CERVIDvE. CXCV. 335 



ORDER LIL UNGULATA. (THE HOOFED MAMMALS.) 



Herbivorous mammals provided with 1 to 4 enlarged and thick- 

 ened claws or hoofs on each foot ; molar teeth adapted for grind- 

 ing. The anatomical characters of this well-known and varied 

 group are too numerous to be here summarized. The order is 

 usually subdivided into the Perissodactyli, or odd-toed ungulates, 

 and the Artiodactyli or even-toes. The former group is exempli- 

 fied by the Horse (Equus caballus L.), the Ass (A sinus asinus L.), 

 the Rhinoceros and the Tapir. The Artiodactyli are again sub- 

 divided into the non-ruminating, omnivorous, hornless, naked or 

 bristly allies of the Common Hog and Wild Boar (Sus scrofa), and 

 the group of Pecora (Ruminants). To the latter belong all the 

 living ungulates occurring within our limits. (Lat., ungulatus, 

 hoofed.) 



Families of Ungulata. 



a. Feet bifid; first toe wanting; second and fourth rudimentary. (Artio- 

 dactyli.) 

 b. Stomach compound, of 3 or 4 compartments; horns usually present. 



(Pecora.) 



c. Upper jaw without incisors, in the adult. 



d. Horns solid, usually branching, deciduous. . . . CERVID^;, 195. 



dd. Horns permanent, hollow, each enclosing a process of the frontal 



bone BOVID^E, 196. 



FAMILY CXCV. CERVID^E. (THE DEER.) 

 Horns deciduous, solid, developed from the frontal bone, more 

 or less branched, covered at first by a soft, hairy integument, 

 known as " velvet " ; when the horns attain their full size, which 

 they do in a very short time, there arises at the base of each a ring 

 of tubercles known as the " burr ; " this compresses and finally ob- 

 literates the blood-vessels supplying the velvet, which dries up and 

 is stripped off, leaving the bone hard and insensible ; the horns or 

 " antlers " are shed annually, the separation of the " beam " from its 

 " pedicel " taking place just below the burr ; antlers are wanting in 

 the female (excepting m the Reindeer) but they are present in the 

 male of nearly all species. Stomach in four divisions, of the ordi- 

 nary ruminant pattern. Dental formula, i. .; c. (usually) ^;J; 

 pm. |:|; m. f :f . A widely distributed family of about 13 genera. 



<7. Horns present in males only. 



b. Horns rounded more or less ; rarely sub-palmated , nose naked and moist. 



c. Horns small, curving forward, the first snag short, at some distance 



above the base, and like the others curving upward; tail rather long; 



hoofs rather elongate CARIACUS, 586. 



cc. Horns large, curving backward, with the snags all directed forward, 

 one of them immediately above the burr, tail very short; hoofs 

 broad and rounded. . . , CERVUS, 587. 



