144 



MAMMALIA. 



horns have not been sufficiently described. Tliis animal, mentioned by ^lian, was originally from the 

 mountanis of Thibet. Its tail constitutes the standard, still used by the Turks to distinguish their superior 



officers. 



The Cape Buffalo {Bos caffer, Sparm.). — Very 

 larg-e horns, directed outward and downward and 

 then turned upward, flattened, and so large at 

 base that they nearly cover the forehead, leaving 

 only a triangular space, the point of which is 

 above. It is a very large and e.xtremely ferocious 

 animal, which inhabits the woods of Caffraria. 

 [There are other African Buffaloes of inferior size, 

 a female of one of which (C brachticeros. Gray), 

 or the Sliort-horned Buffalo, with very large 

 ears and well-proportioned limbs, is now living in 

 London.] Lastly, 



The Musk Ox {Bos moschaius, Gm. [Ovlhos mos- 

 chatus, Blainv.]). — Horns approximated and di- 

 rected as in the Cape Buffalo, but meeting on the 

 forehead by a straight line : those of the female 

 smaller and separated. The forehead convex, and 

 extremity of the muzzle hairy. It stands low, and 

 is covered with long hair, that reaches the ground. 

 Tail extremely short. It diffuses more strongly 

 the musky odour common to the whole genus, 

 [and which is also particularly noticeable in the 

 European Bison]. Inhabits the coldest regions 

 of North America, where alone it has been seen, 

 though its skull and bones are sometimes carried 

 by the ice to Siberia. 



Fig. 65. — Cape Buffalo. 



THE NINTH ORDER OF MAMMALIANS,— 



CETACEA,— 



Consists of animals without Lind-limbs : the trunk being continued by a tliick tail, which 



terminates in a horizontal cartilaginous fin, while the head is connected to the body by so 



short and thick a neck, that no diminution of 



its cu-cuniference is perceptible : tliis neck 



consists of very slender cervical vertebra;, that 



are partly anchylosed or soldered together. 



Tlie first bones of their anterior extremities 



are shortened, and the succeeding ones flattened 



and enveloped in a tendinous membrane, which 



reduces them to the condition of true fins. 



Hence the external form is absolutely that of 



fishes, except that the latter have the tail-fin 



vertical. They always therefore remain in the 



Water ; but as they breathe by lungs, they are 



compelled to return frequently to the surface 



to take in fresh supplies of air.* Their warm blood ; ears that open externally, though Ijy 



very small orifices ; their viviparous generation, mammae by which they suckle their young, 



and all the details of their anatomy, sufficiently distinguish them from fishes. 



ilui; Pan- of Wliale 



» The larger species, however, will remain more than an hour 

 beneath the surface : in reference to which faculty, these animals 

 have capacious reservoirs for arterial bloofi along the dorsal region, 

 and even within the head : hence, to oxygenate the great volume of 



blood required to store these cavities, they continue breathing for a 

 certain regular period, at each time of coming to the surface for that 



