Essay on Sheep. 11$ 



^' and these three-eighths composed the half of 

 '' the fluid part of it. 



" According to my experience of the quan- 

 " tity of water taken by sheep, it appears that 

 " their drink can only supply one-half of the 

 " liquid which grass contains more than hay. 

 " It would be dangerous to excite them to drink 

 " a greater quantity of water, because they are 

 " very subject to infiltrations. We must, there- 

 " fore, endeavour to supply them with at least 

 '' a small quantity of fresh food every day, in 

 *' order to correct the bad effects resulting from 

 *' dry meat. 



" The most sensible of these bad efl'ects ap- 

 ** pears in the third stomach, composed in the 

 '^ interior of a great number of membraneous 

 " folds, detached one from another, although 

 '^ it is only from eight to ten inches in circum- 

 *^ fercnce when filled with air. During rumi- 

 *' nation, the food passes from the throat into 

 ^' this third stomach, and spreads amongst all 

 ^' these folds. I have there found it very fre- 

 '' quently parched, and almost withered, in 

 " many sheep which I have dissected. 



" This aliment, after having been ruminated, 

 ** receives, in the third stomach of the sheep, 

 '^ and of other animals that chew the cud, a 

 ♦^ preparation for digestion, which latter take.*? 



