310 DIVISION I. VEKTEBEAL ANIMALS. — CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 



for tlioir liidcs and flesli. Tlicy arc of a peaceful disposition, but wlien 

 molested, will fight with great fierceness and obstinacy. 



AXc now enter on the Ijovinc, or Ox-faniily, which includes a number of 

 well-known animals, which da nut yield to any tribe of ruminants in the im- 

 portance and value of their products and general utility to mankind. Anion"- 

 civilized nations the ox and cow have ever held a conspicuous place, their 

 docility, obedience, and patience rendering them universal favorites. The 

 ox submits to the yoke, and gives his service to man — drawing the heavily- 

 loaded wain, or impelling the plough — freely and without comjdaint, while 

 the cow supplies milk, butter, and cheese, — articles at the same time, of 

 luxurv and necessity to both rich and poor. The flesh is considered the 

 most healthfid and nutritious of all animal food, and every other part of 

 the beast has an economic use of no mean importance. The ears and other 

 ajiparently worthless portions arc mamifacturcd into glue; the hair gives 

 strength and cohesiveness to the plaster which is spread on the walls of 

 buildings ; the horns are transformed into combs ; the skins are made into 

 leather of various kinds ; the tallow has its various uses ; the lining of the 

 intestines produces the gold-beater's skin, and even the blood has its value 

 in the arts, cs2>ecially in the clarifying of sugar, and the manuficturc of 

 Prussian blue. AVc shall introduce some wild species first, and close with 

 the domestic cattle. 



liiis ^[inerl€iiiti(f<. — The American Bison, or Buffalo. This powerful 

 and fierce-looking animal is of a liver-color, upwards of six feet high at the 

 shoulders, and often attains the euormous weight of one ton. The head and 

 fore-ijuarters are large, clothed witli hjng shaggy hair, which, nearly 

 oljscining the small and malicious-looking eyes, gives the beast a very wild 

 and formidable apjiearanee. The horns are small, but strong, set far apart, 

 iicarly straight, tapering, and pointed. The flesh is vvell-fia\'ored, juicy, and 

 much esteemed by hunters and travellers over the prairies. The hump which 

 rises between the shoidders is a mass of fat, and is considered a great delicacy 

 by the Indians.' The skins, prepared by a peculiar process, are the buffalo- 

 robes, the comfort of which, all who ride in sleigh^, or carriages, in our 

 rigorous winter weather, ha\e had aljundant anil pleasant experience. 



Formerly, the bison roamed through all the forests of North America, 

 reaching as far east as Pennsylvania, and north to the sixty-fourth degree of 

 latitude. The advance of civilization has diminished their numbers, but 

 they are still numerous in the vast unsettled regions of the west and south- 

 west, where they Avander over the prairies iu countless herds in search of 

 their favorite food, the most attractive of which is the sweet and tender 

 gTass that springs up, after a fire has swept over the country, and consumed 



