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Of cetacea, or whale-like mammals, sixty-five; ruminantia, or cud-chewers, one hundred and seventy-seven; pachydermata, or thick-skinned mammals, such as the horse, hog, and elephant, forty-one; edentata, like the sloth and ant-eater, thirty-five; rodentia, or gnawers, such as the rat, squirrel, and beaver, six hundred and seventeen; carnivora, or flesh-eaters, four hundred and forty-six; cheiroptera, or bats, three hundred and twenty-eight; quadrumana, or monkeys, two hundred and twenty-one; and marsupialia, or pouched mammals, like the opossum and kangaroo, one hundred and thirty-seven.
The widely distributed genus Bos, has horns in both sexes, and in it we find the largest of the Ruminantia. They, generally speaking, have comparatively short legs, and heavy massive bodies. The perfection of domestic oxen is said to be a resemblance to a box set upon four posts; but in some of the wilder species, an arched back is certainly a beauty.
From the size and position of the bones of the leg, the pengolin is endued with prodigious power; and its faculty of exerting this vertically, was displayed in overturning heavy cases, by insinuating itself under them, between the supports, by which it is customary in Ceylon to raise trunks a few inches above the floor, in order to prevent the attacks of white ants. VI. RUMINANTIA. The Gaur.
DIVISION. Vertebrata possessing a back-bone. CLASS. Mammalia such as give suck. ORDER. Ruminantia chewing the cud. FAMILY. With horns. GENUS. Bovidæ the ox tribe. Of this tribe there are eight species: Bos urus, the ancient bison. Bos bison, the American buffalo. Bos moschatus, the musk ox. Bos frontalis, the gayal. Bos grunniens, the grunting ox. Bos caffer, the South African buffalo.
After they have taken their food, these Ruminantia, as they are called, lie down, and remain in a state of complete repose, in order to chew it a second time; and the process is thus accomplished: they have four stomachs, the first is called the paunch, and is the largest of all; into it descend the grass, herbs, and leaves, when first cropped and imperfectly masticated.
If a red handkerchief be held before them, it produces the most violent excitement. The three last genera of which I shall treat are all Ruminantia, and are distinguished by their horns, which are divided into cells; and which cells communicate with the skull. The two first, goats and sheep, so closely resemble each other, that in many instances the one appears to be a mere variety of the other.
It would seem impossible for any animals to be more useful to man than the dog or the horse, yet these Ruminantia are still more precious to him, for while they serve him as beasts of burden, or transport, they perform agricultural labours and supply him generally with a variety of food.
Swainson the suctorial, from a very generally prevalent peculiarity, that of drawing sustenance by suction. The rasorial type comprehends most of the animals which become domesticated and useful to man, as, first, the fowls which give a name to the type, the ungulata, and more particularly the ruminantia, among quadrupeds, and the dog among the ferae.
This was rather against his ideas on the subject, as he was apt to stay out late at the dances in the neighbouring guinguettes; and he used to complain, all the time loving her very dearly. The many characters which antelopes possess in common with deer, seem to place them together; but naturalists have ranked them among those Ruminantia who have hollow horns.
Finally, the pliocene gives us for the first time, oxen, deer, camels, and other specimens of the ruminantia. Such is an outline of the fauna of the tertiary era, as ascertained by the illustrious naturalists who first devoted their attention to it.
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