210 COMMON BRITISH ANIMAl^S 



anwiial to find truffles. Looking at oiii* pig in his 

 stye, can we see in liim this brave and ferocious 

 denizen of the forest swamps, this menace to the 

 countryside, the slaying of which was accounted a 

 deed of chivalry ? 



Ruminants. 



All these animals swallow their food rapidly, but 

 it is again forced back up the gullet and more 

 thoroughly masticated — a process which is known as 

 chewing the cud. The stomachs of ruminants are 

 divided into several compartments varying in struc- 

 ture. Sometimes there are three, but more usually 

 four divisions, 'iliere is never more than one pair 

 of incisors in the upper jaw, but more often there 

 are none at all, as in oxen and sheep. 



Ruminants are divided into three groups, the 

 Chevrotains, the Tylopoda or camels, and the Pecora 

 or deer, oxen, sheep, etc. 



Pecora or Deer, Oxen, Sheep, &c. 



The chief characteristic of the Pecora, or group 

 which includes the deer and oxen, is the possession 

 of horns. They have two functional digits on the 

 feet, and the metatarsals and metacarpals unite to 

 form cannon bones. There are no incisors in the 

 upper jaw, and canines, though sometimes present, 

 are rare. The stomach is divided into four com- 

 partments. The food when first swallowed passes 

 into a large paunch or rumen ; connected with the 

 paunch is a smaller sack called the reticulum because 



