10 THE SHEEP AND ITS COUSINS 



type of dentition is associated with the power of 

 "chewing the cud," or ruminating, which is ren- 

 dered possible by the complex structure of the 

 stomach, as shown in the accompanying woodcut, 

 where the names applied to the different compart- 

 ments of this organ are indicated. A further 

 distinctive feature is to be found in the circum- 

 stance that the shank of the leg is formed by a 

 single bone carrying at its lower end a pair of 

 pulley-like surfaces to which are articulated the 

 bones supporting the two main hoofs. It should be 

 added that this shank-bone, or cannon-bone, as it is 

 generally termed by naturalists, really consists of 

 two separate bones which have been joined to- 

 gether ; and also that the two main hoofs are 

 symmetrical to a line drawn between them, thereby 

 constituting the so-called cloven hoof of popular 

 language. 



But these features are by no means restricted 

 to the members of the Bovidcz, as they recur in 

 the American prongbuck, constituting the family 

 AntilocapridcB, in giraffes and okapis {Giraffidcs), 

 and the deer tribe (CervidzB). Consequently, all 

 these four families are regarded as forming a 

 single larger group or section, popularly known as 

 ruminants, but by naturalists generally termed the 

 Pecora, or cattle-like animals. 



It may be well to add that the ruminating 

 function is evidently designed to enable the animals 



