BOVID.E.- 



-MAMMALIA. Bovid^e. 



159 



Ilercjiiian forests. The tamiug of such a species 

 would be much more difficult than tlie importation 

 of the breeds of oxen abeady domesticated and in use 

 1 1}' the founders of the new colonies. And that tlie 

 latter was tlie chief, if not tire sole som-ce of the ox 

 of England, when its soil began to be cultivated mider 

 lloman sway, is strongly indicated by the analogy of 

 modern colonies. The domestic cattle, for example, 

 of tlie Anglo-Americans have not been derived from 

 tame descendants of the original wild cattle of North 

 America ; there, on the contrary, tlie bison is fast dis- 

 appearing before tlie advance of the agricultural settler, 

 just as the aurocli [Bison X'l'iscus) and its contemporary 

 the urus have given way before a similar progi'ess in 

 Europe." Professor Owen behoves that no hving des- 

 cendant of Bob urus exists on tlie habitable globe, and 

 that it is only known to us by its fossil remains ; but 

 there is reason to suppose the auroch and European 

 bison to be identical. Be this as it may, the common 

 ox is specilically recognized among existing forms by 

 its flat forehead ; the horns being placed at the two 

 extremities of a prominent crest, wliich separates tlie 

 forehead from the occiput. All our domesticated 

 cattle — so widely scattered over the face of the earth 

 — are derived from this species ; the various celebrated 

 breeds representing so many more or less permanent 

 types of variation. Oxen, although usually slaughtered 

 for food before many years have elapsed, are capable 

 of attaining an age of twenty -five years and upwards. 

 It is somewhat singular that the cow should have a 

 period of gestation precisely equal in duration to that 

 of the human female, namely, two hundred and eighty 

 days. The calf at the time of birth displays incisive 

 and canine teeth in the upper jaw ; but, as has been 

 previously hinted, the fall of the niiUi teeth leaves tlie 

 upper jaw destitute of these organs in tlie adult animal ; 

 their place being supplied by the development of a thick 

 callous pad. 



THE EUROPEAN BISON [Bison Bonassus) appears, 

 as we have already stated, to be identical with tlie great 

 fossil auroch, or Bison priscus of Owen. At one time 

 it was common in Germany and tlie south of Sweden ; 

 but at tlio present day it occupies a comparatively 

 restricted range, being found only in the forests of 

 Lithuania, Moldavia, Wallachia, and tlie Caucasus. 

 " These animals," says Mr. Broderip, " have never been 

 domesticated, but herds of tliem are protected in cer- 

 tain localities in tlie forest of Bialowieza in Litliuania, 

 under the direction of the Emperor of Russia. There 

 are twelve herds thus kept, each herd being under tlie 

 superintendence of one herdsman. The estimated 

 number of all the herds is eight hundred. They feed 

 on gi-ass and brushwood, and tlie bark of yomig trees, 

 especially the ^villow, poplar, ash, and birch. They do 

 not attain their fall statm-e till their sixth year. They 

 are very shy, and can only be approached from the 

 leeward, as their smell is exceedingly acute. When 

 acciilentally fallen in with, they become furious, and 

 passionately assail the intnider. When taken young 

 they become accustomed to tlieir keeper; but tlie 

 approach of other persons excites their anger. Two 

 yomig specimens were presented to the Zoological 

 Society of London by the Emperor of Russia. Though 



it had been stated that the aui-och had a natural 

 enmity to domestic cattle, and tliat the young obsti- 

 nately refused to be suckled by the domestic cow, the 

 calves sent by the emperor were suckled by a cow in 

 the Regent's Park Gardens, and very speedily became 

 attached to their foster-mother. These creatures imfor- 

 tunately died a few monflis after tliey had been brought 

 to this country." The bisons, generally, are distin- 

 guished from oxen by their horns, which take origin 

 in front of the so-called occipital ridge, and by the con- 

 vexity of the forehead; they have also fourteen pair 

 of ribs, being a pair in excess of the number foiuid in 

 the ox. The limbs of the auroch are also compara- 

 tively long ; its voice has the character of a grunt, and 

 the dusky-brown fur is curled and woolly, especially hi 

 tlie region of the neck, where it is profuse, forming a 

 sort of beard under the chui and throat. By some 

 naturalists, tlie Caucasian variety is tliought to be a 

 distinct species; but this is exceedingly doubtfid. 



THE AMERICAN BISON [Bison Amiricnmis) or 

 BufFjMO— Plate 18, fig. 59 — is generally admitted to 

 be distinct from tlie above, yet it must be confessed 

 that the two species very closely resemble each otlier. 

 So far as the form of the skull, the horns, the fur, and 

 the bulk of the animal are concerned, there is little or 

 no diflference ; but the limbs and tail are comparatively 

 short, and, according to Mr. Birth, it is provided \\-itli an 

 additional pair of ribs. The buflalo is an uihabitant of 

 all the temperate parts of Central and North America, 

 and at a period not very far back, but anterior to the rise 

 of civilization in that country, this fine animal roamed at 

 will throughout the length and breadth of the continent 

 — at least from tlie Atlantic to the Pacific, excepting 

 tlie extreme northern and southern latitudes. It has 

 never existed in South America, neither indeed has 

 any other member of the bovine family, unless pre- 

 viously introduced by European colonists. At the 

 present time tliey range over the wild prafries of tlie far 

 west ; but, like the diminishing tribes of human kind 

 who dwell in those distant regions, it is evident that 

 their numbers are becoming " small by degi-ees and 

 beautifully less." Notwithstanding om' satisfaction 

 at seeing civilization extending to tlie remotest comers 

 of the habitable globe, there is somethuig melancholy 

 in reflectuig on the past liistory of these animals, 

 associated as it is with tlie coeval disintegi-ation of 

 ancient peoples, to whom, indeed, the buffaloes have 

 all along aflbrded a prmcipal means of subsistence. 

 These animals are still very numerous on the plains 

 watered by the Saskatchewan River, being foimd as 

 far north as Slave Point. Much has been written 

 respecting tlieir habits and the different modes in 

 which they are captured by tlie native Indian tribes ; 

 and most of us remember the sturing and beautiful 

 illustrations exliibited in this country by Mr. Catthn, 

 in whose " Letters and Notes on the North American 

 Indians " abimdant information is given about these 

 imposing creatures. Catesby, Washington Irving, Sir 

 John Franklin, Sir John Richardson, and others, 

 supply most interesting particidars ; but we have 

 space only to give a few notices from the two last- 

 mentioned authors. The latter affords us a condensed 

 view of what has been prertously written in regard 



