434 



THE CLOVEN-HOOFED ANIMALS. 



oesophagus, the last with the intestinal canal. The 

 paunch receives the coarsely masticated food, and 

 by muscular action pushes it in small quantities into 

 the honeycomb bag, the network of folds in which 

 accomplishes preliminary digestion and forms the 

 food into pellets, which are again brought up into 

 the mouth, finely ground by the molars, thoroughly 

 mixed with saliva, and then sent into the manyplies 

 through two folds of the gullet, which form a chan- 

 nel; and thence the food passes to the rennet, in 

 which it is finally digested. 

 Horns a Factor in The horns or antlers possessed by 



Classification of many Ruminants are of some im- 

 Ruminants. portance in the grouping and clas- 

 sification of species. In general they are divided 

 into two groups: The Two-hoofed animals wearing 

 horns, and those possessed of antlers. By the use 

 of the term horns are indicated those formations of 

 horny substance which are articulated with or rest 

 on a bony basis of the elongated frontal bone, and 

 are really mere hollow, conical, horny shells; they 

 are never shed and renewed, but only increase in 

 size as the animal develops. Antlers, on the other 

 hand, are horns, rooted in comparatively small 

 prominences of the frontal bone, and which consist 

 of solid, bony tissue throughout, and as the age of 

 the animal increases, branch more and more until 

 they attain a certain point of development. The 

 antlers are shed every year and replaced by new 

 ones in the course of a few months. As a rule, only 

 the male animals- have antlers; while horns are com- 

 mon to both sexes of the animals bearing them. 

 The hoofs are subject to much variation in shape 

 and size. 



Distribution and The Ruminants are indigenous to all 

 Habits of Ru- continents with the exception of 

 minants. Australia. There does not seem to 

 be a uniform distribution of the main groups. The 

 horned animals or bovine group and the Deer have 

 the widest range, while the Giraffe and Musk Deer 

 group have the most restricted distribution ; the 

 Deer are wanting in the Ethiopian belt, being on the 

 other hand the only Ruminants in the South Amer- 

 ican belt; the Musk Deer are indigenous to central 

 Asia only, the Giraffes only to Ethiopia; and the 

 Chevrotains are wanting in America. 



Nearly all Ruminants are shy, fleet, peaceably 

 inclined animals, well-endowed in most physical re- 

 spects, but equipped to only a limited extent with 

 intellectual attributes. Many live in herds, all col- 

 lect into bands or troops. Some inhabit the mount- 

 ains, some the plains; no species is really aquatic, 

 though some prefer swampy lowlands to dry plains. 

 They are exclusively vegetarian in diet. They are 

 fond of herbage, leaves, young shoots and roots, 

 some also of grains, and others of lichens. The 

 young of the Ruminant species are usually born 

 singly, although in rare cases there are two and in 

 exceptional instances three at a birth. In the case 

 of most Ruminants their usefulness to Man out- 

 weighs the damage they inflict upon his posses- 

 sions, whether we consider the species that have 

 been domesticated or those yet in a free state, al- 

 though a few species are great annoyances to the 

 people of certain countries in which agriculture has 

 yet attained to but an inferior phase of develop- 

 ment. The flesh, hide, horns, hair and bones of 

 both wild and tame species are put to almost innu- 

 merable uses. That the Ruminants furnish mate- 

 rials for the manufacture of the greater part of our 

 clothing, is well known. As domestic animals they 



do not exhibit any remarkable sagacity, but are 

 docile, patient and easily maintained, and for these 

 reasons have become indispensable to Man. The 

 four families of the Chevrotains, Musk Deer, Prong- 

 horns and Giraffes, which exhibit such a paucity of 

 species, are the only ones which have not been em- 

 ployed as domestic animals; of all the other families 

 one or more species have become the servants and 

 allies of Man. The majority of the species living 

 in a wild state have always been considered the 

 choicest quarry of sportsmen, and thus have been 

 the recipients of regal honors. 



The evidence of geological strata, dating from the 

 remote period of the Tertiary formation, goes to 

 show that the Ruminants have not undergone many 

 radical changes, and that in a majority of cases the 

 prehistoric species are identical with those now in 

 existence. 



Division of the We divide the Ruminants into seven 

 Order of Ru- families: the Giraffes (Camcloparda- 

 minants. Mcb), the Camels (Came/idee), the 

 Horned Animals {Bovidce), the Prong-horns {Antilo- 

 capridce), the Deer (Cenridcs), the Musk Deer, (Mos- 

 c/rida), and the Chevrotains {Tragidida) , of the char- 

 acteristics of each of which we will speak when we 

 reach their respective divisions. 



Gbe (Siraffes. 



FIRST FAMILY: Camelopardalid-e. 



Among existing Ruminants we still find forms 

 which present characteristics peculiar to themselves, 

 and suggest an affinity to no other creatures of the 

 present day, but rather reminding us of the crea- 

 tures described in the fairy tales of a by-gone age. 

 The most striking of these anomalies is the Giraffe. 

 Varro is not so very far wrong in defining this 

 strange animal as a "mixture of Panther and Camel," 

 and those who lived at a much later date were cer- 

 tainly excusable when they scornfully pronounced 

 the pictures of the animal (of which commercial stag- 

 nation had made them ignorant, but which in the 

 revival of intercourse they had found again on Egyp- 

 tian monuments) the dream-fancies of an unbridled 

 artistic imagination. And as the Romans wondered 

 at the Giraffes which they beheld at the games of 

 Julius Caesar and on several subsequent occasions, 

 so do we, the enlightened generation of the nine- 

 teenth century, marvel when we first see the curious 

 creature that we know so well from having often 

 seen its pictures. 



Peculiarities of The Giraffe is the representative of 

 the Giraffe a distinct family (Cameloparda/idce) 

 Family. distinguished by the most character- 

 istically developed structure of the foot. In the 

 present stage of evolution of original species the 

 Giraffe or, as would be most correct, " Serafe " 

 ( Camelopardalis giraffa) is the only member of the 

 family. It is characterized by a neck the length of 

 which exceeds all normal measurements, very long 

 legs, a stout body with a sloping back, a delicate, 

 fine head with large, beautiful, clear eyes and two 

 queer, horn-like projections of bone arising from the 

 frontal region and covered with skin. The long legs 

 and neck combine to render the Giraffe the tallest 

 and at the same time comparatively the shortest of 

 all mammals, for its body measures only ninety 

 inches in length, while the height at the shoulders is 

 ten feet, and the head is from sixteen and one-half 



