A manual of the theory and practice of equine medicine / by James Brodie Gresswell and Albert Gresswell.

  • Gresswell, James Brodie
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of the theory and practice of equine medicine / by James Brodie Gresswell and Albert Gresswell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    31/571 (page 4)
    active properties than oxygen, and possesses greater oxid- ising powers. This is a point of the profoundest importance, especially in so far as human heings are concerned. However, we shall refer to the germ theory again more fully in its due ])lace, and now j^roceed to a brief consideration of the natural history of the horse. The Ungulata, or hoofed quadrupeds, comprise one of the largest natural orders of the Mammalia. These animals are divided into two sub-orders, the Perissodactyles and the Artiodactyles, according as the members of these two groups respectively possess an odd or an even number of toes on the hind-foot. Those hoofed animals which have an odd number of toes on the hind-foot are termed Perissodactyles (‘irspKTGoc, odd, and daxrv7^og, a toe), while those which are provided with an even number of toes are designated Artiodactyles ( aprtoc, even, and daxrvXoc^ a toe). The Perissodactyles include the horse, tapir, and rhinoceros; while the Artiodactyles include the pig, hippopotamus, sheep, ox, camel, giraffe,- and deer. This latter sub-order may be divided into two classes : the Ruminants, including the sheep, ox, camel, giraffe, and deer; and the Non- ruminants, which include the pig and hippopotamus. All the Ungulata feed upon vegetables, but the pig and the peccary are omnivorous animals. Tlie placentation of the hoofed animals is non-deciduate, and in this point they agree with the order of the Cetacea. Moreover, they are always adapted for swift progression. The sub-order Perissodactyla comprises, as we have above said, three living families, namely, the Tapiridoe or tapirs, the Equidse or horses, and the Rhinocerotidie or rhinoceroses. There are also several extinct families: the Macraucheniadae (fMotxpog, long, and neck); the Palaeotheres (<7raXcuog, old, and ^rjpiov, a beast); and the