538 



RUMINANTIA. 



ingesta are being macerated by the moisture 

 secreted from the walls of the rumen (and 

 probably also from the water taken in by the 

 mouth, some of which may have entered the 

 cavity), portions of the indigestible mass are 

 transmitted into the second stomach for fur- 

 ther maceration, and from thence into the 

 demi-canal, to be moulded into the form of 

 pellets, and returned to the mouth by a kind 

 of reversed peristaltic action. The softened 

 bolus, thus brought back into the mouth, is 

 destined to receive a thorough and deliberate 

 remastication, and it is somewhat singular 

 that this part of the process (called " chew- 

 ing the cud ") varies in different species. 

 Professor Owen has the merit of showing 

 that in the Cameline ruminants the bolus is 

 triturated alternately from side to side, 

 whereas, the action of the teeth in the 

 horned Ruminantia, including the Giraffe, is 

 always in one direction it may be from right 

 to left or left to right occasioned by the 

 rotatory motion of the jaw. The necessary 

 reduction of the aliment having been accom- 

 plished, it is again transferred to the stomach 

 in a pulpy semifluid condition ; but this time, 

 instead of entering the first or second cavities, 

 it passes directly along the (now closed) 

 oesophageal groove into the manyplies. Here, 

 the superfluous moisture is supposed to be 

 absorbed before it is ultimately transmitted 

 into the fourth stomach, in which organ the 

 true digestive act remains to be fulfilled. 

 The first, second, and third stomachs are 

 incompletely developed in the newly born 



individual, where no chewing of the cud 

 taking place, the food passing directly into the 

 fourth ; in the Calf a peculiar organic acid is 

 secreted by the lining membrane of the reed, 

 which possesses the power of converting the 

 albumen of milk into curd and u>hcy : this, 

 in the prepared condition, is termed rennet. 



Concretions are frequently found in the 

 paunch, and occasionally in the reticulum, 

 composed of various substances, such as hair, 

 vegetable tissues, or calcareous matter, having 

 a more or less rounded figure. The balls, so 

 common in the Calf and Cow, result from 

 the licking of their own hides or that of 

 others, the hair thus collected being rolled 

 into the characteristic shapes by a kind of 

 felting process going on in the stomach ; 

 after a time they become coated with a dark 

 earthy deposit of great hardness, the surface 

 acquiring a considerable polish. Sometimes 

 they have the form of compressed spheres, 

 but are more usually barrel -shaped ; their 

 size is seldom larger than a cricket-ball. 

 There is a specimen from the Cow in the 

 Edinburgh University Anatomical Museum 

 (presented by Dr. Me Nab, of Jamaica), 

 measuring eleven inches in length and twenty- 

 nine in circumference. The fibrous concre- 

 tions in the Camel consist of numerous small 

 pedunculated pellets, strung together in bo- 

 tryoidal masses ; at least, such is the form 

 presented by those we have seen from a 

 Dromedary dissected by Professor Goodsir. 

 The formation of the so-called Bezoar stones 

 in the stomach of the Chamois takes place in 



Fig. 361. 



Intestines of the Sheep. 



