DIGESTION AND WINTER FEEDING. 35 



digestion, taking them in the regular order of their arrange- 

 ment and action. Following the digestive tract, we find the 

 teeth, mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, 

 lacteals, thoracic duct, and the accessory glands. Each of 

 these organs, when closely studied in regard to their anatom- 

 ical structure and physiological action, fills us with ever 

 increasing amazement ; for they are more wonderful than any 

 mechanism created by the hand of man. Indeed, the work- 

 ings of nature indicate more clearly the existence of a divine 

 Creator than all the dogmas of the whole religious world. 



The teeth and mouth are so familiar to us that we will 

 pass them by, and begin with the oesophagus, which is the 

 passage connecting the mouth and the stomach ; and its office 

 is simply that of a canal to convey the food from one to the 

 other. It is muscular in its structure, and is lined with a 

 mucous surface, the same as the mouth. 



In considering the stomach, it would be interesting to 

 trace its development through all the forms of animal life, 

 commencing with a cestoid entozoon, — like the tapeworm, 

 which has no digestive tract, but whose whole surface seems 

 to be a stomach of itself, absorbing by every part the nutri- 

 tive juices in which it lives, — and carrying our observations 

 through the various orders, in each discovering a more 

 elaborate organ, till we come to that of the mammalia, who 

 present the most complete of all, many of them being pos- 

 sessed of a compound stomach, or series of stomachs ; and, as 

 this is so intimately connected with our subject, we will the 

 more closely study it, although compelled to pass over much 

 that is interesting in regard to its anatomical structure. 



The stomach of the horse is globular in its shape, is quite 

 small in comparison to the size of the body, being size for 

 size about half that of a man: that of the pig is very much 

 like that of the horse ; both of them might be called a simple 

 stomach, as there is but one sack, or cavity. Cattle and 

 sheep have a compound stomach ; that is^ a number of sacks, 

 or cavities. The entire system of stomachs in the ruminant 

 is divided into four compartments ; the first being at the 

 termination of the oesophagus, and termed the "rumen," 

 " ventriculus," or "paunch." It is of great size, occupying 

 nearly three-fourths of the abdominal cavity. The left side is 

 elevated so high as to lie in contact with the left flank. 



