tail is generally tufted at the tip, 

 although in some cases long-haired throughout. In 

 regard to the length and abundance of the coat, there is 

 every gradation from the sparsely-haired hide of the 

 buffaloes to the long-haired skin of the yak ; there is 

 little or no seasonal difference in the colour of the coat, 

 which, with the occasional exception of the lower 

 portion of the legs, and very rarely of the buttocks, is 

 uniform. Lastly, it is important to mention that oxen 

 are specially characterised by the square prismatic form 

 of their tall-crowned cheek-teeth. 



The group of wild oxen of which the gaur is the 

 typical representative is confined to the Indo-Malay 

 countries, and includes two wild species, with local 

 races, and a third form which apparently only exists in 

 a semi-domesticated condition. Compared with the 

 ancient wild ox of Europe, these Oriental oxen are 

 distinguished by the shorter forehead, the nearer 



54 



