120 ORDER VI. BELLU^i. HORSE, 



different species; though the resemblance between them is 

 infinitely greater than that between the bison and the cow, 

 which are known to unite by copulation. 



Buffaloes are as much diversified in size and form as the 

 ox kind : in general, however, they are considerably larger, 

 and in a wild state much more formidable, very frequently 

 attacking travellers, whom they gore to death and after- 

 wards trample on, at the same time mangling their bodies 

 in a most shocking manner. They are hunted for their 

 flesh and hides, but the former by no means equals that of 

 the ox. 



Though these animals are chiefly found in the torrid 

 zone, they are nevertheless bred in Europe, particularly in 

 Italy ; into which country they appear to have been intro- 

 duced about the year 600. In Apulia they are yet said to 

 run wild, and to grow to twice the size of our largest 

 oxen. 



Compared with the cow, the figure of the buffalo is more 

 clumsy and awkward: its air is more savage, and it carries 

 its head nearer to the ground ; its limbs are less fleshy, nor 

 is its tail so well covered with hair. The body is shorter 

 and thicker, the legs higher, the head smaller, the horns 

 more compressed, the skin more destitute of hair. The 

 flesh also is less palatable, and the milk less nutritive, 

 though yielded in sufficient abundance. In short, the hide, 

 which is justly celebrated for its softness, thickness, and 

 impenetrability, is the most valuable production of this 

 animal. 



ORDER VI. . BELLILE. 



THE distinguishing characteristics of this order are, 

 that the fore-teeth are obtusely truncated, the feet hoofed, 

 and the food vegetable. The genus of the horse, hippo- 

 potamus, hog, and rhinoceros, belong to the Belluae. 



THE HORSE. 



The horse is the most beautiful of all quadrupeds ; and, 



