CHAPTER VII. 



DIGESTION. 



Prehension of Food. — The horse carries the food into the 

 mouth by means of his lips, which are highly endowed 

 with nerves and extremely muscular, the upper being the 

 stronger of the two. When grazing, the fodder is first 

 bitten off by means of the incisor teeth, and then carried 

 into the mouth by the lips. The upper lip of the horse 

 being solid he cannot bite close to the ground, and it is a 

 matter of common remark that he starves where sheep 

 thrive. 



The extreme delicacy of touch with which the lips arc 

 endowed serves a highly beneficial purpose ; the long hairs 

 growing from the muzzle are all in contact with nerve- 

 endings in the skin. 



In the choice or rejection of food the horse is mainlv 

 guided by the sense of smell. When grazing, the animal 

 invariably extends and flexes one fore-leg to enable it 

 to reach the ground, which, owing either to the shortness 

 of neck or the length of leg, it is unable to reach other- 

 wise. 



In the ox the tongue is the organ of prehension ; it is 

 protruded and passed round the blades of grass, which are 

 nipped oil' between the incisor teeth and the dental pad. 



The food having been carried into the mouth, is passed 

 between the teeth by means of the tongue. A considerable 

 anatomical difference exists between the tongue of the horse 

 and that of the ox, the most remarkable, perhaps, being the 

 smoothness of the one and the extreme roughness of the 



