FEEDING HORSES IN TRAINING. 173 



on the subject, to give a plain statement of the 

 course of the food, as well as also a brief 

 sketch of the process of digestion. The food on , 

 being taken into the mouth is immediately con- 

 veyed by the tongue to the upper or back part; 

 here it is acted upon by the teeth or molars, 

 which grind it down, and by the fluids of the saliva 

 glands, previous to its passing into the pharynx, 

 down the oesophagus, or throat, into the stomach. 

 Here, the food undergoes a further change, in 

 being acted upon by the gastric juice, which forms 

 it into a pulpy solution; this solution, is propel- 

 led by the muscular contraction of the stomach 

 into the intestines. Here, the food again under- 

 goes a further change, by its being mixed with 

 the bile and other fluids of the body; and, 

 by a process wisely ordained by nature, the 

 most nutritious parts of the food are now con- 

 verted into a fluid called chyle. This chyle 

 fluid is taken up by a system of absorbent 

 vessels, called lacteals, and by those vessels it 

 is conveyed into a tube called the thoracic duct, 

 which conveys it along the spine to the left 

 jugular vein, where it mixes with the blood. 

 That^part of the food which remains separated, 

 is acted upon by the muscular powers of the 

 intestines, and propelled forward to the rectum 



