246 THE VETERINARY SCIENCE. 



TIlC Bowels, or intestines, of the ox are divided Into large and 

 imall bowels,^ same as that of the horse, the structure and action 

 of them resemble those of the horse. The small bowels are only 

 half the size of those of the horse, they being about one-half inch 

 in diameter, and about 150 feet In length. The large bowels are 

 not nearly so large as those of the horse, and are 86 feet in 

 length. 



The Liver of the ox resembles that of the horse only it has a 

 gall bladder which resembles a pear in shape and it acts as a 

 vessel to store up the gall during the time there is no digestion 

 going on. But during the time digestion is going on the walls of 

 the vessel contracts and forces the gall down on to the food. The 

 other two glands, the pancreas and spleen resemble those of the 

 horse. These juices have the same action in cattle as they have 

 in the horse. 



HOW RUMINATION OR CHEWING OF THE CUD IS PERFORMED IN THE OX. 



The ox takes the food into its mouth principally with its 

 tongue, it is then roughly chewed and swallowed and passes into 

 the rumen or paunch where it is rolled about by the action of the 

 walls of the paunch and mixed with the juices which are secreted 

 in the paunch. After the animal has finished eating, it then, as a 

 general thing, lays down (but may stand up) and commence chewing 

 its cud, the way this is performed is, the walls of the rumen con- 

 tracts and forces the food up into the bottom part of the 

 oesophagus, which then takes on a reverse action and forces the 

 food up into the mouth where the food is all thoroughly chewed 

 over again, and in swallowing it this time the end of the 

 oesophagus, instead of opening out and allowing the food to drop 

 into the paunch, keeps closed and passes the food right into the 

 second stomach, thus you see the ox first roughly swallows its food 

 and is held in the paunch until the animal has time to bring it back 

 to the mouth and chew it over again. After it enters into the 

 second stomach or reticulum, which is the honey comb part, the 

 food is shifted around for a short time and mixed with the juices 

 secreted in that part, then it passes back into the manyplies or 

 third division of the stomach where the fine parts of the food pass 

 right along to the abomasum or fourth stomach, while the coarser 

 parts of food are drawn between the folds of membrane in the 

 third stomach, here it is worked about between the folds until it is 

 fine and ready to pass into the fourth stomach, where it becomes 



