146 A Manual of Veterinary Physiology. 



always found filled with ingesta, the contents are more 

 solid, the material lies a considerable time in them, and 

 there are no juices other than the succus entericus poured 

 into the bowel. These are points exactl} r opposed to what 

 we have found in the small intestines. 



The bowels which we speak of as the large intestines are 

 the caecum, double and single colon, and the rectum. 



The Caecum has been described by Ellenberger as a second 

 stomach ; its enormous capacity, fantastic shape, etc., have 

 always rendered it an intestine of considerable interest. To 

 my mind its most remarkable feature is that it is a bag, the 

 opening into and out of which are both found at the upper 

 part, close together, the exit, strange to say, being above 

 the entrance, so that the contents have to work against 

 gravity in order to obtain an entry into the next intestine, 

 the double colon. The contents of the caecum are always 

 fluid, sometimes quite watery, occasionally of the colour 

 and consistence of pea-soup, in which condition they are 

 full of gas bubbles. When watery the fluid is generally 

 brown in colour, with particles of ingesta floating about in 

 it. The reaction of the contents is always alkaline ; Colin, 

 Ellenberger, and I all agree on this point.* 



My own view of the function of the caecum is that it is 

 certainly not a second stomach so far as food is concerned ; 

 it is, however, most admirably arranged as a receptacle for 

 fluids, and though undoubtedly absorption occurs from it, 

 and digestion of cellulose occurs in it, yet I believe its chief 

 function is the storing up of water for the wants of the body 

 and the digestive requirements, for it is absolutely certain 

 that digestion in the horse can only be properly carried 

 out when the contents are kept in a fairly fluid condition. 

 I do not say that the caecum produces no digestive changes 

 in the food, especially in the face of Ellenberger's and 

 Hofmeister's experiments, who hold that the digestion in 

 the caecum is an important one, but I consider its digestive 

 functions subordinate to its water-holding one. 



Ellenberger views the caecum as a bowel for the digestion 



* I ouce foun 1 the ca c im acid. 



