8 4 



NUTRITION OF FARM ANIMALS 



the feed for the more vigorous action of the intestinal enzyms. 

 Moreover, the setting free of cell contents by the fermentation 

 of the cell walls of vegetable feeds, as well as the liberation of 

 the fat of animal feeds by the solution of the protein of the 

 adipose tissue, render these materials more accessible to the 

 action of the digestive juices. 



120. The small intestine. On leaving the stomach through 

 the pylorus, the feed enters the small intestine, which may briefly 



FIG. 12. Intestines of cattle. (Leisering, Die Rindviehzucht.) 



be described as a long, comparatively narrow tube. Its average 

 length is, according to Colin, about nine times that of the body 

 in the horse, sixteen times in the ox and sheep and eleven times 

 in the hog. It is suspended in the abdominal cavity by a re- 

 flection of the peritoneum called the mesentery, and as shown 

 in Fig. 1 2 is much convoluted. It is commonly subdivided into 

 duodenum, jejunum and ileum. 



121. The coecum. From the small intestine the contents of 

 the digestive tract pass, through the ileo-ccecal valve,, in to the 

 ccecum, which is a diverticulum of the digestive canal, the point 



