The following is an abstract of the most important of his experiments:-- A sheep having been fed on fresh trefoil, was killed and opened immediately,--that is, before the process of rumination had commenced. He (M. Flourens) found the greatest part of this herb (easily recognised by its leaves, which were still almost entire,) in the paunch; but he also found a certain portion (_une partie notable_) of those leaves (in the same unmasticated state) in the honeycomb. In the other two cavities, (the many-plies and the reed,) there was absolutely none. M. Flourens repeated this experiment a great many times, with herbs of various kinds, and the result was constantly the same: from which it appears, that herbaceous food, on its first deglutition, enters into the honeycomb, as well as into the paunch; the proportion, however, being considerably greater into the paunch than into the honeycomb. It appears equally certain that, in the first swallowing, this kind of food _only_ enters into the first two cavities, and never passes into the many-plies or the reed. Having ascertained this fact with respect to _herbs_, he instituted a similar series of experiments, in which the animals were fed upon various kinds of _grain_,--rye, barley, wheat, oats, &c. The animals were killed and examined, as in the former experiments, immediately after being fed. He found the greater part of the grain unmasticated (_tout entier_) in the paunch; but, as in the case of the herbs, he also found a certain portion, in the same unmasticated state, in the honeycomb. Neither the many-plies nor the reed contained a single grain. He repeated these experiments many times, and always with the same result. He then tried the effect of carrots cut into pieces, from half an inch to an inch in length; and in order that the animals might not chew them, he passed them into the pharynx by means of a tube. In one of these sheep he found all the morsels in the paunch; but, in the other two, some of the morsels were in the honeycomb, and some in the paunch. In all the three cases, there was none either in the many-plies or in the reed. He then proceeded to ascertain the effect of substances previously comminuted. He caused a certain quantity of carrots to be reduced to a kind of mash, with which he fed two sheep, and opened them immediately afterwards. He found the greatest part of this mash in the paunch and in the honeycomb; but he likewise found a certain portion in the many-plies and in the reed.