Bovid/E. MAMMALIA. BoviD.as. 159 
Ilercynian forests. The taming of such a species 
would be much more difficult than the importation 
of the breeds of oxen already domesticated and in use 
by the founders of the new colonies. And that the 
latter was the chief, if not the sole som’ce of the ox 
of England, when its soil began to be cultivated under 
Homan sway, is strongly indicated by the analogy of 
modern colonies. The domestic cattle, for example, 
of the Anglo-Americans have not been derived from 
tame descendants of the original wild cattle of North 
America ; there, on the contrary, the bison is fast dis- 
appearing before the advance of the agricultural settler, 
just as the auroch {Bison priscus) and its contemporary 
the urus have given way before a similar progress in 
Em'ope.” Professor Owen believes that no living des- 
cendant of Bos urus exists on the habitable globe, and 
that it is only known to us by its fossil remains ; but 
there is reason to suppose the auroch and European 
bison to be identical. Be this as it may, the common 
ox is specifically recognized among existing forms by 
its flat forehead ; the horns being placed at the two 
extremities of a prominent crest, which separates the 
forehead from the occiput. All our domesticated 
cattle — so widely scattered over the face of the earth 
— are derived from this species ; the various celebrated 
breeds representing so many more or less permanent 
types of variation. Oxen, although usually slaughtered 
for food before many years have elapsed, are capable 
of attaining an age of twenty-five years and upwards. 
It is somewhat singular that the cow should have a 
period of gestation precisely equal in duration to that 
of the human female, namely, two hundred and eighty 
days. Tire calf at the time of birth displays incisive 
and canine teeth in the upper jaw ; but, as has been 
previously hinted, the fall of the milk teeth leaves the 
upper jaw destitute of these organs in the adult animal ; 
their place being supplied by the development of a thick 
callous pad. 
THE EUROPEAN BISON {Bison Bonassus) appears, 
as we have already stated, to be identical with the great 
fossil auroch, or Bison priscus of Owen. At one time 
it was common in Germany and the south of Sweden ; 
but at the present day it occupies a comparatively 
restricted range, being found only in the forests of 
Lithuania, Moldavia, Wallachia, and the Caucasus. 
“ These animals,” says Mr. Broderip, “ have never been 
domesticated, but herds of them are protected in cer- 
tain localities in the forest of Bialowieza in Lithuania, 
under the direction of the Emperor of Eussia. There 
are twelve herds thus kept, each herd being under the 
superintendence of one herdsman. The estimated 
number of all the herds is eight hundred. They feed 
on gi’ass and brushwood, and the bark of young trees, 
especially the willow, poplar, ash, and birch. They do 
not attain their full stature till their sixtli year. They 
are very shy, and can only be approached fr-om the 
leeward, as their smell is exceedingly acute. When 
accidentally fallen in with, they become furious, and 
passionately assail the intruder. When taken young 
they become accustomed to their keeper; but the 
approach of other persons excites their anger. Two 
young specimens were presented to the Zoological 
Society of London by tlie Emperor of Russia. Though 
it had been stated that the auroch had a natural 
enmity to domestic cattle, and that the young obsti- 
nately refused to be suckled by the domestic cow, the 
calves sent by the emperor were suckled by a cow in 
the Regent’s Park Gardens, and very speedily became 
attached to their foster-mother. These creatures unfor- 
tunately died a few months after they had been brought 
to this country.” The bisons, generally, are distin- 
guished from oxen by their horns, which take orighi 
in front of the so-called occipital ridge, and by the con- 
vexity of the forehead; they have also fourteen pair 
of ribs, being a pair in excess of the number found in 
the ox. The limbs of the auroch are also compara- 
tively long ; its voice has the character of a grunt, and 
the dusky-brown fur is curled and woolly, especially in 
the region of the neck, where it is profuse, forming a 
sort of beard under the chin and thi'oat. By some 
naturalists, tire Caucasian variety is thought to be a 
distinct species ; but this is exceedingly doubtful. 
THE AMERICAN BISON {Bison Arnericanus) or 
Buffalo — Plate 18, fig. 59 — is generally admitted to 
be distinct from the above, yet it must be confessed 
that the two species very closely resemble each other. 
So far as the form of the skull, the horns, the fur, and 
the bulk of the animal are concerned, there is little or 
no difference ; but the limbs and tail are comparatively 
short, and, according to Mr. Blyth, it is provided with an 
additional pair of ribs. The bufialo is an inhabitant of 
aU the temperate parts of Central and North America, 
and at a period not very far back, but anterior to the rise 
of civilization in that country, this fine animal roamed at 
will throughout the length and breadth of the continent 
— at least from the Atlantic to the Pacific, excepting 
the extreme nortliern and southern latitudes. It has 
never existed in Soutli America, neither indeed has 
any other member of the bovine family, rmless pre- 
viously introduced by European colonists. At the 
present time they range over the wild prairies of the far 
west; but, like the diminishing tribes of human kind 
who dwell in those distant regions, it is evident that 
their numbers are becoming “ small by degi-ees and 
beautifully less.” Notwithstanding our satisfaction 
at seeing civilization extending to the remotest corners 
of the habitable globe, there is something melancholy 
in reflectmg on the past history of these animals, 
associated as it is ryitli the coeval disintegration of 
ancient peoples, to whom, indeed, the buffaloes have 
all along afforded a principal means of subsistence. 
These animals are still very numerous on the plains 
watered by the Saskatchewan River, being found as 
far north as Slave Point. Much has been written 
respecting their habits and the different modes in 
which they are captured by the native Indian tribes ; 
and most of us remember the stirring and beautiful 
illustrations exhibited in this country by Mr. Cattlin, 
in whose “ Letters and Notes on the North American 
Indians ” abimdant information*-is given about these 
imposing creatures. Catesby, Washington Irving, Sir 
Jolm Franklin, Sir John Richardson, and others, 
supply most interesting particulars ; but we have 
space only to give a few notices from the two last- 
mentioned authors. The latter affords us a condensed 
view of what has been previously written in regard 
