138 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FARM. 



very broad and high. The palate-bones form the posterior 

 part of the palate, and assist in forming the communication 

 between the nose and the posterior part of the mouth. At 

 the posterior part of the mouth their palate-plates hardly meet 

 in the mesial line. 



The lining of the roof of the mouth is a dense fibrous 

 structure covered with mucous membrane. The veil of the 

 palate is, as in most animals but man, destitute of uvula. 



Tongue. The tongue in the sheep does not offer anything 

 very different from the tongue in the ox. It is similarly com- 

 posed of muscular parts, some of which terminate within the 

 organ, others extend to adjacent parts. It has similar papillee 

 on the surface of its investing mucous membrane. The sheep 

 does not use the tongue so much as the ox in seizing the tuft 

 of grass. The hyoid bone, or bone of the tongue, has a like 

 position and a like use as in the ox (p. 87). 



Salivary Glands. The salivary glands are large, as in the 

 ox : they bear the same names, have the like structure, and 

 hold the same anatomical relations. The buccal and labial 

 glands are large in the sheep, as in ruminants generally in 

 particular the posterior buccal glands, which are situated in 

 the substance of the buccinator muscle, united with each other 

 into several considerable masses, communicate with the mouth 

 by several rather long ducts. The amygdalse are of consider- 

 able size, with ducts putting on the appearance of papillae at 

 their openings into the mouth. 



The secretion of the salivary glands in the sheep is proved 

 to correspond in its general chemical character with the saliva 

 of the ox and the horse. Sulphocyanide of potassium and 

 ptyalin have been detected in the sheep's saliva as in that of 

 other mammals. It must be confessed, however, that the saliva 

 in the sheep has not drawn so much attention as that of the 

 horse and dog. 



