618 RUMINATION. 
disturbing causes that would effectually prevent them from satisfying their hunger in an 
ordinary manner, they are furnished with a peculiar arrangement of the stomach and 
digestive organs, by means of which they are enabled to gather hastily a large amount 
of food in any spot where the vegetation is luxuriant, and to postpone the business of 
mastication and digestion to a time when they may be less likely to be disturbed. The 
peculiarity of structure lies chiefly in the stomach and gullet, which are formed so as to 
act as an internal food-pouch, analogous in its use to the cheek- pouches of certain monkeys 
and rodents, together with an arrangement for regurgitating the food into the mouth at the 
will of the animal, previous to its mastication and digestion. 
Owing to the absence of teeth in the upper jaw, the Ox is unable to cut or chew the 
grass as he feeds, and can only seize it between the lower incisor teeth and the upper jaw, 
so as to tear it by a movement of the head. The sound which is produced by this ripping 
or tearing process is familiar to all who have watched cows while grazing. As soon as the 
grass is taken into the mouth, it undergoes a slight rolling between the molar teeth, and 
is then swallowed, although it is not as yet in a fit state to be placed in the stomach, and 
there to be digested. The mode in which it undergoes that process is as follows. 
The stomach and gullet are modified into four distinct compartments, one of which, 
called the paunch, is very much larger than the others, and is the receptacle into which 
the food is passed immediately after being swallowed. Here it remains comparatively 
unchanged until the animal is at rest, and ready to commence the process which is 
technically called “ruminating,” and more popularly termed “chewing the cud.” A 
small portion of the food then passes into the second compartment, which is lined with a 
series of hexagonal cells, not unlike the comb of the honey-bee, and is formed into little 
balls by being worked into the cells, From these cells the food is thrown into the mouth 
by a voluntary effort of the muscles, and is then subjected to a thorough mastication. 
Being again swallowed, it slips over the opening by which it had formerly passed into the 
paunch, and is received into the third compartment, technically called the “psalterium,” or 
psalm-book, because it is lined with a number of thin longitudinal plates of membrane, 
which are thought to bear some resemblance to the leaves of a book. From thence it 
passes into the fourth compartment, which is the place where the business of digestion is 
carried on. 
These different compartments of the stomach are familiar under the general name of 
tripe, and are popularly distinguished from each other as follows. The first compartment 
is called the paunch, and is lined with a vast number of little flattened projections of the 
membrane. In the paunch are found those curious concretions of hair and other substances 
which are known as hair-balls or bezoar stones. 
The hair-balls are of various dimensions, a collection of them in my own possession 
varying from the size of a very large cricket-ball to a moderately sized marble. The hair 
is arranged most regularly in these balls, and all lies in the same direction, so that the 
axis on which the ball has revolved is plainly marked by the arrangement of the hair. 
In some of the balls the surface is covered with hair of different colours, some specimens 
being of a dark tint, while others are pure white. If the hair-ball be divided, its substance - 
will be found to be of a spongy texture, affording considerable resistance to the knife, and 
requiring a strong and sharp blade to cut it neatly. Together with the hair is found a 
slight admixture of vegetable fibre. When first removed from the animal, these balls are 
wet and soft, receiving the impressions of the fingers unless handled with some care, but 
when they are quite dry, they are extremely light, hard, and strong, and tolerably elastic, 
Sometimes they are smooth on the exterior, W hich is then of a deep brown hue, and rather 
highly polished. 
The second compartment is popularly called the “honeycomb,” the “bag,” or the 
“bonnet,” and the third is termed the “monyplies,” or “manyplus,” on account of the 
membranous folds with which its interior is limed. The last stomach is generally termed 
the “red.” In scientific language, the first compartment is called the “rumen,” from 
which word is derived the term “ ruminating ;’ the second is known under the name of 
“yeticulum,” or net; the third is called “omasus,” or “ psalterium,” and the fourth is called 
the “ abomasus,” Recanee it leads from the third compartment, or omasus. 
