412 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK in. 



THE Ox. The ribs are longer, wider, and flatter than in the horse. 

 The sternum, or breast-bone, is flattened from above to below, and is 

 not keel-like. The scapula is broader. Each cannon bone is formed 

 of two equally developed metacarpals, or metatarsals (the 3rd and 4th) 

 joined together by their inner faces, and at their ends are two distinct 

 digits, which, with their horny coverings, form the " cloven " hoof. 

 The skull is characterised by the extreme development of the frontal 

 bone, which occupies the upper half of the face ; it is remarkable for 

 its thickness, and for the osseous conical cores which, in horned cattle, 

 support the horns. 



The horns consist of a bony core ensheathed in a strong horny 

 epidermal case, the material composing which is secreted by a deep- 

 lying membrane corresponding with the keratogenous membrane of 

 the hoof. The bony core becomes hollow by the extension into it of 

 the sinuses or cavities of the frontal bone, hence such horned ruminants 

 (oxen, sheep, goats, antelopes) are classed as Cavicornia (hollow- 

 horned). The horny sheath persists throughout life, growing with the 

 bony core. 1 The horny covering grows like any other part of the 

 epidermis, its cells being secreted by that portion of the skin which 

 is spread over the osseous cores of the frontal bones, completely 

 enveloping the latter. This skin is richly supplied with blood-vessels. 

 The rings on the horn indicate the age, the first appearing after two 

 years ; as age advances they get obliterated from various causes. In 

 the bull the horns are short, thick, and powerful ; in the ox, large, 

 long, and strong ; in the cow, long and slender. In polled cattle the 

 osseous outgrowths of the frontal bone have disappeared. 2 



In the horse, the lips are largely concerned in the prehension of 

 food, and are very mobile. In the ox, the lips are far less active than 

 the tongue, which latter seizes the herbage before it is bitten off. The 

 tongue is rounder and more finely pointed than that of the horse ; its 

 roughness is due to conical papilla pointing backwards and sur- 

 rounded by horny sheaths. The patch on the upper lip between the 

 nostrils, called the " muffle," or muzzle, is always humid in health ; it is 

 variously coloured, and pours out a thick yellowish glandular secretion. 



The small intestine is about 150 feet in length, being twice as long 

 and half as broad as that of the horse. The large intestine may attain 

 as much as 40 feet in length ; it is longer, therefore, than that of the 

 horse, but its capacity, about 7 gallons, is much less. The liver is 



1 In the American Prong-horned Antelope the horny sheath is annually shed and 

 replaced. 



2 In the Deer the frontal bones develop long solid outgrowths, which are at first covered 

 by soft hairy integument ("velvet"), generally in the male only, but in both sexes in the 

 Reindeer. These horns, or antlers, very rapidly attain their full size, and then a circular 

 burr appears at a short distance from the root, dividing the horn into the proximal pedicel 

 and the distal beam. The circulation of the blood in the beam now gradually ceases, its 

 integument dies and peels off, and the dead bony substance is exposed. Absorption and 

 sloughing take place at the end of the pedicel, and the beam and burr are shed. The 

 extremity of the pedicel scabs over, fresh integument grows up beneath the scab, and 

 eventually restores the smooth hairy covering. The development of horny matter into 

 deer-horn is a very rapid process ; as much as 72 Ib. has been formed by one stag in ten 

 weeks. 



