56 



MANUAL OF CATrLE-Bn^EDmO- 



the temperature of the body, of acting upon starch with 

 yery much the same results as boiling dilute acids or alka- 

 lies, viz., converting it into a form ot sugar, L e,, a soluble 

 substance which can easily pass into the circulation. To how 

 great an extent this action takes place is a somewhat dis- 

 puted point, but there seems to be little doubt that it is at 

 least of some consequence, though it by no means completes 

 the digestion of the starch, especially in animals having a 

 simple stomach. Moreover, the saliva, being a very watery 

 secretion, dissolves the soluble matters of the food, and 

 forms, to a certain extent, an aqueous extract of it. 



Rumination.^ — From the mouth, the food, after being 

 fonned into morsels by the tongue, passes through the 



gullet to the stomach- 

 In animals with a simple 

 stomach, the horse or hog, e, g,^ 

 the acts of mastication and in- 

 salivation are performed com- 

 pletely at iirst, but in the ease 

 of animals that chew the cud 

 (ruminants), the food is at first 

 only slightly chewed, and then 

 passes into one of the divisions 

 of their compound stomach. 



The stomach of the niminants 

 consists of four diviaonSy as 

 shown in outline in fig. 2. 



The slightly-chewed masses 

 pass first through the gullet, 

 ^, into the largest division of the stomach, the jpauneh 

 or first stomach, 55, and paitly also into the second stom- 

 ach or Tetimhjmhy c. 



Here they remain for a time, imtil softened by the sa- 



2-<J Ktthn) 



