The widely distributed genus Bos, has horns in both sexes, and in it we find the largest of the Ruminantia. They, generally speaking, have comparatively short legs, and heavy massive bodies. The perfection of domestic oxen is said to be a resemblance to a box set upon four posts; but in some of the wilder species, an arched back is certainly a beauty. Their foreheads are very wide, and mostly flat; their ears large, and projecting from the sides of the head; their muzzle broad, destitute of hair, and always moist. A long ridge passes across the top of the forehead, from which proceed two horns, more or less curved, sometimes of great length, always tapering to a point, and having a bony core. Their neck is thick, and from it hangs a dewlap, which passes between the fore legs. The hoofs are cleft. Of the origin of these Ruminants we know absolutely nothing, for they are spoken of as domesticated animals from the earliest times; and although there are such things as wild tribes now existing, we are not sure whether they were placed where they are with their present characters, or whether all are modifications of one pair, according to circumstances. The most conspicuous among them are the Zebu, the Buffalo, the Bison, and the bulls of various parts of the Old World. Those cattle which roam about in a free state in South America, New Zealand, and Australia, have not very long escaped from the dominion of man. In India some of the heathen natives make a certain ox a sacred animal; the Brahmins worship it; and it is a distinct variety from the common working oxen, who are by no means treated kindly. The cherished sorts are very sleek and tame, and even voluntarily go up to strangers who have grass in their hands, and eat it from them. They are, however, troublesome, as all pets are, and no one will dare to check them, for they must not be struck. Near Calcutta, they often break into gardens, put their noses into pastrycook's and fruiterer's shops, and have not the least hesitation, when they are affronted, in going up to the offenders and giving them a poke with their horns. The Zebus are spread over India, China, the Archipelago, Madagascar, and several parts of Africa. They are distinguished by a hump of fat between their shoulders, and they are as good for the saddle as for draught. They are more active and agile than we can imagine them to be, accustomed as we are to the slow, heavy pace of others of the tribe; they go with ease at the rate of six miles an hour, and travel for fifteen or sixteen hours in the day. Their paces are very agreeable, being wholly without the circular motion of the hind legs, which makes ours so tiring to ride. They will go over a five-barred gate, as well as the best hunter; are equally good for the plough, or for threshing corn, and the white are the most esteemed.