42 Veterinary Elements. 



well in the view and the animal being held fast cannot 

 struggle. Skill in handling animals for various pur- 

 poses is shown by the avoidance of any rough or harsh 

 measures. 



The apparatus for masticating food have been de- 

 scribed, the processes will now be under discussion. 



Mastication is the process of grinding food in the mouth, 

 thus fitting the food for the action of the stomach juices. 

 All grain eating animals need this process to break the 

 envelopes of the grain so that the digestive juices may 

 act; crushing (chopping) the grain renders the work of 

 mastication easier. It has been stated that the muscles 

 of the cheeks, the teeth, tongue, lips, jaws and saliva all 

 have to do with the preparation of the food. The mouth 

 is opened by depressing (lowering) the lower jaw, closed 

 by raising it, the latter action calling for considerable 

 force, hence the reason for the strong muscles forming 

 the cheeks. The jaw motion is sideways in horses, cat- 

 tle and sheep, and is changed from side to side at will. 

 The tongue, lips and cheeks keep the food between the 

 teeth. The food is moistened by the saliva (spittle), a 

 fluid alkaline in reaction, containing a fernient-pf yaUn, 

 which acts on the starch of the food, converting it into 

 sugar. This secretion (saliva) is the result of the work 

 of certain glands, namely, the parotid, a grape-like 

 structure situated just below the ears, with a duct run- 

 ning into the mouth at the fourth molar; submaxillary, 

 smaller glands lying between the jaws, often enlarged in 

 colt Distemper (strangles) and Glanders, the secretion 

 being emptied into the mouth at the barbs just under the 

 point of the tongue; sublinguals, a number of very small 



