﻿456 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  French 
  colonists, 
  while 
  tbeCanadian 
  voyageurs 
  ure. 
  said 
  to 
  term 
  it 
  simply 
  

   le 
  bceitf. 
  Kalm 
  spoke 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  bisons 
  as 
  Wilde 
  Oclisen 
  unci 
  Kiilie, 
  

   while 
  the 
  early 
  English 
  explorers 
  also 
  often 
  referred 
  to 
  this 
  animal 
  under 
  

   the 
  same 
  English 
  equivalent, 
  and 
  also 
  used 
  for 
  it 
  the 
  names 
  Bvffle 
  and 
  

   Bceuf 
  sauvage. 
  These 
  two 
  last-mentioned 
  names 
  were 
  also 
  applied, 
  by 
  

   both 
  the 
  early 
  French 
  and 
  the 
  early 
  English 
  explorers, 
  to 
  the 
  moose 
  

   {Alces 
  onalcJiis) 
  and 
  the 
  elk 
  {Cervus 
  canadensis). 
  Charlevoix 
  called 
  the 
  

   bison 
  the 
  Boeiif 
  du 
  Canada. 
  Marquette 
  called 
  it 
  the 
  Pisikiousj 
  adopting 
  

   the 
  name 
  then 
  current 
  aniongthe 
  Illinois 
  Indians, 
  while 
  Hennepin 
  called 
  

   it 
  Taureau 
  saiivage. 
  Lawson 
  and 
  Bricknell 
  used 
  the 
  name 
  Btiffelo, 
  which 
  

   name, 
  modilied 
  to 
  Buffalo, 
  was 
  employed 
  by 
  Catesby 
  and 
  was 
  early 
  

   adopted 
  by 
  the 
  English 
  colonists. 
  According 
  to 
  Eicbardson 
  it 
  is 
  3alled 
  

   Peecheek 
  by 
  the 
  Algonquins, 
  Adgiddah 
  by 
  the 
  Chepewyans, 
  and 
  Moos- 
  

   toosh 
  by 
  the 
  Crees. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  this 
  animal 
  has 
  generally 
  borne 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  

   Mfalo, 
  though 
  discriminating 
  writers 
  persist 
  that 
  the 
  name 
  is 
  errone- 
  

   ous, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  should 
  be 
  called 
  the 
  American 
  bison. 
  The 
  latter 
  is 
  un- 
  

   doubtedly 
  its 
  correct 
  English 
  cognomen, 
  but 
  probably 
  among 
  the 
  people 
  

   generally 
  the 
  name 
  buffalo 
  will 
  never 
  be 
  supplanted. 
  The 
  term 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  hiffalo 
  is 
  doubtless 
  defensible 
  for 
  those 
  who 
  prefer 
  it, 
  and 
  even 
  buf- 
  

   falo 
  is 
  no 
  more 
  a 
  misnomer 
  than 
  scores 
  of 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  our 
  common 
  ' 
  

   mammals 
  and 
  birds. 
  The 
  name 
  i^o&m 
  as 
  applied 
  to 
  Turdus 
  migratorius, 
  

   is 
  even 
  more 
  objectionable 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  buffalo 
  as 
  applied 
  to 
  the 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  bison. 
  The 
  name 
  buffalo 
  is 
  of 
  course 
  strictly 
  applicable 
  only 
  to 
  the 
  

   genus 
  Bubalus, 
  embracing 
  the 
  true 
  African 
  and 
  Indian 
  buffaloes. 
  

  

  Figures 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  Bison. 
  — 
  The 
  tirst 
  figure 
  of 
  the 
  bison 
  ever 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  is 
  doubtless 
  that 
  given 
  by 
  Thevet 
  in 
  J 
  558,* 
  three 
  years 
  after 
  the 
  

   publication 
  of 
  Yaca's 
  " 
  Journal," 
  in 
  which 
  occurs 
  the 
  earliest 
  description 
  

   of 
  the 
  American 
  bison. 
  This 
  is 
  an 
  extremely 
  rude 
  figure, 
  having 
  but 
  

   little 
  resemblance 
  to 
  the 
  bison. 
  In 
  1633 
  De"^Laett 
  published 
  another 
  

   equally 
  faulty. 
  lNfieremburg§ 
  in 
  1635, 
  and 
  Hernandez 
  | 
  in 
  1651, 
  published 
  

   others, 
  which 
  so 
  much 
  resemble 
  Thevet's 
  that 
  they 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  merely 
  

   enlarged, 
  slightly 
  modified 
  copies 
  of 
  it. 
  Hernandez's 
  figure, 
  however, 
  

   has 
  been 
  repeatedly 
  referred 
  to 
  as 
  the 
  first 
  published 
  figure 
  of 
  the 
  Amer- 
  

   ican 
  bison. 
  Towards 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  seventeenth 
  century 
  a 
  somewhat 
  

   similar 
  figure 
  was 
  published 
  by. 
  Hennepin. 
  § 
  During 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  

   century 
  others 
  were 
  added 
  by 
  Du 
  Pratz, 
  Lawson 
  (in 
  his 
  " 
  History 
  of 
  

   Carolinall), 
  Catesby 
  ,<[[ 
  Buffon,** 
  and 
  others, 
  Catesby's 
  and 
  Buffon's 
  being 
  

   very 
  fair 
  representations 
  of 
  the 
  animal 
  intended, 
  and 
  are 
  the 
  first 
  that 
  

   attain 
  a 
  tolerable 
  degree 
  of 
  accuracy. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  good 
  figures 
  are 
  those 
  given 
  by 
  F. 
  Cuvier 
  and 
  Geoftroy,ft 
  

   consisting 
  of 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  three, 
  drawn 
  from 
  specimens 
  living 
  in 
  the 
  Me- 
  

   nagerie 
  at 
  Paris. 
  The 
  first 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  young 
  male 
  in 
  summer 
  pelage, 
  

   the 
  second 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  young 
  female, 
  and 
  the 
  third 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  calf 
  a 
  few 
  

   weeks 
  old. 
  These 
  are 
  all 
  very 
  fine, 
  especially 
  in 
  respect 
  to 
  color, 
  in 
  

   which 
  they 
  excel 
  all 
  others, 
  those 
  of 
  Catlin 
  and 
  Audubon 
  being 
  of 
  too 
  

   dark 
  a 
  tint. 
  

  

  Catlin, 
  in 
  his 
  "North 
  American 
  Indians" 
  (Vol. 
  I), 
  devotes 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  

   fourteen 
  spirited 
  plates 
  to 
  the 
  illustration 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  bison. 
  The 
  

   male 
  is 
  represented 
  in 
  plate 
  vii 
  of 
  this 
  work 
  ; 
  the 
  female 
  in 
  ])late 
  viii 
  ; 
  

  

  ** 
  Les 
  Siugulaiitz 
  dc 
  la 
  Frauce 
  Aiitarclique, 
  p. 
  145. 
  t 
  Aiiier., 
  p. 
  ;503. 
  t 
  Hist. 
  Nat., 
  p. 
  

   181. 
  § 
  Mex., 
  p. 
  587. 
  || 
  Discovery 
  of 
  a 
  Vast 
  Country, 
  etc., 
  p. 
  90. 
  ^ 
  Fig. 
  115. 
  ** 
  Nat. 
  

   Hist, 
  of 
  Carolina, 
  etc., 
  pi. 
  xx. 
  ft 
  Hist. 
  Nat., 
  Snppl.', 
  Ill, 
  pi. 
  v. 
  U 
  Hist. 
  Nat. 
  ties 
  Man)., 
  

   Tome 
  I, 
  livr. 
  xii 
  (yonog 
  male); 
  Tome 
  II, 
  livr. 
  xxxii 
  (youug 
  fetualo); 
  Tome 
  HI, 
  livr. 
  

   xlix 
  (calf 
  a 
  few 
  weeks 
  old). 
  

  

  