16 COMPENDIUM OF THE VETERINxiRY ART. 



are not lined with that insensible membrane 

 which is found in the oesophagus and upper 

 part of the stomach; on the contrary, it is en- 

 dued with a hiQ:h detrree of sensibility, and 

 appears to be more susceptible of irritation than 

 that of most other animals. From this irritability 

 of the intestines it is, that many horses have 

 been destroyed by the administration of strong 

 purgatives, and hence arises the necessity of 

 using these medicines with skill and caution. 



The intestinal tube is not, throughout its 

 whole extent, of a uniform size; that part 

 next the stomach is rather small, and continues 

 for about twenty yards nearly of the same di- 

 ameter; it then becomes very large, but again 

 diminishes before it's termination at the anus. 



Anatomists, in describing the intestinal 

 canal, divide it into two parts, viz. the small 

 and the large intestines ; these are subdivided, 

 the former into duodenum^ jejunum^ and 

 ileum) the latter into ccecuyiij colon, and 

 rectatn. 



All the internal surface of the intestinal tube 

 is covered with a mucous substance, for the 

 purpose of defending it from the action of 

 acrimonious bodies. The various convolutions 

 of the intestines are held together by a luemr 



