=Ungulates=, as the horse, need no other protection than their great
speed, which is due to lengthening the bones of the legs and rising upon
the very tip of the largest toe, which, to support the weight, developed
an enormous toe-nail called a hoof. The cattle, not having developed
such speed as the horse, usually have horns for defence. If a calf or
cow bellows with distress, all the cattle in the neighbourhood rush to
the rescue. This unselfish instinct to help others was an aid to the
survival of wild cattle living in regions infested with beasts of prey.
Which of Æsop’s fables is based upon this instinct? The habit of rapid
grazing and the correlated habit of chewing the cud were also of great
value, as it enabled cattle to obtain grass hurriedly and to retire to a
safe place to chew it. Rudiments of the upper incisors are present in
the jaw of the calf, showing the descent from animals which had a
complete set of teeth. The rudiments are absorbed and the upper jaw of
the cow lacks incisors entirely, as they would be useless because of the
cow’s habit of seizing the grass with her rough tongue and cutting it
with the lower incisors as the head is jerked forward. This is a more
rapid way of eating than by biting. Which leaves the grass shorter after
grazing, a cow or a horse? Why? Grass is very slow of digestion, and the
ungulates have an alimentary canal twenty to thirty times the length of
the body. Thorough chewing is necessary for such coarse food, and the
ungulates which chew the cud (ruminants) are able, by leisurely and
thorough chewing, to make the best use of the woody fibre (cellulose)
which is the chief substance in their food.
[Illustration:
FIG. 386.—SKELETON OF COW. Compare with horse (Fig. 395) as to legs,
toes, tail, mane, dewlap, ears, body.
]
=Ruminants= have four divisions to the stomach. Their food is first
swallowed into the roomy _paunch_ in which, as in the crop of a bird,
the bulky food is temporarily stored. It is not digested at all in the
paunch, but after being moistened, portions of it pass successively into
the _honeycomb_, which forms it into balls to be belched up and ground
by the large molars as the animal lies with eyes half closed under the
shade of a tree. It is then swallowed a second time and is acted upon in
the third division (or _manyplies_) and the fourth division (or _reed_).
Next it passes into the intestine. Why is the paunch the largest
compartment? In the figure do you recognize the paunch by its size? The
honeycomb by its lining? Why is it round? The last two of the four
divisions may be known by their direct connection with the intestine.
[Illustration:
FIG. 387.—Food traced through stomachs of cow. (Follow arrows.)
]
[Illustration:
FIG. 388.—Section of cow’s stomachs. Identify each. (See text.)
]
[Illustration:
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