THE HORNED ANIMALS— BUFFALOES. 



485 



amount of affection for him; it obeys his summons 

 and follows his call and exhibits a certain degree of 

 fellowship with the person who comes much in con- 

 tact with it. Habit seems, however, to have more to 

 do with this than conscious knowledge. 



Various plants, whether fresh or dried, such as 

 vetches, peas, young grains and succulent herbage, 

 seem to constitute the favorite foods of the Ox tribe. 

 Plants and veggtabie substances inimical to their 

 Tvell being are: flax, leaves of the yew-tree, water- 

 hemlock, louse-wdi-t, bent-grass, pond- weed, meadow- 

 saffron, spurge, monkshood, young oak-leaves and 

 ■walnut tree -leaves, wet clover and similar things. 

 Parsley, celery, garlic and onions, when eaten, are 

 said to decrease the production of milk. Thyme, 

 ranunculus and plantains are eaten in times of 

 scarcity of food, while cows of all breeds are pas- 



ever, they may again slightly turn forward or de- 

 scribe a gentle curve downward, and assume a 

 slightly outward direction. 



The Fierce and Among the animals belonging to 

 Powerful Cape this group, we assign to the Cape 

 Buffalo. Buffalo {Bos or Bubalus caffer) the 

 first place; it is the fiercest and most powerful mem- 

 ber of the sub-genus and particularly characterized 

 by its curious horns. It is of a sturdier organization 

 than other Buffaloes; the head is proportionately 

 small and the neck rather thick; the withers are 

 slightly raised, the tail is long and thin and deco- 

 rated with a strong, copious tuft, occupying half its 

 length. The horns are curved outward and back- 

 ward at the roots, then up and backward, and the 

 tips again show a marked inward curve. In the 

 cases of old bulls they are greatly expanded at the 



HEKEFOBS BULL. The Hereford breed is one especially favored by graziers because of its large size, its sturdy constitution, the ease 



with which it is fattened and the large yield and excellent quality of its beef. It leads among the heavy English breeds and has become a favorite 

 with Cattle raisers in the United States. 



sionately fond of all kinds of fruit and most vege- 

 tables, such as potatoes, carrots, squashes, turnips, 

 •etc.; salt is necessary for tlieir continuance in health. 

 The cow is justly held to be the most profitable of 

 ^11 domestic animals. 



THE BUFFALOES. 



The Buffaloes {Bubalus) are clumsily built Oxen 

 with a heavy, ungainly body, rather short, stout 

 legs, a broad head with a strongly convex low fore- 

 head, dull, sinister-looking eyes, and laterally pro- 

 jecting ears, which are usually large and wide. The 

 horns are set on the apices of the extreme upper 

 posterior angles of the skull and are generally dis- 

 proportionately enlarged in diameter at their bases; 

 their direction is at first downward and backward, 

 then outward and finally upward; occasionally, how- 



roots, and covered with thick, annular furrows; they 

 overshadow the whole forehead so that a narrow 

 strip in the middle only is left uncovered. With the 

 exception of the ears and the extremity of the tail, 

 the growth of hair is extremely scant, so that some 

 places have an almost naked appearance, and a truly 

 hairy covering can be properly spoken of only in 

 connection with the head and legs. The color of 

 the animal is produced less by the black hair, tipped 

 with a lighter tint, than by the dark brownish-gray 

 hide. The height of a Cape Buffalo at the shoulder 

 varies between five and six feet, according to sex 

 and the development of the animal. The horns, 

 which in the female are more slender and cover the 

 forehead only half as broadly and bulkily as in the 

 male, may in both sexes attain a spread of from 

 forty to nearly forty-five inches. 



