The Beauty of Bovine Design

“DAD, today our schoolteacher said that a cow has four stomachs, which it has developed by a process of evolution. Is this true?” asked Jenny, a pretty teenager. “And if it is, why do we humans have only a simple stomach when we are supposed to be much higher than the cow on the evolution scale?”

“Well, first of all it must be said that, strictly speaking, the cow has only one stomach, but it is divided into four compartments. Those animals that eat mostly grass and hay and chew the cud are called ruminants. Let me draw you a picture on this old envelope . . . The first compartment is the rumen, which has an average capacity of some 50 gallons, and it occupies about 80 percent of the stomach space in the cow. The abomasum, actually the fourth compartment, is the true digestive stomach, similar to our human stomach with its gastric juices, including hydrochloric acid. The grass, mixed well with saliva, goes into the rumen and reticulum where it soaks in water and is subjected to bacterial action. Later on it is regurgitated, or brought back into the mouth, to be chewed more thoroughly.”

“Ah, yes, I’ve often seen cows chewing the cud.”

“Yes, sheep do the same. This well-chewed food is then processed again, and then goes through the other two compartments to take out some water and to be subjected to the action of the gastric juices. Grass and hay are largely made up of cellulose, as is our daily paper. In fact, cows have been fed on shredded newspapers mixed with molasses. Did you know that an average cow produces about 37 times the amount of saliva as we humans do? Three quarters of the whole abdomen is taken up by these four compartments. But what is the result? All this grass and hay keeps the animal alive and helps it to produce, in the lactation period, beautiful, rich milk​—a wonderful food.”

“Well, it doesn’t seem to me that the cow develops this rather complicated digestive system by a process of evolution.”

“No, it is not reasonable. The Creator designed the cow to consume the grass, which is so abundant on our earth, and to turn it into milk, which we make into cheese, ice cream, and so forth.”

“Like a factory.”

“Well, factories are usually smelly, noisy, ugly places and are plagued by strikes. But the cow, product of a Master Designer, is quiet, gentle and remarkably efficient. No labor problems either, since the cow spends its daylight hours and some of the night eating and chewing the cud. All credit to Jehovah for such a wonderful production.”

“I can understand now that a cow is well designed for its purpose and services to us humans, but what about the horse? It also eats grass and hay. Does it too have four stomachs like a cow?”

“No, it doesn’t. We agree that the Creator designed the digestive system of the cow for a particular purpose. But it is hardly a streamlined animal. Can you imagine a jockey riding a cow in serious competition with others? Hardly.

“In contrast, the horse is designed for speed and strength. Breeding has developed some beautiful horses suitable for horse racing. In olden times the shire horses were bred for carrying soldiers protected with heavy armor​—no light burden, indeed! In these days the shires are used for pulling heavy weights. At Psalm 147:10 the Bible speaks of the ‘mightiness of the horse.’ It was used extensively for war purposes by the Egyptians of ancient times. Right up to World War I it was used in battle. Remember ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’? So the Master Designer did not give the horse the huge stomach he gave the cow. It does not chew the cud. But it does have an unusually large cecum, or blind pouch, lying between the small intestine and the colon, and this serves the purpose of a delaying container to allow the cellulose from the grass to soak and undergo bacterial fermentation. In due time this mass passes into the colon for the absorption of useful nutrients. The unwanted residue then arrives at the end of the alimentary canal. Thus the horse, like the cow, can readily eat and live on grass and hay, but the Creator gave it a digestive system suitable for its distinctive characteristics.

“Let me illustrate this point to drive it home. Suppose a lover of classical music went to an architect and asked him to design a house. He would want a very large lounge so that he could play his recorded music over his powerful hi-fi. The architect would carefully design the house to meet this need. The next client might be a novelist. He wants a special study room, not too big, and a lot of library space for his extensive collection of books. The architect would design a house suitable for that need.”

“Yes, that sounds reasonable, but getting back to our cow . . . It puzzles me that we humans at the peak of evolutionary development, as they say, have only a simple stomach whereas the rather unintelligent cow has a complicated one with four compartments. How come?”

“My dear, our human stomach is only part of our process of digestion. In fact, we could live without a stomach​—some people do. Our small intestine is far more important to us. It can handle a vast variety of foods. Think of the huge range of foods we can eat to give us pleasure. This is evidence of the Creator’s love for mankind and he has given us a suitable process of digestion. I do not know what a cow is thinking of when she flops down to chew the cud, but I do know that your mother gives us some delightful meals, which we anticipate and eat with much pleasure. Another point: Would you like to have the shape of a cow? Silly question, isn’t it? No, you are a beautiful young girl with a lovely shape and a capacity for the enjoyment of many tasty foods. God made us that way. But the cow is designed to produce delicious milk from ordinary grass and hay. Our Creator is indeed a Master Designer. . . . Why are you smiling?”

“I am thinking of mad King Nebuchadnezzar eating grass for seven years!” Do you think he also chewed the cud?​—Daniel 4:23-33.

[Diagram on page 25]

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Stages of digestion in the four-part stomach of a representative ruminant

1 food movement into rumen and reticulum

duodenum

rumen

esophageal groove

esophagus

reticulum

omasum

abomasum

2 following fermentation, food regurgitated and chewed

3 food reswallowed, and digested completely in omasum and abomasum