CHAPTER II 



THE DIGESTION OF THE FOOD 



FROM the moment that the food is taken into 

 the mouth up to the time it leaves the body 

 as faeces, it is subjected to a continuous series of 

 changes. The food is first masticated, that is, 

 ground up into small pieces by the teeth, and is then 

 subjected to the action of the various digestive 

 juices which renders the food capable of absorption 

 into the body. 



(i) Mastication. 



Mastication begins at once while the food is being 

 eaten. During this process a number of glands 

 in the mouth pour out saliva which saturates the 

 food and assists the work of mastication. 



Animals such as the horse and pig which have a 

 simple stomach do not remasticate their food as 

 the ruminants do. This latter group of animals 

 have, as is well known, four divisions in the stomach, 

 and the food is at first only chewed sufficiently to 

 allow of it being swallowed. Each mouthful passes 

 to the first two divisions of the stomach — the 



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