THE OX 



99 



They include a large number of families, and differ quite as widely 

 from one another as the various kinds of flesh-eating animals. To 

 the ungulates, for instance, belong the horse, ox, sheep, pig, goat, 

 deer, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and elephant, together with a host 

 of other animals the mere list of whose names would fill several 

 pages of this book. 



It will be seen, however, that the Ungulates form the order of 



Ayrshire Cow 



Mammals that is of most importance to man. We can scarcely 

 imagine the straits to which mankind would be put if all the 

 Ungulates were suddenly to disappear from off the face of the 

 earth. It is from them that we obtain the greater part of our 

 animal food, and a large amount of our clothing, while they 

 supply us, in addition to what may be called the necessaries 

 of life, with innumerable luxuries which we should now find it 

 hard to dispense with. 



The Ungulates obtain their name from the peculiar structure of 

 their feet. In most of the animals with which we have dealt up to 

 the present, the fingers or toes are provided either with claws or 



