BOS TAURUS. 



THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS. 



Bos. Body large. Members strong. Head large, foreheau 

 straight, muzzle square. Eyes large. Ears generally funnel- 

 shaped. A fold of the skin, or dew-lap, on the under side of 

 the neck. Mammce four. Tail long, tufted. Horns simple, 

 conical, round, with different inflections, but often directed 

 laterally, and the points raised. 



THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



Bos TAURUS. Horns round, lateral, arched, with the point 

 turned outwards. Face flat or a little concave. Occipital 

 crest in the same line as the base of the horns. Mamma dis- 

 posed in a square form. Hait fawn-colored, brown, or black, 

 not sensibly longer at the anterior than the posterior parts. 

 About seven feet long. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



That the Ox has been domesticated and in the service of 

 man from a very remote period is quite certain. We learn 

 from Gen. iv. 20, that cattle were kept by the early descend- 

 ants of Adam. Preserved by Noah from the flood of waters, 

 the original breed of our present oxen must have been in the 

 neighborhood of Mount Ararat; and hence, dispersing over 

 the face of the globe, altering by climate, by food, and by 

 cultivation, originated the various breeds of modern ages. 

 That the value of the ox tribe has been in all ages and cli- 

 mates highly appreciated, there is abundant evidence. The 

 natives of Egypt, India, and of Hindostan seem alike to 

 have placed the Cow amongst their deities, and, judging by 

 her usefulness to all classes, no animal could, perhaps, have 

 been selected, whose value to mankind is greater. 



In nearly all parts of the earth, cattle are employed for 

 their labor, for their milk, and for food. In Southern Africa 

 they are as much the associates of the Caffres as the horse is 

 of the Arab. They share his toils and assist him in tending 

 his herds ; they are even trained to battle, in which they be- 

 come fierce and courageous. In Central Africa the proudest 

 ebony beauties are to be seen on their backs. They have 

 drawn the plough in all ages ; in Spain they still trample out 

 the corn ; in India, raise the water from the deepest wells to 

 irrigate the thirsty soils of Bengal. When Caesar invaded 



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