ORDER VI. RUMINANT1A. 47 



skin, which unites the two together, and, by yielding in -'iL 

 directions, enable? these animals to travel with peculiar ease 

 i and security over dry, stony, and sandy regions. They are 

 : capable also of passing several days without a supply of water : 

 this power is probably owing to a number of large and exten- 

 sive cells in the paunch, which they fill with water, and retain 

 it for a considerable length of time, forcing it up into the 

 mouth whenever occasion requires. It has been supposed 

 that the camel had a fifth stomach for this purpose, but it was 

 probably the enlargement of the paunch, which gave rise to 

 the opinion. The Arabian camel, of which the dromedary is 

 a variety, has one large bunch of fat upon his back, while the 

 Bactrian camel has two. The dromedary is active and swift, 

 and better adapted for rapid journeys ; the camel more slow 

 ind deliberate, and calculated for the transportation of bag- 

 gage and merchandise. 



The Lama has been called the camel of the new world. It 

 resembles the camel in many particulars, but is much smaller, 

 being of about the size of the stag. It is also called the 

 Gruanaco, and was the only laboring domestic animal possessed 

 by the aboriginal inhabitants of America. 



The American Bison, or Buffalo, as it is often, but improp- 



3rly called, is an animal very similar to the domestic ox. It 



inhabits the pastures and plains of the western parts of the 



United States in almost incredible numbers. In those parts 



jf the country which they frequent, travellers report that 



} heir paths leading to and from springs and pools of water, 



ire as common, and as well beaten, a the roads of a populous 



j r district. They are gradually retiring before the settlements 



)f the civilized inhabitants, and will probably in time become 



' e learly exterminated. 



The Camelopard, or Giraffe, is the most lofty of all quadru- 

 peds. It is remarkable for the great length of its fore legs, 

 j shoulders, and neck, which raise its head to an elevation of 

 seventeen or eighteen feet, whilst, at its tail, it does not 

 exceed half that height. Its color is white, spotted with brown, 

 .t is a mild, gentle, and somewhat timid animal, and is very 

 leet and graceful in its motions. It feeds principally upon the 

 bliage of trees, and inhabits only the centre of Africa. 



AH the ruminating order, except the camel, lama, and the 



" nusks, have horns. In animals of the deer kind, they are, 



vith some exceptions, confined to the males. They are of 



i hard, solid, bony substance, generally large and branching, 



md are periodically cast off and renewed. In the sheep, 



