e of
that substance: it is small and globular, and by means of its cells,
squeezes the food into little balls, which are thrown up into the mouth
of the animal, to receive a second mastication, called "chewing the
cud." After this has been effected, it descends into the third stomach,
or the feck, which looks something like the several leaves of a book;
lastly it goes into the fourth stomach, which is merely wrinkled. It is
in this that real digestion takes place; all the previous labour having
been but a mere preparation for it, and indicated by the name of the
order, taken from a Latin word, signifying "to chew over."

It would seem impossible for any animals to be more useful to man than
the dog or the horse, yet these Ruminantia are still more precious to
him, for while they serve him as beasts of burden, or transport, they
perform agricultural labours and supply him generally with a variety of
food. Milk, butter, cheese, the very best meat, the strongest yet most
delicate leather, that most valuable commodity wool, hair, horn, and a
long list of utilities, all proceeding from them; while the extreme
beauty of many of the genera, and the sport they afford, contribute to
his mere pleasure, as well as his comfort.

The Camels and Dromedaries, which come first before me, are confined but
to a small portion of the earth's surface; they, however, in their more
confined sphere afford incalculable benefits. Without them we should not
be able to traverse those large plains of sand, which lie between the
different countries of Africa, and also of south-western Asia. Their
gaunt and angular form does not class them among the beauties to which I
have alluded; and the only pretensions which their outward appearance
can present for praise, is their admirable adaptation for the offices
which they have to perform. Their full, upper lip is cleft, their neck
is long, their eyes prominent and shaded with eye-lashes, their nostrils
are like slits, which they can close at pleasure; their body has one or
two humps on it, their legs have callous pads upon them, their feet are
large and spreading, and their hair hangs loosely upon them in patches.
That long, upper lip, however, when the hot blast of the desert almost
dries their mouth, plunges into the sand and finds momentary relief by
getting below the surface; that long ungainly neck raises the head so
that the prominent eyes may see objects in the far distance; those
nostrils are ape