claws. These claws are usually four in number, and partially embrace the extremities of the bones from which they are prolonged, so that each forms a kind of pointed hoof; and we have thus an approximation towards the unguiculated division of the Mammalia. The order may be separated into two distinct groups; one consisting of the EDENTATA-PROPER, and containing the Ant-eaters, Armadillos, &c., all of which are insectivorous; the other, denominated TARDIGRADA, from the slowness of movement of the animals composing it, and containing the Sloths. 1. The true EDENTATA are distinguished, like other insectivorous Mammalia, by their pointed muzzle. This is particularly remarkable in the Ant-Eaters, which are peculiar to the warm and temperate regions of South America. They are destitute of any teeth; but possess a very long thread-like tongue, which they insinuate into ant-hills and the nests of the termites (or white ants), whence these insects are withdrawn by being entangled in the viscid saliva that covers it. Their fore-nails, strong and trenchant, enable them to tear open these nests, and also furnish them with an effective means of defence. Most of the other true Edentata are burrowing animals, and are covered with a dense armour, composed of hard scales arranged in a tesselated manner, or fitted together like stones in a pavement. Between the different bands of these, there are narrow rings of membrane, which allow the body to bend. They have claws adapted for digging, seven or eight cylindrical molars on each side, and a tongue but little extensible. Of these animals the Armidillos are the chief, and are the forms best known. They subsist partly on vegetables and partly on insects and carcasses. Some of them appear to prefer putrefying animal matter; and many are nocturnal feeders. squirrel or monkey, but under them. It moves suspended from them; it eats suspended from them; it sleeps suspended from them. And, when its structure is considered in its adaptation to this extraordinary position, it is seen to be most admirably devised to meet the wants of the animal. The muscular system seems capable of prolonged action without effort; and this may perhaps be aided by the peculiar disposition of the arteries already noticed as possessed by the lori. The sloth remains upon a tree until it has stripped it of every leaf, and then it proceeds to another. It has been observed that, in the more open places, where the trees are less contiguous, the sloths take advantage of windy weather to effect their transits, when the boughs are blown together and commingled. The peculiar conformation of these animals ought, therefore, no more to excite our pity and compassion, than the circumstance of fishes being destitute of legs. Their elevated habitation removes them out of the reach of the carnivorous animals, by which the race might otherwise be extirpated. There have been found in South America-the country to which the existing Edentata are almost confined remains of some enormous extinct animals, belonging evidently to the same group. Of one of these, the megatherium, nearly the whole skeleton has now been studied, by comparing different imperfect specimens ; and there can be little doubt that it belonged to a gigantic animal intermediate between the sloths and anteaters. Its haunches must have been more than five feet wide; and its body fourteen feet long and eight high. Its feet were a yard long, and terminated by gigantic claws. Its whole structure seems to have been adapted to digging the earth in search of the succulent roots which probably constituted great part of its food. Another extinct animal of the same description is known by little else than its claws, and fragments of bones and teeth. From the form of the claw, the megalonyx (as it has been named) was at first supposed to be a carnivorous animal; but Cuvier satisfactorily proved it to belong to the Edentata. It seems nearly allied to the megatherium. Remains of tesselated bony armour have also been found, which indicate the former existence of a large animal allied to the Armadillos, to which the name glyptodon has been given; and other remains of gigantic ant-eaters have lately been discovered in the same locality. The Edentata terminate the series of the unguiculated or clawed true Mammalia; and, as has been just seen, there are some among them with the claws so large, and so enveloping the ends of the toes, and these reduced to so small a number, as to approximate to the nature of hoofs. Nevertheless, they have still the faculty of bending their toes round various objects, and of grasping with greater or less force. The entire absence of this faculty characterises the hoofed animals. They use their feet only as supports, and the fore-arm has not the power of rotation, its two bones being frequently consolidated into one, or one of them greatly enlarged at the expense of the other, like those of the leg of man and of most Vertebrata. The hoofed animals in no instance possess clavicles, and they are entirely vegetable feeders. Their forms and mode of life present, therefore, much less variety than is found in the unguiculated animals, and they can hardly be divided into more than two orders-those which ruminate and those which do not. The former constitute a very natural and easily circumscribed group, the animals which compose it bearing a strong general resemblance to each other, and being easily distinguished from other groups. The latter contains a number of different forms, the connexion of which with one another by any very important peculiarities common to all is not very obvious. On account of the general thickness of their skins, they are called PACHYDERMATA. A notice of this interesting order of animals, which includes the elephant, rhinoceros, pig, horse, ass, &c., will next fall to be given. CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF CHAMBERS'S NUMBER 30. NEW AND IMPROVED SERIES. ZOOLOGY (CONTINUED). Order IX.-Pachydermata. THE order Pachydermata, consisting of hoofed animals which do not ruminate, may be divided into three groups, each of which shows a tendency towards some other order. The first of these, PROBOSCIDEA, Containing only the elephant and its extinct congeners, approaches in several particulars to the Rodentia. In both we find two large front teeth developed at the expense of the rest, and the grinders are formed of parallel plates of enamel and bony matter. There are also many points of resemblance in the form of the bones, and more particularly in those of the extremities. For the elephant has not a complete hoof, but five toes to each foot, which are very distinct in the skeleton; but being enveloped in a callous skin, which surrounds them all, the only external indication of their separate condition is in the nails at their extremities. The second group, that of TRUE PACHY DERMATA, contains those which have four, three, or two toes to their feet. Those in which the toes make even numbers, as the SUIDE, or Pig kind, have feet somewhat cleft, and approximate to the Ruminantia in various parts of the skeleton, and even in the complication of the stomach. Of the others, which have not cloven feet, some approach the Proboscidea, with which they are connected by forms now extinct, but of which the bony remains are sufficient to determine their character. The third group of Pachydermata, the SOLIDUNGULA, consists of quadrupeds with only one apparent toe, and a single hoof to each foot, as in the horse. These also, in their general form and manner of life, approach the Ruminantia, with which they are particularly connected by the camel and an animal now extinct. Another group should also probably be associated with this order, holding the same rank in it as the Amphibia or Seal tribe among the Carnivora. This is the small family of aquatic herbivorous animals, termed MANATIDE, which were placed by Cuvier among the Cetacea, but which differ from the true whales in several important particulars, and are found to be closely connected with the hippopotamus by links now extinct. 1. The first group, PROBOSCIDEA, contains only one living genus, the elephant, of which the mammoth, which has become extinct within a comparatively recent period, is an allied species. Another extinct animal of this group is the mastodon, which, in the conformation of its teeth, appears to have some affinity with the hippopotamus. All these animals agreed in possessing a pair of enormous tusks or front teeth, and a very elongated nose or proboscis; and it is probable that this last PRICE 1d. organ was formed, as in the elephant, to answer the purposes of a hand, laying hold of large objects by coiling itself round them, and of small by means of the finger-like organ at its extremity. The magnitude of the sockets necessary to hold the tusks, renders the upper jaw so high, that the nostrils, which are prolonged through the trunk, are placed in the skeleton near the top of the face. By means of its trunk, the elephant not only lays hold of its food, but sucks up its drink, which it makes to fill its capacious nostrils, and then discharges, by bending its trunk, into its mouth. By this admirable organ, the shortness of the neck, rendered necessary by the weight of the head, is fully compensated. The cavity for the brain by no means corresponds with the external form of the skull; for, in order, as it would seem, to give a larger surface for the attachment of the muscles of the trunk, the outer layer of bone is widely separated from the inner, and between the two are a number of large bony cells. In none of the Proboscidea has the lower jaw of the adult any front teeth. The arrangement of the grinders differs in the various species; but in all they are composed of alternating plates of hard enamel and softer bony matter, cemented together by a third substance, which is termed the cortical. These grinders are in constant progress of renewal; but they succeed each other, not by rising from below upwards, as in man, but by being pushed forwards from behind, in proportion as the tooth before each is worn away. There is never more than one perfect molar on each side; but in proportion to the age of the animal there may be two, three, four, or more, the front ones being the worndown remains of those at first formed. It is stated that the molars are thus renewed eight times. The tusks, however, are only changed once; but, like the cutting teeth of the Rodents, they are constantly being renewed at the roots. Two species of elephants exist at the present day, both of which inhabit tropical climates, one in Asia the other in Africa. Remains of the mammoth are chiefly found in the north of America and of Siberia; and, from a nearly perfect specimen, which was discovered frozen in the ice near the mouth of the River Lena, it appears that this species was adapted to live in cold climates-the skin being densely covered with hair of two kinds. The habits of the elephant are sufficiently well known to render it unnecessary here to dwell on them. Its food is entirely vegetable; and, in its undomesticated state, it consists chiefly of the leaves and young branches of trees, and of the long herbage of the ground, both of which it gathers with its trunk. The tusks serve not only as weapons of offence and defence, but to root up small trees and tear down cross branches, either to obtain their leaves, or to make a passage for the bulky body of the animal through the tangled forest. 2. Of the true Pachydermata the first family is that of SUIDE, the Pig kind. It is characterised by the peculiar thickness of the skin, and by the presence of four toes on each foot. They have three sorts of teeth in each jaw; the canines are usually long, and project forwards as tusks; the anterior molars are more or less narrow and conical, whilst the posterior are tuberculated. The food is principally vegetable, but admits of considerable variation. The domesticated pig is well known to be quite an omnivorous animal. In the true pigs, the foot has two toes furnished with large hoofs, and two much shorter ones that scarcely touch the ground. The wild boar, which abounds in some parts of the continent of Europe, is well known to be a very ferocious animal; and the domesticated race which is derived from it often exhibits indications of the same character. One of the most curious animals of this tribe is the babyroussa, a native of the Indian archipelago; the upper canines of which are very long, and grow spirally upwards and backwards. These serve as defensive weapons of a very powerful description, inflicting severe lacerations by an upward stroke of the head. With the family of Suidae is probably to be placed the hippopotamus, or river-horse, which seems in many respects intermediate between the pig and the elephant; whilst its aquatic habits, and the conformation by which it is adapted to these, approximate it to the Dugongs. Only one species is known, which is now confined to the rivers of middle and south Africa. But for its short, thick, and very blunt muzzle, it might be compared to a gigantic pig; the body is extremely massive, and the legs so short that the belly almost touches the ground; and it is destitute of any covering but a few weak and scattered bristles. The canine teeth are long; the upper ones straight, and the lower curved backwards, so that they rub against each other. Although ferocious, or rather courageous, when attacked, these unwieldy inhabitants of the waters are in their nature shy, and feed entirely on roots and other vegetables, seeming to prefer those which are partially decomposed by the action of the water. 3. The second family of true Pachydermata, to which the name of TAPIRIDE, or the Tapir tribe, may be given, resembles the first in the thickness of its skin, but differs in the arrangement of the toes, of which there are only three on each hind foot, and sometimes also in front, without any central cleft. There is considerable variation in regard to the teeth; but the whole family is exclusively herbivorous. No members of it exist in Europe at the present time; but fossil remains of very large species are abundant in some localities. The tapir of America is about the size of a small ass, with a brown and almost naked skin, a short tail, and fleshy neck that forms a crest at the nape. It is common in humid places and along the rivers, and its flesh is eaten. The nose assumes the form of a short fleshy trunk—the rudiment, as it were, of that of the elephant. Other species have been recently discovered of a larger size; one of which has the bones of the nose still more elongated, approaching a very remarkable fossil genus, the palæotherium. This seems to have been an animal nearly allied to the Tapirs; remains of several species, varying in size from a rhinoceros to a small sheep, have been found in the gypsum quarForm of Palæotherium. ries of Paris, the fresh-water deposits of the Isle of Wight, and other places. To this family belongs the rhinoceros, which is remarkable for its large size, and for the kind of horn, composed of a solid fibrous substance, resembling agglutinated hairs, which is supported on an arch formed by the nasal bones. Several species exist in different parts of the tropical portion of the Old World. They are naturally stupid and ferocious, frequenting marshy places, and subsisting on herbage and the branches of trees. In some species a second horn exists behind the first. The upper lip is generally elongated, and has some power of prehension. Rhinoceros' bones have been disinterred in many parts of Europe. 4. The third group of Pachydermata, the SOLYDUNGULA, contains only one family, that of the EQUIDE, or Horse tribe. Though there is only one apparent toe and single hoof to each foot, there are appendages beneath the skin which represent two lateral toes. The well-known animals of this tribe, the horse, ass, zebra, quagga, onagga, and dzegguetai, are commonly regarded as belonging to but one genus; but the first of these is probably to be separated from the rest, from the circumstance of its tail being wholly clothed with long hair, whilst that of the rest has long hair only towards the tip. On this point, however, there is much uncertainty, arising from our ignorance as to the original stock of the horse. In all the instances in which we at present know horses to exist in a wild state, the race appears to have been originally derived from a domesticated stock. This is certainly the case with regard to the wild horses which now spread over the plains of South America, all of which are descended from those first introduced there by the Spaniards. All the animals just named agree in their dentition. There are six incisors to each jaw, which, during youth, have their crowns furrowed by a groove, and six molars on each side, above and below, with square crowns, marked, by plates of enamel which penetrate them, with four crescents. The males have, in addition, two small canines in their upper jaw, and sometimes in both; these are always wanting in the females. Between the canines and the first molar there is a wide space, which corresponds with the angle of the lips, where the bit is placed, by which alone man has been enabled to subdue these powerful quadrupeds. None of the species of this family are indigenous to America. 5. The animals associated in the family Manatida, may be considered as Pachydermata still more adapted than the hippopotamus to an aquatic residence. In their teeth and general organisation they bear a close correspondence to this order; and the fish-like form which they exhibit is scarcely a greater variation than is seen in the order Carnivora. The posterior extremities of these animals are entirely wanting, as in the true Cetacea. The type of this family is the manati, which grows to the length of fifteen feet, and frequents the mouths of the African and American rivers. It is called sea-cow, and its flesh is eaten. Order X.-Ruminantia. The order Ruminantia is perhaps the most natural and best determined of the whole class, for all the species which compose it seem constructed, as it were, upon the same model, the camels alone presenting any considerable exceptions to the general characters of the group. The first of these characters is the entire absence of incisor teeth from the upper jaw; whilst the lower appears to possess eight; of these, however, the two outer ones are really canines which have taken the form of incisors, so that the number of the true incisors is six, as in the other viviparous Mammalia. The molars are almost always six in number, both above and below, and have their crowns marked with two double crescentic ridges of enamel, which aid in triturating the food. The feet are each terminated by two toes and two hoofs, which present a flat surface to each other, appearing as though a single hoof had been cleft; hence the names that have been applied to these animals, of cloven-footed, &c. Behind the hoof there are always two small spurs, which are the vestiges of lateral toes. The name of the order intimates the singular faculty possessed by these animals, of masticating their food a second time, or "chewing the cud." This faculty depends on the structure of their stomachs, which are four in number. The food which is cropped by the incisor teeth is swallowed almost without mastication, | cordingly die, and fall from the skull; and the animal remains defenceless. Others, however, are reproduced, generally larger than before, which are destined to undergo the same fate. These horns, periodically renewed, are usually styled antlers. and is moistened in the stomach; and, after being compressed into little pellets or cuds, is returned to the mouth to be rechewed while the animal is at rest. When this operation has been performed, the food is transmitted to the true digestive stomach. This re- The Ruminants with horny sheaths to the bony promarkable provision has a very interesting adaptation minences, may be divided into three families. ANTEto the general structure and characters of these animals. LOPIDE, or Antelope tribe, characterised by the lightThe Ruminantia, taken as a group, are timid, and desti-ness of their forms and the activity of their movements, tute of powerful means of defence against their foes. and by the solidity of the bony core. CAPRIDE, or Goat They rather seek their safety in flight when attacked. tribe: in these the bony core is partly occupied with Their food, consisting chiefly of the grasses of various cells, and the general form approaches that of the Ox kinds, requires to be thoroughly masticated before it can tribe; but the horns are directed upwards and backbe properly digested. When feeding on the pastures wards. BoVIDE, or Or tribe: these have the horns they frequent, they are liable to many alarms; and if directed upwards and forwards; the form is robust, and they were compelled to spend a considerable time in the movements heavy. The division of the Ruminants masticating their food before swallowing it, they would in which the horns are periodically cast off, constitutes often be in danger of starvation, by being obliged to leave only one family, that of CERVIDE, the Stag tribe. Antheir pasture before their wants were supplied. But by other family, including only the giraffes, and named their power of subsequent rumination, they are enabled CAMELOPARDE, is characterised by the shortness and to dispense almost entirely with the first mastication, permanence of the horns, which are covered with a and to feed with comparative quickness. They convey skin. Of the Ruminants without horns there are two a store of food into the first stomach or paunch, as the distinct families the MOSCHIDE, or Musk Deer, which monkey into its cheek-pouches; and then, retiring to are remarkable for their elegance and lightness, and a secure place, they prepare it for digestion at their differ but little from the rest of the order save in the leisure. absence of horns; and the CAMELIDE, or Camel tribe, which in their dentition and in the structure of the extremities, exhibit a transition to the Pachydermata. 1. The family ANTELOPIDE, remarkable for the slenderness of form and swiftness of foot of the animals composing it, contains above seventy well-ascertained species, bearing a strong general resemblance to each other. Most of these are natives of Africa; a few species, however, inhabit Asia; a still smaller number exist in America; and one only, the chamois, now remains in Europe. Among these numerous species we meet with forms that remind us of the other families of the Ruminantia-the ox, goat, stag, &c. They generally associate in large herds, which migrate together in search of pastures. A species well known to the colonists of South Africa is the spring-bok, which occasionally visits their cultivated lands, during seasons of drought, in innumerable herds, causing devastation wherever they pass. The antelopes may probably be regarded as the types of the Ruminantia, exhibiting the peculiar characters of the order in the most remarkable degree. They are extremely vigilant and timid; and the speed of the swiftest species surpasses that of every other mammiferous animal. Those which are adapted to live on rocks and mountains exhibit the most remarkable agility, and fearlessness of those dan The whole structure of these animals corresponds with the account just given of their habits. Their legs are long in proportion to their body, and the spinal column is very flexible; both which conditions are favourable to great activity of motion. They are endowed with a very acute sense of smell, which seems to be their guide in the selection of their food. Their ears are placed far back, and are very moveable; and these are well adapted to catch sounds from behind, so as to warn the animals of danger whilst feeding. The eyes are placed at the sides of the head, and the pupil is in the form of a horizontal oblong; so that the range of vision along the surface of the earth is very great, and the animals can easily look behind them when pursued. Their means of defence consist in the use of their horns to gore the enemy, and of their hind feet to kick it; but it is only when peculiarly courageous that single animals of this species will act on the offensive, or stand on the defensive, against others of proportional size and strength. The Ruminants, of all animals, are those which are most useful to man. They supply him with a large proportion of his animal food. Some serve him as beasts of burden; others furnish him with their milk, their tallow, leather, horns, and other useful products. The great resemblance which exists among the very numerous members of this order, renders the distribution of them into families, each characterised by some important peculiarity, a matter of some difficulty. These subdivisions are, probably, best erected upon the character of the horns, which are possessed by the males of all the species in their natural state, excepting such as (like the camel) connect this order with other groups. The horns are essentially bony prominences from the fore part of the skull. In some Ruminants, commonly termed cattle, such as oxen, sheep, goats, and antelopes, these prominences are covered with an elastic sheath, formed as it were of agglutinated hair, which continues to increase by layers during life. It is to the substance of this sheath that the name of horn is commonly applied, whilst the bony support is termed the core; this grows during life, and never falls. In the giraffe, again, the bony prominences are covered with a hairy skin, which is continuous with that of the head; and here, too, the bony part of the horn is permanent. But in the deer, these prominences, which are covered for a while with a hairy skin (commonly termed the velvet), like the other parts of the head, have at their base a ring of bony tubercles, which periodically enlarge, and compress the nutritive vessels of the horns. These ac*For a more particular description of this process, and the organisation by which it is effected, see the sheet entitled ANI MAL PHYSIOLOGY. Spring-bok Antelope. gers which their habits would seem to involve; they walk with perfect composure along the giddy brinks of the most awful precipices, climb and descend with wonderful care and precision, and leap up or down to the smallest surface that will contain their collected feet, with perfect firmness; and yet they are so fearful of any supposed enemy, that it is difficult to get within gunshot of them. 2. The family of CAPRIDE is connected with the last by many antelopes which, like the chamois, approach the goats in form. It includes only the goats and sheep. The original stock of the domestic breeds of the former save in a few rare individual cases, analogous to those in which the hen assumes the plumage of the cock bird. The substance of the horns, when completely developed, is that of a dense bone, without pores or internal cavity; their figure varies greatly according to the species, and even in the same individual at different ages. These animals are extremely fleet, and live mostly in forests, where they feed on grass, the leaves and buds of trees, &c. appears to be indigenous to Persia, where it inhabits | the reindeer, however, the female is destitute of horns, the mountains in large troops. The goats of Angora, Thibet, &c., celebrated for the fine quality of their hair, are no more than varieties of the common species. The iber, which inhabits the mountains of the old world, and especially the Caucasian chain, is distinguished by the size and strength of its horns. It is said that this animal fearlessly precipitates itself down precipices, always falling on its horns, the elasticity of which secures it from injury. The sheep appear to have extremely little real difference from the goats: a large number of races exist, the relation of which to each other is uncertain; and there is doubt as to the original stock of the whole. Of the domestication of this animal we have an earlier record than of any other. 3. The species of the family BOVIDE, or Or tribe, are comparatively few. They are all large animals, with a broad muzzle, heavy and massive body, and stout limbs. Of the original stock of the domestic ox, we have no certainty, since, as in the case of horses, the existing races of wild-cattle are probably all descended from those which have been at some period subservient to man. Of all the animals which have been reduced to his service, the ox is, without exception, that to which he is most indebted, for the extent and variety of its means of usefulness. The universal utility of the animal appears to have been very soon detected; and we find, consequently, that its domestication soon followed that of sheep, and that it is mentioned in the most ancient records as a servant of man, long before either the horse or dog are noticed. Amongst the undomesticated species of this family, which have all a strong general resemblance to each other, and are the most powerful and savage animals of the whole order, may be noticed the European bison, which was formerly spread over Europe, but is now restricted to Lithuania and the Caucasian region; the American bison, commonly called buffalo, which inhabits all the temperate parts of North America; the Indian buffalo, of which there are several different races (in one, the horns include a space of ten feet from tip to tip), of which some have been domesticated; the Cape Cape Buffalo. buffalo, an extremely ferocious animal, with large horns, first directed downwards so as nearly to cover the forehead, inhabiting the woods of Caffraria; and the muskor, a species inhabiting the coldest regions of North America, with short legs, and long hair reaching the ground, which diffuses more strongly than the rest the musky odour common to the whole genus, and which is particularly noticeable in the European bison. 4. The family CERVIDE, or Stag tribe, includes, like that of antelopes, a large number of species differing but little amongst each other, very widely diffused over the earth's surface, and easily separated from others by the character of the horns. With the exception of 5. Of the family CAMELOPARDE, only one species was for a long time known to exist; but there are probably two, or even three, kinds of giraffe, all of which are natives of Africa, frequenting chiefly the borders of the deserts. Its remarkable form, depending chiefly on the great length of its neck and fore legs, is familiar to every one. In its general structure, however, it closely resembles the deer; differing from them in the permanence of the horns. It has also some points of affinity to the camels; especially in the length of its neck, the existence of callosities, or hard surfaces, on the breast and knees, and the absence of the small spurious hoofs. It is the tallest of all animals; its head being frequently raised eighteen feet from the ground. Its disposition is gentle, and it feeds on leaves; browsing upon the young branches at a height much above that which any other animal can reach, and drawing them towards its mouth by its prehensile tongue. It lives in small troops of five or six individuals, and is very timid, although capable of powerfully defending itself by kicking. Notwithstanding the length of its neck, the number of vertebrae which this part contains is no greater than in other Mammalia. 6. The MOSCHIDE, or Musk-deer, are completely intermediate between the true Deer and the Camel tribe, which last connects the Ruminantia with the Pachydermata. They resemble the ordinary Ruminants in the lightness and elegance of their forms, and in the nimbleness of their movements; and differ chiefly in the absence of horns, and in the projection of the canine tooth on each side of the upper jaw, as in the camels. The name of this group has been derived from the common Musk, the males of which secrete the odoriferous substance so called. This species is almost without tail; and the hairs which completely cover it are so coarse and brittle that they might almost be called spines. It is confined to the mountainous region between Siberia, China, and Thibet, from which most of the Asiatic rivers descend. Its habits are nocturnal and solitary, and its timidity extreme. The other musk-deer inhabit the warmer parts of Asia and the eastern archipelago; they have no musk-pouch. They are the smallest and most elegant of the Ruminantia, and are active and gentle in their habits. 7. The CAMELIDE, or Camel tribe, approximate to the preceding order, and especially to the whole-hoofed division of it constituting the Horse tribe, more than do any other Ruminants-to such a degree indeed, that some naturalists prefer associating them with that group. They have always canines in both jaws, and two of the incisors have also the same pointed shape. The aniImals of this family are much less elegant in form and graceful in action than the other Ruminants; but their organisation is, equally with theirs, most perfectly adapted to the circumstances in which they exist. The family contains two groups, the Camels and Llamas; the former are restricted to the Old World, and the latter correspond to them in the New. In the true Camels the two toes are united below by a kind of horny sole, almost to their points, which terminate in small hoofs; and there is a soft cushion be neath the foot, by which it bears upon the sandy surface over which it is formed to move. Two species are known, one called the Bactrian or two-humped camel, and the other the Arabian, or one-humped. Both are completely domesticated. The first is employed chiefly in Central Asia, the latter in Arabia, North Africa, Syria, Persia, &c. The two-humped camel is the larger and stronger, being capable of sustaining above one |