252 
THE AMERICAN BISON. 
Bos Americatius. 
PLATE XXX. 
The Buftiilo, Catesly, &c.— Boa Americanus, Gmelin, Ri- 
chardson — Bison Americanus, Griffith's Synopsis. 
Our information regai-ding tLis important animal 
is, thanks to tlie intrepid travellers in the arctic I’e- 
gions, and particularly to Dr Richardson, much more 
authentic than most of that we have been able to 
collect regarding one or two others. We have ex- 
tracted the most important part of the above-men- 
tioned naturalist’s description. They appear to have 
been formerly found in considerable plenty in Ca- 
nada, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky, but are gi-adual- 
ly receding before the white population ; and the 
rifle, as in southern Africa, has here also done its 
work. They still exist in the north, and roam in 
countless herds over the prairies that are watered by 
the Arkansa, Platte, Missonikainl the upper branches 
of the Saskatchawan. They reach to latitude 63° 
and 64°, and are always to be found in the vicinity 
of the salt-licks, and in another direction extend to 
New Mexico and California. The Bison is a fierce 
