Curiosities & wonders > Catechism of zoology, or, Natural history of the animal kingdom

CATECHISM OF ZOOLOGY. 25
are much esteemed for their services as beasts of
burden.
Q. Can you describe the zebra ?
A. The zebra is a beautifully-formed animal, re¬
sembling the horse, but of smaller size. Its body is
regularly striped with brown and white colours.
Q. Is it capable of being tamed ?
A. An opinion long prevailed that it was not; but
recently several zebras have been exhibited in menage¬
ries quite tame and docile. They can scarcely, however,
be used either for commercial or agricultural purposes.
ORDER VII. RUM IN ANT I A, OR RUMINATING ANIMALS.
Q. What constitutes the seventh order ?
A. The seventh order is composed of those ani¬
mals that ruminate or chew the cud, hence called
Ruminantia, or ruminating animals. It includes the
camel, deer, antelope, goat, sheep, cow, and buffalo.
li. What is meant by ruminating animals ?
A. Ruminating animals are those which, feeding
upon grasses and other vegetables imperfectly chewed,
after they have filled the first stomach and satisfied
their appetite, retire to rest, and then bring up the
contents of the first and second stomachs by successive
portions, chew it a second time, and pass it into the
third, from thence into the fourth or true stomach,
where the process of digestion goes forward.*
Q. Is there any difference between the teeth of those
animals that live on grasses and those that live on flesh ?
* The cloven-hoofed ruminating animals have four stomachs. Into
the first, or paunchy the food is received slightly and imperfectly chewed;
from this it goes into the second, or honey-comb stomach, in small por¬
tions, where it is farther macerated. By an inverted motion of the
coats of this bag, the food is forced up into the mouth, where, after
having been duly chewed, it is again swallowed into the third stomach,
or many-plies ; from whence it passes into the fourth, or ready where
it is properly digested. From the gullet, or passage from the mouth
to the stomach, there is a groove, or canal, with full projecting lips,
which communicates with the three first stomachs. When these lips,
or flaps, are contracted, the chewed food can be passed directly from
the mouth to the third and fourth stomachs, without entering the
two first; but, by relaxing these flaps, the animal can, at pleasure,
open the communication with the first and second stomachs, and take
up their contents into the mouth*