HOLE O W-HORNED R UMIN ANTS. 
i57 
sented in the Arctic regions only by the reindeer and the musk-ox, Ungulates are 
found alike in the coldest and the hottest regions of the globe. The maximum 
number of peculiar forms, as well as those of greatest corporeal bulk, are, however, 
inhabitants of the tropical and subtropical regions; and it is also in the warmer 
regions that the greatest number of species occur. As regards the number of 
individuals of particular species, many Ungulates far exceed any other of the 
larger mammals; this being especially the case with the bisons, that but a few 
years ago roamed in countless thousands over the prairies of North America, and 
with the myriad hosts of springboks in the South African veldt. Through the 
advance of civilisation and the incessant persecution of both the sportsman and 
the trader, these wonderful instances of the profusion of animal life have, however, 
been swept away for ever. 
Not only are the Ungulates widely distributed in longitude and latitude, but 
they are also found at all elevations suitable for the existence of animal life; some 
of the wild sheep of the Himalaya ranging to elevations of fully twenty thousand feet 
above the level of the sea. In time the order is an ancient one, being represented 
in the earliest stages of the Eocene division of the Tertiary period, although 
the species were mostly small, and in all cases widely different from any now 
living. 
The Hollow-Horned Kuminants. 
Family BOVIDM. 
Unfortunately we have no concise English term to designate collectively the 
animals commonly known as oxen, sheep, goats, and antelopes, and we are hence 
compelled to allude to them by the periphrasis of the hollow-horned Ruminants, 
unless we prefer to call them by their scientific title, Boviclce. This is the more to 
be regretted, since the term hollow-horned Ruminants will likewise include the 
American prongbuck, which is the representative of a family by itself. 
Taking, then, the term hollow-horned Ruminants, for want of a better, to 
designate the animals mentioned above, we have in this family our first representa¬ 
tive of the Ungulate order. But before entering into the consideration of the 
especial characteristics of this family, it is necessary to point out those distinctive 
of the great group of even-toed Ungulates, under which title are included not only 
the hollow-horned Ruminants, but likewise deer, camels, swine, and many other 
living and extinct types. 
Even-Toed It has been already mentioned that the even-toed Ungulates (or 
Ungulates. Artiodactyles, as they are technically termed), are distinguished by 
the third and fourth toes being almost equally developed, and arranged symmetri¬ 
cally on either side of a vertical line drawn between them; this line being con¬ 
tinued upwards to the wrist or ankle, and the metacarpal and metatarsal bones 
similarly arranged in respect to it. As a consequence of this it results that in the 
typical members of the group the hoofs are of the so-called “ cloven ” type. This 
character is alone sufficient to distinguish all the members of the group; but there 
are a few others which it is advisable to mention. One of these characters is 
afforded by the cheek-teeth, in which the molars are almost always more complex 
