274 



THE POPULAE EDUCATOR 



fcive eye. It is singular that our common cattle, the aurochs or 

 European bison, and the bison of America should each differ in 

 the number of the ribs. The domesticated ox has but thirteen 

 pairs, the aurochs fourteen, and the American bison fifteen pairs. 

 These wild cattle of the New World are sometimes, though im- 

 properly, called buffaloes, but the name is of small importance, 

 the chief fact calling for notice being the countless hosts which 

 spread over the prairies. Some of these droves arc estimated at 

 20,000 head of majestic cattle, many being eight feet long, and 

 weighing nearly eighteen hundredweight each. No wonder is 

 it that the fiercest wars between the Indians and the white races 

 should arise from the intense desire of the red men to keep the 

 magnificent hunting-grounds of the bison regions for them- 

 selves. If the white man should advance, as he surely will, the 

 bison will depart or perish, for the European slaughters them by 

 tens of thousands for the hides and tallow only. Nor will this 

 be matter for wonder, when it is remembered that 150 pounds 

 weight of fat are obtained from the best animals, and that the 

 hides are so valuable as to have been called " Californian bank- 

 notes." Then the white man is grieved at the dearness of meat 

 in the crowded homes of civilisation, and is forming societies for 

 preserving bison beef, and transporting it to the meat market 

 of England. The red man has heard of this, and is gloomily 

 pondering over the one great article of his creed, " If white man 

 comes, bison goes." But the departure or destruction of these 

 wonderful herds means the annihilation of the red tribes. 

 Therefore is it that, during the present century, the rifles have 

 flashed so often along the Indian frontiers. The bison is the 

 main cause of the contest. " Why don't the red men plough 

 the ground f then there would be lots of food, and to spare," 

 cries the exasperated white settler, whose house has been burnt 

 by the savages. There is just the difficulty. The Indian will 

 not plough ; therefore he must hunt ; therefore he relies on the 

 bison ; and therefore he tries, but all in vain, to stop, even 

 with rifle and tomahawk, the white man's resistless march. 

 Such is the importance of one member of the ox family in the 

 far West. 



Every poor man in England has an interest in the matter ; 

 for already, from the wild herds of the American Continent 

 vast stores of meat are procured and sent to this cotintry, 

 preserved by packing in ice, &c. Such meat now finds a ready 

 sale in Great Britain, and the trade in it bids fair to assume 

 gigantic proportions. 



Another American animal, the musk-ox (Ovibos muschatiis), 

 is remarkable for three peculiarities the shape and size of its 

 singular horns, the great length of the fine hair, and the fond- 

 ness of the animals for the wild deserts of the North American 

 wastes. These herds wander far within the Arctic circle, dis- 

 puting for the lichens and northern herbage with their rivals, the 

 reindeer. Often is a solitary Esquimaux tribe roused from its 

 torpor by the appearance of a herd of musk-oxen, thirty or forty 

 in number, which thus offer to the wild people of the Arctic 

 shores a prospect of high feasting and jollity. Clothing, too, 

 equal to the highest notion of an Esquimaux belle, is furnished 

 by the beautiful hair of the musk-ox, which is twisted into 

 many a curious form by the damsels of the frigid zone. The 

 name given to this ox by the Cree Indians signifies " ugly bison," 

 and this, though not complimentary, is much more suitable 

 than the absurd name of musk-ox. The designation of " little 

 bison," given by some Indian tribes, is much more appropriate. 

 The scientific name, Ovibos, assumes that the animal combines 

 the qualities of the sheep (ovis) with those of the ox. 



The buffalo of South Africa (Bos Caffer) is immediately dis- 

 tinguished from his American relative by the absence of the 

 shaggy mane, the large spreading horns, and the more massive 

 form of the body. These animals resemble the bisons in two 

 respects the tendency to associate in large herds, and their 

 desperate courage when wounded. 



We must omit any detailed description of the Abyssinian ox, 

 having its horns hanging as it were by hooks to the head ; of the 

 zebu, or sacred bull of India, as gentle, and yet as impudent, as 

 a spaniel ; and of various other species, simply from want of 

 space. The above references will suffice to suggest to the 

 reader the wide extent of the ox family. 



As these animals are classed among the Ruminants, a few 

 remarks are necessary on the complex stomachs belonging to 

 each quadruped of the order. Every reader is probably aware 

 that all ruminants masticate their food a second time ; or rather, 



first swallow, and then, after some time, commence the chewing 

 process, called " ruminating " by the learned, and " chewing the 

 cud " by the peasant. Let us trace this process in our well- 

 known friend the cow. We see the tongue collecting a mouth- 

 ful of grass into a small bundle, which is then nipped off by the 

 combined action of the teeth of the lower jaw and the grasping 

 power of the muscular lips. It will be observed that the cow 

 does not pause to masticate the grass, but swallows, or, as 

 some would say, " bolts " the whole. The matter, thus speedily 

 disposed of, is deposited for awhile in the first stomach or 

 rumen, which serves as a kind of cupboard or store-room, in 

 which the food is kept till wanted for further operations. It 

 consists of four small sub-divisions, and the coat is covered 

 with thousands of little elevations, which doubtless produce 

 some chemical change on the newly-received food. The 

 diseases of this stomach often demand the attention of 

 the rustic " cow doctor," and even of the skilled veterinary 

 surgeon. Here are frequently formed dangerous concretions of 

 hardened vegetable or even mineral matters. The once famous 

 bezoar stones, supposed to be universal remedies against 

 poisons, were simply formed by disease in the stomach of 

 the wild goat of Persia. These masses of phosphate 

 of lime have been sold for five or six times their weight of 

 gold ! ' From this first large stomach the food descends into 

 the second, much smaller, but exceedingly complex in structure. 

 It is covered with multitudes of small cells, from which it is often 

 called the honeycomb bag. The food is so acted upon in this 

 receptacle as to take usually the form of compact and rounded 

 masses, which are returned from this second stomach, by a pecu- 

 liar muscular action, through the gullet into the mouth. Then 

 begins the process properly called ruminating, during which the 

 cow seems to enjoy the very perfection of animal bliss. As 

 each portion of the food is re-masticated, it is passed from the 

 mouth direct into the third stomach. This is accomplished by 

 the closing of the tube which leads to the first and second 

 stomachs. This third receptacle is very small, and is called the 

 manyplus, from the numerous folds, arranged like the leaves of 

 a book, of which it is composed. Between these active folds 

 the food rests a short time, and is then passed into the fourth 

 or true stomach, where the final processes of digestion are 

 completed. This short description will perhaps suffice to show 

 how exceedingly complex is the organisation by which grass 

 is gradually changed into beef. Many other peculiarities of 

 structure must be passed over for the present, our only reason 

 being want of space to treat such topics satisfactorily. 



Allusion has been already made to the gigantic horns of some 

 ancient oxen ; and many readers will doubtless recollect those 

 famous historical drinking horns, still held as heir-looms by 

 some old families, especially those of Aubrey and Pusey. The 

 Borstal horn, was the symbol by which Edward the Confessor 

 conveyed a large estate to one Nigel, who killed a savage boar 

 which had imperilled the person of royalty in the neighbourhood 

 of the palace at Brill. From the family of Nigel the treasured 

 horn has descended, with the Borstal estate, to that of Aubrey. 

 The Pnsey horn, above two feet long, has an inscription which 

 declares it was delivered by that descendant of Odin, King 

 Canute, to " Wyllyam Puyse." Such ox-horns truly deserve 

 their honours. 



We must not, however, forget the extraordinary veneration 

 for the ox in ancient days, the solemn worship paid to his 

 highness while living, the national mourning/or him when dead, 

 and the embalming of his venerable body, for the admiration of 

 after ages. It was not, indeed, every ox which was thus 

 honoured, even in Egypt. That would have been too expensive 

 even for the Pharaohs. But the homage paid to Apis at Mem. 

 phis, and his brother Mnevis at Heliopolis,* must have shed a 

 reflected splendour on all humble bovidae. Nor must we forget 

 the honours paid to the bull at Nineveh, where the figure of the 

 animal was combined with the human and cherubic forms. The 

 man-headed and winged bulls now in the British Museum attest 

 the extraordinary veneration for the ox " that eateth hay." 

 Even at this day India regards the white bull as a symbol of 

 her great divinity, Siva. 



In all these rude, wild, and pagan customs we may trace the 

 feeling of great benefits flowing to mankind from the docility, 

 strength, and labours of the ox. 



* Called Beth-sternest, and also On, in the Old Testament. 



