第136章 第二册(53)

"Each toe is covered with a hard, horny case, which we call a hoof. The foot looks as if it were split or cloven in two. We call it a cloven hoof"Now I want to ask a question. What do you remember about the animals that have cloven hoofs?""They chew the cud," said Norah. "They do," said Will. "Suppose you tell us all about it, Fred.""Well, you remember that these animals have four stomachs," said Fred. "When they are feeding, they bite off and swallow the grass, till they havefilled the first stomach, or paunch. From the paunch the grass is sent into a second bag or pouch, which has little hollows all round its sides. The grass collects in little cuds or pellets in these hollows, and the cuds are passed up into the mouth to be chewed. When it is chewed enough it is swallowed again. But it goes into a third stomach now, and from this is passed on to the fourth stomach to be digested.