HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 217 



time and opportunity for the full digestion of 

 the starch. 



383. Digestion is further favored in these 

 animals by the chewing of the cud, by means 

 of which the solid portions are returned to 

 the mouth, morsel by morsel, to be leisurely 

 ground down and again saturated with saliva. 

 Digestion is more thoroughly accomplished in 

 the third stomach, in which the food is 

 ground to the finest pulp between the one 

 hundred folds, large and small, which fill its 

 interior. 



384. This thorough breaking up or com- 

 minution prepares the food for the easy digestion 

 of its nitrogenous principles in the fourth stom- 

 ach. The removal of the starch renders even 

 the finest particles of food more porous, and 

 permits the prompt and speedy action of the 

 stomach juices on its whole substance. 



385. For some time after birth, the salivary 

 glands produce little saliva, and still less ptya- 

 lin. This is in keeping with the exclusive milk 

 diet, in which there is no starch to be acted 

 upon. For this reason, any starchy food in the 

 early days of life is out of place; for, as it 

 cannot be changed into sugar, nor absorbed 

 until it has passed through the stomach and 

 reached the intestine, it is liable to ferment 

 and to form irritant products, and indigestion. 



