﻿ALLEN.] 
  DESCEIPTION 
  OF 
  THE 
  BISON. 
  447 
  

  

  lower 
  portions 
  of 
  tlie 
  body 
  and 
  legs 
  are 
  covered 
  with 
  sliort 
  soft 
  woolly 
  

   bair. 
  This 
  is 
  moulted 
  early 
  in 
  spring, 
  after 
  which 
  for 
  a 
  few 
  weeks 
  the 
  

   hinder 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  animal 
  are 
  quite 
  or 
  nearly 
  naked. 
  The 
  shoul- 
  

   ders 
  retain 
  permanently 
  the 
  long 
  shaggy 
  covering, 
  which 
  with 
  the 
  long 
  

   hair 
  of 
  the 
  neck 
  and 
  head 
  gives 
  them, 
  especially 
  during 
  the 
  moulting 
  

   season, 
  a 
  singularly 
  formidable 
  aspect. 
  

  

  The 
  female, 
  as 
  already 
  stated, 
  is 
  much 
  smaller 
  than 
  the 
  male, 
  with 
  a 
  

   less 
  elevated 
  hump, 
  much 
  smaller, 
  slenderer, 
  and 
  more 
  curved 
  horns, 
  

   less 
  heavily 
  developed 
  beard, 
  less 
  shaggy 
  head, 
  etc., 
  but 
  presents 
  no 
  

   essential 
  differences 
  in 
  color. 
  

  

  Albinism 
  and 
  Melanism. 
  — 
  Pied 
  individuals 
  are 
  occasionally 
  met 
  with, 
  

   but 
  they 
  are 
  of 
  rare 
  occurrence.* 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  but 
  a 
  single 
  specimen, 
  

   the 
  head 
  of 
  which, 
  finely 
  mounted, 
  is 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  Compara- 
  

   tive 
  Zoology. 
  I 
  obtained 
  it 
  of 
  hunters 
  at 
  Fort 
  Hays, 
  Kansas, 
  near 
  

   which 
  place 
  it 
  was 
  taken 
  in 
  1870, 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  regarded 
  as 
  a 
  great 
  curi- 
  

   osity. 
  In 
  this 
  specimen, 
  a 
  female, 
  the 
  whole 
  face, 
  from 
  between 
  the 
  

   horns 
  to 
  the 
  muzzle, 
  is 
  pure 
  white, 
  but 
  in 
  other 
  respects 
  does 
  not 
  differ 
  

   from 
  ordinary 
  examples. 
  White 
  individuals 
  are 
  still 
  more 
  rare, 
  but 
  are 
  

   not 
  unknown. 
  A 
  former 
  argent 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  Fur 
  Company, 
  who 
  

   had 
  had 
  unusually 
  favorable 
  opportunities 
  of 
  judging, 
  informed 
  me 
  that 
  

   they 
  probably 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  proportion 
  of 
  not 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  in 
  millions, 
  

   he 
  having 
  seen 
  but 
  five 
  in 
  an 
  experience 
  of 
  twenty 
  years, 
  although 
  he 
  

   had 
  met 
  with 
  hundreds 
  of 
  pied 
  ones. 
  Black 
  ones 
  are 
  rather 
  more 
  fre- 
  

   quent, 
  but 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  regarded 
  as 
  very 
  rare. 
  The 
  fur 
  of 
  these 
  is 
  

   usually 
  much 
  softer 
  and 
  finer 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  ordinary 
  individuals, 
  and 
  

   black 
  robes, 
  from 
  this 
  fact 
  and 
  their 
  great 
  rarity, 
  brng 
  a 
  very 
  large 
  

   price. 
  They 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  frequent 
  at 
  the 
  northward 
  than 
  elsewhere. 
  

  

  Varieties. 
  — 
  There 
  are 
  two 
  commonly 
  recognized 
  varieties 
  of 
  the 
  buf- 
  

   falo, 
  known 
  respectively 
  as 
  the 
  wood 
  buffalo 
  and 
  the 
  mountain 
  buffalo. 
  

   The 
  wood 
  buffalo 
  is 
  described 
  by 
  Hindi 
  as 
  larger 
  than 
  the 
  common 
  

   bison 
  of 
  the 
  plains, 
  with 
  very 
  short 
  soft 
  pelage 
  and 
  soft 
  short 
  uncurled 
  

   mane, 
  thus 
  more 
  resembling 
  in 
  these 
  points 
  the 
  Lithuanian 
  bison 
  or 
  

   aurochs. 
  It 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  scarce, 
  and 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  only 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  

   Saskatchewan 
  and 
  along 
  the 
  flanks 
  of 
  the 
  Eocky 
  Mountains, 
  and 
  to 
  

   never 
  venture 
  into 
  the 
  plains. 
  A 
  supposed 
  variety 
  of 
  the 
  bison, 
  re- 
  

   ferred 
  to 
  by 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  northern 
  voyagers 
  as 
  occurring 
  north 
  of 
  Great 
  

   Slave 
  Lake, 
  and 
  known 
  only 
  from 
  vague 
  rumors 
  current 
  among 
  the 
  

   natives, 
  is 
  in 
  all 
  probability 
  the 
  musk 
  ox 
  {Ovibos 
  moscliatus). 
  

  

  The 
  mountain 
  bison, 
  so 
  often 
  referred 
  to 
  by 
  hunters 
  and 
  mountaineers 
  

   as 
  a 
  variety 
  or 
  perhaps 
  a 
  distinct 
  species, 
  seems 
  to 
  agree 
  in 
  all 
  essential 
  

   particulars 
  with 
  the 
  so-called 
  wood 
  bison 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  farther 
  north. 
  

   The 
  same 
  characters 
  of 
  larger 
  size, 
  darker, 
  shorter, 
  and 
  softer 
  pelage, 
  

   are 
  usually 
  attributed 
  to 
  it, 
  but 
  one 
  meets 
  with 
  such 
  different, 
  exagger- 
  

   ated, 
  and 
  contradictory 
  accounts 
  of 
  its 
  distinctive 
  features 
  from 
  differ- 
  

   ent 
  observers, 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  almost 
  impossible 
  to 
  believe 
  in 
  its 
  existence, 
  

   except 
  in 
  the 
  imaginations 
  of 
  the 
  hunter 
  and 
  adventurer. 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  

   that 
  those 
  actually 
  conversant 
  with 
  it, 
  and 
  whose 
  opinions 
  in 
  general 
  

   matters 
  are 
  most 
  entitled 
  to 
  respect, 
  regard 
  it 
  as 
  but 
  slightly 
  or 
  not 
  at 
  

   all 
  different 
  from 
  the 
  bison 
  of 
  the 
  plains. 
  Others 
  who 
  know 
  it 
  only 
  

   from 
  hearsay, 
  and 
  whose 
  notions 
  of 
  it 
  are 
  consequently 
  vague, 
  generally 
  

   magnify 
  its 
  supposed 
  differences, 
  till 
  some 
  do 
  not 
  hesitate 
  to 
  declare 
  

   their 
  belief 
  in 
  it 
  as 
  a 
  specifically 
  distinct 
  animal 
  from 
  the 
  common 
  bison 
  

   of 
  the 
  plain 
  s.t 
  I>r. 
  Cooper, 
  speaking 
  of 
  the 
  bisons 
  found 
  formerly 
  in 
  

  

  *SeeLoug\s 
  Expedition 
  to 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mts., 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  471. 
  

  

  tHiucl 
  (H. 
  Y.), 
  Nar. 
  of 
  Canadian 
  Red 
  River 
  Explor. 
  Exped., 
  etc., 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  pp. 
  106, 
  

   107, 
  1860. 
  

   tSee 
  Bulletin 
  Essex 
  Institute, 
  Vol. 
  VI, 
  p. 
  55, 
  1874. 
  

  

  