END-OF-THE-WEEK: "Rumination" Once Again

       Still ruminating over the word "rumination" from last Sunday's post, I wondered whether I really understood the cow's digestive process the word's based on.  Reading the authoritative sounding account given in Wikipedia, I thought I had not misrepresented "rumination" last Sunday--it would be a word-man's ruination.

       But I also discovered, somewhat alarmingly, that you and I are "monogastric animals."  Or would you rather be a pig, also monogastric, like us, the cow having several compartments to its stomach to top both the pigs and us, but which also means several stages in digestion.  Certain enzymes to break down cellulose are available only in the first compartment, and some food needs to make a trip back up to the mouth for further chewing and full assimilation.

       Let's ruminate on the marvels of nature's ways.