180 THE RKASON WHY. 



While doe and roe, and red deer good, 



Have bounded by through gay greenwood. SCOTT. 



531. The characters of the bison, -which chiefly appear in the head, are : the fore- 

 head arched or convex, instead of 

 being nearly flat, as in the domestic 

 ox ; the breadth, measured be- 

 tween the orbits of the eyes, 

 greater than the height; the 

 bases of the horns before the 

 ridge of the occiput : the whole 

 outlines of the crania, b->nes more 

 curved or convex ; the occiput 

 being rounded instead of quad- 

 rangular, and passing into the 

 line of the forehead by an obtuse 

 and rounded angle instead of an 

 acute one. This form gives much 



greater strength to the skull, and more firmness to the bases of the horns ; so that 

 the bison can dash the head with much more impetus than the ox, either 

 against an enemy or any obstacle, without the danger of equal injury either from 

 fracture of the skull or concussion of its contents. 



532. How are the structure and the habits of the rein-deer 

 admirably adapted to the climate which it inhabits ? 



The rein-deer possesses a 'keen, scent by which it discovers the 

 lichens on which it feeds deep beneath the snow, and subsists 

 easily in a climate where the face of nature is sealed through long- 

 continued months of winter. As a beast of burthen it is invaluable 

 to the inhabitants of the dreary northern regions, its broad expan- 

 sive hoofs enabling it to pass over the yielding surface of snow 

 with ease. For domestic purposes, where no substitute can be 

 found to meet even the limited wants of the inhabitants, its import- 

 ance is incalculable ; its milk furnishes them with cheese, its flesh 

 with meat, its hide clothes them, and its horn supplies the 

 material for implements of use. 



533. In what manner do the horns of the rein-deer prove 

 instrumental to the animal in procuring its food ? 



J5y the aid of these instruments the rein-deer removes the deep 

 tnow from the ground, and thug arrives at $fye fop4 destined for its 



