316 LLAMA. FOSSIL RUMINANTIA. 



still employed in some places ; whilst the introduction of the 

 Sheep, the Goat, and the Ox, has rendered it less necessary, as 

 affording either food, leather, or wool. The Paco or Alpaca, 

 and the Vicugna, inhabit the more elevated parts of the mountain 

 ranges, living almost on the borders of perpetual snow. They 

 are remarkable for the fineness of their wool, which has an almost 

 silken texture ; and they are much in request on this account. 

 There is little doubt that they might be introduced into this 

 country, and might be profitably naturalised in the mountain 

 districts of "Wales and Scotland ; where the temperature, and 

 the character of the herbage, resemble those of their native 

 residence. Fossil bones of a species of Llama, which must have 

 fully equalled the Camel in size, have been found in South 

 America ; this was probably an inhabitant of the plains. 



283. In addition to the species of fossil Ruminants of which 

 mention has been already made, it may be here stated, that 

 numerous species of Deer and Oxen occur in the caverns and 

 bone-beds of various parts of the world ; especially in the most 

 recent of the tertiary series of strata. The Camels and Antelopes 

 also had their representatives in the ancient world ; and it would 

 appear that the latter were much more widely diffused than at 

 present. Few remains, however, have been found, that show 

 any remarkable differences from the genera at present existing ; 

 and in this respect the fossils of the order Ruminantia are 

 strongly contrasted with those of the Edentata and Pachyder- 

 mata. The most distinct fossil form yet discovered is that of a 

 South American Ruminant, to which the apellation Leptotherium 

 has been given. In the lightness of its skeleton it rivals the 

 most agile of the Antelopes ; but it departs from that group, as 

 well as from all others, in the details of its structure. The 

 remains of two species have been found ; one of them being less 

 than the Roe, and the other larger than the Stag. 



