﻿HISTORY 
  OF 
  THE 
  AMERICAN 
  BISON, 
  

  

  BISON 
  AMERICANUS. 
  

  

  By 
  J. 
  A. 
  Allen. 
  

  

  EDITOEIAL 
  PREFACE. 
  

  

  Office 
  United 
  States 
  GEOLoaiCAL 
  and 
  Geo- 
  

   graphical 
  Survey 
  of 
  the 
  Territories, 
  

  

  Washington, 
  April 
  30, 
  1877. 
  

  

  The 
  great 
  interest 
  which 
  attaches 
  to 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  

   Bison 
  renders 
  the 
  publication 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  article 
  desirable, 
  as 
  the 
  

   edition 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  memoir 
  was 
  too 
  small 
  to 
  supply 
  the 
  very 
  general 
  

   demand 
  for 
  a 
  work 
  of 
  such 
  magnitude 
  and 
  importance 
  as 
  Mr. 
  Allen's 
  

   '•The 
  American 
  Bisons, 
  Living 
  and 
  Extinct." 
  

  

  By 
  the 
  kind 
  permission 
  of 
  Prof. 
  N. 
  S. 
  Shaler, 
  Director 
  of 
  the 
  Kentucky 
  

   Geological 
  Survey, 
  the 
  work 
  is 
  republished 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  connection, 
  

   with 
  the 
  modifications 
  noted 
  beyond. 
  

  

  It 
  being 
  scarcely 
  practicable 
  to 
  reproduce 
  the 
  memoir 
  in 
  full, 
  it 
  has 
  

   been 
  deemed 
  advisable 
  to 
  restrict 
  the 
  scope 
  of 
  this 
  reprint 
  to 
  the 
  portion 
  

   treating 
  of 
  the 
  living 
  species, 
  as 
  being 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  general 
  interest. 
  

   Such 
  subtraction 
  of 
  the 
  portion 
  relating 
  to 
  the 
  extinct 
  species, 
  and 
  omis- 
  

   sion 
  of 
  the 
  illustrations, 
  brings 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  memoir 
  within 
  the 
  

   reasonable 
  limits 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  volume. 
  

  

  The 
  editorship 
  of 
  the 
  memoir 
  in 
  its 
  new 
  form 
  having 
  devolved 
  upon 
  

   me 
  it 
  becomes 
  expedient 
  to 
  state 
  the 
  modifications 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  intro- 
  

   duced 
  upon 
  consultation 
  with 
  the 
  author, 
  and 
  with 
  his 
  full 
  concurrence. 
  

  

  The 
  memoir 
  as 
  originally 
  published 
  has 
  the 
  following 
  titles: 
  

  

  Memoirs 
  of 
  the 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  KeniucTcy. 
  \ 
  iV. 
  S. 
  Shaler, 
  Director 
  \ 
  Voll. 
  Part 
  

   11 
  \ 
  — 
  \ 
  The 
  American 
  Bisons, 
  \ 
  living 
  and 
  extinct. 
  | 
  By 
  J. 
  A. 
  Allen. 
  \ 
  With 
  twelve 
  plates 
  

   and 
  map. 
  1 
  — 
  I 
  University 
  press, 
  Cambridge 
  : 
  | 
  Welch, 
  Bigelow,cf 
  Co.\ 
  1876. 
  

  

  Memoirs 
  of 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  Comparative 
  Zoology, 
  \ 
  at 
  Harvard 
  College, 
  Cambridge, 
  

   Mass 
  I 
  Vol 
  IV 
  No. 
  10. 
  I 
  — 
  | 
  The 
  American 
  Bisons, 
  \ 
  living 
  and 
  extinct. 
  \ 
  By 
  J. 
  A. 
  

   Allen. 
  Fublished 
  by 
  permission 
  of 
  N. 
  S. 
  Shaler, 
  Director 
  of 
  the 
  Eentiickyj 
  Geological 
  Sur- 
  

   vey. 
  I 
  With 
  twelve 
  plates 
  and 
  a 
  map. 
  \ 
  University 
  press, 
  Cambridge: 
  \ 
  JVelch, 
  higtloiv,cy 
  

  

  ^Uo.pp. 
  i-ix, 
  1-246, 
  1 
  col'd 
  map, 
  12 
  pll, 
  13 
  II 
  explanatory, 
  2 
  wood 
  cuts 
  in 
  text. 
  

  

  These 
  two 
  publications 
  were 
  simultaneous, 
  and 
  only 
  difler 
  in 
  the 
  titles. 
  

   The 
  following 
  are 
  the 
  contents 
  of 
  the 
  memoir 
  :— 
  

  

  Title, 
  p. 
  i. 
  

  

  Preliminary 
  Note 
  (N. 
  S. 
  Shaler). 
  p. 
  m. 
  

  

  IntroductioD. 
  pp. 
  v-ix. 
  

  

  Part 
  I. 
  

  

  1 
  —Distinctive 
  Characteristics 
  and 
  Affinities 
  of 
  the 
  Bisons, 
  pp. 
  1-3. 
  

   2*. 
  —General 
  historical 
  Account 
  of 
  the 
  Remains 
  of 
  Extinct 
  Bisons 
  hitherto 
  found. 
  m 
  

   North 
  America, 
  pp. 
  3-7. 
  

  

  3.— 
  Description 
  of 
  the 
  Extinct 
  Species, 
  pp. 
  7-31. 
  

  

  443 
  

  

  