172 ' LECTURE IV. 



among the peculiarities to which I have 

 already referred. 



That digestion, or the solution of the 

 food by the gastric fluids, takes place in 

 some particular district, and not elsewhere, 

 is, Mr. Hunter says, to be inferred, from 

 observing that in fish and serpents, which 

 swallow more prey at once than the stomach 

 can contain, that portion of their food only, 

 which is in the stomach, is dissolved, whilst 

 that which is in the gullet undergoes no 

 such change. Also, from observing that 

 the yolk of the egg, which is conveyed into 

 the intestines of the chicken, ascends into 

 the stomach before it can be digested, Mr. 

 Hunter was fully apprized, that parts of a 

 single stomach might secrete the solvent 

 liquors, and not the whole bag. He ob- 

 serves, that part of the stomach in several 

 animals, is covered by cuticle, like the first, 

 second, and third stomachs of those which 

 ruminate. This occurs in the peccari, hog, 

 rat, and horse. The fact of digestion oc- 

 curring partially in the stomach, he says, 

 is also evident in that of a dog, into which 



