Notices of Books. 
[January, 
96 
description of the American animal, with tables of measurement 
of the principal parts of the skeleton, and points out the charac- 
teristics which distinguish it from the bison of Europe. Entering 
next upon its geological history, he shows that its appearance in 
North America is of comparatively recent date, whilst its fossil 
remains have hitherto been found in no country outside its known 
geographical range. He concludes that it is “ the descendant of 
B. latifrons , modified by existence in the new conditions of soil 
and climate to which it was driven by the great changes closing 
the last ice-age.” 
The geographical distribution of the American bison at the 
time of the first arrival of European settlers in the Western 
Hemisphere is next carefully investigated. According to common 
tradition it inhabited not merely the eastern half of the great 
valley of the Mississippi and the basin of the Ohio, but extended 
its range up to the Atlantic coast. But on carefully sifting the 
evidence there appears good reason for assuming that the buffalo 
was not found in New England, nor along the coast of the 
Middle States, during a long period antedating the exploration 
of the continent by Europeans, or during the period of the 
formation of the Indian shell-mounds of the Atlantic coast, 
which contain no traces of the remains of the buffalo.” In the 
upper parts of the Carolinas the former occurrence of the bison 
is an established historical facl ; but here, also, the evidence of 
their having been found on the coast is very imperfect. Nor do 
they appear to have been known within the present limits of 
Florida. Between 1540 and 1720, however, these animals seem 
to have temporarily extended their range south-eastwards, and 
to have penetrated into the country immediately bordering on 
the Gulf of Mexico, known at that time as West Florida. 
A great part of the work is devoted to an account of the 
gradual extirpation of the bison over the vast tradl of country 
which it once occupied, and its restriction within its present 
narrow limits. It is now found merely in two distinct areas. 
The more “ southern of these is chiefly limited to Western 
Kansas, a part of the Indian territory, and North-Western 
Texas. The northern district extends from the sources of the 
principal southern tributaries of the Yellowstone northward into 
the British possessions, embracing an area not much greater 
than the present territory of Montana.” Even within these two 
districts the author estimates that, at their present rate of de- 
crease, they can scarcely outlive the present century. 
To the scientific naturalist the most valuable part of this work 
is the chapter on the domestication and hybridisation of the 
bison. Certain theorists of the Swainsonian school maintained, 
on a priori grounds, that it must be irreclaimable. But the fol- 
lowing fadts are fully attested : — 1. That the bison is readily sus- 
ceptible of domestication. 2. That it interbreeds freely with the 
domestic cow. 3. That the half -breeds are fertile. And 4. That 
