4th. The legs are said to be solid. In some species the legs are very slender, as the Zebu, Manilla Buffalo, and Domestic Ox.
5th. The stature is said to be large. From actual measurement I find the stature to vary from 2 ft. 8 in. to upwards of 6 ft.; the smaller species weighing not more than 100 lbs., the larger weighing as much as 2000 lbs. Can the term large be equally applicable to animals of such different sizes?
SUB-GENERIC CHARACTERS.
"Sub-genus I.—Bubalus.—Animals low in proportion to their bulk; limbs very solid; head large, forehead narrow, very strong, convex; chaffron straight; muzzle square, horns lying flat, or bending laterally with a certain direction to the rear; eyes large; ears mostly funnel-shaped; no hunch; a small dewlap; female udder with four mammæ; tail long; slender."
This sub-genus comprises Cape Buffalo, Pegasse, Arnee, Domestic Buffalo.
"Sub-genus II.—Bison.—Forehead slightly arched, much broader than high; horns placed before the salient line of the frontal crest; the plane of the occiput forming an obtuse angle with the forehead and semicircular in shape; fourteen or fifteen pairs of ribs; the shoulders rather elevated; the tail shorter; the legs more slender; the tongue blue; the hair soft and woolly."
This sub-genus comprises Aurochs, Gaur, American Bison, Yak, Gayal.
"Sub-genus III.—Taurus.—Forehead square from the orbits to the occipital crest, somewhat concave, not convex, or arched as in the former; the horns rising from the sides of the salient edge or crest of the frontals; the plane of the occiput forming an acute angle with the frontal, and of quadrangular form; the curve of the horns outwards, upwards, and forwards; no mane; a deep dewlap; thirteen pairs of ribs; tail long; udder four teats in a square."
This sub-genus comprises the Urus and the Domestic Ox.
Subgeneric characters should be such as will clearly distinguish the animals of one sub-genus from those of another. But here we have set down, in the sub-genus Bubalus, tail long, slender; in the sub-genus Taurus, tail long; and although the epithet slender is not added in the latter case, yet in truth it ought to be, as the tail of Taurus is quite as slender as that of Bubalus.