With the oriental princes the white _tails_ of the yak are of great value for military standards; and the use of them is very ancient. These tails are also employed, in many parts of the East, to ornament the trappings both of elephants and horses; and, when mounted on a silver handle, they are used by the principal men of India as a brush to chase away flies. The Chinese dye the hair of a red colour, and form tufts for their caps of it. Many beautiful kinds of stuffs are woven of a fine wool which these animals have next to their skin. 108. _The MUSK OX_ (Bos moschatus) _is a North American animal of small size, with horns broad, and approaching each other at the base, bent downward, and the tips upward and pointed; a protuberance on the shoulder, and the body covered with long silky hair of a dusky red tinge._ To the North American Indians the musk ox is an animal of considerable importance. Its _flesh_ furnishes them with an useful food, which, though it has a musky flavour, is not on that account the less esteemed. This flesh, in a frozen state, is also an article of traffic, with the British and American forts, during winter. At the roots of the long hair of the musk ox there is a peculiarly beautiful ash-coloured _fleece_, which is finer and softer than silk, and may be wrought into very elegant articles of dress. It is of the long hair of these animals that the Esquimaux Indians make those caps which give them their very extraordinary appearance, by the ends being contrived so to fall down over their face, as to protect them from the bites of musquetoes. The _skins_ are convertible into leather, and are also frequently used, by Indians, with the hair on, as coverings of various kinds. 109. _The AMERICAN BISON_ (Bos Americanus) _is a large species of ox, with round and distant horns which point outward, a long and woolly mane, and a large fleshy protuberance on the shoulders._ _These animals inhabit, in immense herds, the savannahs and marshes of the interior of North America._