Natural History: Mammalia/Bovidæ
Family V. Bovidæ.
(Oxen.)
Though the small group of Ruminants which are known as Oxen are so obviously marked as to be recognised without difficulty, even by an unscientific observer, their family characters are subordinate and comparatively unimportant. They have horns in both sexes, which are permanent, hollow, and supported upon bony cores, which have numerous cells communicating with the interior of the skull.. The horns are simple, rounded, and tapering to a point; they are curved outwards and upwards, so as to form together a crescent, including the bony ridge of the forehead by which they are connected. ‘There are no cavities beneath the eyes, nor at the base of the toes. The mammæ are situated between the hinder limbs, and have four teats. The forehead is expansive; the muzzle, with one exception, broad, naked, and moist; the neck, which is carried in the same line as the body, is thick, deep, and compressed ; from its under part hangs a pendulous doubling of the skin, called a dewlap. The processes of the spine, at the shoulders, are high, hence the withers are always elevated, and in several instances surmounted by a hump. The general form is massive; the head is large, the body square and heavy, the haunches wide, the limbs low and strong. The expression of the countenance is often, particularly in the males, malignant and threatening, indicative of the ferocity that belongs to several of the species. On the other hand, the Cow and Ox of the domestic ‘species, are often remarkable for the quiet gentle- ness of their physiognomy.
The Oxen are social in their habits, and some are gregarious, associating in immense herds; as the Bison of the American prairies. Limited as is the Family, every part of the world has some indigenous species, with the exception of South America and Australia; and in these the domestic race introduced by Europeans has already spread in herds in an emancipated condition.
Genus Bos. (Linn.)
The characters already given as distinguishing the Family Bovidæ, may be considered. as those of its only genus, Bos, for though the Musk- Ox of Arctic America does approach the Sheep more closely than the other Oxen, there do not appear to us sufficient differences to constitute it a separate genus. ‘The principal distinctions of this species, which has been named Ovibos moschatus, are, that the horns are very broad at their base, hang down by the sides of the head, and turn up at the points; the muzzle is not naked ; the tail and ears are very short; the hair is long and woolly.
On the other hand, the typical Oxen have the horns simply curved upwards, or slightly turned outwards at the tips, the muzzle naked, the tail and ears rather long, and the hair for the most part straight, short and close.
"Of all the animals," observes Mr. Bell, "which have been reduced into the immediate service of man, the Ox is, without exception, that to which he is most indebted for the variety and extent of its means of usefulness. If the qualities of the Dog are of a higher and more intellectual character, and bring it into closer communication with man as a social being; and if the Horse, as a beast of burden, and of draught, serve more to his immediate personal assistance, the Ox sur-
DURHAM OX.
passes these, and all others, in the devotion of its powers while living, and the appropriation of every part of the body when dead, to the wants, the comforts, and the luxuries of his owner." [1]
The domestic cattle (Bos taurus, Linn.) which form so important a part of the rural wealth of this country, may be considered as either short-horned or long-horned. Of the former the improved Durham breed is perhaps the most valuable for the dairy, as well as for a tendency to fatten rapidly, and at an early age. Of the latter, the new Leicester, as improved by Bakewell, was considered inferior to none in smallness
DEVON OX.
of bone, and aptitude to fatten. The flesh was fine-grained, and the fat well intermixed in the muscle. The cows, however, gave but little milk; and the breed has now lost much of its former reputation. The North Devon breed is intermediate in the length of the horns. In beauty and activity it is superior to any other, and is a per fect type of the working Ox. These cattle are the most valuable for the plough; they walk almost as fast as horses, and will work well in pairs: In returning with empty waggons in harness, they will trot at the rate of six miles an hour. The cows are good milkers, the richness of the cream compensating for deficiency of quantity.
Though not equal to the Durham breed in capacity of fattening, yet they hold a fair rank in this respect, and their flesh is of excellent quality. The Alderney and the hornless Suffolk cows are much prized for the dairy; the former for the peculiar richness of their milk, the latter for its quantity. In the height of the season a Suffolk cow will yield thirty-two quarts of milk daily.
In a few private parks in Scotland, and the north of England, there exists a breed of cattle, in a wild state, which is probably identical in species with the domestic race. They are invariably white, with red ears, and a black muzzle. "At the first appearance of any person," observes Mr. Culley, "they set off in full gallop, and, at the distance of about two hundred yards, make a wheel round, and come boldly up again, tossing their heads in a menacing manner: on a sudden they make a full stop, at the distance of forty or fifty yards, looking wildly at the object of their surprise; but upon the least motion being made they all again turn round, and fly off with equal speed, but not to the same distance; forming a shorter circle, and again returning with a bolder and more threatening aspect than before; they approach much nearer, probably within thirty yards, when they again make another stand, and then fly off: this they do several times, shortening their distance, and advancing nearer and nearer, till they come within such a short distance that most people think it prudent to leave them, not choosing to provoke them further."
Formerly the hunting of a Bull from these wild herds was attended with much "pomp and circumstance;" but of late years it has been relinquished, from its danger; and now the keeper shoots them as needed, with the rifle.
- ↑ Brit. Quad. 412.