86 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FAKM. 



as well as into the mouth. The extent of its connections is 

 apparent in fig. 7. The palate-bones, as in the horse, form 

 but a small part of the roof of the mouth. These bones are 

 placed at the back part of the palate, and surround the edge 

 of the communication between the back parts of the mouth and 

 the nose. 



Palate. The lining of the roof of the mouth is composed of 

 a dense substance, covered with mucous membrane, well known 

 at table as the ox palate. It does not form the prominent 

 ridges termed bars in the horse. The veil of the palate occupies 

 the back part of the mouth. It extends from the crescentic 

 margin of the palatine bones to the fibro-cartilaginous body 

 covering the orifice of the larynx termed epiglottis. This veil 

 of the palate (velum palati) forms a curtain between the cavity 

 of the mouth and the cavities of the nose, by no means so 

 close, however, as in the horse. It differs from the veil of the 

 palate in the human body, chiefly in the absence of the uvula. 

 The veil gives passage to the masticated food backwards to 

 the pharynx, and permits the alimentary mass, after the first 

 steps in digestion, to return to the mouth for rumination. 

 This veil is composed of mucous membrane enclosing mus- 

 cular fibres. 



Tongue. The tongue occupies the floor of the mouth. It 

 lies between the nearly parallel sides of the lower jaw, and 

 thus has the chief share in filling up the void between these. 

 The surface of the tongue, wherever it is free that is, not 

 adherent to adjacent parts is covered by mucous membrane. 

 The substance of the tongue is muscular. Of the muscles which 

 compose the organ, some are confined within its own limits, 

 while others extend to adjacent parts. In the ox, the tongue 

 is covered with a firm membrane, forming innumerable pointed 

 papillae directed towards the throat. These, like so many 

 tenter-hooks, assist in laying hold of the grass and other kinds 



