16 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



mestic turkeys are descended. All the 

 wild forms breed freely with the domes- 

 tic turkeys and the offspring are per- 

 fectly fertile. The Bronze turkey stands 

 nearest to the wild ancestor and its 

 vigor and constitution have been re- 

 peatedly improved by admixture of wild 

 blood. 



Guinea — The common guinea fowl of 

 Western Africa (Numida meleagris) is 

 supposed to be the wild ancestor of our 

 domesticated guinea fowl. 

 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY 



It would not be in accord with the 

 purposes of the present work to go into 

 details concerning the anatomy and 

 physiology of the domesticated animals. 

 It is desirable, however, to discuss such 

 points as may assist the farmer in ob- 

 taining a comprehensive knowledge of 

 his farm stock. (For names and illus- 

 trations of various parts see colored 

 plates.) 



The skeleton consists of a backbone, 

 skull, shoulder girdle, pelvic girdle and 

 two pairs of appendages. The backbone 

 may be conveniently divided into re- 

 gions, each comprising a certain num- 

 ber of vertebrae. The cervical vertebras 

 include those from the skull to the first 

 rib. In all mammals except the sloth 

 and sea cow the number of cervical ver- 

 tebras is seven, being long or short ac- 

 cording as the neck of the animal is 

 relatively long or short. The first and 

 second cervical vertebrae, known as the 

 atlas and axis, are especially modified 

 so as to allow free turning movements 

 of the head. 



The next region includes the dorsal 

 or thoracic vertebras which are charac- 

 terized by having ribs movably articu- 

 lated with them. The number is 13 in 

 the cat, dog, ox, sheep and goat; 14 in 

 the hog, 18 or 19 in the horse and ass, 

 and six or seven in domestic poultry. In 

 mammals they are so joined together as 

 to permit motion in several directions, 

 but in poultry the dorsal vertebras are 

 more rigidly articulated, those next to 

 the sacrum often being grown together 

 with the sacrum. The spines are high 

 and much flattened in all ungulates, 

 long and slender in dogs and cats. They 

 slope backward forming strong points 

 of attachment for the back muscles. Sev- 

 eral ribs, varying in number in different 

 animals, meet and become articulated 

 with the breast bone or sternum. The 

 sternum consists of seven to nine artic- 

 ulated segments in our domestic mam- 



mals, while in fowls the sternum is one 

 thin, broad bone furnished with a keel 

 of varying depth. The lumbar vertebras 

 lie between the dorsal vertebras and the 

 sacrum. The number is five in the 

 horse, six in the hog, ox and goat and 

 seven in the sheep. Tbe sacrum is made 

 up of a certain number of vertebras 

 which are rigidly united and serve as an 

 articulation for the pelvic arch. The 

 number of sacral vertebras is five in the 

 ox and horse, four in sheep and hogs 

 and 12 to 17 in birds. The caudal or 

 tail vertebras naturally vary in number 

 according to the length of the tail, (7 to 

 10 in sheep, 21 in the ox, 23 in hogs, 17 

 in the horse, 22 in the cat, 16 to 23 in 

 the dog). 



In ungulates the anterior ribs are 

 scarcely curved, the chest being very 

 narrow in front. The number of pairs 

 of ribs is the same as the number of 

 dorsal vertebras with which they artic- 

 ulate. 



The skull i s really composed of a num- 

 ber of modified vertebras, just how many 

 is not determined. The bones of the 

 skull can therefore best be enumerated 

 in rings beginning with the base of the 

 cranium. The first three segments con- 

 sist of four bones each (one at the base, 

 one on either side, and one above the 

 brain). By studying a weather-cleaned 

 skull of a sheep the following bones may 

 be identified: Basioccipital, two exoccip- 

 itals, supraoccipital, basisphenoid, two 

 alisphenoids, parietal, presphenoid, two 

 orbitosphenoids, frontal. These enclose 

 the brain. The face is composed of 

 ethmoid, lachrymals, turbinated and 

 nasal bones in addition to the vomer, 

 palatines, pterygoids, malar, maxillary 

 and premaxillary of the upper jaw and 

 palate and the mandible, squamosal and 

 hyoid belonging to the lower jaw and 

 tongue. 



The difference in the shape of the 

 skulls of different animals is determined 

 by the relative size of the various bones 

 of the skull. In hogs, for example, the 

 head has been much shortened as a re- 

 sult of breeding, thus giving the skull 

 of the improved breeds a very different 

 appearance from that of the razorback. 



The shoulder girdle consists of a 

 shoulder blade, collar bone and coracoid 

 on either side. The foreleg (or wing in 

 the case of birds), articulates with the 

 socket formed by the junction of these 

 three bones. In all of the ungulates the 

 shoulder blade is high and narrow, the 

 coracoid is never much developed and 



