American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1869-01-02
Natural History Of the Domes-
ticated Animals.
by DIR. VIM. LIE BARON.


-
As everything relating to our domesti,
animals. upon which We are so dependen
for food and various services, must be
, interesting to every person Of inquirine
mind, and especially to the farmer, O.
whose possessions they constitute so i'm,
portant part, we propose to prepare a
series of brief articles upon the natural
history OF some of the most valuable OF
them, We shall commence with the
Eliminating quadrupeds, and in this arti.
Gle shall give a sketch of the distinctive
characters of this order, which will serve
rs an introduction 10 what we have to
say upon the several species which CONS
pose it. ,#ta.
The Illuminating animals. or to use the
more concise scientific term, the Rumin
anita, ale so called from their practice Of
Eliminating or chewing the cSd.v This
faculty depends upon the peculiar struc-
ture OF the digestive organs. Instead of
having one stomach like other animals,
they have no less than four. These Or
gans may be described as membranous
sacs, in which the food is received and
digested. They do not lie in linear
series, one after the other. but are mass
ed together. forming kind of circle,
and lie so closely upon each other that
the gullet WEIGH conveys the food from
the mouth, enters the stomachs at their
point of JUNCTION, and thus can carry
the food to either one of the first three
s'omachs. without its passing through
the others. lis passage in preference TO
the others, seems to depend upon its con-
sistency, that is, its degree OF fineness and
moistness. The coarse and imperfectly
chewed herbage, passes directly into the
first and largest stomach called the
pauncb. From this it passes to the Sc
cond stomach which is small and globu-
lar and which is called the honey comb,
on account Of the cellular structure of its
nternol surface. 1t appears, from OBJ
Serv4tion made with reference to this
point, that the water drank by the ami.
NAL passes directly into the second sto-
mach, There the food is moistened and
formed into little balls or pellets, which,
one by one, the animal has the power OF
regurgi'a'ing, or throwing up into the
mouth, where it is subjected to a second
and more thorough masticatiou. This
process is performed when the animal
is at rest. and often when lying down
When again swallowed, the food passes
directly into the third stomach, called
the many plies. because its inner surface
is arranged in hanging folds. After be-
ing mixed with the secretions from the
folds of the third cavity, the food passes
into the fourth stomach, which is consid.
cred to be the essential digestive cavity,
analogous to the single stomach Of other
animals. In the calf, the two first som-
achs are not used, aud the third is but
little developed, serving only as passage
way through which the milk passes into
he true or fourth stomach, where its
digestion is accomplished. This is the
part which constitutes the rennet used
n cheese making.
In addition to the remarkable develop.
nent OF the digestive organs, the rumi.
lating quadrupeds are distinguished from {
III others, by the want of the front or +
utting teeth in the upper jaw. In their t
lace is thickeniDg Of the skin. forming
tough pad, upon which the lower teeth j.
1eet. ....
third character possessed by most of ,
lie Ruminantia, and wanting in all other n
nimals, is pair Of symmetrical horns,
rejecting on each side Of the forehead.
he males of all the ruminants have
orns. except the camels and the musks. r
n the females, however, Of many kinds, c
icy are wanting. Of which sheep is a m
ommon example. Horns present two III
notifications. In the stag, ,r
n example, they are composed of solid .
one, whilst in the OK, there is an internal p
ony process, covered with a horny a
leath, The sheath is easily separated tn
ON bony core. and forms the hollow Ia
orn with which we are familiar. In III
ost cases the horns are permanent, but
the deer, they are shed annually, and aN
.ch succeeding pair is larger and more an
anching than those which preceded
EN-, The horns of the ruminants differ oil
UGH In shape, ID exempltcatlon of 40
hich we have only to call to mind the
reading horns of the OK the upright %
rms of the goat, the spiral horns OF the gr
N, and the branching anllers Of the co
az. M,
Sill another peculiar character of the 70
minants is their cloven boofs. The "
ly other animal that resembles them in c''
is respect, is the hog and here the int
ucture is considerably modified. The
rny points, one on each side above the bri
of. called the dew claws, are supposed :,
be rsdiments of the lateral toes of
Ter animals aci
The animals which constitute the order lik
are the Camels, the beers, pu
: Musks, the Cameleopards, the Ante ton
res, the Ok, the Goats, and the Sheep. -,
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