The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1884-07-26
CHEWING The CUD
l3cientiGc American !

Every child living in the country has
stood,ana watched this curious operation,
and wondered what The lump was which
he saw come up to the cows throat, and
then 80 down again after she had chewed
it for certain length Of time. And per-
haps he may have seen the anxiety and
turmoil produced on farm by the re-
port that some one of the cows had ''lost
her cud," and as the result of this ex.
citement he may have seen the absurd
attempt to "make new cud," in the
hope that the COW would by such means
be restored to good condition. There is
in the minds of q large proportion of our
readers so little correct understanding of
the true nature of chewing the eud"
that few words concerningit it may not
be amiss.
A very large tribe Of animals, Of which
sheep and cows are only familiar exam
pies, are called in works of natural his.
tory "Ruminantia, because they "rumi.
nate, they chew the cud. They do so
because their peculiar organs of digestion
require it; they can get their nourish.
ment in no other way. They have, it is
said in the books. four stomachs, but the
statement is not strictly correct, for the
entire digestion is done in single one
that which is called the fourth-the other
three being only places for preparatory
work Their food is swallowed without
being chewed; the chewing is to come
later. When this unchewed food is
swallowed it passes directly into the first
stomach, to use the common term; but
the drink which the animal takes goes
straight past the entrance of the first
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 busy at
work in soaking the food, keeps it in
motion, and gradually rolls it up into
masses, so that in the small UPPER part
there is formed an oblong solid lump of
the size that we recognize as the ''cud. y
This the animal throws up into the
mouth, and chews with evidently as
much satisfaction as the same act of mas.
tication gives us when we put the most
delicate morsels between our teeth.
When it is sufficiently chewed the mass
is swallowed and its place taken by an,
other which had been rolled up in the
meantime.
But the "cud" thus masticated does
not return to the second stomach from
which it had come. 1t passes smoothly
into the third, place for additional lubri
cation, and then into the fourth, wherc
the true digestion begins and ends.
This is. in brief, the whole story, ant
we see how naturally the chewing Games
IN. 1t is the same as in our own case
only that it is at a different stage of thu
foods progress. And we see also wha
losing the cud' really is The COW O.
sheep is suffering from indigestion; th'
second stomach" has failed to roll VI
the little masses suitable for chewing
and there is nothing which the poo
beast can bring up. OF course, there
fore, the one thing is required is to re
store the tone and power Of the stomach
not to burden it with an "artifcial cud,
which would only increase the difficulty
instead Of relieving it. .....