THE ANATOMY OF THE OX. 89 



mentary. The large metacarpal bone has a vertical groove 

 down its anterior middle, and this groove marks the original 

 division of the bone into two. The inferior extremity is divided 

 by a deep fissure into two articulations, each resembling the 

 single one of the horse, the external one being always the 

 smaller. A rudimentary metacarpus is placed postero-exter- 

 nally. The phalanges and sesamoids in either limb are double, 

 one set forming each digit. They are small and narrow, the 

 coffin-bone resembling half of that of the horse. In the adult 

 ruminant two cardiac bones are frequently found in the heart, 

 in connection with the auriculo-ventricular rings. The left bone 

 is much smaller than the right. 



The Head of the Ox. 



The difference betwixt the general aspect of the head of the ox 

 and that of the horse mainly consists in the different extent and 

 form of the frontal and parietal bones. The frontal bone of the 

 horse extends but little more than half-way from the orbit of the 

 eye to the top of the head, and above the frontal bone the two 

 parietals, thickly covered as they are in the living animal by the 

 temporal muscles, form the arch-shaped dome of the skull. Now, 

 in the ox the frontal bone extends from the nose to the superior 

 ridge of the skull, presenting a flat irregular surface destitute of 

 muscles to cover it. In the cranium of the ox the frontal bone 

 is well developed, and it extends from below the eyes to the back 

 of the skull, and forms the entire forehead and crest. In the 

 middle of the forehead is the frontal tuberosity, which is espe- 

 cially large in the case of those oxen which have no horns. The 

 frontal bone is very thick, and its superior surface is flat and 

 broad, especially in the case of the male. 



Comparing for a moment the skull of the sheep and the deer, 

 we find that the face is more markedly curved down in reference 

 to the long axis of the skull in the sheep than it is in the deer. 



Reverting now again to the frontal bone of the ox, we find 

 that it is especially characterised by the conical osseous cores on 

 which the horns are supported. From the sides of the crest 

 these two processes, the horn-cores, arise, and they vary in size 

 and in degree of curvature, although they correspond to the horns 

 in shape. These horn-cores are porous, especially at their roots. 

 They are, moreover, very rough, and also covered with thick 



