BUFFALO. 



395 



and ploughs ; his flesh is eaten both fresh and salted. By boiling, his skin becomes 

 glue; by tanning, it is converted into leather, which is chiefly manufactured into shoes; 

 the hair is mixed with mortar, and the horns are converted into combs, spoons, drink - 

 ing-cups, and various other utensils. His fat makes candles ; from his blood is obtained 

 Prussian blue, and from his intestines goldbeaters'-skin; while the milk of the cow yields 

 us cream, butter, and cheese. 



The Auroch. (Bos Cms) is the largest quadruped belonging to Europe. It is dis- 

 tinguished from the domestic ox by its arched prominent forehead, rather broad than 

 high, by the height of its legs, and by an additional pair of ribs. It is evident, there- 

 fore, that it cannot be the original stock of our horned cattle. It is a fierce animal, 

 at present confined to the great marshy forests of Lithuania and of the Caucasus, but 

 formerly spread over all the temperate parts of Europe. 



FIG. 438. AMERICAN BISON. 



The Bison, or American Buffalo (Bos Atncricanns), is smaller than the 

 auroch, but larger than the domestic bull. His limbs and tail are short, the fore part 

 of his body very thick and strong, but the croup comparatively feeble ; he carries a 

 fleshy lump between the shoulders, which is considered a delicacy. His head is large, 

 his horns are round, short, almost straight, and set wide apart at the base. A thick 

 curly wool of a brownish-black colour, which in winter grows very long, covers his head, 

 neck, and shoulders, while the rest of his body is clothed with smooth black hair. 

 Although heavy in appearance, he is very swift, and of a savage disposition, but may 

 be tamed if taken young. These animals live together in great herds on the vast open 

 savannahs and prairies of North America, and abound near the sources of the Missouri 

 and Mississippi' rivers, and in the neighbourhood of salt marshes. 



The Buffalo (Bos biibalns) is originally from India, but has become naturalized in 

 Egypt, Italy, and Greece ; its forehead is convex, higher than it is wide, and the horns 

 are marked in front by a longitudinal ridge. It is less docile than the ox, but more 

 robust and more easily fed. Its skin is converted into a strong, durable kind of leather, 

 and the horns are of a very fine grain and susceptible of high polish. The buffalo likes 

 to wallow in the mud ; he is an excellent swimmer, and sometimes dives to a depth of 

 ten or twelve feet, to tear up with his horns aquatic plants. This creature is with diffi- 

 culty subjugated, has great strength, and prefers marshy places and coarse plants, which 

 the ox cannot live on. There is a race of buffaloes in India, the horns of which measure 

 ten feet from tip to tip. 



The Cape Buffalo (Bos Citfer) has very large horns directed sideways and up- 



