353 
ON THE 
CEREBRO-VISCERAE 
NERVE. 
enters the stomach, and the power of the muscular fibres at 
the base of the oesophagus or in the parietes of the stomach to 
diminish or obliterate the canal. 
It forces the Food from the Cuticular Division of the Stomach. 
—The left portion of the stomach of the horse,—the lesser curva¬ 
ture,—is lined by a cuticular coat. No gastric juice is secreted 
there ; but the food is detained as in a kind of reservoir, and 
undergoes a process of maceration, by which it is better prepared 
for the action of the true solvent fluid. It is by the contraction 
of the circular and longitudinal fibres of the muscular coat of 
this part of the viscus, that the food, as soon as it is thus pre¬ 
pared, is forced out of the reservoir into the real digestive stomach, 
and the cerebro-visceral nerve is the agent in producing this 
contraction. 
Keeps it in contact with the Mucous Coat ,—When the food 
is brought into the larger curvature, be it in a greater or less 
quantity, all the muscular fibres contract, and keep it in approxi¬ 
mation with the mucous coat, and consequently in contact with 
and imbibing the gastric juice ; and that as perfectly when it is 
nearly empty, as when distended to the utmost. 
Exposes every Portion of it to the Action of the Gastric Juice . 
—The separate parts of the muscular coat have the power of suc¬ 
cessively contracting and relaxing ; and thus, in the language of 
Dr. Bostock, in his invaluable tc System of Physiology,” and 
which should find a place in every veterinary as well as medical 
student’s library, “ the successive contraction of each part of 
the stomach, by producing a series of folds and wrinkles, serves 
to agitate the alimentary mass, and, by bringing every part of it 
in its turn to the surface, to expose it to the influence of the 
gastric juice; while, at the same time, the whole of the contents 
are gradually propelled forwards from the orifice which is con¬ 
nected with the oesophagus, to that by which they are dis¬ 
charged.” 
Office of the Pylorus. —Last of all, the food, more or less dis¬ 
solved, reaches the pyloric orifice, which is furnished not only 
with a valvular fold, but with a sphincter muscle, in order to 
resist, when occasion requires, this onward pressure, and to 
return the alimentary mass until the chymification is complete. 
The mechanism of this outlet is not perfect, nor its function 
thoroughly performed in the horse; for his stomach, compared 
with his size, is strangely small. It was designedly made so, 
that it might not press too much on the diaphragm, or painfully 
or fatally interfere with the process of respiration, when his 
utmost energies were occasionally taxed immediately after he had 
been fed. The food, therefore, remains in his stomach but a 
