NATURAL HISTORY. 



As to the details of the process, the individual, a Cow, for instance, whilst grazing, nips off the 

 grass between the large cutting teeth in the front of the lower jaw, and the tough pad which replaces 

 in these creatures the similarly situated teeth of the upper jaw. After each mouthful it does not pro- 

 ceed to masticate the food, but swallows it forthwith, and continues thus to graze until it has satisfied 

 its appetite. Seeking a quiet and shaded spot, it then seats itself that it may ruminate, or chew the 

 cud, at leisure. If watched it will be seen that it commences shortly to perform a slight hiccough 

 action, in which some contraction of the flanks is to be noticed. Its mouth, which was previously 

 empty, is found to be full of what it is not difficult to recognise to be coarsely-masticated grass, which 



has been forced up into it ; and 

 this it immediately proceeds to 

 chew between its back or grind- 

 ing teeth, in a slow and con- 

 tinuous manner, moving its 

 lower jaw uniformly from one 

 side to the other from right to 

 left. When this chewing pro- 

 cess has lasted for a time suf- 

 ficient to convert the food into 

 a pulpy state, it is again 

 swallowed, after which another 

 bolus is brought up to undergo 

 a similar operation. And this 

 is repeated at frequent intervals 

 until most of the food swal- 

 lowed has been masticated. 



A complicated stomach is 

 necessary for the operation of 

 this elaborate chewing process, 

 the undisturbed duration of 

 which has led to the word by 

 which it is designated being 

 applied metaphorically to a 

 brooding condition of mind. 

 Thus the poet of the "Night 

 Thoughts " says : 



" As when the traveller, a long day 



past 

 In painful search of what he cannot 



find, 

 At night's approach, content with 



the next cot, 

 There ruminates awhile his labour 



lost." 



This complicated stomach is not identical in all the Euminantia. In the Camels arid the Llamas 

 it presents many points of difference from that of all the other members of the group, and in the 

 Chevrotains it has slight peculiarities of its own. 



This organ, as found in the Ox and it is almost identically the same in the Giraffes, the Ante- 

 lopes, the Sheep, and Deer is seen to be divided into four well-defined compartments, as represented 

 in the accompanying figures. These are known as 



STOMACH OF A RUMINATING ANIMAL: (A) EXTERIOR, (B) INTERIOR. 



1. The Rumen, or Paunch (b\. 



2. The Reticulum, or Honey-comb Bag (c). 



3. The Psalterium, or Manyplies (d). 



4. The Abomasum, or Reed (). 



The paunch (b) is a very capacious receptacle, shaped like a blunted cone bent partly upon 

 itself. Into its broader base opens the oesophagus, or gullet (a), at a spot not far removed from its 



