29 2 HOOFED ANIMALS 



outlet at the other end being the pylorus, i.e., the ' little 

 gate/ which opens into the small intestine. 



But for rumination the stomach is a much more compli- 

 cated structure, large in proportion to the size of the 

 animal, and divided into four distinct compartments. In 

 the accompanying figures is first presented the external 

 appearance of a Ruminant's stomach, and then is shown 

 the same organ in section. Most Ruminants have a 

 hard and almost horny pad in place of incisor teeth in 

 the upper jaw, and the food is only torn, rather than 

 bitten, before it passes through the gullet, marked a, into 



STOMACH OF A RUMINANT. 



the paunch, which is the large division of the stomach, 

 marked 6. 



When the animal, a cow for example, has filled the 

 paunch, or rumen, it lies down and proceeds to chew the 

 cud, each process of which is distinctly easy to follow. A 

 portion of the food enters the second division, marked c, 

 which is called the reticulum, or little net, because it is lined 

 with small cells like network, which the butcher calls the 

 honeycomb. In these cells the food assumes the form of 

 little pellets, which are then ejected and thrown into the 

 mouth to undergo proper mastication, the animal chewing 



