FAMILY S O L I P E D A. SINGLE-TOED. 



49 



Family- SINGLE-TOED ; Sdipeda. 



So called because they have but one external toe an undivided hoof; 

 within the hoof, however, and beneath the skin, two toes are represented. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



PLATE 17. 

 Genus. Species. Common Name. 



Kquus 



fCaballus ------ Horse. 



< Asinus ------- Ass. 



(Zebra Zebra. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA. 



EQUUS. lu each jaw six incisive teeth with flat crowns ; cuspid teeth 

 small, conical, and standing apart by themselves in a gap between the 

 incisive and molar teeth, sometimes wanting in the upper jaw of the female ; 

 molar teeth twelve in each jaw, six on a side ; body covered with hair, 

 mane generally flowing; feet single-toed, and covered with an undivided 

 hoof; teats inguinal. 



SOLIPEDA. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



In this genus are found two animals, the Horse and Ass, which from 

 the earliest periods have been domesticated by man, serve to the important 

 purposes of carriage and draught during life, and after death afford their 

 hair, skin, and hoofs, as articles of commerce. 



They are vegetable feeders, and repay, by the improvement in their 

 breed and value, the pains which are bestowed upon them. They go with 

 young eleven months, and bring forth one young one at a time, which is 

 called a Foal. 



The Horse in its wildest state is found about the Lake Aral, near 

 Kuzneck ; on the river Tom in the southern parts of Siberia ; in the 

 Mongolian Deserts ; and in the Kalkas, north-west of China. They live in 

 herds, and are extremely shy and vigilant, always having a sentinel on the 

 look-out whilst they feed, and upon the least alarm rushing off with great 

 rapidity. They are hunted by the Kalmucks on horseback ; and for the 

 purpose of arresting their speed these people are accustomed to fly hawks 

 at them, which fastening themselves upon the Horse, annoy him, and his 

 attention being diverted, in his attempts to free himself, his speed is dimi- 

 nished, and he is soon overtaken by his pursuer. 



Horses are not found within the Arctic circle, but they exist as high as 

 Norway and Iceland, where they are small and of a peculiar variety. In 

 South America they are found wild in large herds ; these are not, however, 

 considered indigenous, but as the offspring of the horses introduced by the 

 Spaniards in their early visits to that continent. 



In Arabia, Horses are found in the highest perfection, as if it were to 

 compensate for the attention and kindness with which they are treated 

 To the Arab, his Horse is as dear as his children : with them it shares his 

 tent, and is equally the object of his solicitude. During the day the Horses 

 are usually saddled, and at the tent door; but at night they rest under the 

 same covering, and amidst the family of their master : they are never beaten 

 or spurred, and are directed in their course merely by a slight switch. 



The Horses most commonly used in this country for agricultural pur- 

 poses are the Cleveland Bay and the Suffolk Punch. The black Cart 

 Horse is also in common use, but from its unwieldy size is incapable of 

 doing so much work as smaller and more compact Horses. 



Our engraving contains a fine figure of the Equus Cabidlus the Generous 

 Horse of Pennant ; also one of the Ass (Equus Asinus). 



The Wild Ass (Onager) of the ancients, and Koulan of the Tartars, 

 is the stock whence proceeds our domestic Ass. In the autumn they 

 migrate from Tartary into the warmer climates of Persia and India, where 

 they pass the winter, and afterwards return to their original habitation. 

 They are very shy and of great speed. They are hunted by the Tartars 

 for the sake of their flesh, which is by them much esteemed. Our 

 domestic Ass, however, has a dull, heavy look, his head stooping ; his ears 

 slouching; the mane short; the body covered with rough, ash-coloured 

 hair ; the tail naked and furnished only with a long tuft at its tip ; and the 



shoulders marked with a black stripe. Despised and abused as he too 

 frequently is in this country, the^ Ass has a very different appearance 

 wherever he is well groomed and looked after ; in proof of which many 

 examples might be given. 



The Ass is patient under ill usage, and persevering in labour ; indifferent 

 with respect to food, being contented with a thistle, or any other vegetable 

 it may meet with, but rather preferring plantain, for which it has been 

 observed to neglect every other herb in the pasture. 



The Zebra rather resembles the Ass than the Horse (Plate 17), par- 

 ticularly in the shortness of the neck, the greater length of the head and 

 ears, and the extremity of the tail being alone furnished with hairs. But 

 the Zebra is remarkably distinguished from each of those animals by a kind 

 of dewlap or loose skin, which depends from the throat. 



The Zebra is a beautiful animal : the ground colour of the coat is of a 

 yellowish white, and the muzzle brownish black ; the stripes on the fore- 

 head and mouth are reddish. Eight black stripes mark the neck, and 

 twelve the trunk, of which the last two or three join obliquely at the lower 

 part, to harmonise with the horizontal stripes on the thighs and legs, and a 

 similar disposition in front is observed near the lower part of the shoulder. 

 The cry of the Zebra is very peculiar, and by some said to resemble a post 

 horn ; it more frequently exerts it when alone than in company. Several 

 have been brought to England, but although commonly submissive to their 

 keeper, on the slightest irritation they will bite and kick with great 

 violence. 



ORDER VIII. RUMINANTIA. CUDCHEWERS. 



THE animals belonging to this order are characterised by the faculty they 

 possess of returning the food, which they had recently swallowed, again to 

 their mouth, for a second and a thorough mastication. During this process 

 the animal is at rest. The Ruminant Animals are the most useful to man. 



Family CAMEL-LIKE ; Cameloida. 



This family includes the Camels proper, the Llama, and the Musk ; the 

 first species resembles the Pachydermata more than the others ; while the 

 Musk differs but little from the ordinary Ruminantia. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



PLATE 18. 

 Genera. Species. Common Name. 



Camellus ----- Dromedarius Dromedary. 



Auchenia ----- Llama ------ Llama. 



Moschus ----- Javanieus ----- Java Musk. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA. 



1. CAMELUS (Gr. KapiXos, from Heb. ^>D3, a Camel). Upper lip 

 divided, incisor teeth in the lower jaw ; cuspidate in one or both jaws, and 

 eighteen or twenty molar teeth ; the scaphoid and cuboid bones of the 

 tarsus distinct ; two toes, each bearing a claw or nail ; callosities on the 

 knees and chest ; stomach provided with a curious contrivance for holding 

 water. 



2. AUCHENIA. A genus, according to Illiger, but a subgenus of 

 Camelus, according to Cuvier : see article CAMELUS. 



3. MOSCHUS (Gr. pocrxot, a Musk). No incisive teeth in the upper, but 

 eight in the lower jaw ; in the upper jaw of the male two long cuspid 

 teeth extending far beyond the lips, curved backwards, and either rounded 

 or flattened on the outer surface ; none in the female ; molar six on each 

 side in either jaw with tubercular crowns, the first in the upper, and the 

 first two in the lower jaw, provided with cutting edges and points ; nose 

 long and narrow ; tail short, in some little more than a tubercle. 



CAMELOIDA. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



CAMELUS the Camel. There is scarcely a single genus in the whole 

 animal creation more interesting and useful than that now under considera- 



