454 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. 



uot seized upon the opportunity presented by the presence of the buf- 

 falo to improve the character of their cattle. Now that there are no 

 longer any buffalo calves to be had on the plains for the trouble of 

 catching them, and the few domesticated buffaloes that remain are 

 worth fabulous prices, we may expect to see a great deal of interest 

 manifested in this subject, and some costly efforts made to atone for 

 previous lack of forethought. 



The character of the buffalo — domestic hybrid. — The subjoined illus- 

 tration from a photograph kindly furnished by Mr. C. J. Jones, repre- 

 sents a ten months' old half-breed calf (male), the product of a buffalo 

 bull and domestic cow. The prepotency of the sire is apparent at the 

 first glance, and to so marked an extent that the illustration would 

 pass muster anywhere as having been drawn from a full-blood buffalo. 

 The head, neck, and hump, and the long woolly hair that covers them, 

 proclaim the buffalo in every line. Excepting that the hair on the 

 shoulders (below the hump) is of the same length as that on the body 

 and hind quarters, there is, so far as one can judge from an excellent 

 photograph, no difference whatever observable between this lusty young 

 half-breed and a full blood buffalo calf of the same age and sex. Mr. 

 Jones describes the color of this animal as "iron-gray," and remarks: 

 " You will see how even the fur is, being as long on the hind parts as 

 on the shoulders and neck, very much unlike the buffalo, which is so 

 shaggy about the shoulders and so thin farther back." Upon this 

 point it is to be remarked that the hair on the body of a yearling or 

 two year-old buffalo is always very much longer in proportion to tbe 

 hair on the forward parts than it is later in life, and while the shoulder 

 hair is always decidedly longer than that back of it, during the first 

 two years the contrast is by no means so very great. A reference to 

 the memoranda of hair measurements already given will afford precise 

 data on this point. 



In regard to half-breed calves, Mr. Bedson states in a private letter 

 that "the hump does not appear until several months after birth." 



Altogether, the male calf described above so strongly resembles a 

 pure-blood buffalo as to be generally mistaken for one; the form of the 

 adult half-blood cow promptly proclaims her origin. The accompanying 

 plate, also from a nhotograph supplied by Mr. Jones, accurately repre- 

 sents a half-breed cow, six years old, weighing about 1,800 pounds. 

 Her body is very noticeably larger in proportion than that of the cow 

 buffalo, her pelvis much heavier, broader, and more cow-like, therein 

 being a deckled improvement upon the small and weak hind quarters 

 of the wild species. The hump is quite noticeable, but is not nearly 

 so high as in the pure buffalo cow. The hair on the fore quarters, neck, 

 and head is decidedly shorter, especially on the head ; the frontlet and 

 chin beard being conspicuously lacking. The tufts of long, coarse, 

 black hair which clothe the fore-arm of the buffalo cow are almost ab- 

 sent, but apparently the hair on the body and hind quarters has lost 



