family bovidje. 109 



Second Teibe. Pecora. 



No incisors in the upper jaw ; canines for the most part wanting ; molars of a uniform 

 character, usually twelve above and twelve beneath. -The two middle toes separate, as if 

 cloven. Frontal bone, in the greater number of families, furnished with horns, at least. in 

 the male sex. With four stomachs. Chewing the cud, or ruminating. Herbivorous. 

 Intestinal canal long: Teats between the thighs. Useful to man as beasts of burthen, or 

 as food. 



FAMILY IV. BOVIDJE. 



Horns in both sexes, persistent, usually round, smooth, pointed, never straight ; increasing by 

 ringlets at the base. The porous nucleus supporting the horn, is a prolongation of the 

 frontal bone. No canine teeth. 



Obs. This family comprises animals hitherto arranged under the genera Bos, Antilope, 

 Capra and Ovis ; and including, as now restricted, about eighteen species, included by the 

 most recent writers under seven genera. But four species of this family are found in North 

 America, and, with the exception of one introduced species, none now exist within the limits 

 of the State of New- York. 



GENUS BOS. Linneus. 



Horns smooth, directed laterally at first, afterwards recurved, arising from the crest. Body 

 thick and heavy. Limbs strong. Tail moderately long, with a terminal tuft of hair. 

 Muzzle broad, black, naked. Hair smooth, straight. 



THE COMMON OX. — {Introduced.) 



Bos TAURUS, 



The primitive stock of this animal, whose domestication has exercised such an extensive 

 influence over the condition of man, is unknown. It was introduced into this State by the 

 earliest colonists, and was originally of the large Holstein or Dutch breed ; and it is but a few 

 years since, on the Hudson and Mohawk, there existed undoubted remnants of stock imported 

 by the Dutch settlers from Holland (Cultivator, Vol. 2, p. 28). We learn from Vander- 

 donck, that " the cattle in the New-Netherlands are mostly of the Holland breed. Many 

 " were brought over from Amersfort in the province of Utrecht. They have also English 

 " cattle in the country, purchased from the English in New-England." The principal and 

 best varieties at the present day are of English descent, and great attention is paid to improve 

 their most desirable qualities. It has been observed that the imported stock does not always 



