THE OX. 
HISTORY.* 
The important Family of which the common Ox may be regarded as typical, divides itself into three groups,—the Bisontine, 
the Bubaline, and the Taurine. The Bisons inhabit both the Old and New Continents, and are distinguished by round, smooth 
horns, and a musky odour which exhales from the skin. The Buffaloes are characterized by angular horns, and a fainter odour 
of musk, and are natives of the warmer regions of Asia and Africa. The Taurine group, comprehending the common Ox and its 
different races, forms the most important division of Bovidse. 
The European Bison, Bison Europceus , which once abounded in the great forests of Europe, is a fierce and powerful creature. 
He is the finrwv of the Greeks, the Bison of the Latins, the Wisent of the Older Germans, the Zubr of the Poles, and probably 
the Zb of the Arabians. He formerly abounded in the Hercynian and Sarmatian forests, and was regarded as the largest of the 
quadrupeds indigenous to Europe. But, like many animal species, the great Bison of Europe seems doomed to perish under a 
condition of countries that is no longer suited to him. He merely lingers in a portion of the vast regions of forest which he 
once inhabited. He is found in herds in the marshy forest of Bialowieza near Yarsovia, where he is protected by the Government 
of Russia. He does not wander beyond the woods where he yet lingers, because it is probable the sustenance which suits him is 
not to be found in another habitat; and even in this retreat, he would probably cease to exist, were it not for the care used in 
supplying him with food during the snows of winter. 
Bisons are still found in considerable herds in the woods of the Caucasus. According to the recent travels of Nordman, 
they exist in the greatest numbers from the Kuban to the Psib. In some places they inhabit the mountains in summer; in others, 
they are met with in swampy places all the year round. They are killed by the natives, and their horns, formed into drinking 
cups, are used by the wild chieftains of the country. A large kind of Bison is likewise found in British India; but whether it is 
identical with the Bisons of Western Asia and Europe, or a distinct species, has not been determined. It is termed Gaur by the 
natives, and by some naturalists Bos gaurus. It has been hitherto found in the thick jungles in the western confines of the pro¬ 
vinces of Bengal and Bahar. It is often killed by British sportsmen, but none of the young has yet been captured. The villagers 
have a superstitious terror of these creatures, and cannot be persuaded to go in search of the calves; believing that, if the Gaurs 
are in any way molested, they will attack the persons disturbing them, and never quit them till they have put them to death. 
The European Bison is supposed to have diminished in size and strength from the period in which he ranged at will over the 
countries which were proper to him; but he is still a large animal, equalling in stature the domestic oxen of the countries he 
inhabits. His head is broad, and the forehead bulging; the horns are round, thick, black, and of a hard consistence, and larger 
in the male than in the female : the eye is small, and its usual character is placid j but when the animal is roused to anger, the 
pupil narrows to a slit, the coat becomes inflamed, and all the expression indicates blind fury and madness. The tongue is covered 
with tubercles, and, together with the lips, gums, and palate, is blue. The trunk and hinder part of the body are relatively slender, 
the shoulders thick, and in the adult male the spines are so lengthened as to form withers. The skin is exceedingly thick, and 
emits the odour of musk. The trunk, down to the knees, is covered with woolly hair, the top of the head, neck, and shoulder, with 
long hair mixed with frizzled wool, forming a mane, and from the chin to the chest is a kind of beard. The tail comes below the 
* The accounts which have been already given in this work of the Sheep and the Hog, have been each preceded by a General History of the Genus in 
which the animals are comprehended. In the case of the Ox this plan was not adopted, but it is now conceived to be proper to supply the deficiency. It 
will be understood, therefore, that the Natural History of the Ox Family to be now given, ought to have preceded the account of the Wild or White Forest 
Breed contained in the first number of the work. 
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