i88 CHILDHOOD OF ANIMALS 



In man and the apes the stomach is also very small in proportion 

 to the capacity of the intestines, although not so small as in the 

 horse and rhinoceros. The milk forms a very loose curd, broken 

 up into small soft lumps, when it is acted on by the digestive juices, 

 and remains rather longer in the stomach than in the case of the 

 horse, but not so long as in the calf, and the work of digestion is 

 shared rather equally by stomach and intestines. 



In the carnivores the total capacity of the digestive tract is 

 small, but the stomach, just as in the calf, is more than twice as 

 capacious as the intestines. The milk forms a very dense and solid 

 curd, which, also as in the calf, cannot possibly pass into the intes- 

 tines until it has been dissolved by the digestive juices. And so 

 it remains for a long time, about five hours, in the stomach, and 

 is nearly ready to be absorbed when it passes into the intestines. 



There is nothing more important in the feeding of all animals, 

 young or old, than not to put fresh food into the stomach until it 

 has passed the last meal into the intestines, and still better until 

 it has had a rest after being emptied. Under natural circumstances, 

 when both the mother and young are healthy, there is little need 

 to attempt to regulate this. The quantity of milk secreted by the 

 mother and the rate at which it is formed supply more or less the 

 right amounts for the wants of the young, and there is a good deal 

 of natural elasticity as to quantities. Few young animals, left to 

 themselves, will take too much milk at a time ; if they happen 

 to do so, they get rid of it by the simple method of throwing it up ; 

 the overloaded stomach, as it churns the milk, cannot press it into 

 the intestines and so forces it back into the mouth. Even when 

 animals are being fed artificially, there is not much danger in giving 

 them too much at a time ; very little observation will show the 

 quantity they can conveniently retain, and they should be allowed 

 to take this, if it be certain that the proper time has elapsed 

 since the last meal. Nature also regulates the intervals between 

 meals rather well. The restless feeling of hunger, which drives an 

 animal to move about until it finds the nipple, starts from the 

 stomach, and under healthy conditions only from a stomach which 

 has been empty for some little time. In artificial feeding, the hours 

 should be carefully fixed. In the case of horses, and the other 

 members of the second group where digestion is chiefly intestinal 

 and the stomach is small, two hours is a proper interval between 

 meals, with a rather longer rest once a day, preferably at night. 

 In the case of man and monkeys, the interval should be from three 



