Yunx (Linn.) s. Wryneck, a genus of birds thus characterised:—
Bill short, straight, conical, and depressed; the ridge rounded; mandibles of equal length, sharp, and not notched; nostrils at the sides of the base, naked and partly closed by a membrane; tongue long, worm-shaped, and armed at the point with a horny substance; feet with two toes before, and two behind, the fore ones joined at their base; tail with ten soft and flexible feathers; wings of middle length, the first quill shorter than the second, which is the longest in the wing.—Montagu.
Zinc, s. A semi-metal of a brilliant white colour, approaching to blue.
Zoology, s. A treatise concerning living creatures.
Zoological Description of the Horse.—The horse belongs to the division vertebrated, because he has a cranium or skull, and a spine or range of vertebræ proceeding from it.
The vertebrated animals, however, are very numerous. They include man, quadrupeds of all kinds, birds, fishes, and many reptiles. We look out then for some subdivision, and a very simple line of distinction is soon presented. Some of these vertebrated animals have mammæ, or teats, with which the females suckle their young. The human female has two, the mare two, the cow four, the bitch ten or twelve, and the sow more than twelve.
This class of vertebrated animals, having mammæ or teats, is called mammalia, and the horse belongs to the division vertebrata, and the class mammalia.
The class mammalia is still exceedingly large, and we must again subdivide it. It is stated (Library of Entertaining Knowledge, vol. i. p. 13) that “this class of quadrupeds, or mammiferous quadrupeds, admits of a division into two Tribes.
“1. Those whose extremities are divided into fingers or toes, scientifically called unguiculata, from the Latin word for nail; and 2, Those whose extremities are hoofed, scientifically called ungulata, from the Latin word for hoof.