Absorption of Volatile Acids From the Alimentary Tract of the Sheep and Other Animals

It has long been known that volatile fatty acids are among the chief non-gaseous products of bacterial breakdown of carbohydrate in the rumen; however, in spite of the fact that the ruminant apparently subsists to a large extent upon the carbohydrates which are so broken down, investigators have been loath to admit the value of these to the animal. Instead, therefore, of following up the subsequent fate of the volatile acids they have concentrated more upon searching for unsuspected bacterial products which might make possible an explanation of ruminant carbohydrate metabolism more in line with the better known processes of absorption of sugars in non-ruminant animals.