rve, the sheep lies down and commences that singular process
of chewing the cud, or, in other words, masticating the food he has
collected. By the operation of a certain set of muscles, a small
quantity of this softened food from the _reticulum_, or second bag, is
passed into the mouth, which it now becomes the pleasure of the sheep to
grind under his molar teeth into a soft smooth pulp, the operation being
further assisted by a flow of saliva, answering the double purpose of
increasing the flavour of the aliment and promoting the solvency of the
mass. Having completely comminuted and blended this mouthful, it is
swallowed a second time; but instead of returning to the paunch or
reticulum, it passes through another valve into a side cavity,--the
_omasum_, where, after a maceration in more saliva for some hours, it
glides by the same contrivance into the fourth pouch,--the _abomasum_,
an apartment in all respects analogous to the ordinary stomach of
animals, and where the process of digestion, begun and carried on in the
previous three, is here consummated, and the nutrient principle, by
means of the bile, eliminated from the digested aliment. Such is the
process of digestion in sheep and oxen.

682. NO OTHER ANIMAL, even of the same order, possesses in so remarkable
a degree the power of converting pasture into flesh as the
Leicestershire sheep; the South Down and Cheviot, the two next breeds in
quality, are, in consequence of the greater vivacity of the animal's
nature, not equal to it in that respect, though in both the brain and
chest are kept subservient to the greater capacity of the organs of
digestion. Besides the advantage of increased bulk and finer fleeces,
the breeder seeks to obtain an augmented deposit of tissue in those
parts of the carcase most esteemed as food, or, what are called in the
trade "prime joints;" and so far has this been effected, that the
comparative weight of the hind quarters over the fore has become a test
of quality in the breed, the butchers in some markets charging twopence
a pound more for that portion of the sheep. Indeed, so superior are the
hind quarters of mutton now regarded, that very many of the West-end
butchers never deal in any other part of the sheep.

683. THE DIFFERENCE IN THE QUALITY OF THE FLESH in various breeds is a
well-established fact, not alone in flavour, but also in tenderness; and
that the nature of the pasture on which the sheep is fed influences the
flavour