STRUCTURE AND OFFICE OF THE STOMACH. if 



below the oesophagus. These conld not have been formed 

 at the time of eating, since in seven days the action of the 

 stomach would have destroyed their shape. They must 

 therefore have acquired it by the animal chewing the cud. 



This second class of ruminants have no cuticular lining Their dlSer- 

 to their stoniai-hs, which may arise from their being more ^nce from the 

 cautious feeders than the others, so that they are not liable ^'"^ ruminant, 

 to receive into the stomach any thing which can injure its 

 internal membrane. All that portion of the stomach, which 

 corresponds with the first cavity in the true ruminant, has 

 one uniform structure, and is covered with a viscid mucus, 

 but beyond this there are orifices, which I believe belong to 

 solvent glands of a very small size; and toward the pylorus, ' 



the glandular appearance is of a different kind; so that ia 

 these stomachs the changes the food goes through correspond 

 very closely with those it undergoes in ruminants. 



The next order of animals with respect to digestion con- Beaver an^ 

 slsts of the beaver and dormouse. These, both in the shape ^o^ouse. 

 and general appearance of the stomach, as well as of the 

 teeth, bear a close affinity to the hare; but they have a glan- 

 dular structure peculiar to them, which seems to correspond 

 ■with the solvent glands of other animals; and as the dor- 

 mouse empties its stomach completely, there is reason to be- 

 lieve, that the beaver does so hkewise, and that neither of 

 them ruminates, since the regurgitation of the food would be Probably do 

 attended with difficulty from the situation of these glandular ^^^ ruminate. 

 structures; and it is probable, as they do not ruminate, 

 the increased secretion of a solvent liquor renders it unne* 

 cessary. 



The changes the food undergoes in these stomachs are Link between 

 only two; it is acted upon by the secretion from the solvent and^camiw!"^ 

 glands, and afterward converted into chyle by the secretion rous. 

 of those near the pylorus. This is a less complex process 

 than in many of the stomachs not yet taken notice of, and 

 is exactly similar to what takes place in carnivorous animals ; 

 it may therefore be considered as a connecting link between 

 the ruminating and carnivorous stomachs. 



After these, which form a regular series from the rumi- Water rat. 

 pants, aie the stomachs with cuticular reservoirs, in which 



the 



