34 SPECIAL ACTIONS ON CATTLE AND SHEEP 



chiefly referable to the construction of their alimentary 

 canal, and to their phlegmatic temperament. The stomach 

 of these ruminants is quadrisected, is extensively lined with 

 cuticular mucous membrane, and, as regards its first three 

 divisions, is less vascular, and in function is less chemical 

 and more mechanical than the corresponding portion of the 

 alimentary canal of men, dogs, or horses. The first and 

 third compartments always contain food, often in large 

 quantity. These facts explain why cattle require large doses 

 of all medicines, why considerable quantities of irritant and 

 corrosive poisons can be given them with comparative im- 

 punity, and why purgatives, even in large doses and in 

 solution, are so tardy and uncertain in their effects. Several 

 times a day, for about an hour at a time, in animals of this 

 class, the solid food is returned from the first and second 

 stomachs for more thorough mastication and insalivation. 

 Imperfect or suspended rumination is a cause, as well as 

 a common effect of stomach disorders in cattle. Their 

 kidneys and skin are less easily affected than the corre- 

 sponding organs in horses ; and their dull, phlegmatic dis- 

 position resists the action of both stimulants and tonics. 

 It is a prevalent notion that medicines, when poured slowly 

 down a cow's throat, pass, like the ruminated food, direct 

 to the fourth stomach. But experiments made at slaughter- 

 houses on both cattle and sheep, prove, however, that 

 neither animal can be induced to exert this voluntary 

 effort in behalf of medicines, which in all cases, no matter 

 how slowly they are administered, fall partly into the first 

 and second stomachs, whence they shortly pass onwards 

 through the third and fourth stomachs, especially if given, 

 as they always ought to be, with a considerable quantity of 

 fluid. 



Sheep closely resemble cattle in the way in which they 

 are affected by most medicines ; they usually require about 

 one-fourth of the dose suitable for cattle. This animal is 

 best drenched by being backed into a corner, its head being 

 steadied between the operator's knees, while the medicine is 

 cautiously poured into its mouth. 



On Dogs medicines generally operate much in the same 

 way as on man ; but to this rule there are some remarkable 



