272 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY. 



ture some portion of the intestines insinuates itself into it, 

 and there becomes entangled, so that an incurable obstruc- 

 tion is the consequence. In the event of a large aperture, 

 the intestines protrude through it, and by pressing upon the 

 heart totally suppress respiration. This organ performs 

 such an important part in the act of breathing that it may 

 be easily imagined, while the respiration is strong and 

 hurried, it is liable to be ruptured. 



The gullet passes through the diaphragm into the stomach, 

 and in which it terminates. See plate viii. fig. 4, /. 



THE STOMACH. 



PLATE VIII. Fig. 4, and PLATE IX. Fig. 1. 



The stomach is situated in the left side of the belly, 

 resting upon the large intestines. Its anterior or convex 

 part lies upon the diapliragm and the false ribs of the left 

 side ; its posterior or concave part is concealed by the 

 intestines, and its lower surface is invested by the omentum ; 

 attached to its left extremity is the spleen, and its right 

 end is in contact with the left and middle lobes of the liver. 



The stomach may be compared to a pouch or bag, formed 

 for the reception of the food as it passes through the 

 oesophagus. Perhaps no animal, in proportion to its size, 

 has so small a stomach as the horse. The stomach of a 

 middle-sized man, of about twelve stone weight, will con- 

 tain somewhat more than three quarts of water ; whereas 

 that of an ordinary-sized horse, whose bulk and weight 

 exceeds that of the man by eight times, will only contain 

 three gallons, or four times the quantity of the man's. 

 However, we must bear in mind that the stomach, like other 

 hollow muscles, has the property of accommodating itself 

 to the bulk of the matter which it contains. 



