Ru`mi*nan"ti*a (?), n. pl. [NL.] Zool.
A division of Artiodactyla having four stomachs. This division includes the camels, deer, antelopes, goats, sheep, neat cattle, and allies.
<-- Letters refer to the Illustration, "Stomach of a ruminant." -->
⇒ The vegetable food, after the first mastication, enters the first stomach (r). It afterwards passes into the second (n), where it is moistened, and formed into pellets which the animal has the power of bringing back to the mouth to be chewed again, after which it is swallowed into the third stomach (m), whence it passes to the fourth (s), where it is finally digested.
© Webster 1913.