304 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



" Animals are characterized as l ruminant 7 that, 

 after chewing their food once and letting it pass into 

 the digestive cavity, bring it back into the mouth for 

 a more complete trituration. The ox, goat, and 

 sheep are ruminants. Instead of only one stomach 

 they have four, that is to say four membranous 

 pouches where the alimentary matter passes from 

 one to another before being converted into a sort of 

 nutritive soup. 



"The first of these pouches is called the paunch. 

 It is a spacious cavity in which the animal accumu- 

 lates the fodder that has been hastily browsed and 

 not thoroughly chewed. Its inside surface is thickly 

 covered with short flat filaments that give it the ap- 

 pearance of coarse velvet. 



"Watch the ox and sheep in the pasture. They 

 crop the grass without stopping, without a moment's 

 rest ; they chew very slightly, very hastily, and then 

 swallow; one mouthful does not wait on another. 

 It is the time for filling the paunch without losing a 

 bite by prolonged chewing. Later, in the hours of 

 repose, there will be leisure for bringing up again 

 the food swallowed and for grinding it to the proper 

 fineness. 



"This receptacle known as the paunch having re- 

 ceived its due supply of fodder, the animal retires to 

 a quiet spot, lies down in a comfortable position, and 

 takes up at its ease, for hours at a time, the work of 

 chewing. This second stage in the preparation of 

 the food under the millstone of the teeth is called 

 rumination. The ox is then seen patiently chewing, 



