316 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



and soft enough for bacterial action, the material passes 

 down the gullet to the proventriculus, where the acid reaction 

 checks hacterial action. Inunediately after i;)assing from the 

 gizzard to the intestine the reaction becomes so alkaline as 

 possibly to inhibit their development. The time s])ent in the 

 short rectum, which corresponds to the large intestine in 

 larger animals, is so limited and the uric acid from the kidneys 

 so ])lentiful that bacterial growth is again inhibited. 



Besides its digestive function, the small intestine also 

 acts as an organ of absorption, as does also the rectum to a 

 certain degree, taking in the soluble nutrients and inorganic 

 salts. 



Ceca. — At the juncture of the intestine and the rectum are 

 two blind pouches, given oft' from either side, called ceca. 

 These are usually four to six inches in length, and more or 

 less completely filled with fecal matter. Their function, if 

 other than absorption, is not understood. 



Rectum. — The rectum terminates the digestive canal, 

 being a short and somewhat enlarged continuation of the 

 intestine. It is terminated by the cloaca, a chamber common 

 to the digestive and genito-urinary passages, and which 

 opens externally at the anus. One marked function of the 

 rectum is the absorption of water from the urine, as it is 

 delivered from the kidneys by the ureters. The urine appears 

 with the feces normally as a white paste. It leaves the 

 kidneys in a highly liquid state. The only possible conclusion 

 from this and other evidence seems to be that the water is 

 reabsorbed by the rectum, to be used further in the economy 

 of the body, travelling as it were In a sort of vicious circle. 

 Weiner, as quoted by Sharpe,' noted that when an arti- 

 ficial anus was provided so that there was no chance for 

 water to be absorbed by the rectum, hens drank abnormally 

 large amounts of water. Pohlman- notes that until ]iiilmo- 

 nary breathing starts the nuiscles of the chick embryo contain 

 a very large amount of water. This decreases rapidl>- after 

 hatching which he interprets as meaning that most of the 

 water in birds is excreted by the lungs. 



■ Sharpe, American Journal of Physiology, vol. xxxi, No. 11. 

 ^ Anatomical Record, vol. xvii, No. 2. 



