en
the snakes, I am assured, will be attracted by this extraordinary
object; and the leopard too falls a victim to curiosity.

There is a peculiarity in the formation of the buffalo's foot, which,
though it must have attracted attention, I have never seen mentioned by
naturalists. It is equivalent to the arrangement which distinguishes the
foot of the reindeer from that of the stag and the antelope. In the
latter, the hoofs, being constructed for lightness and flight, are
compact and vertical; but, in the reindeer, the joints of the tarsal
bones admit of lateral expansion, and the front hoofs curve upwards,
while the two secondary ones behind (which are but slightly developed in
the fallow deer and others of the same family) are prolonged vertically
till, in certain positions, they are capable of being applied to the
ground, thus adding to the circumference and sustaining power of the
foot. It has been usually suggested as the probable design of this
structure, that it is to enable the reindeer to shovel away the snow in
order to reach the lichens beneath it; but I apprehend that another use
of it has been overlooked, that of facilitating its movements in search
of food by increasing the difficulty of its sinking in the snow.

A formation precisely analogous in the buffalo seems to point to a
corresponding design. The ox, whose life is spent on firm ground, has
the bones of the foot so constructed as to afford the most solid support
to an animal of its great weight; but in the buffalo, which delights in
the morasses on the margins of pools and rivers, the construction of the
foot resembles that of the reindeer. The tarsi in front extend almost
horizontally from the upright bones of the leg, and spread apart widely
on touching the ground; the hoofs are flattened and broad, with the
extremities turned upwards; and the false hoofs behind descend till they
make a clattering sound as the animal walks. In traversing the marshes,
this combination of abnormal incidents serves to give extraordinary
breadth to the foot, and not only prevents the buffalo from sinking
inconveniently in soft ground[1], but at the same time presents no
obstacle to the withdrawal of its foot from the mud.

[Footnote 1: PROFESSOR OWEN has noticed a similar fact regarding the
rudiments of the second and fifth digits in the instance of the elk and
bison, which have them largely expanded where they inhabit swampy
ground; whilst they are nearly obliterat