DELINEATIONS OF THE OX TRIBE TEXT

that were lying rose up, and they all then began to move _slowly_ away, not exactly to a greater distance from us, but in the direction of a thickly wooded part of the park, which was as distant on our left as the herd was on our right. To reach this wooded part they had to pass over some elevated ground. They continued to walk at a gradually accelerating pace, till they gained the most elevated part, when they broke out into a trot, then into a canter, which at last gave way to a full gallop, a sort of "devil-take-the-hindmost" race, by which they speedily buried themselves in the thickest recesses of the wood. What they may have done in Mr. Culley's time, we must take upon that gentleman's word; but at present, and for so long as the present park-keeper can recollect, they have never been in the habit of describing those curious concentric circles of which Mr. Culley makes mention in the last quotation. The late mode of killing them is described as "perhaps the only modern remains of the grandeur of ancient hunting. On notice being given, that a wild bull would be killed on a certain day, the inhabitants of the neighbourhood came mounted and armed with guns, &c., sometimes to the amount of a hundred horse, and four or five hundred foot, who stood upon walls or got into trees, while the horsemen rode off the bull from the rest of the herd until he stood at bay, when a marksman dismounted and shot. At some of these huntings twenty or thirty shots have been fired before he was subdued. On these occasions the bleeding victim grew desperately furious, from the smarting of his wounds, and the shouts of savage joy that were echoing from every side. But from the number of accidents that happened, this dangerous mode has been little practised of late years, the park-keeper alone generally shooting them with a rifled gun at one shot." This vivid portraiture of a scene, which the writer is pleased to consider _grand_, does not appear to have much relation to the history of the _Genus Bos_: it however, exhibits the brutal and ferocious habits of two varieties of _Genus Homo_, namely _Nob_ility and _Mob_ility--two varieties which, although distinguished by some external marks of difference, possess in common many questionable characteristics. Culley proceeds:--"When the cows calve, they hide their calves for a week or ten days in some sequestered situation, and go and suckle them two or three times a day. If any person come near the calves, they clap their heads close to the ground, and lie like a hare in form, to hide themselves; _this is a proof of their native wildness_, and is corroborated by the following circumstance that happened to Mr. Bailey, of Chillingham, who found a hidden calf, two days old, very lean and very weak. On stroking its head it got up, pawed two or three times like an old bull, bellowed very loud, stepped back a few steps, and bolted at his legs with all its force; it then began to paw again, bellowed, stepped back, and bolted as before; but knowing its intention, and stepping aside, it missed him, fell, and was so very weak that it could not rise, though it made several efforts. But it had done enough: the whole herd were alarmed, and, coming to its rescue, obliged him to retire; for the dams will allow no person to touch their calves without attacking them with impetuous ferocity." It seems almost unnecessary to remind the reader that all animals are naturally wild; and that even those animals that have been the longest under the dominion of man, are born with a strong tendency to the wild state, to which they would immediately resort, if left to themselves: it appears, therefore, rather gratuitous to tell us that the NATURAL _actions of young animals_ (whose parents have been allowed to run wild), _are proofs of their native mildness_! The concluding paragraph requires no observation:--"When a calf is intended to be castrated, the park-keeper marks the place where it is hid, and, when the herd are at a distance, takes an assistant with him on horseback; they tie a handkerchief round the calf s mouth, to prevent its bellowing, and then perform the operation in the usual way. When any one happens to be wounded, or is grown weak and feeble through age or sickness, the rest of the herd set upon it, and gore it to death." The following engraving exhibits the effects of castration on the curvature and length of the horns. [Illustration: 1. Head of the perfect animal. 2, 3. Heads of the emasculated animal.] We learn, on the authority of the present Lord Tankerville, that during the early part of the life-time of his father, the bulls in the herd had been reduced to three; two of them fought and killed each other, and the third was discovered to be impotent; so that the means of preserving the breed depended on the accident of some of the cows producing a bull calf. In 1844 I wrote to Mr. Cole, the late park-keeper at Chillingham, requesting information on the following queries, to which he returned the answers annexed; and although they are not so explicit as might be wished, they embody facts both interesting and important. _List of the Queries with their Answers._ 1. How many pairs of ribs are there in the skeleton of the Chillingham Ox? _Thirteen pairs._ 2. How many vertebrae are there (from the skull to the end of the tail)? _Thirty in the back-bone, twenty in the tail._ 3. Will the wild cattle breed with the domestic cattle? _I have had two calves from a wild bull and common cow._ 4. What is the precise time the wild cow goes with young? _The same as the domestic cow._ 5. At what age does the curly hair appear which constitutes the mane of the wild bull? _They have no mane, but curly hair on their neck and head; more so in winter, when the hair is long._ 6. In what month does the rutting take place among the wild cattle? _At all times,--no particular time._ J. COLE. Here we have precise information on the following points:--namely, the number of ribs; the period of gestation; their having no mane; their not being in heat at any particular period; in all which points, they perfectly agree with the ordinary domestic cattle; and it is important to observe, that in the last point, namely, that of not being in heat at any particular time, they differ from every known _wild_ species of cattle, among which the rutting season invariably occurs at a particular period of the year. FOOTNOTES: [D] Formerly these cattle were much more numerous, both in England and Scotland, than they are at present. Scanty herds are still preserved at the following places:--Chillingham Park, Northumberland; Wollaton, Nottinghamshire; Gisburne, in Craven, Yorkshire; Lime-hall, Cheshire; Chartley, Staffordshire; and Cadzow Forest, at Hamilton, Lanarkshire. At Gisburne they are perfectly white, except the inside of their ears, which are _brown_. From Garner's 'Natural History of Staffordshire,' we learn that the Wild Ox formerly roamed over Needwood Forest, and in the thirteenth century, William de Farrarus caused the park of Chartley to be separated from the forest, and the turf of this extensive enclosure still remains almost in its primitive state. Here a herd of wild cattle has been preserved down to the present day, and they retain their wild characteristics like those at Chillingham. They are cream-coloured, with _black muzzles and ears_; their fine sharp horns are also tipped with black. They are not easily approached, but are harmless, unless molested. THE KYLOE, OR HIGHLAND OX. _Bos Taurus._ [Illustration] The Chillingham Cattle are _white_, and the Highland Cattle or Kyloes are generally _black_; but with this exception the same description might almost serve for both breeds. In their natural and unimproved state, the Highland cattle are frequently well formed; their fine eyes, acute face, and lively countenances, give them an air of fierceness, which is heightened by their white, tapering, black-tipped, and sharp horns. The Kyloe Oxen are very small (another respect in which they resemble the Chillingham Oxen). They likewise partake much of the nature of wild animals, which might be expected from the almost unlimited extent of their pasture, and their being but little subject to artificial treatment. Upon a close comparison of these two breeds, there appears not to be so much difference between the Highland cattle and the cattle of Chillingham as there is between any two breeds or varieties of British cattle. Indeed so great is the similarity, that the Kyloe appears to be only a black variety of the Chillingham Ox, and the Chillingham Ox only a white variety of the Kyloe. Dr. Anderson speaks of having seen a kind of Highland cattle which had a mane on the top of the head, of considerable length, and a tuft between the horns that nearly covered the eyes, giving them a fierce and savage aspect. He likewise mentions another kind which have hair of a pale lead colour, very beautiful in its appearance, and in its quality as glossy and soft as silk. The Kyloe Oxen are natives of the Western Highlands and Isles, and are commonly called the Argyleshire breed, or the breed of the Isle of Skie, one of the islands attached to the county of Argyle. They are generally of a dark brown colour, or black, though sometimes brindled. The Cows of the Isle of Skie (as is recorded by Martin, in his 'Description of the Western Islands of Scotland,') are exposed to the rigour of the coldest seasons, and become mere skeletons in the spring, many of them not being able to rise from the ground without help; but they recover as the season becomes more favorable, and the grass grows up; then they acquire new beef, which is both sweet and tender; the fat and lean is not so much separated in them as in other cows, but as it were larded, which renders it very agreeable to the taste. A cow in this isle may be twelve years old, when at the same time its beef is not above four, five, or six months old. TABLE OF THE NUMBER OF VERTEBRAE IN THE VARIOUS SPECIES OF THE GENUS BOS. | 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. | Periods | American Bison. | 270 days.--Zool. Proc., 1849. European Bison. | Between 9 and 10 months. | Gayal (Domestic) | Over 10 months | Gyall | 11 months | Indian Buffalo | 10 months 10 days. | Gaur | 12 months Domestic Ox. | 270 days | Manilla Buffalo. | 340 days | Arnee | 12 months Cape Buffalo | 12 months | Zebu, or Brahmin Cow | 300 days | Musk Ox | 9 months 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. [Illustration] 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. [Illustration: Skull of Domestic Ox.] 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. [Illustration: Skull of short-nosed Ox of the Pampas.] 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