CHAP. 106. (46.)—HOOFS.
The horn of the hoof grows again in no animals except
beasts of burden. The swine in some places in Illyricum
have solid hoofs. Nearly all the horned animals are cloven-footed, no animal having solid hoofs and two horns. The
Indian ass is only a one-horned animal, and the oryx is both
one-horned and cloven-footed. The Indian ass[1] is the
only solid-hoofed animal that has pastern-bones. As to
swine, they are looked upon as a sort of mongrel race, with a
mixture of both kinds, and hence it is that their ankle-bones
are so misshapen. Those authors who have imagined that
man has similar pastern-bones, are easily to be confuted. The
lynx is the only one among the animals that have the feet
divided into toes, that has anything bearing a resemblance
to a pastern-bone; while with the lion it is more crooked
still. The great pastern-bone is straight, and situate in the
joints of the foot; it projects outwards in a convex protuberance, and is held fast in its vertebration by certain ligaments.