334 ON THE SENSIBLE PHENOMENA OF RUMINATION. 
In all ruminants these operations may be demonstrated, 
though it is most apparent in such as are in lean condition and 
have long necks, such as the lama, the giraffe, and the camel; 
and, owing to the course of the esophagus, it is more conspicuous 
on the left than on the right side of the neck, though it may 
likewise be seen on the latter: in the dromedary it is even 
more visible in the lower part of the neck, along the median 
line. 
Many authors have asserted that there takes place an elong¬ 
ation of the neck; that it becomes stretched out, and the head 
protruded forward, at the time that the aliment is passing out of 
the rumen into the esophagus. These conditions, however, are 
by no means constant, nor are they essential, since, if the neck 
be flexed either to the left or to the right at the time of rumi¬ 
nation, the phenomenon continues uninterruptedly, the aliments 
uniformly ascending and descending. This M. Colin has not 
noticed. 
But he was desirous of determining the quantity of alimentary 
matter collected in the mouth: with which intention he forciblv 
7 J 
applied his hands upon each side of the jugular furrow in the 
neck, so as sharply to compress the esophagus, while, at the 
same time, he had the mouth opened, and thus obtained a soft 
mass weighing from three to four ounces. He likewise informs 
us, that the rejected cud was not always a globular mass con¬ 
sisting of solid matters exclusively; for oftentimes, cast up with 
the solids were parcels of herbaceous matters, along with a 
goodly proportion of fluid. From this M. Colin makes an 
arithmetical calculation. He supposes the daily ration to amount 
to from twenty-five to thirty pounds; and this to be dry pro- 
vender, reckons the operations of rumination, the time its repro¬ 
duction will occupy, calling to mind M. Lassaigne’s experiments, 
to which his calculations bear but too distant analogy, and 
arrives at the conclusions, that thirty pounds of hay acquire 
within the stomach a weight equal to nearly 150 lbs.; and that 
500 parcels, of from three to four ounces each, require, in order 
to be submitted to a second mastication, seven hours thirteen 
minutes. 
Now, for this calculation, to which we have no inclination to 
revert, to be correct, the liquid aliments should have been taken 
into the account; and likewise allowance ought to be made for 
a notable quantity of aliment, for that especially which has been 
sufficiently attenuated, not being returned to the mouth. In 
what proportion does M. Colin make these enter into his cal¬ 
culation! For this we look in vain: though this detail it is 
which constitutes the veritable secret of rumination. 
And, after all, what does such calculation prove 1 Hay is not 
