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CHARACTERISTICS OR THE OXEN. 



two excrescences, which are generally armed with horns, particularly in the male animal. 

 The structure of the stomach and gullet is very remarkable, and is employed in producing 

 that peculiar action which is called " ruminating," or chewing the cud. Although the 

 horns have in many varieties of domesticated Oxen been eradicated by a long course of 

 careful management, they are always present in the wild species, and are permanently 

 retained through life, instead of being annually shed like those of the deer. The peculiar 



characteristics of the bovine skull are 

 so well shown in the engraving, that 

 further description is needless. 



The Oxen, or Bdvidae, as they are 

 called, from the Latin word Bos, or 

 Ox, are extremely difficult of system- 

 atic arrangement, as it is not easy 

 to select any particular characteristic 

 on which to base the distinctions of 

 genus and species. Some writers have 

 founded their arrangement upon the 

 hoofs, others upon the muzzle, others 

 upon the direction of the horns, and 

 others upon the structure of their bony 

 nucleus. Mr. Gray, in his elaborate 

 elucidation of the Bdvidae, considers 

 that " the form of the horns affords 

 the most natural character for sub-- 

 dividing them into groups," and em- 

 ploys other characteristics, such as the 

 position of the knee, the beard of the 

 male, and the formation of the muzzle, 

 as means for further subdivision. 



SKULL OF OX. 



The DOMESTIC Ox of Europe has 

 been so modified in form, habits, and 

 dimensions, by its long intercourse 

 with mankind, that it has developed 

 into as many permanent varieties as the dog, the pigeon, or the rabbit, and would in 

 many cases be thought to belong to different species. Among the principal varieties 

 of this animal may be noticed the Long Horned, the Short Horned, and the Polled or 

 hornless breeds, and the Alderney cow, so celebrated for the quantity and quality of 

 the milk which it daily furnishes. In almost every part of the world are found exam- 

 ples of the Ox, variously modified in order to the suit peculiar circumstances amid which 

 they are placed, but in all instances they are susceptible of domestication, and are 

 employed in the service of mankind. 



There are few animals which are more thoroughly useful to man than the Ox, or 

 whose loss we should feel more deeply in the privation of so many comforts. Putting 

 aside the two obvious benefits of its flesh and its milk both of which are so needful 

 for our comfort that we almost forget to think about them at all we derive very great 

 benefit from its powers while living, and from many portions of its body when 

 dead. 



In many parts of England, Oxen are still employed in agricultural labor, drawing 

 the plough or the wagon with a slow but steady plodding gait. The carpenter would find 

 himself sadly at a loss were his supply of glue to be suddenly checked by the disappearance 

 of the animal, from whose hoofs, ears, and hide-parings the greater part of that useful 

 material is manufactured. The harness-maker, carriage-builder, and shoemaker would in 

 that case be deprived of a most valuable article in their trade ; the cutler and ivory turner 

 would lose a considerable portion of the rough material upon which they work ; the builder 

 would find his best mortar sadly impaired without a proper admixture of cow's hair ; and 



