504 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



cons or villous coat of the stomach are a series 

 of minute glands, which secrete what is de- 

 nomiuated the gastric jnice or fluid, and 

 •which, among other matters, contains a qnaii- 

 tiiy of pure in'(cnf;, in combination with a 

 small quantity of free hydrochloric or mnri- 

 a/.ic acid (called in common language spirits 

 of salts), with a i)eculiai' principle known to 

 chemists under the ap{)ellation of pepsin, and 

 which has been affinned by Dr. Sylvester, of 

 Clapharn, to be in itself a most active and 

 virulent poison, but whose noxious properties 

 are chemically neutralized in the stomach and 

 intestines during the function of digestion. 



I have stated that hydrochloric acid is al- 

 ways present in the stomach, and particularly 

 so during the digestive process : for the dis- 

 covery of this curious but important chemical 

 fact, we are indebted ec(UHlly to AL Tiedmann 

 Gmelin (of Germany) and Dr. Prout, of Lon- 

 don. This acid may be artifici;illy obtained 

 by the decomposition of chloride of sodium, 

 or common tabic salt (which is only a combi- 

 nation of pure muriatic acid and soda) ; the 

 acid is of great sei-vice in promotmg the func- 

 tion of digestion in the stomach, while the 

 soda, as an alkali, copiously enters into the 

 Ibrmation of bile. Thus it is that a certain 

 proportion of salt is necessaiy to digestion in 

 every species of animals, at least as far as our 

 knowledge extends in tlie classes of quadiii- 

 peds and birds ; and, although Chemistry tells 

 us that it is an essential ingredient hi the burnt 

 ashes of all vegetables, yet we very rarely find 

 it existing in a sufficient quantity to foim a 

 regular supply of either the acid or soda 

 which is required for the due performance of 

 the function of healthy digestion ; and, there- 

 fore, not only should we ourselves partake of 

 a certain quantity daily with our own food, 

 but should place some within the reach of 

 both birds and cattle under our management 

 in the farms we are connected with. Nature 

 is the philosopher's best monitor, and the sci- 

 entific farmer cannot do better than obey her 

 axioms. We find that all classes of animals 

 have, if I may use the expression, an instinct- 

 ive love for salt, and seek for it as for a por- 

 tion of their diurnal food. It is well known 

 that the j)igcon tribe of birds, if they cannot 

 obtain it elsewhere, will even have recourse 

 to the mortar which cements the bricks of 

 houses together ; they have been frequently 

 known to Hy to the sea-coast in order to pio- 

 cure it ; and jiigeon-fanciers who are not so 

 honest as to mind horrouivg their neighbors' 

 birds, will allure them by moans of what is 

 known as a salt cake, ])laced in or near the 

 dove-cote, wherein nnniate of soda forms an 

 essential ingredient; this nelin-ious practice is 

 now forbidden, vi^ry properly, by an act of 

 Parliament, which awards a punishment of 

 Beven years' transportation u]ion conviction; 

 it however confirms the important physiolog- 

 ical fact I have just noticed. 



In tlie ruminating tribe of tlie class Mnm- 

 malia, as the ox and the sheep, the import- 

 ant process of digestion ditters but little from 



(10241 



that which I have stated, and whose stom- 

 achs are of the simplest constmction, being 

 little else than a mere membraneous bag ; but 

 in the Ruminanfia, we find their stomachs 

 considerably more complicated, in order that 

 they may be enabled to extract the due pro- 

 portion of Jiourislmient which they require 

 from the food which they eat ; as in the case 

 of grass, by way of example, which we find 

 by cliemical investigation contains but veiy 

 little nourishment in proportion to the bulk. 

 Let us now philosophize for a moment, and 

 see the manner in which the ox and those of 

 his class perform the functions of mastication 

 and digestion. In these creatures, the grass 

 is cropped from the surface of the earth by 

 means of the fore-teeth, and after being but 

 very slightly masticated, is swallowed : this 

 process continues until the first stomach is 

 filled,* when the animal lies down apparently 

 well and perfectly contented ; but it is now 

 that the curious process of '•umiuation com- 

 mences. In the first stomach, the food is 

 mixed with a secreted fluid not dissimilar to 

 the saliva, and in a kind of semi-pulpv mass 

 it is returned into the mouth, in small de- 

 tached portions, where perfect mastication 

 takes place, and during this process the an- 

 imal is in a recumbent position ; after the 

 second and perfect mastication is completed, 

 the food passes into the second stomach, de- 

 nominated by comparative anatomists oma- 

 sum ; from this it passes into the third stom- 

 ach, the abomasum ; in these last tw-o, it un- 

 dergoes very important changes, and whence 

 it passes into the fourth or really ti'ue stom- 

 ach. It is in this last portion of" the cu- 

 rious but complicated species of apparatus, 

 that the function of digestion is ultimately and 

 perfectly perfonned ; and the last pi-ocesscs 

 of extracting the luitriment from tlie food 

 are exactly similar to that which I have de- 

 scribed as occurring in man and those an- 

 imals having simple membraneous stomachs. 

 'I'he vital fluid of all animals is commonly de- 

 nominated the blood, in which, as Holy AViit 

 tnily observes, " is life;" this fluid is either 

 foinied from vegetables, as in the Herbivora, 

 or from flesh, as in the Carnivora : yet in 

 both tribes of animals the composition and 

 essential constituents are the same, both in 

 their physical etfects upon the system, and as 

 portrayed by chemical analysis. We find 

 it circulating throughout not only the princi- 

 pal organs in the living animal, but by means 

 of vessels as fine as the human hair : so ex- 

 tremely delicate are they that they will not 

 admit the thicker coloring particles of the 

 blood itself; yet the properties which the 

 blood possesses are most surpiising ; it re- 

 plenishes the fluids and solids which are di- 

 minished by the waste, wear and tear of the 

 body ; it places osseous or bony matter m 

 the skeleton for its gi-owth and su2>port ; 



* Wc fliould licrp otjserve thnt the Lecturer ex- 

 liil^fd drawings of the stomach, as found in both 

 lnl>eB uf uiiiuiuls. 



