The stomach into which medicines are to be administered is the fourth,
or digesting stomach. The comparatively insensible walls of the rumen,
or paunch, are but slightly acted upon, except by doses of very improper
magnitude. Medicine, to reach the fourth stomach, should be given in a
state as nearly approaching fluidity as may be. Even then it may be
given in such a manner as to defeat the object in view.
If the animal forcibly gulps fluids down, or if they are given hastily
and bodily, they will follow the caul at the base of the gullet with
considerable momentum, force asunder the pillars, and enter the rumen;
if they are drunk more slowly, or administered gently, they will trickle
down the throat, glide over these pillars, and pass on through the
maniplus to the true stomach.