The Last of the Buffalo 



the preservation of the species was urged 

 upon that body. Little general interest 

 was taken in the subject ; but in 1 874, 

 after much discussion, Congress did pass 

 an act providing for the protection of the 

 buffalo. The bill, however, was never 

 signed by the President. 



During the last days of the buffalo, a 

 remarkable change took place in its form ; 

 and this change is worthy of considera- 

 tion by naturalists, for it is an example of 

 specialization — of development in one 

 particular direction — which was due to 

 a change in the environment of the spe- 

 cies ; and it is interesting because it was 

 brought about in a very few years, and 

 indicates how rapidly, under favoring con- 

 ditions, such specialization may take place. 



This change was noticed and com- 

 mented on by hunters who followed the 

 northern buffalo, as well as by those who 

 assisted in the extermination of the south- 

 ern herd. The southern hunters, how- 

 ever, averred that the " regular " buffalo 

 had disappeared, — gone off somewhere, 

 — and that their place had been taken by 

 what they called the southern buffalo, a 

 race said to have come up from Mexico, 

 and characterized by longer legs and a 

 longer, lighter body than the buffalo of 

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