Delineations of the Ox Tribe Part 15

Musk Ox North America.

Zamouse, or Bush Cow Gambia, Sierra Leone.

Banteng Island of Java.

Gyall India.

Gayal India.

Sanga, or Galla Ox Abyssinia.

Zebu--Brahmin Ox Southern Asia, Eastern Africa.

Domestic Ox Generally diffused.

AND MODE OF LIFE.

Mode of Life.

Partial to water and mud, swampy localities.

Semi-aquatic in its habits,--sometimes called the Water Buffalo.

Fond of wallowing in mire, and swims well.

Lives much in the water, and feeds on aquatic plants.

Ranges in mountain forests, and feeds on leaves and buds of trees.

Migratory in its habits--fond of bathing in marshy swamps.

Lives chiefly on the woody banks of rivers--feeds on bark of trees, lichens, and herbaceous plants.

Feeds on the short herbage peculiar to the tops of mountains and bleak plains.

Lives chiefly on rocky mountains.

Delights in the deepest jungles--feeds on leaves and shoots of brushwood.

Lives entirely on woody-mountains--feeds on shoots and shrubs.

Half domesticated.

Domesticated, and artificially fed.

So completely domesticated, as to be subject to an endless variety of diseases, and generally requires medical attendance.

THE INDEFINITE DEFINITIONS OF COL. HAMILTON SMITH.

On commencing this Monograph of the _Genus Bos_, I entertained the confident expectation, that in the voluminous work of Cuvier's 'Animal Kingdom,' translated and enlarged by Griffith and others, I should find all that related to generic and specific distinction so clearly exhibited, and so systematically arranged, that I should have no hesitation in adopting the cla.s.sification there set forth, and no difficulty in determining the place of any new species or variety. With this expectation I diligently studied that portion of Col. H. Smith's volume on the Ruminantia, which treat of the _Genus Bos_, and I here subjoin (verbatim) the generic and subgeneric characters there given of that Genus, by which it will be seen how far they fall short of the clearness and precision which are indispensable to a scientific work.

GENERIC CHARACTERS.

"_Genus BOS._--Skull very strong, dense about the frontals, which are convex, nearly flat, or concave; horns invariably occupying the crest, projecting at first laterally; osseous nucleus throughout porous, even cellular; muzzle _invariably broad_, naked, moist, _black_; ears, _in general_, _middle sized_; body _long_; legs _solid_; stature _large_."

Generic characters should be such as will apply to every species in the genus; they should likewise be such as will distinguish the genus described from every other genus. From such observations as I have been enabled to make, the five last-mentioned characters do not appear to accord with either of these conditions.

1st. The muzzle is stated to be _black_; but in the Yak, and in domestic cattle (as may be observed by any one), the muzzle is very frequently _white_; and granting that it was invariably black, other genera of the ruminantia have the muzzle black: and therefore it cannot be said to be a distinguishing mark of the _Genus Bos_.

2d. The ears are stated to be _in general middle-sized_. To pa.s.s over the extreme vagueness of the terms "_in general_" and "_middle-sized_,"

I may state that having measured the ears of several species, I find them to be of all lengths, varying from 5 inches to nearly 18 inches.

Such a term as "_middle-sized_" may be applied "_in general_" to the ears of a vast variety of animals; and therefore it cannot be applied _in particular_ to the _Genus Bos_.

3d. The body is said to be _long_. They are, indeed, of all lengths, from 4 ft. 6 in. to nearly 11 ft. Can the term long be equally applicable to animals of such different lengths?

4th. The legs are said to be _solid_. In some species the legs are very slender, as the Zebu, Manilla Buffalo, and Domestic Ox.

5th. The stature is said to be _large_. From actual measurement I find the stature to vary from 2 ft. 8 in. to upwards of 6 ft.; the smaller species weighing not more than 100 lbs., the larger weighing as much as 2000 lbs. Can the term large be equally applicable to animals of such different sizes?

SUB-GENERIC CHARACTERS.

"_Sub-genus_ I.--_Bubalus._--Animals low in proportion to their bulk; limbs very solid; head large, forehead narrow, very strong, convex; chaffron straight; muzzle square, horns lying flat, or bending laterally with a certain direction to the rear; eyes large; ears mostly funnel-shaped; no hunch; a small dewlap; _female udder with four mammae_; _tail long_; slender."

This sub-genus comprises Cape Buffalo, Pega.s.se, Arnee, Domestic Buffalo.

"_Sub-genus_ II.--BISON.--Forehead slightly arched, much broader than high; horns placed before the salient line of the frontal crest; the plane of the occiput forming an obtuse angle with the forehead and semicircular in shape; fourteen or fifteen pairs of ribs; the shoulders rather elevated; the _tail shorter_; the legs more slender; the tongue blue; the hair soft and woolly."

This sub-genus comprises Aurochs, Gaur, American Bison, Yak, Gayal.

"_Sub-genus_ III.--TAURUS.--Forehead square from the orbits to the occipital crest, somewhat concave, not convex, or arched as in the former; the horns rising from the sides of the salient edge or crest of the frontals; the plane of the occiput forming an acute angle with the frontal, and of quadrangular form; the curve of the horns outwards, upwards, and forwards; no mane; a deep dewlap; _thirteen pairs of ribs_; _tail long_; _udder four teats in a square_."

This sub-genus comprises the Urus and the Domestic Ox.

Subgeneric characters should be such as will clearly distinguish the animals of one sub-genus from those of another. But here we have set down, in the sub-genus Bubalus, tail _long_, slender; in the sub-genus Taurus, tail _long_; and although the epithet slender is not added in the latter case, yet in truth it ought to be, as the tail of Taurus is quite as slender as that of Bubalus.

The udder of Bubalus is said to have four mammae; they are not stated to be in a square, but, on examination, I find they are so; the udder of Taurus has likewise four teats in a square.

Thirteen pairs of ribs are set down as a distinguishing character of the sub-genus Taurus; but the Cape Buffalo, Domestic Buffalo, and the Manilla Buffalo (in the sub-genus Bubalus), and the Gaur (in the sub-genus Bison), all possess thirteen pairs of ribs.

In the sub-genus Bison the tail is said to be _shorter_ than the tail of Bubalus; but on subjecting them to the infallible test of feet and inches, I find the tails of the Aurochs, Gaur, Yak, and Gayal, to be decidedly _longer_ than those of the Cape or the Manilla Buffalo.

The legs of Bisons are stated to be more slender than those of Buffaloes,--the reverse of this is the fact in the instances which I have had an opportunity of observing.

SPECIFIC DETAILS.

The details of a system of scientific cla.s.sification should be precise, methodical, and consistent; but the method observed by Col. Smith, in describing the lengths of animals, can scarcely be called either precise or consistent; for example, he states:--

1st. That the Cape Buffalo is nine feet from _nose to ROOT of tail_.

2d. That the Gaur is twelve feet long _to the END of tail_.

3d. That the Aurochs is ten feet three inches _from nose to tail_.

4th. That the Domestic Buffalo is eight feet six inches long, _without mentioning either nose or tail_.

In none of these cases can we be even proximately certain of the length of the animal.