288 ORDER RUMINANTIA ; GENERAL CHARACTERS. 



Ox, almost entirely depend for their support, their clothing, and 

 for most of the comforts and conveniences of their simple 

 manner of living. And another is the Camel, the " ship of the 

 desert," which traverses the burning sands, under a heavy load, 

 patient of hunger and thirst, and which is, besides, to the wander- 

 ing Arab, all that the Rein-deer is to the Laplander. 



258. Notwithstanding the acuteness of the senses of the 

 Ruminants, the development of their brain is low ; and although 

 usually docile, they do not show any considerable amount of 

 intelligence. It may be remarked of them, therefore, as of the 

 Rodentia, that they may be tamed rather than educated. Nor 

 do they attract notice on account of anything peculiar in their 

 instinctive propensities ; for these are usually of the simplest 

 kind, having reference only to the selection of food, and to the 

 avoidance of danger. 



259. As already noticed ( 253), the Camels and Musk- 

 deer differ from the typical Ruminants in their dentition ; they 

 also differ from them in the absence of horns, which are found 

 on the heads of all the other animals of the order, in the males 

 at least. It is by the nature of these horns, that the order is 

 subdivided into families ; the aberrant CAMELID^E (or Camel 

 tribe), which lead towards the Pachydermata, and the MOSCHID.E 

 (or Musk-deer), which are intermediate between these and the 

 true Ruminants, having been first separated. The horns, as 

 formerly explained ( 82), essentially consist of prominences 

 of the frontal bone ; which are sometimes persistent, or enduring 

 with the life of the animal ; and sometimes deciduous, falling off 

 annually. 1. The persistent bone may be covered with a horny 

 substance, which grows with it during life ; this is the case with 

 that division of the group, including the Oxen, Sheep, Goats, 

 and Antelopes, to which the term Cattle is commonly applied. 



2. The bone may be covered with a prolongation of the skin of 

 the head, bearing hair ; as is the case with the Giraffe. 



3. The bony horn is covered with a skin, like other parts of the 

 head, but is altogether thrown off at intervals, and replaced by 

 a new growth, which is usually larger than the preceding ; this 

 is the case with the Deer. 



