508 



RUMINANTIA. 



of foramina for the passage of the vertebral 

 arteries through the transverse processes of 

 the lower six cervical vertebrae. This ana- 

 tomical arrangement occurs in no other 

 existing tribe of mammifers, but in an aber- 

 rant form of fossil pachyderm (Macrau- 

 chenid), Dr. Owen has detected the same 

 anomaly, and has thus established an ad- 

 ditional connecting link between the Pachy- 

 dermata and Ruminantia. 



In the classification of the Cervidas given 

 above we have included two genera not 

 usually considered as forming a part of this 

 family. One of the principal characters of 

 the Cervidae proper consists in the presence 

 of deciduous horns or antlers : the genus 

 Moschus, however, like the Camelida3, is 

 hornless; and the genus Camelopardalis is 

 provided with persistent horns which are at 

 all times clothed with a hairy integument. 

 The dental formula of the Cervidae and all 

 other horned ruminants is usually as fol- 

 lows, 



.00 00 33 33 Q0 



i. ; c. ; p. m ; m = 32. 



33' 11 33 33 



The Musk-deer tribe have in addition two 

 long and conspicuous canines in the upper 

 jaw, projecting in the males below the mouth, 

 (fig. 330.). The male Kijang or Muntjak 

 (Cervus muntjac, Zimmerman) has likewise 

 two prominent canines in the upper jaw 



(a, fig. 331.). In the Giraffe there is a 

 complicated glandular and pouch-like struc- 

 ture in the neighbourhood of the ileo-colic 

 valve.* 



The Antelopidas include the greater num- 

 ber of the Cavicornua or hollow-horned 

 division of ruminants in which the bony axis 

 of the horn is solid, persistent, and destitute 

 of cavities or pores. They have, for the most 

 part, a slender figure adapted for rapid pro- 

 gression, and, like the Stags, are further dis- 

 tinguished by the possession of infraor- 

 bital glandular sinuses. 



Under the term OJlgosceridae (CEgosceros, 

 Pallas) we have brought together the closely 

 allied genera Copra and Ovis. The Goats 

 are characterised chiefly by their long horns, 

 which are directed upward and backward, 

 are more or less angular in front, rounded 

 behind, and generally marked by transverse 

 bars or ridges. The chin is clothed with a 

 long beard. The Sheep which have no beard 

 differ mainly in having the horns directed at 

 first backward, and subsequently bent spirally 

 forward. Between the toes at the anterior 

 aspect of the feet is situated a special glan- 

 dular sebaceous sac ; this structure is also 

 found in other ruminants, the Rein-deer, 

 for instance. Neither the Sheep nor Goats 

 exhibit the lachrymal sinuses so character- 

 istic of the majority of the Antelopes and 

 Stags. 



Fig. 325. 



Skeleton of the Cow. (From Pander and D'Alton. 



The Bovidce present few anatomical pecu- 

 liarities not shared by the preceding genera. 

 As regards external configuration, however, 

 they are at once recognised by their bulky 

 massive size, the broad muzzle, and powerful 

 limbs (fig. 325.). The horns are directed 

 laterally, with an inclination upward more or 

 less curved. In their habits and in the struc- 

 ture of the skin, some of the species, the 

 Buffaloes, for example, approach the pachy- 

 dermatous type. 



Osteology. The general form of the skull 

 m ruminants, when viewed laterally, is that of 

 an isosceles triangle, the base of which is 



represented by the occipital crest and rami 

 of the jaw, and the apex by the incisive pro- 

 minence ; but exceptions occur, as for instance, 

 in the common sheep, where the frontal bones 

 are so much arched as to produce a somewhat 

 oval figure, and in the camel, where, owing 

 to the abrupt termination of the nasal and 

 sudden depression of the intermaxillary 

 bones, an obliquely quadrilateral form is the 

 result (fig. 334-). The forehead is usually 

 straight and elevated, the orbits are placed 

 wide apart, and the muzzle, except in Bovidte, 



* See " Glands of Intestine " in this Article. 



