432 
BISON. 
and is regarded as quite a specific in all varieties | several white spots on the side, a star or blaze 
of dyspepsia, or feebleness of stomach, in which ; in the forehead, and white fore feet. 
the organ itself is sound and merely weak. But 
an overdose acts with tremendous virulence, pro- 
duces the most violent symptoms, and may even 
occasion death. 
BISON. From other species of the ox kind, 
the bison is well distinguished by the following 
peculiarities. A long shaggy hair clothes the 
fore part of the body, forming a well marked 
beard beneath the lower jaw, and descending be- 
hind the knee in a tuft. ‘This hair rises on the 
top of the head in a dense mass, nearly as high 
as the extremities of the horns. Over the fore- 
head it is closely curled, and matted so thickly 
as to deaden the force of a rifle ball, which either 
rebounds, or lodges in the hair, merely causing 
the animal to shake his head as he heavily bounds 
along. The head of the bison is large and pon- 
derous, compared to the size of the body; so that 
the muscles for its support, necessarily of great 
size, give great thickness to the neck, and by 
their origin from the prolonged dorsal vertebral 
processes form the peculiar projection called the 
hump. This hump is of an oblong form, dimin- 
ishing in height as it recedes, so as to give con- 
siderable obliquity to the line of the back. The 
eye of the bison is small, black, and brilliant ; 
the horns are black and very thick near the head, 
whence they curve upwards and outwards, ra- 
pidly tapering towards their points. The outline 
|| of the face is somewhat convexly curved, and the 
| upper lip, on each side being papilous within, 
dilates and extends downwards, giving a very 
oblique appearance to the lateral gap of the 
mouth, in this particular resembling the ancient 
architectural bas-reliefs representing the heads 
of oxen. The physiognomy of the bison is men- 
acing and ferocious, and no one can see this 
formidable animal in his native wilds, for the 
first time, without feeling inclined to attend im- 
mediately to his personal safety. The summer 
coat of the bison differs from his winter dress, 
rather by difference of length than by other par- 
ticulars. In summer, from the shoulders back- 
wards, the hinder parts of the animal are all 
covered with a very short fine hair, that is as 
smooth and as soft to the touch as velvet. The 
tail is quite short and tufted at the end, and its 
utility as a fly-brush is necessarily very limited. 
The colour of the hair is uniformly dun, but the 
long hair on the anterior parts of the body is to 
a certain extent tinged with yellowish or rust. 
colour. These animals, however, present little 
variety in regard to colour.—In Plate VIII. we 
have given figures of the bison from the work of 
the eminent American naturalist, to whose pages 
we are also indebted for the present article. 
Some varieties of colour have been observed, 
although the instances are rare. A Missouri 
trader informed the members of Long’s exploring 
party, that he had seen a greyish white bison, 
and a yearling calf, that was distinguished by 
Mr. J. 
Doughty, an interpreter to the expedition, saw 
in an Indian hut a very well prepared bison 
head, with a star on the front. This was highly 
prized by the proprietor, who called it his Great 
Medicine, for, said he, “the herds come every 
season to the vicinity to seek their white-faced 
companion.” 
In appearance, the bison cow bears the same 
relation to the bull that is borne by the domestic 
cow to her mate. Her size is much smaller, and 
she has much less hair on the fore part of her 
body. The horns of the cow are much less than 
those of the bull, nor are they so much concealed 
by the hair. The cow is by no means destitute 
of beard, but though she possesses this conspi- 
SioudnGadars it is quite short when compared 
with that of her companion. From July to the 
latter part of December, the bison cow continues 
fat. Their breeding season begins towards the 
latter part of July, and continues until the be- 
ginning of September, and after this month, the 
cows separate from the bulls in distinct herds, 
and bring forth their calves in April. The calves 
rarely separate from the mother before they are 
one year old, and cows are frequently seen ac- 
companied by calves of three seasons. 
The flesh of the bison is somewhat coarser in 
its fibre than that of the domestic ox, yet travel- 
lers are unanimous in considering it equally sa- 
voury as an article of food; we must, however, 
receive the opinions of travellers on this subject 
with some allowance for their peculiar situations, 
being frequently at a distance from all other 
food, and having their relish improved by the 
best of all possible recommendations in favour of 
the present viands—hunger. It is with reason, 
however, that the flesh is stated to be more 
agreeably sapid, as the grass upon which these 
animals feed is short, firm, and nutritious, being 
very different froma the luxuriant and less saline 
grass produced on a more fertile soil. The fat of 
the bison is said to be far sweeter and richer, and | 
generally preferable to that of the common ox. 
The observations made in relation to the bison’s 
flesh, when compared with the flesh of the do- 
mestic ox, may be extended to almost all wild 
meat, which has a peculiar flavour and raciness 
that renders it decidedly more agreeable than 
that of tame animals, although the texture of 
the flesh may be much coarser and the fibre by 
no means as delicate. 
Of all the parts of the bison that are eaten, the 
hump is the most famed for its peculiar richness 
and delicacy; because, when cooked, it is said very 
much to resemble marrow. The Indian mode of 
cooking the hump is to cut it out from the verte- 
bree, after which the spines of bone are taken out, 
the denuded portion is then covered with skin, 
which is finally sewed to the skin covering the 
hump. The hair is then singed and pulled off, and 
the whole mass is put in a hole dug in the earth 
