Food. 305 



There is one more remarkable property^ howeyer, of the gastric 

 juice, which it would be wrong to pass over, namely, the power this 

 fluid possesses, of digesting the very organ which produces it. This 

 fact was first noticed by Mr. John Hunter, who discovered, in some 

 instances of sudden deaths that the gastric juice had eroded the sto- 

 mach in a few hours after the principle of life had forsaken the 

 body. Nevertheless, whilst the stomach itself retains the living 

 principle, tlie gastric juice is not capable of exerting any such power 

 upon it^ and this is the reason why Bots are not digested or acted 

 upon inimically by this fluid. .. j. . ■. . • ^^ , ^.^ ^. . ;. ^^ , 



Before I enter upon any practical remarks upon food, it ntay not be 

 amiss to glance at some peculiarities respecting the structure and size 

 of the stomach of the Horse. The stomach of this animcd is very small 

 in proportion to his bulk, when compared with the size of this organ in 

 many other animals. According to Mr. Blaine, one of the stomachs of 

 a sheep, is larger than that of a Dray-horse. The stomach of the 

 Horse is divided into two nearly -equal parts, the structure of which is 

 very evidently distinct. One of these portions, which is cuticular, and 

 is not found in the ruminating class, has been called by some anatomists, 

 the insensible portion of the stomach, in contradistinction to the other 

 which constitutes the larger portion, is highly vascular and has been 

 called the sensible part of this organ. It is in the cuticular or insensible 

 part of the stomach that Bots are pretty uniformly found stickin«, but 

 1 have occasionally met with them clinging to the vascular or sensi- 

 ble portion The striking difference which exists in the structure and 

 appearance of these distinct portions of the stomach, clearly implies 

 a difference in their functions also. But, what the functions are, 

 Vvbich the different portions respectively exercise, has by no means 



4F 



