58 Frerp Museum or Naturar History — Zoéroey, Vor. XI. 
given a more thorough mastication before it passes into the third and 
fourth compartments of the stomach where the true digestive process 
begins. In all Ruminants the incisors or front teeth in the upper 
jaw are lacking. 
Most of our domestic animals belong to families in this order; 
viz., the Horse and Ass are members of the family Equide; Swine of 
the Suid@; and Oxen, Sheep and Goats belong to the family Bovide. 
All of these animals are descendants of wild ancestors, and the great 
number of so-called species or ‘‘breeds”’ of to-day are the result of 
artificial selection and domestication for many centuries. 
Suborder ARTIODACTYLA. Deer, Oxen, Sheep, etc. 
Family CERVIDZ. Deer, Moose, Elk, 
Caribou, ete. 
Antlers, when present, solid and branched in adult; upper canines 
usually present; at least the first molar in upper jaw brachydont; 
lateral hoofs present in all of our species, and with rare exceptions 
in all members of the family; lachrymal vacuity large, preventing 
articulation of the lachrymal bone with the nasal; lachrymal duct 
with two orifices. There are two subfamilies; Cervine and Moschine, 
but only the former is represented in America. In the various species 
belonging to this family, antlers, when present, seem to represent a 
secondary sexual character, as they occur as a rule in the male only.* 
The Caribou and Reindeer (Rangifer) are exceptions, however, both 
sexes usually having well developed antlers. 
Of the thirty or more recognized species and races of Cervide 
which occur in North America, only five are represented within our 
limits, and of these only the Deer is found in any numbers at the present 
time. The Elk or Wapiti has long since disappeared; the Moose and 
Caribou, if they are to be found at all, are only of rare or accidental 
occurrence in extreme northern Wisconsin. All the males, and as has 
already been stated in the case of the Caribou the females as well, are 
provided with antlers, which are solid, branched and deciduous; that is 
to say, they are annually dropped and replaced by new and, up to a 
certain age, by larger ones, more branches appearing year by year. 
The antlers are usually dropped during March, but are soon replaced 
*In practically all of our species the female occasionally has antlers, but such 
cases are rare. 
