s not stated whether the measure was taken when the head
was extended in a line with the back, or in a position at right angles
with the back, or in any intermediate position.

The following outline will illustrate this:--

[Illustration]

It is obvious that the length of a line from the nose to the tail will
vary according to the different positions of the head of the animal.

In the second instance (taking it for granted that the measure was taken
from the nose), the same difficulty exists with respect to the head, and
another difficulty presents itself in our being left to guess the length
of the tail, which might be eighteen inches, or it might be four feet.

In the third instance, the same difficulty exists with respect to the
head, and the difficulty is further complicated by our being left to
guess whether the ROOT or the END of the tail is meant.

In the fourth we are completely "_at sea_."

The true value of these characteristic distinctions, definitions, or
descriptions, are left to the appreciation of the judicious reader.
Colonel Smith may doubtless be, what he has been styled, "an
indefatigable naturalist," and "in general" an exact one; but in this
special instance of the _Genus Bos_, his warmest admirers must allow
that his accuracy and precision have not kept pace with his industry.

[Illustration: Hungarian Ox, _Bos Taurus_, from a specimen in the
British Museum.]

MR. SWAINSON'S TRANSCENDENTAL ATTEMPT AT CLASSIFICATION.

The following very laboured attempt to arrange the various species of
_Genus Bos_ into groups, according to the Quinary or Circular System of
M'Leay, is from the pen of Mr. Swainson--the precise and fastidious
Swainson--who, from the number and boldness of his hypothetical views in
every department of Zoology, may be truly regarded as the beau-ideal of
a speculative naturalist--one of those, in short, so well described by
Swift, "whose chief art in division hath been to grow fond of some
proper mystical number, which their imaginations have rendered sacred to
a degree, that they force common reason to find room for it in every
part of nature; _reducing_, _including_, and _adjusting_, every _genus_
and _species_ within that compass, by coupling some against their wills,
and banishing others at any rate."

After describing the various members of the Bovine Family according to
the Procrustean method of stretching and chopping, Mr. Swainson
continues in his peculiarly dogmati