Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/392

This page needs to be proofread.
*
354
*

RUMINANT. 35-1 RUMSEY. he eight incisors; but the two outer are more properly to be regarded as canines. In front of the molar teeth there is a long vacant space (diastema) in both jaws. The molars are six on each side in each jaw: their surface exhibits crescent-shaped ridges of enamel — that is, they are of the solenoilont type. See Teetu ; and illustration of cow's skull, inidcr Cattle. The stomach is composed of four distinct bags or cavities, except in the chevrotains, where the third is absent. In the camels the stomach is imperfectly divided into four chambers and has special peculiarities. (See Camel.) In all rumi- nants the first pouch of the stomach, into Avhieh the gullet leads, is, in the mature animal, by far the largest and is called the paunch or ru- men. Into this the food first passes. It is lined with a thick membrane, presenting numerous prominent hard papilL-e, secreting a fluid in which the food is soaked. The second cavity is the honeycomb bag. or reticulum, so called from its being lined with a layer of chambers like those of a honeycomb. The second pouch has also a direct communication with the cesophagus, and fluids pass immediately into it, but some- times or partly also into the other cavities. The third pouch is the nuiniiplics or psaltcrium, so called because its lining membrane forms many deep folds, like the leaves of a book, beset with small, hard tubercles. This also communicates directly with the oesophagus, by a sort of pro- longation of it. The fourth pouch, which is of aioTTv. STOMACH OF .4 RfMINANT. a. h, probes in the gullet; retic, reticulum . psal., psal- terium ; abom., abomasuin; ra, rumen (paunch); pylo.. pylorus. more elongated form than any of the others, and is second in size, is called the reed or rennet, or abomasum. It is lined with a velvety mucous membrane in longitudinal folds, and here the gas- trie juice is secreted. In young animals it is the largest of the four cavities, and it is only when they pass from milk to crude vegetable food that the paunch becomes enlarged, and all the parts of the complex stomach come fully into use. The food consumed passes chiefly into the first cavity, but part of it also at once into the second (as the animal wills), and when in a mashed or in a much comminuted state, into the third. When the paunch is well filled and the animal is at rest, it begins the process called chewing the cud or ruminating. This may occur while the animal is standing, but more commonly when lying down. The first step is a spasmodic movement of the paunch and diaphragm like a hiccough and a reversal of the peristaltic move- ment of the oesophagus, by which a ball of food is brought up into the mouth from the rumen or reticulum. It is then chewed steadily for some time until thoroughly nii.xed with the saliva, when it is reswallowed, but passes by the first two pouches and enters the psaltcrium, from which it goes on into the abomasum and intestine, which in this group is always long, as also is the eseeum. For an account of the evolution of this apparatus and the ruminant habit, see Ali- mentary System, Evolution of. The head of the ruminant is elongated, the neck is always of considerable length, the eyes are placed at the side of the head, and the senses of smell and hearing, as well as of sight, are ex- tremely acute. The head in many ruminants is armed with horns, which in some are found in both sexes, in some only in the male, while in others they are entirel.v wanting. The ruminants are generally gregarious; they are distributed over almost the entire world, even in the coldest regions, but none are natives of Australia and comparatively few occur in America. Africa is the home of most of the species. The group is divisible into three sections: (1) Tragulina, em- bracing the chevrotains (Tragulid:e) ," which are the oldest ruminants, going back to the Eocene and Oligocene, and the extinct family Protoce- ratidiE of the Miocene of America, which resem- ble the ancestral tragulines; (2) Tylopoda, in- eluding the camels; and (3) Pecora, or horned ruminants, composed of the deer (Cervidse), gi- rafi'es (Giraffidas), pronghorns (Antilocapridae), cattle, sheep, and goats ( Bovidse ) , and certain fossil forms. The flesh of most of the ruminants is fit to be used for human food; the fat (tal- low) hardens more on cooling than the fat of other animals, and even becomes brittle. The fat, hide, horns, hoofs, hair, bones, enli'ails, blood, and almost all parts are useful to man. RTJMP PARLIAMENT. The name given in English history to the remnant of the Long Parliament after the expulsion of the Pres- byterian members by a body of soldiers under Thomas Pride (q.v. ), on December 6. KUS. This remnant, fifty or sixty members belonging to the Independent Party, nominated a High Court of Justice of 135 members — of whom one-half refused to serve — to try the King for high trea- son. After the King's execution, the Rump abol- ished the House of Lords and established the Commonwealth, itself playing the role of Parlia- ment, though it was in no sense representative. It sent Cromwell to establish its authority in Ireland and Scotland, passed the Navigation Act (1651), and began the Dutch war (1652). Cromwell dissolved it by force on April 20, 1653. During the disorders which followed C'roniwell's death, the Rump was restored by the army. May 7, 1659, but upon its quarreling with the military leaders, was again dissolved. October I3th. only to be recalled in December of the same year. On February 21, 1660, Monk recalled the Presby- terian members who had been expelled by Pride's Purge, and the Long Parliament, thus restored, issued writs for a new free Parliament and voted its own dissolution on ilarch 16. 1660. See bibliography under Long Pabll^mext. RTTMSEY, rum'zi. James (1743-92). An American mechanical engineer, born in Maryland. After applying himself to the study of mechanics and machinery, he became an inventor. In 1786, twenty-one years before Fulton built the Cler-