272 
MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY. 
ture some portion of the intestines insinuates itself into it, 
and there becomes entangled, so that an incurable obstruc¬ 
tion is the consequence. In the event of a large aperture, 
the intestines protTude through it, and by pressing upon the 
heart totally suppress respiration. This organ performs 
such an important part in the act of breathing that it may 
be easily imagined, while the respiration is strong and 
hurried, it is liable to be ruptured. 
The gullet passes through the diaphragm into the stomach, 
and in which it terminates. See plate viii. fig. 4. /. 
THE STOMACH. 
PLATE VIII. Fig. 4, and PLATE IX. Fig. 1. 
The stomach is situated in the left side of the belly, 
resting upon the large intestines. Its anterior or convex 
part lies upon the diaphragm and the false ribs of the left 
side ; its posterior or concave part is concealed by the 
intestines, and its lower surface is invested by the omentum ; 
attached to its left extremity is the spleen, and its right 
end is in contact with the left and middle lobes of the liver. 
The stomach may be compared to a pouch or bag, formed 
for the reception of the food as it passes through the 
oesophagus. Perhaps no animal, in proportion to its size, 
has so small a stomach as the horse. The stomach of a 
middle-sized man, of about twelve stone weight, will con¬ 
tain somewhat more than three quarts of water; whereas 
that of an ordinary-sized horse, whose bulk and weight 
exceeds that of the man by eight times, will only contain 
three gallons, or four times the quantity of the man's. 
However, we must bear in mind that the stomach, like other 
hollow muscles, has the property of accommodating itself 
to the bulk of the matter which it contains. 
