156 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FARM. 



abridged view of the elaborate statement of Flourens as to the 

 process of rumination in the sheep. 



The end served by all this complex process is doubtless the 

 more complete subjection of the aliment to the effect of masti- 

 cation and in salivation, and, finally, to the influence of the 

 secretions of the several layers of membranous tissue, the 

 chief of which is the gastric juice finally supplied by the fourth 

 stomach, or red. From the fourth stomach the chyme there 

 formed is transmitted into the upper part of the small intes- 

 tines or duodenum. 



Intestines of the Sheep. The intestines of the sheep, as 

 already noticed (p. 5), are of extreme length. The duodenum is 

 large, and forms a kind of pouch ; the colon and caecum are of 

 moderate size ; the colon is uniform on its surface, and has no 

 ligaments tacking it up into cells. A great part of the intes- 

 tines form concentric turns without showing much difference 

 in respect to size. At the commencement of the colon its 

 diameter is about five times greater than that of the small 

 intestines ; but, finally, its diameter hardly exceeds that of the 

 small intestine. The caecum is simple, of considerable length, 

 terminating in a blunt point. It has no cells ; it is much 

 greater in diameter than the adjoining part of the small in- 

 testine, having a diameter equal to that of the colon. The 

 capacity of the caecum is very much the same as that of the 

 fourth stomach, which it somewhat exceeds in length. 



The small intestine undergoes a great number of circumvo- 

 lutions, and is held in its place by a very short mesentery. It 

 is not of great diameter, and is remarkable for the thinness of 

 its coats. The internal or mucous coat is not so strikingly 

 villous, except in the lower or posterior part of its course. 



The great intestine is first directed forwards in the form of 

 a considerable arch, it then passes backwards, where it un- 

 dergoes the sensible diminution of diameter just referred to, 



