56 Veterinary Elements. 



of the secretions employed, especially so in the horse, 

 through whose stomach a great deal of the food often 

 passes in an undigested state. So far the secretions men- 

 tioned have acted upon the more valuable parts of the 

 foods and rendered them capable of being absorbed, yet 

 the food of farm animals often contains a lot of fibre 

 (cellulose) to dispose of which nature has provided ways 

 according to the animal. 



The blind gut (coecum) the first part of the large intes- 

 tines, assists in the disposal of the cellulose, in ruminants 

 the coecum is not as large as in the horse, the needs are 

 not so pressing owing to the work done in the large paunch. 

 The coecum is very small in man and the dog, as would 

 be expected from the nature of their food. In the horse 

 its structure resembles that of the small intestine, pos- 

 sessing as it does glands and follicles. Its action is alka- 

 line, normally, so that it is quite probable that consider- 

 able intestinal digestion takes place there (Smith); it is 

 likely the place where cellulose is digested. As may be 

 observed by any one, the poorer the food, the greater 

 the belly development, generally termed paunchy ; 

 this condition is doubtless due to the fact that the poor 

 quality of food has caused the use of much of the cellu- 

 lose, consequently the coecum has been developed to 

 meet the necessity and as a result an enlarged abdomen ; 

 the feeding of such bulky or woody food is very undesir- 

 able in the horse, resulting as it often does in Heaves. 



Before proceeding to the subject of Absorption, a large 

 ductless gland, the milt or spleen calls our attention. It 

 is a soft reddish sickle shaped organ lying on the great 

 curvature of the stomach ; is very elastic, therefore 



