50 Veterinary Elements. 



starch into sugar, thus duplicating the work of the saliva; 

 it is, however much stronger than ptyalin (the active 

 principle of saliva). The action of the second is simi- 

 lar to that of pepsin (the active agent in gastric juice), 

 differing only that while pepsin needs an acid medium 

 to work in, this ferment, trypsin, requires an alkaline 

 medium. Pancreatic rennet is more active than that of 

 the stomach; boiling, however, destroys the power of the 

 ferment. The secretion of pancreatic juice is constant 

 in the animals being dealt with (herbivora), and is at its 

 maximum towards the end of rumination. In addition to 

 to the secretions mentioned, is that of certain glands 

 (Lieberkuhn and Brunner) of the intestines, known as 

 intestinal juice (succus entericus), which has an action 

 similar to the pancreatic juice. It is readily seen that 

 intestinal digestion is very important, owing to the com- 

 plex nature of the secretions employed, especially so in 

 the horse, through whose stomach a great deal of the 

 food often passes in an undigested state. So far the 

 secretions mentioned have acted upon the more valuable 

 parts of the foods and rendered them capable of being 

 absorbed, yet the food of farm animals often contains a 

 lot of fibre (cellulose) to dispose of which nature has 

 provided ways according to the animal. 



The blind gut (coecum) the first part of the large intes- 

 tines, assists in the disposal of the cellulose, in ruminants 

 the coecum is not as large as in the horse, the needs are 

 notso pressing owing to the work done in the large paunch. 

 The coecum is very small in man and the dog, as would 

 be expected from the nature of their food. In the horse 

 its structure resembles that of the small intestine, pos- 



