212 THE OX AND ITS KINDRED 
herd. The main danger attending the future pros- 
pects of the herd arises from the circumstance that 
when wild animals are kept under conditions other 
than those which properly belong to them, there is a 
great tendency for the proportion of males among 
the offspring to increase in an alarming degree at the 
expense of the females. To such an extent did this 
abnormality prevail a few years ago in some of the 
herds of American bison in the United States, that 
in the case of the herd in Bronx Park, New York, 
every calf was put down as a bull as a matter of 
course. There appears to be no definite information 
with regard to the numbers of the wild Caucasian 
bison, although, as mentioned above, these are be- 
lieved to be comparatively small. 
Fromallother Old Worldcattle bisonaredistinguish- 
able at a glance by the excessive height of the withers, 
their uniformly brownish coat, with a tinge of plum- 
colour, and the mass of elongated curly hair covering 
the forehead of adult bulls, and, especially in the 
winter coat, extending backwards to form a mane on 
the neck, a fringe on the throat, and a mantle on the 
fore-quarters generally. To these features may be 
added the short and massive form of the head, the 
moderate length of the tufted tail, which reaches to 
the hocks or just below, and the regular upwards, 
forwards, and inwards sweep of the cylindrical and 
wholly black horns. In height adult bulls appear to 
exceed six feet by an inch or two ; but the cows are 
distinctly smaller. 
External features afford, however, by no means the 
most distinctive characteristics of bison, which differ 
markedly from the more typical species of cattle by 
the form of the skull. In the aurochs and ordinary 
