CHAPTER X 



Order VI. Ungulata (continued] 



Sub-Order 4. ARTIODACTYLA (EVEN-TOED 



ANIMALS) 



A RTIODACTYLA means even-toed, and in this sub- 

 \. order are only those animals which possess an even 

 number of digits, either two or four, on all the feet. It 

 includes by far the greater number of the species of the 

 Ungulata, e.g., cattle, sheep, goats, antelopes, deer, giraffes, 

 camels, pigs, &c. Many of them are ruminating animals, 

 and, with the exception of the omnivorous swine, all of 

 them are purely vegetable feeders. In most of the species 

 the upper jaw lacks incisors, and very frequently there are 

 no canine teeth ; but many of them are furnished with horns, 

 and a few of them with tusks. It is of importance to note 

 that practically all the animals whose flesh supplies the tables 

 of all the civilised, and many of the uncivilised, peoples of 

 the world, are included in the sub-order Artiodactyla, which 

 is again divided into four well-marked groups. 



GROUP I.RUMINANTIA. 



The Latin word rumen signifies the paunch of an animal, 

 and the title, Ruminantia, is given to those animals which 

 chew the cud or ruminate, i.e. f first gather their food into a 

 receptacle called the paunch,' and then return it to the 

 mouth to be masticated while the animal is at rest. In most 

 mammals the stomach is of very simple construction, merely 

 a bag, the inlet of which is the oesophagus or gullet, the 



