Delineations of the Ox Tribe: The Natural History of Bulls, Bisons, and Buffaloes.: Exhibiting all the Known Species and the More Remarkable Varieties of the Genus Bos.Vasey, George
Science
Delineations of the Ox Tribe: The Natural History of Bulls, Bisons, and Buffaloes.: Exhibiting all the Known Species and the More Remarkable Varieties of the Genus Bos.
Vasey, George
American bison; Buffaloes; Cattle; Oxen
perfect representation of the Camel, one of the most striking types of
the order, while it reminds us at the same time of the Buffalo, the
genus _Acronatus_ among the large Antelopes, and numerous other
representations of the same form. The fourth type is our _Bos Pusio_:
here we find the horns, when present, remarkably small, but in many
cases absent; and the size is diminutive to an extreme. These also are
distinguishing marks of the groups it is to represent: the
_Tenuirostres_ among birds, and the _Glires_, or mice, among quadrupeds,
are the smallest of their respective classes; and both are typically
distinguished by wanting all appendages to the head, either in the form
of crests or horns. The fifth type is, perhaps, the most extraordinary
of all; it should represent not only the order _Rasores_ among birds,
but also the _Camelopardalis_ among ruminating quadrupeds. Hence we find
that, in accordance with the first of these analogies, it is a peaceful
domesticated race, and that it has horns of an unusually large size,
even in its own group; while, at the same time, those horns have that
peculiar structure which can only be traced in the Camelopardalis; they
are covered with skin, which passes so imperceptibly to the horny state,
that, as Captain Clapperton observes, "there is no exact demarcation
where the one commences and the other ends." The five leading types of
quadrupeds and birds being now represented, and in precisely the same
order, _we demonstrate_ the groups to be natural by the following
table:--
GENUS _BOS_--_the Natural Types._
1. _Bos Scoticus._ Fierce, untameable. FERAE. RAPTORES.
2. ---- _Taurus._ Pre-eminently typical. PRIMATES. INCESSORES.
{Appendages on the head}
3. ---- _Dermaceros._ {greatly developed } UNGULATA. RASORES.
{Stature remarkably }
4. ---- _Pusio._ {small. } GLIRES. GRALLATORES.
{Fore-part of the shoulders}
5. ---- _Thersites._ {elevated } CETACEA. NATATORES.
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