THE AMERICAN BISON 193 



a certain affinity to the ungulates or hoofed beasts, but 

 this is no real affinity, but only a certain degree of ana- 

 logical resemblance. In other words, it can have nothing 

 to do with essential affinity or any special relation- 

 ship of descent. Again, a certain resemblance between 

 such creatures as sloths, ant-eaters, and armadillos on 

 the one hand, and hoofed beasts on the other, may be 

 imagined to exist, on account of the very large claws 

 which invest the ends of their digits and which might be 

 considered as comparable with hoofs. But such a resem- 

 blance would be but fanciful ; for sloths and their allies 

 have no real affinity to either the odd- or even-toed 

 ungulates. There are, however, two animals which have 

 been supposed to possess an exceptional relationship to 

 the ungulates namely, the elephant and the hyrax, or 

 cony of Scripture. 



But before considering the right which these two very 

 different kinds may possess to claim a real affinity to the 

 ungulates that is, to all kinds of cattle we must con- 

 sider a few structural characters bearing upon the dis- 

 tinctions which exist between hoofed beasts and other 

 beasts and between different groups of ungulates them- 

 selves. Now, in the first place, the fully developed foot 

 of a beast like the foot of man consists of five toes, 

 the end of each being furnished with a nail or claw. 

 Each toe is supported by three bones attached, end to 

 end, within it, except the great toe, which has but two. 

 These five series of toe-bones are each respectively 

 attached to the end of one of five longer and stronger 

 bones, which lie along the middle of the foot, and so may 

 be called middle-foot bones. They are attached by their 

 other ends to a group of short bones, which may be called 

 ankle bones, the hindmost of which forms the heel. The 

 fore-feet of beasts and man's hands are both formed on 



N 



