2 34 THE FOOD OF ANIMALS 



ccecum, but the stomach is practically simple, though some small 

 pouches are attached to it. On the other hand, the gastric juice 

 has very powerful digesting properties, and this is an adaptation 

 to animal food. The genus Sus, from which our example is 

 taken, is widely distributed through Europe, Asia, and Africa. 

 In America, from Arkansas and Texas south to Patagonia, Swine 

 are represented by the little Peccaries i^Dicotyles) (fig. 455), which 

 in appearance and habits closely resemble Pigs. They possess 

 only thirty-eight teeth, two upper incisors and four premolars 

 less than in common Pigs, and the upper tusks are downwardly- 

 directed. Though undoubtedly omnivorous, vegetable food con- 

 stitutes a larger proportion of their food than is the case with 

 Old World Pigs, and an anatomical fact which fully harmonizes 

 with this is found in the possession by them of a complex stomach, 

 suggesting the state of things characteristic of Ruminants. 



The exigencies of space forbid details regarding omnivorous 

 mammals belonging to other orders, but it may be noted that 

 the large and widely-distributed order of Rodents includes 

 ordinary Rats and Mice [Muridcs), which feed on all sorts of 

 substances, whether animal or vegetable in nature; the Hairy 

 Armadillo {Dasypus villosus), among the archaic group of Eden- 

 tates, lives on vegetable food when other nutriment is not avail- 

 able; and the primitive and multifarious order of Marsupials 

 includes certain omnivorous species, such as some Phalangers, 

 Bandicoots, and Opossums. 



