190 



M A M M A L I A. 



established upon a character which tells us but little ; 

 and the three families of which it consist differ much 

 from each other. They are all vegetable feeders ; 

 and as such they form a pretty distinct division. 

 Their digestive apparatus is invariably of large 

 dimensions, but they do not ruminate j and as many 

 of them at least are capable of dividing their food but 

 imperfectly with the teeth, they may be said to draw 

 a tincture from it rather than to digest it in the usual 

 meaning of that word. None of them are furnished 

 with claws ; and the termination of the foot differs 

 considerably. Some have short blunt toes, as for 

 example, the elephant ; others have divided toes 

 with little hoofs, as for instance the tapir, and some 

 have one large divided hoof, as the horse ; in fact, 

 there is no part of their external organisation in 

 which they can be said to have very much resem- 

 blance ; and the thick skin upon which Cuvier has 

 judged it most expedient to class them, though it is 

 very characteristic in some, is much less so in that of 

 others. The elephant, the rhinocerus, the hog, and 

 several others, have undoubtedly thicker skins than 

 are to be met with in any other order of mammalia ; 

 but the skin of the horse is certainly not thicker than 

 that of the buffalo. The three families are, probosci- 

 dia, ordinary pachydennata, and solidungula. The 

 first of these contains only the two species of 

 elephants, of w'uch some notice has already been 

 taken ; and the last contain only the horse genus in 

 its different species. Both of these are very distinct 

 in their characters ; and they are animals of peculiar 

 interest ; but they stand alone in the system, possess- 

 ing liille or nothing of what is called affinity to any 

 of the rest. The second family, like that of the 

 ordinary toothless animals, is a melange, containing 

 animals very unlike each other, such as the hippo- 

 potamus, the different hogs, the rhinocerus, the tapir, 

 and various extinct animals of which of course only 

 the bones are known, and all the rest must be 

 supplied by analogy, which, however, is a powerful 

 instrument in the hands of one who has carefully 

 studied the skeletons of all the living animals, and 

 compared these with their external appearances and 

 their habits. With the exception of the hog, and 

 the horse, of which the original locality is not very 

 well known, all the living genera of these animals 

 are comparatively local, and found only in the south- 

 ern parts of the true continents. The bones of the 

 extinct ones, however, are perhaps more widely dis- 

 tributed than those of any other mammalia which are 

 lost to the world in living types. Among the ordinary 

 ones there are some, as, for instance, the tapir, which 

 in some respects at least resemble the elephant ; and 

 in the hogs we have a divided hoof resembling, 

 though not exactly like, that of the ruminating 

 animals. 



RUMINANTIA. This is to man the most valuable 

 order of all the mammalia ; and it has the advantage 

 of being very abundant, almost universally distributed 

 (Australia always excepted), generally speaking mild 

 in disposition with very few exceptions, social in 

 habits, and consequently easily tamed. 



The character upon which the order is established 

 is a very distinct one, belonging to the whole of the 

 order, and to no other mammalia. In some others 

 there is a stomach more or less dissected, but these 

 do not ruminate. Ruminating animals are also the 

 only ones which are provided with horns inserted in 

 the bone at the upper part of the head ; for the 



horn of the rhinoceros is merely a sreat tuft of hair 

 or bristles very firmly soldered together, and attached 

 only to the skin. All the ruminating animals are 

 not, however, furnished with horns; and therefore, 

 when in a state of nature, the horned and the horn- 

 less are good distinctions. In domestication, how- 

 ever, the case is different ; because some animals 

 which are naturally horned lose them in domestica- 

 tion. We believe, however, that there is not a single 

 instance of the converse, namely, of a hornless ani- 

 mal acquiring horns in a domestic state, how long 

 so ever it may be breeding them. Indeed we do not 

 think there is a single instance in which a domestic 

 animal acquires a single appendage, though there are 

 many in which appendages are nearly or wholly ob- 

 literated. It should thus seem that, while domesti- 

 cation unquestionably softens the manners of animals, 

 it also smooths the asperities of their forms. This 

 fact involves some curious matter for the physiolo- 

 gist, though it hardly comes within the pale of legiti- 

 mate natural history. We may remark, however, 

 that all animals, when under the influence of strong 

 and angry passion, become much more rugged than 

 when they are pleased. The hair stands up, the 

 muscles swell into ridges, the skin is puckered, and 

 the animal puts on an aspect as repulsive as possible. 



As ruminating, or returning the food to be chewed 

 after it has been in the first and second stomach?, is 

 the leading character of this most valuable order of 

 animals, we shall say a few words on their system of 

 nourishment generally. In some other mammalia 

 there is a partial division of the stomach into com- 

 partments, in each of which a different function is 

 performed ; but in the ruminantia there are four dis- 

 tinct and separate stomachs, each of which performs 

 its separate function, in assimilating the food of the 

 animal. The first is the paunch, which can be viewed 

 in no other light than that of a mere receptacle. It 

 is very capacious, and fitted for receiving a large 

 quantity of the grass or other matter upon which the 

 animal feeds ; but there is no gastric juice, or any 

 other solvent fluid which enters it ; and thus it is 

 simply a receptacle. In some cases it is extended 

 with great inconvenience to the animal, in conse- 

 quence of the fermentation of its contents. This is 

 especially the case when cattle eat clover which has 

 been moistened by rain or dew. This moisture, un- 

 natural to the state of the animal, causes the produc- 

 tion of a great quantity of gas, carbonic acid generally 

 speaking ; and the quantity is so great, in some in- 

 stances, that it would burst the animal if allowed to 

 remain in the stomach. To prevent this, the skilful 

 grazier, knowing the exact point at which the animal 

 is safe, plunges a knife into the body of the animal, 

 so as to enter the paunch without injuring any of the 

 other viscera, or even dividing any blood-vessel of 

 consequence ; and when this is done the gas issues 

 from the wound with force and violence similar to 

 the blowing of a pair of bellows, and the animal is 

 instantly relieved, and its functions go on as if nothing 

 had happened. This first stomach can be regarded 

 only as a simple receiver, but a very conspicuous 

 one ; and the ruminating animal is enabled to browse 

 for a long time and fill the receptacle, before the 

 proper operation of preparing the food for the 

 stomach begins. 



The food which is taken into the paunch must un- 

 dergo another operation before it is even ready for 

 the digestive organs ; that is, it must return to the 



