Again, since the food in the upper stomach, having just been
swallowed, must of necessity be quite fresh, while that which has
reached the lower stomach must have had its juices exhausted and
resemble dung, it follows of necessity that there must also be some
intermediate part, in which the change may be effected, and where
the food will be neither perfectly fresh nor yet dung. And thus it
is that, in all such animals as we are now considering, there is found
what is called the jejunum; which is a part of the small gut, of the
gut, that is, which comes next to the stomach. For this jejunum lies
between the upper cavity which contains the yet unconcocted food and
the lower cavity which holds the residual matter, which by the time it
has got here has become worthless. There is a jejunum in all these
animals, but it is only plainly discernible in those of large size,
and this only when they have abstained from food for a certain time.
For then alone can one hit on the exact period when the food lies
half-way between the upper and lower cavities; a period which is
very short, for the time occupied in the transition of food is but
brief. In females this jejunum may occupy any part whatsoever of the
upper intestine, but in males it comes just before the caecum and
the lower stomach.
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