108 DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF RUMINANTS. 



9. The mechanism by which aliment accumulated in the first 

 stomach is carried back to the mouth is also very simple. When 

 regurgitation begins, the reticulum contracts and presses the 

 alimentary mass against the slit-like opening which terminates 

 the oesophagus ; then this opening enlarges so as to seize a pinch 

 or portion of the alimentary mass, compresses it and forms it 

 into a small pellet which engages in the oesophagus, the fibres of 

 which contract successively from below upwards, to push for- 

 ward the new alimentary ball into the mouth. 



10. Ruminants are large animals without much intelligence, 

 but which, nevertheless, render immense service to man : they 

 furnish him with nearly all the meat that he eats ; their milk 

 furnishes us excellent food; their fat, which is harder than that 

 of other quadrupeds, and named tallow is applied to many pur- 

 poses in the arts and domestic economy ; their skin, prepared by 

 tanning, constitutes nearly all the leather we use ; finally, their 

 horns, their bones, their blood, and even their intestines which 

 are manufactured into cords, are useful to us ; when living, many 

 of these animals, employed as beasts of burthen, are equally 

 valuable both in commerce and agriculture. 



11. This order may be divided into two sections: the first 

 comprises Ruminants without horns, and the second, Ruminants 

 with horns, either in both sexes, or in the male only. 



Ruminants without Horns. 



12. Ruminants, which are entirely without horns, also differ 

 from other Ruminants in their teeth, and somewhat resemble the 

 Pachydermata. They are divided into two small tribes which 

 may be recognised by the following characters : 



(Tribes.) 



RUMINANTS WITHOUT HORNS. \ Six incisor tedh .... CAMEL. 

 The lower jaw provided with ) Eight incisor teeth - . - MUSK. 



13. The, Tribe of Camels is composed of Camels propely so 

 called, and Lamas. These animals differ from all other Rumin- 

 ants in the number of their incisors, which is eight in all the rest 

 of this order, and in their molars, of which we count from twenty 



9. By what process is food carried back fro a the second stomach to the 

 mouth ? 



10. What are Ruminants? In what particulars are they useful to man ? 



11. Howls the order of Ruminantia divided? 



12. Into what tribes are Ruminants without horns divided ? How many 

 incisor teeth have Camels? How many incisor teeth have Musks? 



13. What animals are included in the tribe of Camels? How many molar 

 leeth have they ? What are the general characters of Camels? 



