160 AKISTOTLE'S ANHOMCEOMEKIA 



the mouth, the oesophagus extends to the rumen, the inside 

 of which is rough and furrowed. To the rumen is connected, 

 near the part where the oesophagus joins it, the reticuhim, 

 so named from its appearance, for, although it is Hke a 

 stomach on its outer side, it is Hke the meshwork of a net 

 on its inner side ; it is much smaller than the rumen. Next 

 to the reticulum is the psalterium, which is rough and folded 

 on its inner side, and about as long as the reticulum. 

 Finally, there is the abomasum, larger and longer than the 

 psalterium ; there are many delicate folds on the inner sur- 

 face of the abomasum, and the intestine extends from it."* 

 This is one of the best of Aristotle's anatomical descriptions. 

 The four chambers, viz., the rumen, reticulum, psalterium, 

 and abomasum, are called by him the meg ale Koilia, 

 KeJcryphalos, Echinos, and Enystron, respectively. In 

 P. A. iii. c. 14, 6746, he says that these chambers com- 

 pensate for the want of front teeth in the upper jaws of 

 ruminants, and that, during its passage from chamber to 

 chamber in succession, the food is reduced to a pulp. 



Some animals, according to Aristotle, have intestinal 

 caeca, and no animal without front teeth in its upper jaw 

 has an intestine without a caecum. The elephant, he says, 

 has an intestine with its parts so grown together that it 

 seems to have four chambers for its food, and it has no 

 receptacle for food other than these.! 



Not only animals without front teeth in the upper jaw, 

 or ruminants, but many others, e.g., the horse, rabbit, rat, 

 dog, and monkey, have a well-developed caecum. The 

 passage about the elephant is not clear, but it may be 

 mentioned that the elephant has a large caecum and, 

 according to Owen, its duodenum is very much con- 

 voluted. 



Aristotle knew that some birds have a crop, for he 

 specially notes its presence in the domestic fowl, dove, 

 wood pigeon, and partridge, and says that it is a large 

 receptacle of skin in which the food is first received but 

 not digested.! 



The proventriculus or glandular stomach of birds was 

 known to Aristotle, but he considered it to be merely a 

 storage chamber for food before being comminuted. § In 

 H.A. ii. c. 12, s. 15, he refers to the proventriculus in the 



* H. A. ii. c. 12, ss. 5 and 6. \ Ibid. ii. c. 12, s. 8. 



I Ibid. ii. c. 12, s. 14. § P. A. iii. c. 14, 674&. 



