u 



IiOVID.fi. 



ID.E. 





The following table of the number of Vertebrae in the Bmna i* 

 given in Mr. Vasey's 'Delineations of the Ox-Tribe,' and he add* 

 that th statement*, except that with regard to the Yak, are from 

 hii own observation*: 



The organs of digestion of the Ox are formed on the same tyj>e 

 as those of the other Ruminant ia. The food on passing down the 

 oesophagus enter* the large cavity called the ingluvies, or paunch, 

 where it remains till it is moistened with fluid secreted from the walls 

 of this bag. Liquids swallowed by the animal appear to be directed 



lower jaw and the unarmed front of the upper one, and the muscles 

 immediately aiding with the upward jerk to separate the bite from 

 the root* on which it wan growing. In a state of domesticated nature, 

 that is, where the animal roams at large and is not (tall-fed or con- 

 fined to what are called artificial grasses, or to artificial food, we are 

 tnlil in ' The Swedish Pan ' (' Amain. Acad.' vol. ii.) that oxen eat 278 

 plant* and refuse 218; that heifer* waste away in incloaure* where 

 the Meadow-Sweet (Spirant I'lmaria) grow* in abundance and coven 

 the ground so that they can scarce make their way through it : " the 

 country people," says the author, " are amazed, and imagine that the 

 Meadow-Sweet affords them no nourishment ; whereas the goat which 

 is bleating on the other side of the hedge i* not suffered to go in, 

 though he longs to be browsing on this plant, which to him in delicate 

 and nourishing food." The leaves of the Long-Leaved W.-it<T -Hem- 

 lock (Cicuta rirota) are fatal to oxen, whilst the goat feeds heartily 

 nii'l safely upon it Linnicus found that this plant was the cause of 

 the terrible disease that raged among the horned cattle* at Tornea. 

 He had scarcely left the boat which carried him over the river to the 

 fatal meadow before he was convinced. The cattle it appeared !.! 

 as soon as they left off their winter fodder and returned to gracing ; 

 the disease diminished as the summer came on, at which time as well 

 as in the autumn few died. The distemper was propagated irregularly 

 and not by contagion : the cows were driven in the spring to the 

 meadow where Linnccus landed and where he saw plenty of the Long- 

 Leaved Water-Hemlock, and there they died swollen and in convul- 

 sions. In other place* the plant was scarce. "The least attention 

 will convince us," says Linnaeus, "that brutes spurn whatever is 

 hurtful to them, and distinguish poisonous plants from salutary by 

 natural instinct ; so that this plant is not eaten by them in the summer 

 and autumn, which is the reason that in those seasons so few cattle 

 die, namely, only such as either accidentally or pressed by extr.-in.' 

 hunger eat of it. But when they are let into the pastures in spring. 

 partly from their greediness after fresh herbs and partly from tin- 

 emptiness and hunger which they have undergone during a long 

 winter, they devour every green thing which comes in their way. 

 It happens moreover that herbs at this time are small and scarcely 



skeleton of a Cow. 



a, Fore.foot ot Ox ; , hind foot of the 



into a second cavity called the retioiiliun, or honey-comb stomach, into 

 which also the food passes from the first The food is then returned 

 in the form of little pellets into tin- mouth, where.it i* again masti- 

 cated and moistened with salivary fluid It once more passes down 

 the oesophagus into a third cavity, the omasum, called the ' many- 

 plies,' from its plicated structure, and finally passe* in a pulpy state 

 into the reed, or abomasum, from which it is projected into the 

 intestines. 



With regard to their food Oxen are eminently herbivorous, for 

 though they will browse upon shrubs and trees, gras* and herbage U 

 their staple. No one can watch a cow grazing without observing how 

 perfectly the whole mechanism work* together --the tongue sweeping 

 in a wixp of herbage into the vice formed by the cutting-teeth ot the 



supply food in sufficient quantity. They are besides more juicy, are 

 covered witlv water, and smell less strong, so that what is noxious is 

 not easily discerned from what in wholesome. I observed likewise 

 that the radical leaves were always bitten, the others not, which con- 

 firms what I have just said. 1 naw this plant in an adjoining meadow 

 mowed along with gnus for winter fodder, aud therefore it is not 

 wonderful that some cattle though but afew should .li.- of it in winter. 

 After I left Tornea I Haw no more of tlin |>l:mt till I c.unc to the vast 

 meadows neat- l.iniMiiii'.'>>n. wlinv it appeared along tho mini 

 when I got into the town I hear I iS> ..inn: complaint* as at T 

 of the annual loss of cattle with the same circumstances." The i 

 of the ' Swedish Pan' also observes that a hungry stomach \vil 

 drive animals to feed upon plants that were not intended for them by 



