33$ MAMMALIA. PECORA. Ox, 



quently it muft be the fame with the Uras, and the various defcriptions of authors muft be owing 

 to accidental variations from age, climate, and food. They muft however be carefully diftinguiftied 

 from the American Buffalo, afterwards defcribed, which is called Bifon by Buffon. 



B. Domeftic Ox. — I. /?. B. Taurus domefticus. 



73S J\ European Ox. — 1. [6. g. B. Taurus europaeus. 



Has, in general, round, finooth horns, which are diflant at their bafes and are refle&ed 

 forwards ; and neither hump nor mane. 



Bos, Taurus, Vacca, Vitulus. Plin. hift. nat. viii. c. 45. 46. Gefn. quad. 24. 25. 103. 124.. 

 Schwenkf. ther. 63. 65. 70.. Aldrov. bifulc. 13. f. p. 36. Jonft. quad. 13. t. 15. Wagn. helv. 167. 

 Sibbald. Scot. 7. Rzacz. polon. 37. Sloan, jam. ii. 327. — Bos domefticus. Jonft. quad. 36. t. 14. 

 Charlet. exerc. 3. Raj. quad. 70. Muf. ad. fr. i. 12. Briff. regn. an. 78. n. 1. Klein, quad. 10. — 

 European Ox. Whit;, in tranf. of ph.il. and lit, foe. Mancheft. i. c. 27. Penn. hift. of quad. n. 6. 

 G. Sm. Buff. iii. 423. pi. xiii. Brit. zool.. L 15. 



The largeft cattle of this kind are found in Poland, Holftein, Jutland, Podoha, and Ukrain. A 

 much fmaller breed is produced, often without horns, in the Highlands of Scotland, "Wales, Iceland, 

 and other northern and mountainous countries. — This domeftic breed is fo variable in appearance,, 

 and in the form of the horns, as to preclude the poflibility of enumeration in a fyftematic work ; in 

 fome the horns are wanting, in fome large, in others fmall, fometimes extended directly outwards, 

 or reflected backwards, upwards, forwards or downwards : In general the Bulls are very ftupid, ob- 

 ftinate, vicious, and quarrelfome, and when angry, either by being teized or in rutting time, they at- 

 tack mankind, or each other, violently with their horns, firft fhowing their rage by horrible bellow- 

 ings, and by tearing up the ground with their feet and herns. The Bulls have a furly afpect, a 

 ftrong and curly fore-head, and a very ftern menacing appearance ; the Cows and Oxen have a more 

 mild and ftupid look, and are lefs dangerous, though the Cow is apt to but when ihe has young : 

 They are exceedingly ufeful as beafts of burthen, and for ploughing the ground ; their flefh, milk, 

 cheefe, butter, and fat, are of almoft indifpenfible ufe to mankind ; even their dung is a moil ex- 

 cellent manure, and their horns are converted into valuable articles of manufacture. They are more 

 fubject to murrain than the other domeftic cattle, and are much infefted by the Gad-fly, Tabanus, 

 Canopis calcitrans, and by Lice ; they are fond of warm, open, flat, and rich paftures, and are apt 

 to be poifoned by Hemlock, Aconite, and Anemone. They feldom exceed fourteen or fifteen years 

 of age, and in general are fattened for the butchery long before that period. The female goes nine 

 months ■with young, and brings commonly one Calf, feldom two, at a time. 



The following animals are confidered by Dr Gmelin as varieties of the domeftic breed, though 

 many of them have fuch remarkable differences as would conftitute, in other genera, fuificient marks 

 for fpecific diftinction. 



739 g. Indian Ox. — 1. [6. a. B. Taurus indicus major: 



Has fliort horns, bending back clofe to the neck, with a large fatty lump on the moul- 

 ders : Of a large fize and reddilh colour. Penn. hift. of quad. h. 6. A. pi. i. fig. inf. 



Indian Ox. Sm. Buff. vi. 178. 



Inhabits 



