THE BUFFALO, &c. 173 



climates, there are two primitives races, both of 

 which have long continued in a natural ftate, 

 the bifon or bunched ox, and the aurochs, or 

 ox without a bunch. Thefe thefe races have 

 fubfifted either in a wild or domeflic ftate, and 

 have been diffufed, or rather tranfported by 

 men into every climate of the globe. All the 

 domeflic oxen without bunches have proceeded 

 originally from the aurochs, and all the bunch- 

 ed oxen have been derived from the bifon. To 

 obtain a juft idea of thefe varieties, we lhall 

 give an enumeration of them as they exift in 

 different parts of the world. 



To begin with the north of Europe ; the fmall 

 bulls and cows of Iceland *, though they belong 

 to the fame race with our oxen, are deprived of 

 horns. , The magnitude of thefe animals depends 

 more on the abundance and quality of their paf- 

 ture, than on the nature of the climate. The 

 Dutch f bring meager cattle from Denmark, 

 which fatten prodigioufly in their rich meadows, 

 and give a great quantity of milk. Thefe Da- 

 nifh cattle are much larger than ours. The cows 

 and bulls of the Ukraine, where the pafture is 

 excellent, are reckoned to be the largeft in Eu- 

 rope, 



* Iflandi domeitica animalia liabent vaccas, fed multae funt 

 rnutilae cornibus; Dithmar Blcfken. IJland. p. 49. 



+ About the month of February, vaft numbers of meager 



cows are brought from Denmark, which the Dutch peafants 



turn into their meadows. They are much larger than thofe 



of. France ; and each of them yields from eighteen to twenty 



Paris pints of milk a- day ; Voyage biji, del' Europe, torn. 5./. 77. 



