The Lincoln County leader. [volume] (White Oaks, Lincoln County, N.M.) 1882-189?, 1884-07-05
Lincoln County Leader.
Saturday, July 5, 1884.
Chewing the Cud

haS stood ana watched TINS curious
operation, and wondered what the
lump was which he saw come up IN
the cows throat, and then 30 down
again after she had chcwed it for a
certain length Of time. And per-
haps he may have seen the anxiety
and turmoil produced on a farm by
the report that some II of tho
cows had "lost her cud," and as
the result of this excitement he
may have seen the absurd attempt
to "makc n new cud,' in the hope
that the COW would by such means
be restored to a good condition.
There is in the minds Of q large
proportion of the readers of the
Scientific Amerjcan (Which simply
mean the community 80 little
correct understanding of the true
nature of ''chewing the cud,' that
Il few words concerning it may not
be amiSS.
y very large tribe of animals, Of
which sheep and cows are only
familiar examples, are called in
works Unnatural history RUminan-
tin because they all ruminate, they
chew the cud. They do so because
their peculiar organs Of digestion
require it; they can get their nour-
ishment in no. other way. They
have, it is SAID in the books, four
stomachs, but the statement is not
strictly correct, tor the entire di-
gcstion is done in a single one, that
which is called the fourth, the
other three being only places for
preparatory work. Their food is
%sw.limiJJ%"eod without being clcwed;
the chewing is to come later.
When this unchewed food Is swal-
lowed it passes directly into the
first stomach, to use the common
term; but the drink which the ami
NAL takes goes straight past the
entrance OF thcfirst into the second.
These two serve only to soak and
soften the coarse food. When the
first has done what it can, the food
passes out Of it into the second,
and then the COW or sheep is ready
to "chew the cud."
The second stomach, while bust.
ly at work in soaking the food,
keeps it in motion, and gradually
rolls it up into masses, so that in
the upper part there is formed an
o6long solid lump Of the size that
We recognize as the "cud." This
the animal throws up into the
mouth, and chews with evidently
as much satisfaction as the same
act Of mastication gives us when
we put the most delicate morsels
between our teeth. When it is
sufficiently chcwed, the mass is
swallowed and its place taken by
another which had been rolled up
in the mean time.
But the "cud" thus maSticated
docs not return to the second stom-
ach, from which it had come. 1t
passes smoothly into the third, Il
place for additional fabrication,
and then into the fourth, where the
true digestion begins and ends.
This is, in brief, the whole story.
and We sec how naturally the
chewing comes in; it is the same
in our own case, only that it is at
Inherent stage OF the food prog
ross, And we see also what clos.
ing the cud" really is. The COW
or sheep is suffering from indiges.
ton; the "second stomach" has
failed to roll up the little maese,
suitable for chewing, and there j,
nothing which the poor beast can
bring up. Oh course, therefore,
the one thing required is to reytor,
thu time and Powey Of the stomach,
not to burden it with an "artificia
cud," which would only increas,
the difficulty, instead of RELIEVING
it.