THE ANATOMY OF THE HORSE 
59 
appearance of a honey comb. When the stomach is empty 
this membrane is thrown into loose folds. Several small 
openings may be noticed through which the gastric juice and 
pepsine from the glands, situated in the walls of the stomach, 
enters. These are very important fluids as they assist greatly 
in digesting the food. The third coat is known as the muscu- 
lar coat, being made of muscular fibers, situated between the 
two coats already mentioned. Its action is to give the 
stomach a churning motion, rolling the food round and mix- 
ing it with the juices. The opening to the stomach is guarded 
by a valve which prevents the food from passing back through 
the gullet. There is also a valve at the opening of the bowels, 
preventing any coarse, undigested food from entering them. 
The stomach is held in its place by five large ligaments, and 
is well supplied by blood vessels and nerves. Digestion of 
food takes place very quickly in the horse in comparison to 
other animals. Frequently a change of food or working too 
soon after eating will interfere with the digestion, thus set- 
ting up what is known as indigestion. This is a very painful 
disease in the horse. After the food is acted upon by the 
juices in the stomach it changes into what is known as chyme, 
which pass into the bowels. 
6. The Bowels. — They are divided into two parts — the 
large and small. 
The small bowels are seventy-two feet in length, about one 
inch in diameter, and are made up of three coats, the same 
as the stomach. The serous coat on the outside contains 
small glands which sectete an oily material to lubricate the 
outside of the bowels, which comes in contact with the inner 
walls of the belly. This prevents friction when the bowels 
are being jolted around in the belly. The muscular coat, 
made up of muscular fibers, is situated between the other 
two coats, the same as in the stomach ; its action is to con- 
tract the bowels, giving it motion to carry the food along 
through them. The mucous coat is a continuation of the 
mucous coat of the stomach. Along this coat are found small 
glands known as villi and lacteal; these absorb the nourish- 
ment from the food as it passes along through the bowels 
nnd pours it into the blood. The small bowels are attached 
on the upper side to what is known as the mesentery, which 
is attached above to the back-bone. It can be seen in any 
of the smaller animals upon examination. About six inches 
