INTRODUCTION.

Ruminantia is the term used by naturalists to designate those
mammiferous quadrupeds which chew the cud; or, in other words, which
swallow their food, in the first instance, with a very slight
mastication, and afterwards regurgitate it, in order that it may undergo
a second and more complete mastication: this second operation is called
ruminating, or chewing the cud. The order of animals which possess this
peculiarity, is divided into nine groups or genera, namely:--

CAMELS.
LLAMAS.
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 constituents 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 illustration 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 nec