MAMMALS OP MINNESOTA. 261 



tion of the tail, and has a shorter terminal pencil upon the tail. * 

 The male stands nearly six feet high at the shoulder, includ- 

 ing the protuberance, or "hump," which is so characteristic a 

 factor in the ensemble of the animal. The female is twelve 

 inches shorter and is but four and a half feet high at the hip, 

 while the male is four and two-thirds. A large male may reach 

 a weight of nearly a ton, while the females range from one 

 thousand to fifteen hundred pounds. The horns are short and 

 in the males are very thick at the base, curving rapidly up- 

 ward, outward and recurving to the end, becoming rapidly con- 

 tracted to the sharp apex. In the female the base is smaller 

 and the horn is more slender and curved. The muzzle is broad 

 and naked as in other Bovidce. The hoofs' are short, broad 

 and rounded, those of the hind feet being most pointed. The 

 pelage is woolly and dense, furnishing a valuable and much 

 prized article of commerce. The prevailing color is a dark 

 brown, darkest on the head, legs and tail, the long hairs of the 

 latter being restricted to the terminal pencil. In summer the 

 color is lighter, and in old individuals it becomes permanently 

 bleached out to a yellowish grizzle. Young animals are dark 

 brown, though the calf is lighter. The "hump " and head are 

 covered by a mane of considerable length. The chin and 

 throat are also bearded. The mane extends down the median 

 line above nearly to the tail, and there are tufts of shaggy hair 

 about the legs. The female, though smaller is not noticeably 

 different from the male in color. Although albinism is rare, 

 specimens are sometimes found partly or nearly entirely 

 white. Such a specimen is now (1886) on exhibition in the 

 museum of the State University of Minnesota. Black or 

 melanic forms also occur. 



The American bison is smaller than the European but has 

 larger shoulders. It seems to be more highly specialized. The 

 pelvis is much smaller and the tail shorter in B. americanus. 

 Allen finds the ratio of humerus and radius to femur and tibia 

 as 75 - 83 to 100 in B. americanus, and as 78-84 to 100 in B. euro- 

 pens. The only constant differences in the skull seem to consist 

 in a greater massiveness of the bones of the skull of the aur- 

 ochs. The individual variation is as great as in most of the 

 larger mammals. This is supplemented by a tendency to form 

 local varieties, two of which are sometimes recognized, the 

 wood buffalo and mountain buffalo. The former is. said to be 



* A curious error occurs in the explicit measurements given by Allen, making the 

 total length of the tail four inches less than that of its pencil of hairs. 



