BUFFALO

(Lat. bubalis.) A term originally applied to a species of antelope;but afterwards transferred, in the age of Martial, to different species of the ox. In modern /.oology the Buffaloes, or the " Bubaline group" of the genus IJos, include those species which have the bony core of the horn excavated, with large cells or sinuses communicating with the cavity of the nose; the horns are flattened, and bend laterally with a backward direction, and are consequentlj le applicable for goring than in the Bisons, or Taurine group of oxen: the head is large, with a narrow but convex forehead, and terminates in a broad muzzle. The Buffaloes are of large size, but low in proportion to their bulk; they have no hunch on the back, and only a small dewlap on the breast: the hide is generally black; ihe tail long and slender. The Buffaloes occupy the warm and tropical regions of the earth; they avoid hills, and prefer the coarse vegetation of the forest and swampy regions to those of open plains; they love to wallow and lie for hours sunk deep in water; they swim well, and cro the broadest rivers without hesitation; their gait is heavy, and they run almost always with the nose horizontal, being principally guided by the sense of smelling. In their combats, they usually strike or butt with the forehead, and when their opponent is thrown they endeavor to crush him with their knees; they trample on the body; and their vindictive fury is so lasting, that they will return again and again to glut their vengeance upon the same inanimate corpse: they herd together in small flocks, or live in pairs, but arc never strictly gregarious in a wild state. The females bear calves two years following, but remain sterile the third; they propagate at four and ahalf years old, and discontinue after twelve. Their extreme aversion to red colours has been remarked both in India and at the Cape. The Aince Buffalo (.Bos Ami) is the species in which the horns attain the greatest size: there is a pair of horns in the British Museum considered by Col. Smith (from whose excelled! description of the Ruminant i a in the translation of the Animal Kingdom of Cuvier the preceding observations are chiefly derived) to be of the true or Great Arnee: each of these horns measures along the curve from base to tip, sii feet three inches; circumference at the base, eighteen inches. [s. 186]