62 THE DISEASES AND DISORDERS OF THE OX. 



canal in the horse containing a considerable amount of food which 

 is liable to undergo fermentation. In the ox, on the other hand, 

 as also in the sheep, we often meet with distension of the first 

 stomach, or rumen, a condition known as '* hoven," which like- 

 wise arises from the disengagement of gas. Whereas, then, in 

 the case of the horse it is in the large intestines that this 

 affection occurs, in the case of ruminating animals it is in the 

 rumen, or paunch. Again, whereas inflammation of the bowels 

 may not uncommonly bring about a fatal issue in the horse in 

 the course of a few hours, the same afl"ection may be continued 

 for as long as a fortnight in the case of an ox before death 

 supervenes. Similarly, many other inflammatory afi'ections kill 

 the horse within a few hours, whereas they may be protracted 

 for days or even weeks in oxen. 



Again, ruminants are possessed of powerful tongues, by means 

 of which they can take into the mouth long and thick tufts of 

 grass. The tongue of the ox is rough, and studded with 

 papillae, which are directed backwards. The upper lip is short 

 and thick, and the incisor teeth, situated in the front of the 

 lower jaw, are used for cutting the food pressed against the pad. 

 The herbage is then slightly masticated by means of a few 

 strokes of the molar teeth, mixed with the saliva and other 

 secretions of the mouth, then swallowed and passed down the 

 oesophagus into the rumen, or paunch, in which stomach it is 

 tossed about a little and to some extent mixed with the fluid 

 secreted by the glands contained in the walls thereof. We 

 may here state that some of the water which is drunk passes 

 into the rumen. Some of the food is conveyed from the rumen 

 through the valvular opening into the reticulum, in which 

 stomach it is mixed with mucous fluid. The finer part of the 

 pabulum is then passed to the third compartment, or manyplies, 

 while the larger portions of the food are at a convenient time 

 regurgitated into the mouth in order that they may be masti- 

 cated over again at the animal's leisure. In the process of 

 chewing the cud the camel moves its jaws laterally from left to 

 right and from right to left, whereas the ox gives a rotatory 

 movement. 



Regurgitation is eff'ected by means of the muscular contrac- 

 tion of the walls of the reticulum, the relaxation of the oesopha- 

 geal pillars, and the anti-peristaltic action of the oesophageal walls. 



