194 



THE VITAL FUNCTIONS. 



either in larger quantity than is immediately 

 wanted, or of a nature which requires much pre- 

 paration previous to digestion. The latter is more 

 particularly the case with the horned ruminant 

 tribes that feed on the leaves or stalks of vege- 

 tables, a kind of food, which, in proportion to its 

 bulk, affords but little nutriment, and requires, 

 therefore, a long chemical process and a compli- 

 cated digestive apparatus, in order to extract from 

 it the scanty nutritious matter it contains, and 

 prepare it for being applied to the uses of the 

 system. This apparatus is usually considered 

 as consisting of four stomachs ; and in order to 

 convey a distinct idea of this kind of structure I 

 have selected for representation, in Fig. 312, that 



of the Sheep, of which the four stomachs are 

 marked by the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, respectively, 

 in the order in which they occur when traced 

 from the oesophagus (c) to the intestine (p). 



