Delineations Of The Ox Tribe The Natural History Of Bulls Bison

Chapter 10

Chapter 103,558 wordsPublic domain

| Cerv. | Dors. | Lumb. | Sacr. | Caud. | Total. American Bison | 7 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 12+ | European Bison, | | | | | | or Aurochs | 7 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 50 Yak | 7 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 45 Gayal (Domestic) | 7 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 47 Gayal (Asseel). | | | | | | Gyall | | | | | | Jungli Gau | | | | | | Italian Buffalo. | | | | | | Indian Buffalo. | | | | | | Skeleton of Buffalo | | | | | | in Surg. Coll. | | | | | | (locality unknown) | 7 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 47 Gaur | 7 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 50 Domestic Ox | 7 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 52 Condore Buffalo | | | | | | Manilla Buffalo | 7 | 13 | 6 | | | Pegasse | | | | | | Arnee | | | | | | Cape Buffalo | 7 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 19 | 49 Zamouse (_Bos_ | | | | | | _Brachyceros_) | 7 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 50 Banteng of Java | | | | | | (_Bos Bantinger_) | 7 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 48 Zebu, or Brahmin Ox | 7 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 48 Galla Ox. | | | | | | Backeley | | | | | | (_Caffraria_). | | | | | | Musk Ox | | | | | |

The osteological details in the above Table (except those of the Yak, which are given on the authority of Pallas) are from the Author's own observations.

TABLE OF THE PERIODS OF GESTATION OF THE VARIOUS SPECIES OF THE GENUS BOS.

To supply the deficiencies in the foregoing Tables, the results of original observations are respectfully solicited. Address the Author or Publisher.

NOTE ON THE AMERICAN BISON.

It was Cuvier, I believe, who first made the statement, that the American Bison is furnished with _fifteen_ pairs of ribs. In this particular he has been implicitly followed by every subsequent writer on the subject. Not being able to refer to a skeleton, and, moreover, never suspecting any inaccuracy in the statement, I followed the received account. But since this work has gone to press, I have had the opportunity of examining two skeletons, by which I find that--

_The American Bison has only_ FOURTEEN _pairs of ribs._

I have, therefore, in the "Table of the Number of Vertebrae," (see p. 152,) set this species down as possessing only that number.

Of the two skeletons referred to (both of which are now in the British Museum), one is from a female Bison, some years a living resident in the Zoological Gardens; and the other is from a male, late in the possession of the Earl of Derby, at Knowsley, in Lancashire.

A corroborative circumstance (amounting, indeed, to a complete proof of the accuracy of these observations,) is presented by the fact, that, in both the cases _the number of lumbar vertebrae is precisely_ FIVE; thus making the true vertebrae to consist of nineteen, which Professor Owen[E] has shown to be the invariable number possessed by all ruminants.

FOOTNOTES:

[E] See, in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society, Professor Owen's 'Account of his Dissection of the Aurochs.'

APPENDIX

THE FREE MARTIN.

Cows usually bring forth but one calf at a birth; occasionally, however, they produce twins. John Hunter, in his 'Observations on the Animal Economy,' says: "It is a fact known, and I believe almost universally understood, that when a cow brings forth two calves, one of them a bull-calf, and the other to appearance a cow, that the cow-calf is unfit for propagation; but the bull-calf grows up into a very proper bull. Such a cow-calf is called, in this country, a FREE MARTIN, and is commonly as well known among the farmers as either cow or bull. It has all the external marks of a cow-calf, namely, the teats, and the external female parts, called by farmers the bearing. It does not show the least inclination for the bull, nor does the bull ever take the least notice of it. In form it very much resembles the Ox, or spayed heifer, being considerably larger than either the bull or the cow, having the horns very similar to the horns of an Ox. The bellow of the Free Martin is similar to that of an Ox, having more resemblance to that of the cow than that of the bull."

Free Martins are very much disposed to grow fat with good food. The flesh, like that of the Ox or spayed heifer, is generally much finer in the fibre than either the bull or cow; is even supposed to exceed that of the Ox and heifer in delicacy of flavour, and bears a higher price at market. However this superiority of the flavour does not appear to be universal, for Mr. Hunter was informed of a case which occurred in Berkshire, in which the flesh of a Free Martin turned out nearly as bad as bull beef. This circumstance probably arose from the animal having more the properties of a bull than a cow.

Mr. Hunter, having had many opportunities of dissecting Free Martins, has satisfactorily shown that their incapacity to breed, and all their other peculiarities, result from their having the generative organs of both sexes combined, in a more or less imperfect state of development, in some cases the organs of the male preponderating, in others those of the female.

The above, which is copied from an engraving in Hunter's work on the 'Animal Economy,' is a representation of a Free Martin, five years old; it shows the external form of that animal, which is neither like the bull nor cow, but resembling the Ox or spayed heifer.

Although, as Hunter observes, "it is almost universally understood, that when a cow brings forth two calves, one of them a bull-calf, and the other to appearance a cow, that the cow-calf is unfit for propagation," it is by no means universally the fact, as instances of such twins breeding were known even in Hunter's time, and have been witnessed more recently. The following is recorded in Loudon's 'Mag. of Nat. History,' and occurred a few years previous to 1826: Jos. Holroyd, of Withers, near Leeds, had a cow which calved twins, a bull-calf and a cow-calf. As popular opinion was against the cow-calf breeding, it being considered a Free Martin, Mr. Holroyd was determined to make an experiment of them, and reared them together. They copulated, and in due time the heifer brought forth a bull-calf, and she regularly had calves for six or seven years afterwards.

"If," says Hunter, "there are such deviations as of twins being perfect male and female, why should there not be, on the other hand, an hermaphrodite, produced singly, as in other animals? I had the examination of one which seemed, upon the strictest inquiry, to have been a single calf; and I am the more inclined to think this true, from having found a number of hermaphrodites among black cattle, without the circumstance of their birth being ascertained."

If Hunter had carried this reasoning a little further, he might have asked,--Why should there not be a Free Martin, or hermaphrodite, produced in the case of twins, when they are both apparently males, or both apparently females? Had he done this, he would not, probably, have made the following observation: "I need hardly observe, that if a cow has twins, and they are both bull-calves, they are in every respect perfect bulls; or if they are both cow-calves, they are perfect cows." What is this but saying that a bull-calf is a bull-calf, and a cow-calf is a cow-calf? For a Free Martin, or hermaphrodite, is not, in any case, either a bull or a cow.

There does not appear to be anything known of the peculiar circumstances under which, what is termed a Free Martin is produced.

The most general observation that can be made on the subject appears to be, that cows sometimes produce calves, which, by reason of their imperfectly developed generative system, are incapable of procreating.

THE SHORT-NOSED OX.

The common Ox, originally taken over to America by the early Spanish settlers, now runs wild in immense herds on the Pampas, where it is hunted and slain for its hide. Some idea may be formed of the immensity of these herds, from the circumstance that nearly a million of hides are annually exported from Buenos Ayres and Monte Video to Europe.

Some of the herds in these wild regions have undergone a most singular modification of the cranium, consisting in a shortening of the nasal bones, together with the superior and inferior maxillaries. There is a skull of this variety in the Museum of the College of Surgeons, of which the above is a sketch.

ON THE UTILITY OF THE OX TRIBE TO MANKIND.

How eminently serviceable to man these animals are, is shown in the following table, in which are set forth the most important uses to which their various parts are applied:

SKIN.--The skin has been of great use in all ages. The ancient Britons constructed their boats with osiers, and covered them with the hides of bulls; and these boats were sufficiently strong to serve for short coasting voyages. Similar vessels are still in use on the Irish lakes, and in Wales on the rivers Dee and Severn. In Ireland they are called _curach_, in England _coracles_, from the British _cwrwgl_, a word signifying a boat of that structure.

Boots, shoes, harness, &c. for horses, and various kinds of travelling trunks are made from hides when tanned. The skin of the calf is extensively used in the binding of books, and the thinnest of the calf skins are manufactured into vellum. The skin of the Cape Buffalo is made into shields and targets, and is so hard that a musket ball will scarcely penetrate it.

HAIR.--The short hair is used to stuff saddles and other articles; also by bricklayers in the mixing up of certain kinds of mortar. It is likewise frequently used in the manuring of land. The _long_ hair from the tail is used for stuffing chairs and cushions. The hair of the Bison is spun into gloves, stockings, and garters, which are very strong, and look as well as those made of the finest sheep's wool; very beautiful cloth has likewise been manufactured from it. The Esquimaux convert the skin covering the tail into caps, which are so contrived that the long hair falling over their faces, defends them from the bites of the mosquitoes.

HORNS.--The horns of cattle consist of an outside horny case, and an inside conical-shaped substance, somewhat between hardened hair and bone. The horny outside furnishes the material for the manufacture of a variety of useful articles. The first process consists in cutting the horn transversely into three portions.

1. The _lowest_ of these, next the root of the horn, after undergoing several operations by which it is rendered flat, is made into combs.

2. The _middle_ of the horn, after being flattened by heat, and its transparency improved by oil, is split into thin layers, and forms a substitute for glass in lanterns of the commonest kind. [The merit of the invention of these horn plates, and of their application to lanterns, is ascribed to King Alfred, who is said to have first used lanterns of this description to preserve his candle time-measurers from the wind.]

3. The _tips_ of the horns are generally used to make knife-handles; the largest and best are used for crutch-stick heads, umbrella handles, and ink-horns, and the smallest and commonest serve for the tops and bottoms of ink-horns.

Spoons, small boxes, powder flasks, spectacle frames, and drinking horns are likewise made of the outer horny case.

The interior or core of the horn is boiled down in water, when a large quantity of fat rises to the surface; this is sold to the makers of yellow soap.--The liquid itself is used as a kind of glue, and is purchased by the cloth-dressers for stiffening.--The bony substance which remains behind, is ground down, and sold to the farmers for manure.

Besides these various purposes to which the different parts of the horn are applied, the chippings which arise in comb-making are sold to the farmer for manure, at about one shilling a bushel. In the first year after they are spread over the soil they have comparatively little effect; but during the next four or five their efficiency is considerable. The shavings, which form the refuse of the lantern-maker, are of a much thinner texture. Some of them are cut into various figures, and painted and used as toys; for they curl up when placed in the palm of a warm hand. But the greater part of these shavings are sold also for manure, which from their extremely thin and divided form, produce their full effect upon the first crop.

FEET.--An oil is extracted from the feet of oxen--hence called Neat's-foot-oil--of great use in preparing and softening leather.

SKIN, _horns_, _hoofs_, and _cartilages_ are used to make glue.

BLOOD is used in the formation of mastic; also in the refining of sugar, oil, &c.; and is an excellent manure for fruit trees.

_Blood_, _horns_, and _hoofs_ in the formation of Prussian blue.

_Gall_ is used to cleanse woollen garments, and to obliterate greasy and other stains.

SUET, FAT, TALLOW are chiefly manufactured into candles; they are also used to precipitate the salt that is drawn from briny springs.

INTESTINES, when dried, are used as envelopes for German and Bologna sausages; in some countries to carry butter to market. By gold-beaters, in the process of making gold-leaf. Gold-beater's skin, as it is called, forms the most innocent sticking plaster for small cuts on the hands or fingers.

The STOMACHS vulgarly called _inwards_, after being washed and boiled, are sold as an article of food under the name of _tripe_.

The EXCREMENTITIOUS MATTERS are used to manure the land.

The BONES are used as a substitute for ivory in the manufacture of a variety of small articles of a common kind; also for manuring land. "When calcined they are used as an absorbent to carry off the baser metals in refining silver. From the tibia and carpus is procured an oil much used by coach-makers and others in dressing and cleaning harness, and all trappings belonging to carriages."

FLESH, both fresh and salted, is generally esteemed as an article of food. _Pemmican_ is made of the flesh of the American Bison: this is dried in the sun by the Indians, spread on a skin, and pounded with stones. When the Indians have got it into this state, they sell it to the different forts, where all the hair is carefully sifted out of it, and melted fat kneaded into it. If it be well made, and kept dry, it will not spoil for a year or two.

MILK, a nutritious beverage, _per se_, is used in the composition of innumerable articles of diet; from milk is obtained cream, butter, and cheese.

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ALPINE COWHERDS,

WITH A NOTICE OF THE CELEBRATED SWISS AIR

_The Ranz des Vaches._

In the Alps, fine cattle are the pride of their keeper, who, not being satisfied with their natural beauty, also gratifies his vanity by adorning his best cows with large bells, suspended from broad thongs. Every _Senn_, or great cow-keeper, has a harmonious set of bells, of at least two or three, chiming in accordance with the famous _Ranz des Vaches_. The finest black cow is adorned with the largest bell, and those next in appearance wear the two smaller ones.

It is only on particular occasions that these ornaments are worn, namely, in spring, when they are driven to the Alps, or removed from one pasture to another; or in their autumnal descents, when they travel to the different farmers for the winter. On such days the Senn, even in the depth of winter, appears dressed in a fine white shirt, with the sleeves rolled above the elbows; neatly embroidered red braces suspend his yellow linen trowsers, which reach down to the shoes; he wears a small leather cap on his head, and a new and skilfully carved wooden milk-bowl hangs across his left shoulder. Thus arrayed, the Senn proceeds, singing the _Ranz des Vaches_, followed by three or four fine goats; next comes the finest cow, adorned with the great bell; then the other two with the smaller bells; and these are succeeded by the rest of the cattle, walking one after another, and having in their rear the bull, with a one-legged milking-stool on his horns; the procession is closed by a _traineau_, or sledge, bearing the dairy implements.

When dispersed on the Alps, the cattle are collected together by the voice of the Senn, who is then said to allure them. How well these cows distinguish the voice of their keeper, appears from the circumstance of their hastening to him, although at a great distance, whenever he commences singing the _Ranz des Vaches_.

This celebrated air is played on the bagpipes, as well as sung by the young Swiss cowherds while watching their cattle on the mountains. The astonishing effects of this simple melody on the Swiss soldier, when absent from his native land, are thus described by Rousseau:

"Cet air, se cheri des Suisses qu'il fut defendu sous peine de mort de le jouer dans leurs troupes, parce qu'il faisait fondre en larmes, deserter, ou mourir, ceux qui l'entendaient, tant il excitait en eux l'ardent desir de revoir leur pays. On chercherait en vain dans cet air les accens energetiques capables de produire de si etonnans effets. Ces effets, qui n'ont aucun lieu sur les etrangers, ne viennent qui de l'habitude, des souvenirs de mille circonstances qui, retracees par cet air a ceux que l'entendent, et leur rappellant leur pays, leurs anciens plaisirs, leur jeunesse, et toutes leur facons de vivre, excitent en eux une douleur amere d'avoir perdu tout cela. La musique alors n'agit point precisement comme musique, mais comme signe memoratif. Cet air, quoique toujours le meme, ne produit plus aujourd'hui les memes effets qu'il produisait ci-devant sur les Suisses, parce qu'ayant perdu le gout de leur premiere simplicite, ils ne la regrettent plus quand on la leur rappelle. Tant il est vrai que ce n'est pas dans leur action physique qu'il faut chercher les plus grand effets des sons sur le coeur humain."

For the delectation of the musical reader, the notes of this celebrated air are here introduced, with the words, and an English imitation:

AIR SUISSE

Appelle le RANZ DES VACHES.

The words are as follows:--

Quand reverai-je en un jour, Tous les objets de mon amour, Nos clairs ruisseaux, Nos hameaux, Nos coteaux, Nos montagnes, Et l'ornament de nos montagnes, La si gentille Isabeau? Dans l'ombre d'un ormeau, Quand danserai-je au son du Chalameau? Quand reverai-je en un jour, Tous les objets de mon amour, Mon pere, Ma mere, Mon frere, Ma soeur, Mes agneaux, Mes troupeaux, Ma bergere?

IMITATED.

When shall I return to the Land of the Mountains-- The lakes and the Rhone that is lost in the earth-- Our sweet little hamlets, our villages, fountains, The flour-clad rocks of the place of my birth? O when shall I see my old garden of flowers, Dear Emma, the sweetest of blooms in the glade, And the rich chestnut grove, where we pass'd the long hours With tabor and pipe, while we danced in the shade? When shall I revisit the land of the mountains, Where all the fond objects of memory meet: The cows that would follow my voice to the fountains, The lambs that I called to the shady retreat: My father, my mother, my sister, and brother; My all that was dear in this valley of tears; My palfrey grown old, but there's ne'er such another; My dear dog, still faithful, tho' stricken in years: The vesper bell tolling, the loud thunder rolling, The bees that humm'd round the tall vine-mantled tree: The smooth water's margin whereon we were strolling When evening painted its mirror for me? And shall I return to this scenery never? These objects of infantine glory and love,-- O tell me, my dear Guardian Angel, that ever Floats nigh me,--safe guide to the regions above.

SYNOPTICAL TABLE OF HABITAT

Buffalo--_Bos Bubalus_ Asia, North Africa, and South Europe. Manilla Buffalo Island of Manilla. Condore Buffalo Island of Pulo Condore. Cape Buffalo South Africa. Pegasse Congo, Angola, Central Africa. Arnee India and China. Gaur India. American Bison North America. Aurochs Lithuania.

Yak Tartary and Hindustan.

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.