190 



that's it ; 



ruminant. Its horns, 1, differ 

 both in texture and shape from 

 those of all other horned quadru- 

 peds, forming a part of the skull, 

 and consisting of two porous bony 

 substances, with which the top of 

 the head is armed, and which are 

 placed just above the ears, and 

 crowned with a thick tuft of stiff 



538. 



upright hairs. These have been 

 described by naturalists as wea- 

 pons of defence; but we are in- 

 clined to think that they are also 

 instruments of feeling. The 

 animal browses upon the tender 

 branches of trees, to which pur- 

 pose its small head and long neck 

 are subservient. The ox looks 

 down upon the pastures; but with 

 the giraffe, the order is inverted, 

 its food being over and around its 

 head. As the animal carries its 

 head beneath and through the 

 branches of the trees, the long 

 hairs upon the erect horns come 

 in contact # with the leaves above 

 them, and the animal, without a 

 constant effort to look up, in fact, 

 with its eyes turned downward 

 and backward, to guard a<r;iinst 



the stealthy attacks of the lion, 

 is able to apprehend its food. 



The giraffe is furnished with 

 an extraordinary tongue, 3, long, 

 slender, pointed, and endowed 

 with a surprising degree of mo- 

 bility ; it is capable of being 

 greatly elongated, and of bekig 

 coiled round twigs or branches, 



and of drawing them into the 

 mouth. In this respect it is 

 analogous to the proboscis of the 

 tapir, and is at once a feeler, a 

 grasper, and an organ of taste. 



The camel is another remark- 

 able individual of this order. In 

 addition to its remarkable feet, 

 537, it has a singular hump or 

 humps, 4, upon its back, and it 

 possesses the power of secreting 

 water in the cells of its stomach, 

 so as to subdue the pains of thirst 

 when crossing a desert, by re- 

 peatedly moistening the coats of 

 that organ with the expressed 

 fluid. „ 



The humps upon the camel's 

 back, 4, are composed of masses 

 of fatty matter, which the animal 

 consumes under circumstances of 



