Part 1 (2/2)

MUSKS.

DEER.

GIRAFFES.

ANTELOPES.

GOATS.

SHEEP.

OXEN.

The last named forms the subject of the following pages, and is called, in zoological language, the _Genus Bos_, in popular language, the OX TRIBE.

One of the most interesting occupations which the wide field of Zoology offers to the naturalist, is the investigation of those remarkable adaptations of organs to functions, and of these again to the necessities and well-being of the entire animal. Nor does it in the least diminish our interest in the investigation of individual adaptations, or our admiration on becoming acquainted with them, that we know, _a priori_, this universal truth, that all the const.i.tuents of every organised body, be that organisation what it may, are invariably adapted, in the most perfect manner, to each other, and to the whole.

It is by a knowledge of this exact harmony in the animal economy, that the comparative anatomist can determine, with almost unerring precision, the genus, or even species of an animal, by an examination of any important part of its organisation, as the teeth, stomach, bones, or extremities. In some cases, a single bone, or even the fragment of a bone, is sufficient to convey an idea of the entire animal to which it belonged.

In ill.u.s.tration of this:--if the viscera of an animal are so organised as only to be fitted for the digestion of recent flesh, we find that the jaws are so contracted as to fit them for devouring prey; the claws for seizing and tearing it to pieces; the teeth for cutting and dividing its flesh; the entire system of the limbs, or organs of motion, for pursuing and overtaking it; and the organs of sense for discovering it at a distance. Moreover, the brain of the animal is also endowed with instincts sufficient for concealing itself, and for laying plans to catch its necessary prey.

Again, we are well aware that all _hoofed_ animals must necessarily be herbivorous, or vegetable feeders, because they are possessed of no means of seizing prey. It is also evident, having no other use for their fore-legs than to support their bodies, that they have no occasion for a shoulder so vigorously organised as that of carnivorous animals; owing to which they have no clavicles, and their shoulder-blades are proportionally narrow. Having also no occasion to turn their forearms, their radius is joined by ossification to the ulna, or is at least articulated by gynglymus with the humerus. Their food being entirely herbaceous, requires teeth with flat surfaces, on purpose to bruise the seeds and plants on which they feed. For this purpose, also, these surfaces require to be unequal, and are, consequently, composed of alternate perpendicular layers of enamel and softer bone. Teeth of this structure necessarily require horizontal motions to enable them to triturate, or grind down the herbaceous food; and accordingly the condyles of the jaw could not be formed into such confined joints as in the carnivorous animals, but must have a flattened form, correspondent to sockets in the temporal bones. The depressions, also, of the temporal bones, having smaller muscles to contain, are narrower and not so deep; and so on, throughout the whole organisation.

The digestive system of the ruminantia is more complicated in structure than that of any other cla.s.s of animals; and, owing to this complexity, and the consequent difficulty of investigating it, its nature and functions have been less perfectly understood.

The stomach of the Manilla Buffalo, which will serve as an example of all the other species, is divided into four cavities or ventricles, which are usually (but improperly) considered as four distinct stomachs.

The following figure represents the form, relative size, and position of these four cavities when detached from the animal, and fully inflated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _a._ First cavity, called the paunch.

_b._ Second ditto, the honeycomb bag.

_c._ Third ditto, the many-plies.

_d._ Fourth ditto, the reed, or rennet.

_e._ A portion of the oesophagus, showing its connection with the stomach.

_f._ The pylorus, or opening into the intestines.]

The interior of those cavities present some remarkable differences in point of structure, which, in the present work, can only be alluded to in a very general manner. For a particular account of the internal anatomy of these complicated organs, the reader is referred to the interesting work on 'Cattle,' by W. Youatt.

The paunch is lined with a thick membrane, presenting numerous prominent and hard papillae. The inner surface of the second cavity is very artificially divided into angular cells, giving it somewhat the appearance of honeycomb, whence its name ”honeycomb-bag.” The lining membrane of the third cavity forms numerous deep folds, lying upon each other like the leaves of a book, and beset with small hard tubercles.

These folds vary in breadth in a regular alternate order, a narrow fold being placed between each of the broader ones. The fourth cavity is lined with a velvety mucous membrane disposed in longitudinal folds. It is this part of the stomach that furnishes the gastric juice, and, consequently, it is in this cavity that the proper digestion of the food takes place; it is here, also, that the milk taken by the calf is coagulated. The reed or fourth cavity of the calf's stomach retains its power of coagulating milk even after it has been taken from the animal.

We have a familiar instance of its operation in the formation of curds and whey.

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