Large sums of money have, from time to time, been expended with a view of improving stock, and many superior cattle have been introduced into this country; yet, after a few generations, the beautiful form and superior qualities of the originals are nearly lost, and the importer finds to his cost that the produce is no better than that of his neighbors. What are the causes of this deterioration? We are told—and experience confirms the fact—that "like produces like." Good qualities and perfect organization are perpetuated by a union of animals possessing those properties: of course it follows, that malformation, hereditary taints, and vices are transmitted and aggravated.
The destructive practice of breeding "in and in," or, inother words, selecting animals of the same family, is one of the first causes of degeneracy; and this destructive practice has proved equally unfortunate in the human family. Physical defects are the result of the intermarriage of near relatives. In Spain, the deformed and feeble state of the aristocracy arises from their alliances being confined to the same class of relatives through successive generations. But we need not go to Spain to verify such facts. Go into our churchyards, and read on the tombstones the names of thousands of infants,—gems withered in the bud,—young men, and maidens, cut down and consigned to a premature grave; and then prove, if you can, that early marriages and near alliances are not the chief causes of this great mortality.
Mr. Colman, in an article on live stock, says, "There seems to be a limit beyond which no person can go. The particular breed may be altered and improved, but an entirely new breed cannot be produced; and in every departure from the original there is a constant tendency to revert back to it. The stock of the improved Durham cattle seems to establish this fact. If we have the true history of it, it is a cross of a Teeswater bull with a Galloway cow. The Teeswater or Yorkshire stock are a large, coarse-boned animal: the object of this cross was to get a smaller bone and greater compactness. By attempting to carry this improvement, if I may so call it, still further by breeding continually in and in, that is, with members of the same family, in a close degree of affinity, the power of continuing the species seems to become extinct; at least it approximates to such a result. On the other hand, by wholly neglecting all selection, and without an occasional good cross with an animal of some foreign blood, there appears a tendency to revert back to the large-boned, long-legged animal, from which theimprovementbegan.
"There are, however, several instances of superior animals bred in the closest affinity; whilst, in a very great majority of cases, the failure has been excessive."
Overtaxing the generative powers of the male is another cause of deterioration. The reader is probably aware of thewoful results attending too frequent sexual intercourse. If he has not given this subject the attention it demands, then let him read the records of our lunatic asylums: they tell a sad tale of woe, and prove to demonstration that, before the blast of this dire tornado,sexual excess, lofty minds, the suns and stars of our intellectual world, are suddenly blotted out. It spares neither age, sex, profession, nor kind. Dr. White relates a case which substantiates the truth of our position. "The Prince of Wales, who afterwards became George the Fourth, had a stud horse of very superior qualities. His highness caused a few of his own mares to be bred to this stallion, and the produce proved every way worthy of the sire. This horse was kept at Windsor for public covering without charge, except the customary groom's fee of half a guinea. The groom, anxious to pocket as many half guineas as possible, persuaded all he could to avail themselves of the prince's liberality. The result was, that, being kept in a stable without sufficient exercise, and covering nearly one hundred mares yearly, the stock, although tolerably promising in their early age, shot up into lank, weakly, awkward, good-for-nothing creatures, to the entire ruin of the horse's character and sire. Some gentlemen, aware of the cause, took pains to explain it, proving the correctness of their statement by reference to the first of the horses got, which were among the best horses in England."
There is no doubt but that brutes are often endowed with extraordinary powers for sexual indulgence; yet, when kept for the purpose alluded to, without sufficient muscular exercise,—breathing impure air, and living on the fat of the farm,—his services in constant requisition,—then it is no wonder, that if, under these circumstances, the offspring are weak and inefficient.
Professor Youatt recommends that "valuable qualities once established, which it is desirable to keep up, should thereafter be preserved by occasional crosses with the best animals to be had of the same breed, but of a different family. This is the great secret which has maintained the blood horse in his great superiority."
The live stock of our farmers frequently degenerates in a very short space of time. The why and the wherefore is not generally understood; neither will it be, until animal physiology shall be better understood than it is at the present time. Men are daily violating the laws of animal organization in more ways than one, in the breeding, rearing, and general management of all kinds of domestic animals,—until the different breeds are so amalgamated, that, in many cases, it is a difficult task to ascertain, with any degree of certainty, their pedigree. If a farmer has in his possession a bull of a favorite breed, the neighboring stock-raisers avail themselves of his bullship's services by sending as many cows to him as possible: the consequence is, that the offspring got in the latter part of the season are good for nothing. The cow also, at the time of impregnation, may be in a state of debility, owing to some derangement in the organs of digestion; if so, impregnation is very likely to make the matter worse; for great sympathy exists between the organs of generation and those of digestion, and females of every order suffer more or less from a disturbed state of the stomach during the early months of pregnancy. In fact, during the whole stage they should be considered far from a state of health. Add to this the fact that impregnated cows are milked, (not generally, yet we know of such cases:) the fœtus is thus deprived of its due share of nourishment, and the extra nutrimental agents, necessary for its growth and development, must be furnished at the expense of the mother. She, in her turn, soon shows unmistakable evidences of this "robbing Peter to pay Paul" system, by her sunken eye, loss of flesh, &c., and often, before she has seen her sixth month of pregnancy, liberates the fœtus by a premature birth—in short, pays the penalty of disobedience to the immutable law of nature. On the other hand, should such a cow go safely through the whole period of gestation and parturition, the offspring will not be worth keeping, and the milk of the former will lack, in some measure, those constituents which go to make good milk, and without which it is almost worthless for making butter orcheese. A cow should never be bred from unless she shall be in good health and flesh. If she cannot be fatted, then she may be spayed. (See articleSpaying Cows.) By that means, her health will improve, and she will be made a permanent milker. Degeneracy may arise from physical defects on the part of the bull. It is well known that infirmities, faults, and defects are communicated by the sexual congress to the parties as well as their offspring. Hence a bull should never be bred to unless he possesses the requisite qualifications of soundness, form, size, and color. There are a great number of good-for-nothing bulls about the country, whose services can be had for a trifle; under these circumstances, and when they can be procured without the trouble of sending the cow even a short distance, it will be difficult to effect a change.
If the farming community desire to put a stop to this growing evil, let them instruct their representatives to advocate the enactment of a law prohibiting the breeding to bulls or stallions unless they shall possess the necessary qualifications.
A First Prize Short Horned BullA First Prize Short Horned Bull
A First Prize Short Horned Bull
THE BULL.
Mr. Lawson gives us the following description of a good bull. It would be difficult to find one corresponding in all its details to this description; yet it will give the reader an idea of what a good bull ought to be. "The head of the bull should be rather long, and muzzle fine; his eyes lively and prominent; his ears long and thin; his horns white; his neck rising with a gentle curve from the shoulders, and small and fine where it joins the head; his shoulders moderately broad at the top, joining full to his chine and chest backwards, and to the neck-vein forwards; his bosom open; breast broad, and projecting well before his legs; his arms or fore thighs muscular, and tapering to his knees; his legs straight, clean, and very fine boned; his chine and chest so full as to leave no hollows behind the shoulders; the plates strong, to keep his belly from sinking below the level of his breast; his back or loin broad, straight, and flat; his ribs rising one above another, in such a manner that the last rib shall be rather the highest, leaving only a small space to the hips, the whole forming a round or barrel-like carcass; his hips should be wide placed, round or globular, and a little higher than the back; the quarters (from the hips to the rump) long, and, instead of being square, as recommended by some, they should taper gradually from the hips backwards; rump close to the tail; the tail broad, well haired, and set on so as to be in the same horizontal line with his back."
VALUE OF DIFFERENT BREEDS OF COWS.
Mr. Culley, in speaking of the relative value of long and short horns, says, "The long-horns excel in the thickness and firm texture of the hide, in the length and closeness of the hair, in their beef being finer grained and more mixed and marbled than that of the short-horns, in weighing more in proportion to their size, and in giving richer milk; but they are inferior to the short-horns in giving a less quantity of milk, in weighing less upon the whole, in affording less fat when killed, in being generally slower feeders, in being coarser made, and more leathery or bullish in the under side of the neck. In a few words, the long-horns excel in hide, hair, and quality of beef; the short-horns in the quantity of beef, fat, and milk. Each breed has long had, and probably may have, their particular advocates; but if I may hazard a conjecture, is it not probable that both kinds may have their particular advantages in different situations? Why not the thick, firm hides, and long, closer set hair, of the one kind be a protection and security against tempestuous winds and heavy fogs and rains, while a regular season and mild climate are more suitable to the constitutions of the short-horns? But it has hitherto been the misfortune of the short-horned breeders to seek the largest and biggest boned ones for the best, without considering that those are the best that bring the most money for a given quantity of food. However, the ideas of our short-horned breeders being now more enlarged, and their minds more open toconviction, we may hope in a few years to see great improvements made in that breed of cattle.
"I would recommend to breeders of cattle to find out which breed is the most profitable, and which are best adapted to the different situations, and endeavor to improve that breed to the utmost, rather than try to unite the particular qualities of two or more distinct breeds by crossing, which is a precarious practice, for we generally find the produce inherit the coarseness of both breeds, and rarely attain the good properties which the pure distinct breeds individually possess.
"Short-horned cows yield much milk; the long-horned give less, but the cream is more abundant and richer. The same quantity of milk also yields a greater proportion of cheese. The Polled or Galloway cows are excellent milkers, and their milk is rich. The Suffolk duns are much esteemed for the abundance of their milk, and the excellence of the butter it produces. Ayrshire or Kyloe cows are much esteemed in Scotland; and in England the improved breed of the long-horned cattle is highly prized in many dairy districts. Every judicious selector, however, will always, in making his choice, keep in view not only the different sons and individuals of the animal, but also the nature of the farm on which the cows are to be put, and the sort of manufactured produce he is anxious to bring to market. The best age for a milch cow is betwixt four, or five, and ten. When old, she will give more milk; but it is of an inferior quality, and she is less easily supported."
Take the calf's maw, or stomach, and having taken out the curd contained therein, wash it clean, and salt it thoroughly, inside and out, leaving a white coat of salt over every part of it. Put it into an earthen jar, or other vessel, and let it stand three or four days; in which time it will haveformed the salt and its own natural juice into a pickle. Take it out of the jar, and hang it up for two or three days, to let the pickle drain from it; resalt it; place it again in the jar; cover it tight down with a paper, pierced with a large pin; and let it remain thus till it is wanted for use. In this state it ought to be kept twelve months; it may, however, in case of necessity, be used a few days after it has received the second salting; but it will not be as strong as if kept a longer time. To prepare the rennet for use, take a handful of the leaves of the sweet-brier, the same quantity of rose and bramble leaves; boil them in a gallon of water, with three or four handfuls of salt, about a quarter of an hour; strain off the liquor, and, having let it stand until perfectly cool, put it into an earthen vessel, and add to it the maw prepared as above. To this add a sound, good lemon, stuck round with about a quarter of an ounce of cloves, which give the rennet an agreeable flavor. The longer the bag remains in the liquor, the stronger, of course, will be the rennet. The amount, therefore, requisite to turn a given quantity of milk, can only be ascertained by daily use and observation. A sort of average may be something less than a half pint of good rennet to fifty gallons of milk. In Gloucestershire, they employ one third of a pint to coagulate the above quantity.
IT is generally admitted that many dairy farmers pay more attention to the quantity than the quality of this article of food; now, as cheese is "a surly elf, digesting every thing but itself," (this of course applies to some of the white oak specimens, which, like the Jew's razors, were made to sell,) it is surely a matter of great importance that they should attend more to the quality, especially if it be intended for exportation. There is no doubt but the home consumption ofgood cheese would soon materially increase, for many thousands of our citizens refuse to eat of the miserable stuff "misnamed cheese."
The English have long been celebrated for the superior quality of their cheese; and we have thought that we cannot do a better service to our dairy farmers than to give, in as few words as possible, the various methods of making the different kinds of cheese, for which we are indebted to Mr. Lawson's work on cattle.
"It is to be observed, in general, that cheese varies in quality, according as it has been made of milk of one meal, or two meals, or of skimmed milk; and that the season of the year, the method of milking, the preparation of the rennet, the mode of coagulation, the breaking and gathering of the curd, the management of the cheese in the press, the method of salting, and the management of the cheese-room, are all objects of the highest importance to the cheese manufacturer; and yet, notwithstanding this, the practice, in most of these respects, is still regulated by little else than mere chance or custom, without the direction of enlightened observation or the aid of well-conducted experiment.
GLOUCESTER CHEESE.
"In Gloucestershire, where the manufacture of cheese is perhaps as well understood as in any part of the world, they make the best cheeses of a single meal of milk; and, when this is done in the best manner, the entire meal of milk is used, without any addition from a former meal. But it not unfrequently happens that a portion of the milk is reserved and set by to be skimmed for butter; and at the next milking this proportion is added to the new milk, from which an equal quantity has been taken for a similar purpose. One meal cheeses are principally made here, and go by the name ofbest making, or simplyone meal cheeses. The cheeses are distinguished intothinandthick, orsingleanddouble; the last having usually four to the hundred weight, (112pounds,) the other about twice that number. The best double Gloucester is always made from new milk.
"The true single Gloucester cheese is thought by many to be the best, in point of flavor, of any we have. The season for making their thin or single cheese is mostly from April to November; but the principal season for the thick or double is confined to May, June, and the early part of July. This is a busy season in the dairy; for at an earlier period the milk is not rich enough, and if the cheese be made later in the summer, they do not acquire sufficient age to be marketable next spring. Very many cheeses, however, can be made even in winter from cows that are well fed. The cows are milked in summer at a very early hour; generally by four o'clock in the morning, before the day becomes hot, and the animals restless and unruly.
CHESTER CHEESE.
"After the milk has been strained, to free it from any impurities, it is conveyed into a cooler placed upon feet like a table, having a spigot at the bottom for drawing off the milk. This, when sufficiently cooled, is drawn off into pans, and the cooler again filled. In so cases, the cooler is large enough to hold a whole meal's milk at once. The rapid cooling thus produced (which, however, is necessary only in hot weather, and during the summer season) is found to be of essential utility in retarding the process of fermentation, and thereby preventing putridity from commencing in the milk before two meals of it can be put together. Some have thought that the cheese might be improved by cooling the evening's milk still more rapidly, and that this might be effected by repeatedly drawing it off from and returning it into the cistern. When the milk is too cold, a portion of it is warmed over the fire and mixed with the rest.
"The coloring matter, (annatto,) in Cheshire, is added by tying up as much of the substance as is thought sufficient in a linen rag, and putting it into a half pint of warm water, tostand over night. The whole of this infusion is, in the morning, mixed with the milk in the cheese-tub, and the rag dipped in the milk and rubbed on the palm of the hand as long as any of the coloring matter can be made to come away.
"The next operation is salting; and this is done, either by laying the cheese, immediately after it comes out of the press, on a clean, fine cloth in the vat, immersed in brine, to remain for several days, turning it once every day at least; or by covering the upper surface of the cheese with salt every time it is turned, and repeating the application for three successive days, taking care to change the cloth twice during the time. In each of these methods, the cheese, after being so treated, is taken out of the vat, placed upon the salting bench, and the whole surface of it carefully rubbed with salt daily for eight or ten days. If it be large, a wooden hoop or a fillet of cloth is employed to prevent renting. The cheese is then washed in warm water or whey, dried with a cloth, and laid on what is called thedrying bench. It remains there for about a week, and is thence removed to thekeeping house. In Cheshire, it is found that the greatest quantity of salt used for a cheese of sixty pounds is about three pounds; but the proportion of this retained in the cheese has not been determined.
"When, after salting and drying, the cheeses are deposited in the cheese-room or store-house, they are smeared all over with fresh butter, and placed on shelves fitted to the purpose, or on the floor. During the first ten or fifteen days, smart rubbing is daily employed, and the smearing with butter repeated. As long, however, as they are kept, they should be every day turned; and the usual practice is to rub them three times a week in summer and twice in winter.
STILTON CHEESE.
"Stilton cheese is made by putting the night's cream into the morning's new milk along with the rennet. When thecurd has come, it is not broken, as in making other cheese, but taken out whole, and put into a sieve to drain gradually. While this is going on, it is gently pressed, and, having become firm and dry, is put into a vat, and kept on a dry board. These cheeses are exceedingly rich and valuable. They are called the Parmesan of England, and weigh from ten to twelve pounds. The manufacture of them is confined almost exclusively to Leicestershire, though not entirely so.
DUNLOP CHEESE.
"In Scotland, a species of cheese is produced, which has long been known and celebrated under the name ofDunlopcheese. The best cheese is made by such as have a dozen or more cows, and consequently can make a cheese every day; one half of the milk being immediately from the cow, and the other of twelve hours' standing. Their method of making it is simple. They endeavor to have the milk as near as may be to the heat of new milk, when they apply the rennet, and whenever coagulation has taken place, (which is generally in ten or twelve minutes,) they stir the curd gently, and the whey, beginning to separate, is taken off as it gathers, till the curd be pretty solid. When this happens, they put it into a drainer with holes, and apply a weight. As soon as this has had its proper effect, the curd is put back again into the cheese-tub, and, by means of a sort of knife with three or four blades, is cut into very small pieces, salted, and carefully mixed by the hand. It is now placed in the vat, and put under the press. This is commonly a large stone of a cubical shape, from half a ton to a ton in weight, fixed in a frame of wood, and raised and lowered by an iron screw. The cheese is frequently taken out, and the cloth changed; and as soon as it has been ascertained that no more whey remains, it is removed, and placed on a dry board or pine floor. It is turned and rubbed frequently with a hard, coarse cloth, to prevent moulding or breeding mites. No coloring matteris used in making Dunlop cheese, except by such as wish to imitate the English cheese.
GREEN CHEESE.
"Green cheese is made by steeping ever night, in a proper quantity of milk, two parts of sage with one of marigold leaves, and a little parsley, after being bruised, and then mixing the curd of the milk, thusgreened, as it is called, with the curd of the white milk. These may be mixed irregularly or fancifully, according to the pleasure of the operator. The management in other respects is the same as for common cheese."
Mr. Colman says, "In conversation with one of the largest wholesale cheesemongers and provision-dealers in the country, he suggested that there were two great faults of the American cheese, which somewhat prejudiced its sale in the English market. He is a person in whose character and experience entire confidence may be placed.
"The first fault was the softness of the rind. It often cracked, and the cheese became spoiled from that circumstance.
"The second fault is the acridness, or peculiar, smart, bitter taste often found in American cheese. He thought this might be due, in part, to some improper preparation or use of the rennet, and, in part, to some kind of feed which the cows found in the pastures.
"The rind may be made of any desired hardness, if the cheese be taken from the press, and allowed to remain in brine, so strong that it will take up no more salt, for four or five hours. There must be great care, however, not to keep it too long in the brine.
"The calf from which the rennet is to be taken should not be allowed to suck on the day on which it is killed. The office of the rennet, or stomach of the calf, is, to supply thegastric juice by which the curdling of the milk is effected. If it has recently performed that office, it will have become, to a degree, exhausted of its strength. Too much rennet should not be applied. Dairymaids, in general, are anxious to have the curd 'come soon,' and so apply an excessive quantity, to which he thinks much of the acrid taste of the cheese is owing. Only so much should be used as will produce the effect in about fifty minutes. For the reason above given, the rennet should not, he says, be washed in water when taken from the calf, as it exhausts its strength, but be simply salted.
"When any cream is taken from the milk to be made into butter, the buttermilk should be returned to the milk of which the cheese is to be made. The greatest care should be taken in separating the whey from the cheese. When the pressing or handling is too severe, the whey that runs from the curd will appear of a white color. This is owing to its carrying off with it the small creamy particles of the cheese, which are, in fact, the richest part of it. After the curd is cut or broken, therefore, and not squeezed with the hand, and all the whey is allowed to separate from it that can be easily removed, the curd should be taken out of the tub with the greatest care, and laid upon a coarse cloth attached to a frame like a sieve, and there suffered to drain until it becomes quite dry and mealy, before being put into the press. The object of pressing should be, not to express the whey, but to consolidate the cheese. There should be no aim to make whey butter. All the butter extracted from the whey is so much of the proper richness taken from the cheese."
It is a matter of impossibility to make a superior article of butter from the milk of a cow in a diseased state; for if either of the organs of secretion, absorption, digestion, or circulation, be deranged, we cannot expect good blood. The milk being a secretion from the blood, it follows that, in order to have good milk, we must have pure blood. A great deal depends also on the food; certain pastures are more favorable to the production of good milk than others. We know that many vegetables, such as turnips, garlic, dandelions, will impart a disagreeable flavor to the milk. On the other hand, sweet-scented grasses and boiled food improve the quality, and, generally, increase the quantity of the milk, provided, however, the digestive organs are in a physiological state.
The processes of making butter are various in different parts of the United States. We are not prepared, from experience, to discuss the relative merits of the different operations of churning; suffice it to say, that the important improvements that have recently been made in the construction of churns promise to be of great advantage to the dairyman.
The method of churning in England is considered to be favorable to the production of good butter. From twelve to twenty hours in summer, and about twice as long in winter, are permitted to elapse before the milk is skimmed, after it has been put into the milk-pans. If, on applying the tip of the finger to the surface, nothing adheres to it, the cream may be properly taken off; and during the hot summer months, this should always be done in the morning, before the dairy becomes warm. The cream should then be deposited in a deep pan, placed in the coolest part of the dairy, or in a cool cellar, where free air is admitted. In hot weather, churning should be performed, if possible, every other day; but if this is not convenient, the cream should be daily shifted into a clean pan, and the churning should never be less frequent than twice a week. This work should be performed in thecoolest time of the day, and in the coolest part of the house. Cold water should be applied to the churn, first by filling it with this some time before the cream is poured in, or it may be kept cool by the application of a wet cloth. Such means are generally necessary, to prevent the too rapid acidification of the cream, and formation of the butter. We are indebted for much of the poor butter, (cart-greasewould be a more suitable name,) in which our large cities abound, to want of due care in churning: it should never be done too hastily, but—like "Billy Gray's" drumming—well done. In winter the churn may be previously heated by first filling it with hot water, the operation to be performed in a moderately warm room.
In churning, a moderate and uninterrupted motion should be kept up during the whole process; for if the motion be too rapid, heat is generated, which will give the butter a rank flavor; and if the motion is relaxed, the butter will go back, as it is termed.
WASHING BUTTER.
"When the operation is properly conducted, the butter, after some time, suddenly forms, and is to be carefully collected and separated from the buttermilk. But in doing this, it is not sufficient merely to pour off the milk, or withdraw the butter from it; because a certain portion of the caseous and serous parts of the milk still remains in the interstices of the butter, and must be detached from it by washing, if we would obtain it pure. In washing butter, some think it sufficient to press the mass gently between the hands; others press it strongly and frequently, repeating the washings till the water comes off quite clear. The first method is preferable when the butter is made daily, for immediate use, from new milk or cream; because the portions of such adhering to it, or mixed with it, contribute to produce the sweet agreeable flavor which distinguishes new cream. But when our object is to prepare butter for keeping, we cannot repeat thewashings too often, since the presence of a small quantity of milk in it will, in less than twelve hours after churning, cause it sensibly to lose its good qualities.
"The process of washing butter is usually nothing more than throwing it into an earthen vessel of clear cool water, working it to and fro with the hands, and changing the water until it comes off clear. A much preferable method, however, and that which we believe is now always practised by those who best understand the business, is to use two broad pieces of wood, instead of the hands. This is to be preferred, not only on account of its apparently greater cleanliness, but also because it is of decided advantage to the quality of the butter. To this the warmth of the hand gives always, more or less, a greasy appearance. The influence of the heat of the hand is greater than might at first have been suspected. It has always been remarked, that a person who has naturally a warm hand never makes good butter."
COLORING BUTTER.
As butter made in winter is generally pale or white, and its richness, at the same time, inferior to that which is made during the summer months, the idea of excellence has been associated with the yellow color. Means are therefore employed, by those who prepare and sell butter, to impart to it the yellow color where that is naturally wanting. The substances mostly employed in England and Scotland are the root of the carrot and the flowers of the marigold. The juice of either of these is expressed and passed through a linen cloth. A small quantity of it (and the proportion of it necessary is soon learned by experience) is diluted with a little cream, and this mixture is added to the rest of the cream when it enters the churn. So little of this coloring matter unites with the butter, that it never communicates to it any peculiar taste.
Œsophagus, orGullet.—This tube extends from the mouth to the stomach, and is the medium through which the food is conveyed to the latter organ. This tube is furnished with spiral muscles, which run in different directions. By this arrangement, the food ascends or descends at the will of the animal. The inner coat of the gullet is a continuation of the same membrane that lines the mouth, nostrils, &c. The gullet passes down the neck, inclining to the left side of the windpipe, until it reaches the diaphragm, through a perforation of which it passes, and finally terminates in the stomach. The food, having undergone a slight mastication by the action of the teeth, is formed into a pellet, and, being both moistened and lubricated with saliva, passes down the gullet, by the action of the muscles, and falls immediately into the paunch, or rumen; here the food undergoes a process of maceration, or trituration. The food, after remaining in this portion of the stomach a short time, and being submitted to the united action of heat and moisture, passes into another division of the stomach, calledreticulum, the inner surface of which abounds in cells: at the bottom, and indeed in all parts of them there are glands, which secrete from the blood the gastric fluids. This stomach possesses a property similar to that of the bladder, viz., that of contracting upon its contents. In the act of contracting, it squeezes out a portion of the partly masticated food and fluids; the former comes within the spiral muscles, is embraced by them, and thus ascends the gullet, and passes into the mouth for remastication. The soft and fluid parts continue on to the many plus and true digestive stomach. The second stomach again receives a portion from the paunch, and the process is continued.
Rumination and digestion, however, are mechanico-vital actions, and can only be properly performed when the animal is in a healthy state.
Now, a portion of the food, we just observed, had ascendedthe gullet by the aid of spiral muscles, and entered the mouth; it is again submitted to the action of the grinders, and a fresh supply of saliva; it is at length swallowed a second time, and goes through the same routine as that just described, passing into the manyplus or manifolds, as it is termed.
The manyplus abounds internally in a number of leaves, called laminæ. Some of these are attached to the upper and lower portion of the division, and also float loose, and penetrate into the œsophagian canal. The laminæ have numerous projections on their surface, resembling the papillæ to be found on the tongue. The action of this stomach is one of alternate contraction and expansion: it secretes, however, like the other compartments of the stomach, its due share of gastric fluids, with a view not only of softening its contents, but for the purpose of defending its own surface against friction. The mechanical action of the stomach is communicated to it partly by the motion of the diaphragm, and its own muscular arrangement. It will readily be perceived, that by this joint action the food is submitted to a sort of grinding process. Hence any over-distention of the viscera, from either food or gas, will embarrass and prevent the free and full play of this organ. The papillæ, or prominences, present a rough and sufficiently hard exterior to grind down the food, unless it shall have escaped the reticulum in too fibrous a form: foxgrass, cornstalks, and frosted turnips are very apt to make sad havoc in this and other parts of the stomach, owing to their unyielding nature; for the stomach, like other parts of the organization, suffers from over-exertion, and a corresponding debility ensues.
The fourth division of the stomach of the ox is calledabomasum. It somewhat resembles the duodenum of the horse in its function, it being the true digestive stomach. It is studded with numerous nerves, blood-vessels, and small glands. It is a laboratory admirably fitted up by the Divine Artist, and is capable of carrying on the chemico-vital process as long as the animal lives, provided its healthy functions are not impaired. The glands alluded to secrete from the blooda powerful solvent, called thegastric juice, which is the agent in reducing the food to chyme and chyle. This, however, is accomplished by the united agency of the bile and pancreatic juice. Both these fluids are conveyed into the abomasum by means of small tubes or canals. Secretions also take place from the inner membrane of the intestines, and, as the result of the united action of all these fluids, aided by the muscular motion just alluded to, which is also communicated to the intestines, a substance is formed calledchyle, which is the most nutritious portion of the food, and has a milky appearance. The chyle is received into a set of very minute tubes, calledlacteals, which are exceedingly numerous, and arise by open mouths from the inner surface of the abomasum and intestines. They receive the chyle; from thence it passes into a receptacle, and finally into the thoracic duct. The thoracic duct opens into a vein leading directly to the heart; so that whatever portion of the chyle is not actually needed by the organism is thoroughly mixed with the general mass of blood. That portion of chyme which is not needed, or cannot be converted into chyle, descends into the intestines, and is finally carried out of the body by the rectum.
The manner in which the gastric fluids act on alimentary matter, is by solution and chemical action; for cornstalks and foxgrass, that cannot be dissolved by ammonia or alcohol, yield readily to the solvent power of the gastric secretion. Bones and other hard substances are reduced to a pulpy mass in the stomach of a dog; while, at the same time, many bodies of delicate texture remain in the stomach, and ultimately are ejected, without being affected by the gastric fluids. This different action on different subjects is analogous to the operation of chemical affinity, and corroborates the theory that digestion is effected by solution and chemical action.
The Spleen, orMilt, is an oblong, dark-colored substance, having attachments to the paunch. It is composed of blood-vessels, nerves, and lymphatics, united by cellular structure. It appears to serve as a reservoir for the blood that may be designed for the secretions of bile in the liver. P. M. Rogetsays, "Any theory that assigns a very important function to the spleen will be overturned by the fact, that in many animals the removal of this organ, far from being fatal, or interrupting, in any sensible manner, the continuance of the functions, seems to be borne with perfect impunity." Sir E. Home, Bichat, Leuret, Lassaigne, and others, suppose that "the spleen serves as a receptacle for the superfluous quantity of fluid taken into the stomach."
The Liveris a dense gland, of a lobulated structure, situated below the diaphragm, or "skirt." It is supplied, like other organs, with arterial blood, by vessels, calledhepaticarteries, which are sent off from the great aorta. It receives also a large amount of venous blood, which is distributed through its substance by a separate set of vessels, derived from the venous system. The veins which receive the blood that has circulated in the usual manner unite together into a large trunk, called vena portæ, (gate vein,) and this vein, on entering the liver, ramifies like an artery, and ultimately terminates in the branches of the hepatic veins, which transmit the blood, in the ordinary course of circulation, to the vena cava, (hollow vein.) Mr. Kiernan says, "The hepatic veins, together with the lobules which surround them, resemble, in their arrangement, the branches and leaves of a tree, the substance of the lobules being disposed around the minute branches of the veins like the parenchyma of a leaf around its fibres. The hepatic veins may be divided into two classes, namely, those contained in lobules, and those contained in canals formed by lobules. The first class is composed of interlobular branches, one of which occupies the centre of each lobule, and receives the blood from a plexus formed in the lobule by the portal vein; and the second class of hepatic veins is composed of all those vessels contained in canals formed by the lobules, and including numerous small branches, as well as the large trunks terminating in the inferior cava. The external surface of every lobule is covered by an expansion of 'Glisson's capsule,' by which it is connected to, as well as separated from, contiguous lobules, and in which branches ofthe hepatic duct, portal veins, and hepatic artery ramify. The ultimate branches of the hepatic artery terminate in the branches of the portal vein, where the blood they respectively contain is mixed together, and from which mixed blood the bile is secreted by the lobules, and conveyed away by the hepatic ducts. The remaining blood is returned to the heart by the hepatic veins, the beginnings of which occupy the centre of each lobule, and, when collected into trunks, pour their contents into the inferior cava. Hence the blood which has circulated through the liver, and has thereby lost its arterial character, is, in common with that which is returning from other parts, poured into the vena portæ, and contributes its share in furnishing materials for the biliary secretion. The hepatic artery furnishes nutrition to the liver itself."
The bile, having been secreted, accumulates in the gall-bladder, where it is kept for future use. When the healthy action of the fourth stomach is interrupted, the bile is supposed to be reabsorbed,—it enters into the different tissues, producing yellowness of the eyes; the malady is then termedyellows,jaundice, &c. Sometimes the passage of the bile is obstructed by calculi, or gall-stones; they have been found in great numbers in oxen.
The Pancreasis composed of a number of lobules or glands; a small duct proceeds from each; they unite and form a common canal, which proceeds towards, and terminates in, the fourth stomach. The pancreatic juice appears to be exceedingly analogous, both in its sensible properties and chemical composition, to the saliva.
"The recent researches of MM. Bouchardat, Sandras, Mialhe, Bareswil, and Bernard himself, have placed beyond a doubt the existence of a ferment, in some of the fluids which mix with the alimentary mass, destined to convert starchy matters into sugar. They have proved that the gastric juice has for its peculiar office the solution and digestion of azotized substances. There remained to be ascertained the real agent for the digestion of fatty matters; that is to say, the agent in the formation of chyle out of those substances.
"M. Bernard has proved that this remarkable office is performed by the pancreatic juice; he has demonstrated the fact by three conclusive proofs.
"1. The pancreatic juice, pure and recently formed, forms an emulsion with oils and fats with the greatest facility. This emulsion may be preserved for a long time, and the fatty substance soon undergoes a fermentation which separates its constituent acids.
"2. The chyle only begins to appear in the lacteals below that part of the intestinal tube where the pancreatic juice enters it to mix with the alimentary matters.
"3. In disorders of the pancreas, we find that the fatty matters, contained in the food, pass entire in the evacuations."
The above is an extract from the report of a body composed of several members of the French Academy of Sciences. "M. Bernard" (continues the report) "has exhibited to us the first of these experiments, and has furnished us with the means of repeating it with the several varieties of the gastric juice. We have not the slightest doubt on the subject. It is incontestable that fatty substances are converted into an emulsion by this juice, in a manner easy and persistent, and it is no less true that the saliva, the gastric juice, and the bile are destitute of this property.
"The second demonstration can be given in various modes; but the author has discovered, in the peculiar arrangement of the digestive apparatus of the rabbit, an unexceptional means of obtaining it with the greatest precision, and at will. The pancreatic juice enters the intestinal tube of this animal about fourteen inches below the point where the bile is poured in. Now, as long as the food is above the region where it mixes with the pancreatic juice, there appears to be no formation and separation of a milky chyle; nothing shows that the fatty matters are reduced to an emulsion. On the contrary, as soon as the pancreatic juice mixes with the alimentary matters, we observe the fat to be converted into an emulsion, and a milky chyle to fill the corresponding lacteals. Nothing cangive an idea of the result of these experiments, which have all the accuracy of a chemical operation performed in the laboratory, and all the beauty of the most perfect injection.
"We are not, therefore, surprised that divers pathological cases, hitherto imperfectly understood, should come to confirm the views of M. Bernard, by proving that, in diseases of the pancreas, fatty matters have been observed to pass unchanged in the dejections.
"The committee cannot hesitate to conclude that the author has perfectly demonstrated his physiological propositions; that he has completed the general characters of the theory of digestion, and that he has made known the mode of formation of the fatty matter of the chyle, and the manner of the digestion of the fatty matters."
The Kidneys.—Their office is, to secrete from the blood the useless or excrementitious fluids in the form of urine. When the skin is obstructed, the secretion is augmented, and profuse perspiration lessens it. From a cavity in the centre of each kidney a canal or tube proceeds, by which the urine is conveyed into the bladder. These tubes are namedureters. As the ureters enter the bladder, they pass forward, a short distance between its coats; which effectually prevents the urine from taking a retrograde course. The urine is expelled by the muscular power which the bladder possesses of contracting upon its contents.