COMMON OX. 397 



very of the American continent ; and might have 

 been made to answer every purpose of the Euro- 

 pean Cow; but the natives, being in a savage 

 state, and Hving chiefly by chace, had never at- 

 tempted the domestication of the animal. 



COMMON ox. 



This is, iu reality, the Bison reduced to a do- 

 mestic-state ; in which, in different parts of the 

 world, it runs into as many varieties as the Sheep ; 

 differing widely in size, form, and colour, accord- 

 ing to climate and other circumstances. Its im- 

 portance in this its domestic state needs not be 

 mentioned. Every one knows that the Cow fur- 

 nishes some of the chief articles both of use and 

 luxury in civilized life, and the animal is, there- 

 fore, universally reared, except among savage 

 nations. " Without the aid of this useful ani- 

 mal," says Buffbn, " both the poor and the opu- 

 lent would find great difficulty in procuring sub- 

 sistence. Formerly the Ox constituted the whole 

 riches of mankind ; and he is still the basis of the 

 riches of nations ; which subsist and flourish in 

 proportion only to the cultivation of their lands 

 and the number of their cattle : for in these all 

 real wealth consists : every other kind, even gold 

 and silver, being only fictitious representatives, 

 which have no value, but what is conferred on 

 them by the productions of the earth. " He pro- 

 ceeds, with but too much truth, to observe, that 



those men who breed and multiply our cattle, 



