708 MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. 



Suida and the Ruminantia, and have been termed " Ruminat- 

 ing Hogs," though there is no evidence that they really rumi- 

 nated. Oreodon is about as big as a sheep, the feet being 

 four- toed, and the dental formula "complete." The canines 

 are large, and triangular, and the molars are of the " seleno- 

 dont" character, while there is the anomalous character that 

 " larmiers " or " tear-pits " existed below the eyes. 



RUMINANTIA. 



The last section of the Artiodactyk Ungulates is the great 

 and natural group of the Ruminantia, or Ruminant animals. 

 This section comprises the Oxen, Sheep, Antelopes, Giraffes, 

 Deer, Camels, &c., and is distinguished by the following 

 characters : 



The foot is what is called "cloven," consisting of a symmet- 

 rical pair of toes encased in hoofs and looking as if produced 

 by the splitting into two equal parts of a single hoof. In ad- 

 dition to these functional toes, there are mostly two smaller 

 supplementary toes, placed at the back of the foot. The 

 metacarpal bones of the two functional toes of the fore-limb, 

 and the metatarsal bones of the same toes of the hind-limb, 

 except in Hyomoschus, coalesce to form a single bone, known 

 as the "canon-bone." The stomach is complex, and is di- 

 vided into several compartments, this being in accordance with 

 their mode of eating. They all, namely, ruminate or "chew 

 the cud " that is to say. they first swallow their food in an 

 unmasticated or partially-masticated condition, and then bring 

 it up again, after a longer or shorter time, in order to chew it 

 thoroughly. 



This process of rumination is so characteristic of this group, 

 that it will be necessary to describe the structure of the stom- 

 ach, as showing the mechanism by which this singular process 

 is effected. The stomach (fig. 405) is divided into four (rarely 

 three) compartments, which are usually so distinct from one 

 another that they have generally been spoken of as so many 

 separate stomachs. The gullet opens at a point situated 

 between the first and second of these cavities or " stomachs." 

 Of these the largest lies on the left side, and is called the " ru- 

 men " or " paunch " (fig. 405, r). This is a cavity of very large 

 capacity, having its interior furnished with numerous hard 

 papillae or warts. It is the chamber into which the food is 

 first received when it is swallowed, and here it is moistened 

 and allowed to soak for some time. The second stomach, 

 placed to the right of the paunch, is much smaller, and is 



