RUMINANTIA. 93 



than the ass, of the general form of the quagga. Its color 

 is bay, with black stripes ; legs and tail white. 



The so-called Herbivorous Whales which Cuvier grouped 

 with the Cetaceans are now placed with the Pachyderms, 

 with which they undoubtedly belong. They are whale- 

 like in general appearance, but their teeth have flat 

 crowns, and they have corresponding herbivorous habits. 

 They frequently leave the water, and crawl upon shore, 

 and feed upon the vegetation. Such are the Manati or 

 Cow Whales, and the Dugong. The former are about 

 fifteen feet long, and inhabit the warm parts of the At- 

 lantic ; and the Dugongs are found in the Pacific, and 

 much resemble the Manati. 



SUB-SECTION X. 



THE ORDER OF RUMINANTIA, OR RUMINANTS. 



THE Order of Ruminantia is one of the best defined 

 of the Mammalia. It comprises all those animals which 

 masticate their food, which is wholly vegetable, the sec- 

 ond time. In accordance with this singular faculty, the 

 stomach, with few exceptions, is composed of four differ- 

 ent compartments, each having a special function. The 

 food, being hastily and partially chewed, is passed into 

 the largest stomach or paunch, and thence into the sec- 

 ond, called the honey-comb. This second stomach, small 

 and globular, seizes the food, moistens and compresses it 

 into little pellets, which afterwards ascend to the mouth 

 to be rechewed. The animal is at rest during this process, 

 which lasts until all the food first taken into the paunch 

 has been thus remasticated. The remasticated food de- 

 scends directly to the third stomach, called the leaflet ; 

 thence to the fourth, or caillette, which is the true organ 

 of digestion, analogous to the simple stomach of Mam- 

 mals generally. 



