Stomach of the Horse.
Whenwe think of the adaptations of animal structure to the different conditions of living creatures, the camel, theship of the desert, immediately occurs; and no doubt it is highly interesting to observe how this animal is adapted to the sandy wastes, in its eye, its nostril, its foot, the cells of its stomach, and its capacity of endurance. But it is, perhaps, more important to look toourdomestic animals, and, of all, the most deserving of attention is the horse.
Of all creatures, the horse has the smallest stomach, relatively to its size. Had he the quadruple, ruminating stomach of the ox, he would not have been at all times ready for exertion; the traveller could not have baited his steed and immediately resumed his journey. The stomach of the horse is not so capacious, even when distended, as to impede his wind and speed; and the food is passing onward with a greater degree of regularity than in any other animal.
A proof of this is, that the horse has no gall bladder. Most people understand that bile is necessary to digestion, and the gall-bladder is a receptacle for that bile. Where the digestive process is performed in a large stomach, and the food descends in larger quantities, and at long intervals, the gall bladder is necessary; and there is that sympathy between the stomach and gall bladder that they are filled and emptied at the same time. The absence of the gall bladder in the horse, therefore, implies the almost continual process of digestion, which again results from the smallness of the stomach.
Another peculiarity in the horse is the supply of fluid. When the camel drinks, the water is deposited in cells connected with the stomach; but if a horse drinks a pail of water, in eight minutes none of that water is in the stomach; it is rapidly passing off into the large intestines and cœcum. We cannot resist the conviction that this variation in the digestive organs of the horse is in correspondence with his whole form and properties, which are for sudden and powerful, as well as long-continued exertion.