THE AMERICAN BISON. 
Bos Americanus. Gmel. 
The American Bison attains a size far superior to that 
of the largest breeds of our Common Oxen. Like the 
Polish Aurochs, the species to which it offers the 
nearest approach, it has a bold elevated forehead, of 
much greater breadth than length, and bounded above 
by an arched line passing across the head about two 
inches behind the roots of the horns. Its withers also 
are elevated in the form of a huge hump, extending 
for some distance along the back, to the level of which 
it gradually slopes, and giving to the fore quarters the 
appearance of being raised much higher than the hind : 
the limbs, however, are of nearly equal length. This 
protuberance does not consist, as in the Zebu, merely 
of flesh and fat, but is supported by an actual elonga- 
