218 VERTEBRATA. - MAMMALIA. 



Australian colonies, is perhaps superior to all others 

 for fineness ; but in other respects some of our Eng- 

 lish breeds have the pre-eminence. The exceedingly 

 fine silky hair of the Angora, Cashmere, and Thibet 

 Goats is woven into shawls of exquisite beauty and 

 great value. 



the Ox. 



The last genus of the Ruminantia, and the one 

 with which we close our notices of Terrestrial Mam- 

 malia, is without doubt the one to which, in a domes- 

 ticated condition, the " lord of the creation " is most 

 extensively indebted. " If the qualities of the Dog 

 are of a higher and more intellectual character, and 

 bring it into closer communication with man as a 

 social being ; and if the Horse, as a beast of burden 

 and of draught, serves more to his immediate per- 

 sonal assistance ; the Ox surpasses these and all 

 others in the devotion of its powers while living, and 

 the appropriation of every part of the body when 

 dead, to the wants, the comforts, and the luxuries 

 of its owner."-)" It is a small but very natural genus, 

 consisting of about eight known species, all of which 

 resemble each other in essential points, and manifest 

 little approximation to other genera. Four of the 

 species have been, in different countries, subdued 

 to the service of man, and their great strength made 

 available for the purposes of husbandry, and in some 

 instances, of riding and draught. They are mostly 

 large, thick-set animals, with stout limbs, a broad 

 muzzle, and a pendulous dewlap: the horns, found 



* Boyj, bous, an ox. t Bell, Brit. Quad., p. 412. 



