LECTURE VI 

 THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS 



PART II 



286. The organs of digestion in ruminants, prior to the stomach 

 itself, present few differences from those of the non- ruminants. 

 Certainly, the mouth does contain distinctions ; for whereas that of 

 the horse has incisor teeth in both upper and lower jaws — six in 

 each — cattle and sheep possess them in the lower jaw only, their 

 place in the upper one being taken by a nbro-cartilaginous pad. 

 Canine teeth are also only found in the lower jaw, and they closely 

 resemble incisors in shape ; they are placed close to the corner 

 incisors, there being no interval between canine and incisors as is 

 the case in the horse. The tongue, too, is of a different shape, being 

 short and pointed, and instead of having a smooth surface, it is 

 extremely roughened by little papillae. It is also the prehensile 

 agent. The soft palate, though present, is much less developed than 

 in the horse. When we come to the stomach, however, we encounter 

 wide differences. Cattle and sheep have four stomachs, or, to be 

 more precise, a stomach divided into four compartments. 



The first is the rumen, or paunch (Plate XXIII., Nos. I. and 27., 

 A A A A). 



The second is the reticulum, or honeycomb (Plate XXIII. , C C). 



The third is the omasum, or many plies (Plate XXIII., D D). 



The fourth is the abomasum, or True Digestive Stomach (Plate 

 XXIII. , E E). 



The first, second, and third stomachs are compartments for storing 

 and preparing the food — more particularly the cellulose portions of 

 it — for digestion by the fourth. 



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