286 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JUNB 



through the gullet into the mouth. After a 

 second mastication, the same process is repeated, 

 and so on to the end. 



The condition of food, tlierefore, as to bulk and 

 solidity, is the circumstance ■wliicli determines 

 the closure or opening of the dfiiii- canal, and 

 which, consequently, regulates its passage into 

 the first and second, or third and fourth copart- 

 monts. For example: if a cow be fed on thin, 

 washy diet, needing no re-mastication, it will pass 

 on to the third and fourth. This is the case with 

 a calf; tlie milk, Avhich forms its nourishment, 

 pass.s on to the true digestive stomach, the aper- 

 ture leading to the first, second and third, being 

 contracted from a narrow, undivided tube, which 

 constitutes the demi-canal. 



From tliis fact, I contend that a ruminant has 

 no power, as some persons suppose, to give a cer- 

 tain direction to food and lodge it in any part he 

 chooses. The whole function of digestion is in- 

 voluntary, and is governed ))y that same power 

 which causes the heart to pulsate ; expands the 

 lungs ; secretes bile, panci'eatic juice and urine, 

 without the aid or consent of the individual. 

 We may, however, to a certain extent, increase 

 or decrease these functions ; but their primary 

 operations are uncontrollable by ns, simply be- 

 cause they are involuntary. It is probable, liow- 

 ever, that when the animal is iniljibing a large 

 quantity of water, much of it passes into the 

 first and second copartments ; and the same is 

 true of fluid medicine ; when forced down in a 

 rapid manner, it goes tiie same route, instead of 

 passing, as it should, into the true digestive cav- 

 ity. Remember this, ye who drench cattle. Re- 

 member, also, that medicine must never be given 

 to cattle in the form of a l»all, or bolus, for it is 

 almost sure to break through the pillars of the 

 canal and fall into the paunch, and perhaps do 

 more harm than good ; to say the least, its op- 

 eration will be uncertain. Hence it follows that 

 fluid medicine is best adapted to the diseases of 

 cattle, and such must be poured down the 

 oesophagus in a slow and careful manner. 



Now let us see if we understand the sensible 

 phenomena of rumination ; this will afford the 

 most convincing argument to meet any scepticism 

 that may arise as regards rc-masli(ation. 



The best subjects for demonstrating the com- 

 pound act of mastication and rumination, are 

 animals with long, lean necks, such as the (j'lrnffe, 

 camel, laiiin and drommlary ; but in ordinary cat- 

 tle, not overliurthened with muscle or fat, there 

 is no difli.-ulty ill the way. For example : let a 

 person stand on tlie left side of the animal, in the 

 region of the neck, (supposing the latter to be in 

 the rumhinlmij mood.) He perceives the cud re- 

 ascend tlirough the gullet and re-descena again 

 into the stomach. At the period of re-ascension, 

 place the ear in the region of tlie gullet, and a 

 gurgling sound will be heard, diff"erent from that 

 accompanying re-dcscension. The action has 

 been desoril)e(l as undulating — alternate — cominc 

 and going like ttie motion of a ship ; but this is 

 regulated by tlie respiratory movi'mcnts and dif- 

 ferent attitiidrs of the body. We can, however, 

 at tlie moment of re-ascent, perceive a flank move- 

 ment, deep inspiration, succeeded by raj .id ex- 

 piration, showing conclusively that a powerful 

 nervou.s conenrnnt lurci — involuntary — controls 

 the action of rumination. 



Finally, the cud can be made to ascend or de- 

 scend, in the following manner : we perceive the 

 cud descend, now grasp the gullet firmly, and it 

 I'e-aacends into the mouth. We next perceive 

 the cud ascending ; arrest it by compressing the 

 gullet, and it rapidly descends again into the 

 stomach ; hence the phenomena of re-mastication 

 can readily be demonstrated. 



In view of confining this article to the limits 

 prescrilied by journalists, I now refer the reader 

 to a diagram of the cow's stomach, to be seen at 

 the office of this paper. G. H. Dadd. 



NUTRITIVE aUALITIES OF MILK. 



In the Medical Convention, lately in session at 

 Philadelphia, Dr. N. S. Davis, of Chicago, pre- 

 sented a report on the nutritive qualities of milk, 

 and also on the question ■svhetber there is not 

 some mode )>y which the nutritive constituents of 

 milk can be preserved in their purity and sweet- 

 ness, and furnished to the inhabitants of cities in 

 such quantities as to supersede the present de- 

 fective and often unwholesome modes of supply. 

 The report says that when railroads were opened 

 into the interior of the country, it was said that 

 milk would be furnished to the residents of cities 

 in the purity that it was found on farms, but a 

 sufficient time had elapsed to demonstrate that 

 such is not the case. The conveyance of the milk 

 from the farm to the cars, the transit on the rail- 

 way, and the time lost in its delivery throughout 

 the city, it was clearly shown, had the effect of 

 making it unfit for the nourishment of a child. 

 During the past half century, experiments had 

 been made with a view of preserving milk in its 

 pure state ; yet it was but recently that a dis- 

 covery had been made, by a gentleman in New 

 York, which was to evajiorate the water and mix 

 with it white sugar, which rendered it what is 

 termed solidified milk. In his practice he had 

 used this improved milk for the nourishment of 

 infants with the most gratifying results, and after 

 having kept it for three months ; and he knew of 

 its having been kept twelve months without any 

 injury to its qualities. 



The Course of Trade. — According to the hou- 

 isville Journal, that city is entirely run round by 

 the recently constructed railroads through Ohio 

 and Indiana. The course of travel and trade baa 

 left the Ohio river, and all the important cities — 

 Cincinnati not excepted — are suffering in conse- 

 quence ; while inland cities, which a few years 

 since had nothing but a sleepy future in prospect, 

 have suddenly awakened to life and energy. The 

 Journal says : 



"We know of no other city in all this vast 

 Union that is just now suffering so much injury 

 from the effects of the superior enterprise of 

 other communities as Louisville. The construc- 

 tion of numerous railways in every direction, 

 Ne)rth, East and West, while none have been 

 built South, lias had the effect to divert both 

 travel and trade from her, and no effort worthy 

 of respect has been made to counteract this ten- 

 dency. Cincinnati has also been a su fferer from 

 the injurious influences of the network of rail- 



