Order 8. 



RUMINANTIA. 



131 



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of Guinea, wliich have also long tails, are distinguished by their long legs, very convex forehead, pendent ears 

 want of horns, and short coarse hair instead of wool. The Sheep of Northern Europe and Asia are mostly of small 

 size, with a very short tail, [the truth being, that this appendage is merely cut short by the shepherds soon after 

 birth]. Those of Persia, Tartary, and China, have the tail completely transformed into a double globe of fat. 

 The SjTian and Barbary Sheep retain long tails, which are loaded with a vast mass of fat. In both the latter 

 varieties, the ears are pendent, the horns large in the Rams and middle-sized in the Ewes and Wethers, and the 

 ■wool is intermixed with hair. 



Sheep are valuable for their flesh, suet, milk, skin, wool, and manure ; the flocks, well managed, proving everv- 

 where a source of fertility. The Lamb is weaned at two months, and sheds its milk teeth from the first to the 

 tliird year. The Ewe propagates at one year, and is prolific for ten or twelve ; its period of gestation is five 

 months, and it often yeans two Lambs. The Ram, adult at eighteen months, suffices for thirty Ewes, and is 

 enfeebled at eight years old. 



The Oxen (Bos, Linn.) — 



Have horns directed laterally, inclining upwards or forwards in a crescent foiin ; thev are large 

 animals, with a broad muzzle, heavy and massive body, and stout limbs. 



The Common Ox (B. tauriis, Lin.). — Specifically distinguished by its flat forehead, longer than broad, and round 

 horns, placed at the two extremities of a projecting ridge which separates the forehead from the occiput. In 

 fossil skulls, which appear to have belonged to this species in its original condition (the Unts of the ancients), 

 these horns curve forwards and downwards ; but in the numberless domestic varieties they vary exceedingly in 

 size and direction, and are sometimes altogether wanting. The ordinary races of the torrid zone have all a lump 

 of fat upon the shoulders, and tliere are some of these races not larger than a Hog. Every one is acquainted with 

 the utility of these animals for labour, and with the value of their flesh, fat, milk, hide, and even horns. The 

 Cow goes with young nine months, and produces at eighteen. The Bull couples at eighteen months or two years, 



and is useless at ten. 



The European Bison, or Aurochs, {Dos urus, 

 Gm.) — This species, which has been erroneously 

 deemed the original stock of our domestic cattle, 

 is distinguished by its convex forehead, broader 

 than high, by the attachment of its horns below 

 the occipital ridge, by the length of its legs, by an 

 additional pair of ribs, by a sort of curly wool 

 which covers the neck of the male, forming a 

 short beard under the throat, and by its grunting 

 voice. It is a savage animal, which at present 

 finds refijge in the great marshy forests of Lithu- 

 ania, of the Krapacs, and of Caucasus, but which 

 was formerly spread all over temperate Europe. 

 It is the largest of the European quadrupeds. 

 [There is some reason for suspecting that the 

 Caucasian or Mountain Bisons are not identical 

 with those of Lithuania.] 



The American Bison, termed Buffalo by the 

 Anglo-Americans, (B. bison, Lin.).— The bony 

 head very like that of the preceding, and similarly 

 covered, together with the neck and shoulders, 

 with frizzled wool, which becomes very long in 

 winter ; but its limbs and tail are shorter, [and it 

 has yet another pair of ribs]. It inhabits all the 

 temperate parts of North America, and repro- 

 duces with the domestic Cow. 

 The Indian Buffalo (B. bubalus, Lin.).— Originally from India, and brought into Egypt, Greece and Italy, during 

 the middle ages. It has a convex forehead, longer than broad ; the horns are directed backward, and marked in 

 front by a longitudinal projection. This animal is difficult to tame, but very powerful, and prefers marshy places 

 and coarse plants on which the Ox could not live. Its milk is good, and the hide very strong, but its flesh is not 

 esteemed. There is a race of them in India, the horns of which include a space of ten feet from tip to tip ; it is 

 named Ami in Hindostan, and is the Bos ami of Shaw. [There would appear to be several diff'erent wild races, 

 and many tame ones, varying much in size.] 



The Gyall, or Jungle Ox (B. frontalis, Lambert),— resembles ;he Domestic Ox in most of its characters, but 

 has horns flattened from before backwards, and no angular ridges. They are directed laterally and more or less 

 upward, but not backward. It is a domestic race in the mountain districts of the north-east of India, and 

 is perhaps derived from the intermixture of the Bulfalo with the common species. [We suspect it rather to be 

 allied to the original stock, if it be not really the latter, of the various humped breeds of India.] 



The ra/f, or Grunting Ox, (B. grunniens, Pal.)— A -small species, with the tail completely covered with long 

 hairs like that of a Horse, and a long mane on the back ! its head appears to resemble that of a Bufl'alo, but the 



Fig. 64. — Europc&D Bison. 



