CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE HOLLOW-HORNED RUMINANTS. 



THE BOVID^E — THE THIRTEEN SUB-FAMILIES — THE BOVINE — THE GENUS BOS — THE DOMESTIC OX — 

 THE WILD CATTLE — THE CATTLE OF THE PAMPAS — CATTLE OF AFRICA — DOMESTIC CATTLE — 

 THE HIGHLAND CATTLE — THE DURHAM — THE ALDERNEY. 



THE large and important family Bovid^e includes all the animals 

 commonly known as oxen, buffaloes, antelopes, sheep and goats. 

 Some naturalists have classed them in three, some in four or 

 five distinct families. Zoologically, they are all briefly and satisfactorily 

 defined by the words with which this chapter is headed, " hollow-horn 

 ruminants," and although they present wide differences in external form, 

 they pass so insensibly into one another, that no satisfactory definition ot 

 the smaller family-groups can be found. As regards the distribution of 

 the family it may be said that, as a whole, they are almost confined to 

 the great Old World continent, only a few forms being found in North 

 America. Different types prevail in^different regions ; thus, antelopes 

 prevail in Africa, sheep and goats in the northern parts of Europe and 

 Asia, and oxen are perhaps best developed in the far East. 



Following the arrangement adopted by Wallace from Sir Victor 

 Brooke, we subdivide the family into thirteen sub-families. The first of 

 these sub-families Bovinve is one of the best marked groups in the family. 

 It comprises the Oxen and Buffaloes, and their allies, and has a distribu- 

 tion very nearly the same as that of the whole family. The animals 

 comprehended in it are large and strong ; their chief characteristic being 

 more or less round and smooth horns, a broad muzzle, with nostrils wide 

 apart, and a long and tufted tail. The udder of the females has four 

 teats. The skeleton displays a thick and powerful form. The skull is 

 broad at the brow, and slightly narrowed in at the muzzle. The orbits 

 of the eyes are round and project laterally; the processes on which the 

 horns are placed grow from the. back part of the skull. The smooth and 



