INTRODUCTION. 7 



All these parts, namely, the oesophagus, the gastro- 

 duct, and the first three cavities, not only communicate 

 with each other, but they communicate by one com- 

 mon point, and that point is the gastro-duct. At 

 the extremity of the third cavity, opposite to that 

 at which the gastro-duct enters it, is an aperture 

 which communicates immediately with the fourth 

 cavity (d). 



Such is a very brief description of the complicated 

 stomach of the Ox Tribe. In what manner the food 

 passes through this curious arrangement of cavities 

 is a problem which has engaged the attention of 

 naturalists from a very early period. A host of great 

 men might be cited who have failed to solve it. The 

 French physiologist, M. Flourens, by his recent experi- 

 ments, has done more than any or all of his pre- 

 decessors to give clearness and precision to this intricate 

 subject. 



The following is an abstract of the most important 

 of his experiments : 



A sheep having been fed on fresh trefoil, was killed 

 and opened immediately, that is, before the process 

 of rumination had commenced. He (M. Flourens) 

 found the greatest part of this herb (easily recognised 

 by its leaves, which were still almost entire,) in the 

 paunch ; but he also found a certain portion (une partie 

 notable) of those leaves (in the same unmasticated 

 state) in the honeycomb. In the other two cavities, 

 (the many-plies and the reed,) there was absolutely 

 none. 



