The Anatomy of the horse 59 



appearance of a honey comb. When the stomach is empty 

 this membrane is thrown into loose folds. Several small 

 openings may be noticed through which the gastric juice and 

 pepsine from the glands, situated in the walls of the stomach, 

 enters. These are very important fluids as they assist greatly 

 in digesting the food. The third coat is known as the muscu- 

 lar coat, being made of muscular fibers, situated between the 

 two coats already mentioned. Its action is to give the 

 stomach a churning motion, rolling the food round and mix- 

 ing it with the juices. The opening to the stomach is guarded 

 by a valve which prevents the food from passing back through 

 the gullet. There is also a valve at the opening of the bowels, 

 preventing any coarse, undigested food from entering them. 

 The stomach is held in its place by five large ligaments, and 

 is well supplied by blood vessels and nerves. Digestion of 

 food takes place very quickly in the horse in comparison to 

 other animals. Frequently a change of food or working too 

 soon after eating will interfere with the digestion, thus set- 

 ting up what is known as indigestion. This is a very painful 

 disease in the horse. After the food is acted upon by the 

 juices in the stomach it changes into what is known as chyme, 

 which pass into the bowels. 



6. The Bowels. — They are divided into two parts — the 

 large and small. 



The small bowels are seventy-two feet in length, about one 

 inch in diameter, and are made up of three coats, the same 

 as the stomach. The serous coat on the outside contains 

 small glands which secrete an oily material to lubricate the 

 outside of the bowels, which comes in contact with the inner 

 walls of the belly. This prevents friction when the bowels 

 are being jolted around in the belly. The muscular coat, 

 made up of muscular fibers, is situated between the other 

 two coats, the same as in the stomach ; its action is to con- 

 tract the bowels, giving it motion to carry the food along 

 through them. The mucous coat is a continuation of the 

 mucous coat of the stomach. Along this coat are found small 

 glands known as villi and lacteal ; these absorb the nourish- 

 ment from the food as it passes along through the bowels 

 and pours it into the blood. The small bowels are attached 

 on the upper side to what is known as the mesentery, which 

 is attached above to the back-bone. It can be seen in any 

 of the smaller animals upon examination. About six inches 



