596 FUNCTIONS OF ANIMALS. 



Weight lost. 



17 parts raw beef, .Do. 10 parts. 



Do. roast beef, . Do. All dissolved. 



Do. raw cod, . Do. 14 parts. 



Do. boiled cod, . Do. All dissolved. 



Do. roast beef, . . Do. 



Do. roast mutton, . . Do. 



Do. roast fowl, . .11 parts. 



We see from these trials that in the dog's stomach old meat is 

 more easily digested than that of young animals, and that roast- 

 ed or boiled meat and fish are more easily digested than when 

 in a raw state. 



II. The Sheep. 



Raw beef, . 6 hours. Unchanged. 

 Raw salmon. . Do. Unchanged. 



Raw radish, . ] Do. All dissolved. 



Raw potato, . 1 Do. All dissolved. 



When the experiments were repeated with the same articles 

 boiled, the result was the same. 



III. The Ox. 



Beef, . 10 hours. Unchanged. 

 Fish, . Do. Unchanged. 



Hay, . Do. All dissolved. 



Cabbage, -T * Do. All dissolved. 



Similar experiments were made by Reaumur and Spallanzani ; 

 but it is unnecessary to state them, because the results were 

 nearly the same. 



It will now be proper to describe somewhat in detail the phe- 

 nomena which take place in the stomach during digestion. This 

 cannot be done better than by stating the observations made by 

 Dr Prout on the subject* 



1. Digestion in the Rabbit. A rabbit, which had been kept 

 from food for twelve hours, was fed upon a mixture of bran and 

 oats. About two hours afterwards it was killed, and examined 

 immediately while still warm. The stomach was moderately dis- 

 tended with a pulpy mass, which consisted of the food in a minute 

 state of division, and so intimately mixed, that the different ar- 

 ticles of which it was composed could be barely recognized. 

 The digestive process, however, did not appear to have taken 



* Annals of Philosophy, (1st series), xiii. 13. 



