4 € SERS SSA SASS HS OF CONGRESS. = (% eaok. we EEE AAA AS OF A € K An Wa *, r fT? v ~~ vs a VASA = apKaal i) @ « " a a. Bd APARARA BAAR aon aaa int a ee seve a ‘eb: sa soleisoos - mi, ate Hecosiaicey *e iad Hey atom Sint . 3 arte a RR ae Bist ue, taal pubrehaeonssit old thd XE ; aunty Pied a * : E ’ ak DIAGRAM EXHIBITING IN POUNDS AND OUNCES THE AMOUNT OF MILK PRODUCED BY THE WHITE COW DAILY BY FIVE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FOOD. The Black Line represents the Malt. This line represents the Re NEL Barley. “cc (73 66 pesexennmenenaneseanasnessemessccsces Barley & Molasses. ‘ ‘“ Ct i o=_w Barley & Linseed. its. oz. ‘ es ss Bean Meal. £ MSE Wille BEAN dl RE 97.5 eae ss Dk Sagat ete MAS ON SE GAC y., ry CM RE AN DS pas es po aT SE a aa ee ae pe Aiel a SUNG; 1S eat oan ee = Pn ues a ey eer ee 6 eee Ee a eee ee ie a sce gE — i‘ ae ig ob 12 10 Pea ce 8 Re AS 6 —— 1 ree 2 BS - 14 Paw er 12 ate 10 ees 8 mar ot ; Re ae 4 Rica 2 a 22 | \ 14 a_i 12 2 \ 10 We git J es 6 Z e 4 ee A 2 fee 21 z Bea Keds ae 14 i? | MS oS 12 |? pt He ES | ws 10 a ie SE 8 }— \ ae 6 ie a a : Bh oe DeLee ca jee toh ae 2 Ges ose 9 10 ho: hes EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES ON THE FOOD OF ANIMALS, AND THE FATTENING OF CATTLE. WITH REMARKS ON THE FOOD OF MAN. BASED UPON EXPERIMENTS UNDERTAKEN BY ORDER OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. BY ROBERT DUNDAS THOMSON, M. D. LECTURER ON PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW. FROM THE LAST LONDON EDITION. NEW YORK: A. O. MOORE, AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER, . (LATE ©. M. SAXTON & CO.) No. i140 FULTON STEEET. 1858. TO DR. THOMAS THOMSON AND BARON LIEBIG, TO WHOM THE AUTHOR OWES HIS ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE SCIENCE OF CHEMISTRY, Ghis Contribution TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SUBJECT OF THE GROWTH OF ANIMALS Is AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. PREFACE. Tur present Work is based on an extensive series of experiments which were made at the instance of the Gov- ernment. The original.object of that inquiry was to de- termine the relative influence of barley and malt in feed- ing cattle ; but as the opportunity seemed a favorable one for investigating some scientific problems of great impor- tance to physiology, and of extreme value in the physical management of man and animals, advantage was taken of it, by permission, to extend the experiments so as to in- clude these objects. It is well known to those who have been in the habit of late years of following the researches which have been undertaken to elucidate the nature of the growth of ani- mals, that it is now generally agreed that the muscular part of animals is derived from the fibrinous or nitroge- nous ingredients of the food, while the source of animal fat has been disputed. The present experiments seem to demonstrate that the fat of animals cannot be produced from the oil of the food, but must be evolved from the ca- lorifient, or heat-forming portion of the aliment, essential- ly assisted by its nitrogenous materials. By following out this principle, the author has been enabled to detect an important relation subsisting between the nutritive and ca- lorifient portion of the food, upon the determination of which, for the various conditions of animals, he considers the laws of animal dieting depend. He has endeavored , 8 PREFACE. to apply this law to various articles of human food ; and he trusts that the basis has been laid for future researches, which may be directed to administer to the health and com- fort of mankind, and of domesticated animals. In conduct- ing the experiments upon cattle, the author found not only his habitual acquaintance with animals, but also his med- ical knowledge in continual requisition in consequence of the tendency of the varied conditions of the animal sys- tem, from the sudden and frequent changes of diet, to induce symptoms of disease. These were carefully watch- ed, and overcome by such precautions as clearly follow from a due consideration of the principles announced in this work. It was on this account, and to enable the ag- riculturist to appreciate the advantage which he would derive from physiological and chemical knowledge, rather than to give anatomical instruction to the professional man, that the introductory chapters were written. In a work professing to be the result of entirely original experiments, and where such a mass of figures exist, errors must una- voidably have been overlooked, even although great care has been taken to diminish their number. The author, however, trusts that none will be detected which can ma- terially interfere with the principles deduced from the re- searches. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Introduction.—Different Explanations of Digestion.—The Im- portance of Researches to discover its true Nature.—Sim- plicity of Living, and not the Savage Life, conducive to Health. ; ‘ . E 3 : E Page 1 CHAPTER II. Hunger and Thirst are Laws of Nature.—Anecdote.—Mastica- tion or Chewing necessary as a Preparation for Digestion. —Importance of the fine Division of Food for the Production of Milk in Cows.—Experiment illustrative of this Position.— Alcohol not necessary in Human and Animal Diet.—Anec- dote of a Foreigner.—Definition of Digestion ‘ eT © § CHAPTER III. Human Organs of Digestion.—Description and Figure.—Di- gestion a Solution in the Stomach, but how produced is un- known.—Proofs of the Absence of Free Hydrochloric Acid in the Stomach.—Argument from the Composition of the Food.—Intoxication produced by Oysters.—Anecdotes.—Di- gestive Organs in Animals chewing the Cud —Description and Figure.—Detection of the Food in the Blood.—Enor- mous- Draughts of Water taken by Cows.—Explanation of the Action of Purgatives.—Conversion of Blood ‘into Chyle. —Parallelism between Milk, Flour, and Blood . ssa ee 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE COWS. Description of Brown and White Cow.—Influence of Symme- try uponthe Amount of Milk.—The Health of an Animal de- pends on the proper Relation of its Organs.—Difference of Constitution of Animals depends on the Nervous System.— Fat Animals often to be considered as in a State of Dis- ease : : ‘ : : : ; . Page 45 CHAPTER V. INFLUENCE OF GRASS WHEN USED AS DIET. Tables of Milk and Butter produced by Grass during Fourteen Days.—Composition of the Milk.—Amount of Food consum- ed.—Of the Source of the Butter in the Grass.—Amount of Wax in the Food.—Composition of Butter—Mode of pre- serving Butter fresh for any length of 'Time.—Improbability of Wax being converted into- Butter.—On the Nature of Grass and Hay as Food.—Analysis of Hay.—Grass loses Nutritive Matter when converted into Hay in this Country.— Table of Fall of Rain.—Process of Artificial Haymaking suggested.—Analysis of Stem and Seeds of Rye Grass.— Importance of making Hay before Grass begins to seed 54 CHAPTER VI. ON BARLEY AND MALT DIET. Barley and Malt, when not crushed, although steeped in Hot Water, are imperfectly digested by Cows.—Too large a Quantity of Grain diminishes the Amount of Milk.—Barley produces a greater Quantity of Milk and Butter than Malt.— Difference in the ultimate Composition of Barley and Malt.— Difference in the Amount of Nitrogen in Barley and Malt.— Difference in the Saline Constituents of Barley and Malt.— Effect of the Process of Malting 5 ; ; a ae CONTENTS. 11 _ CHAPTER VII. EFFECT OF MOLASSES, LINSEED, AND BEANS, IN THE PRODUCTION OF MILK AND BUTTER. Molasses gives less Milk and Butter than a Diet containing more Nitrogen.—Linseed gave less Butter than Bean Meal, al- though containing more Oil, probably in consequence of the Constituents of Beans being in the natural Proportion to re- store the Waste of the Animal System : . Page 114 CHAPTER VIII. Quantity of Milk produced by different Kinds of Food.—Effect of Grass in producing Milk.—Influence of Variety of Food on Milk and on Man.—Economical Dishes for the Poor.— Effect of Barley and Malt on Milk.—Effect of Molasses, Linseed, and Beans on the Production of Milk.—Influence of Quantity of Grain in the Production of Milk.—Rate at which Food is changed into Milk.—Relative Influence of different kinds of Food in the Production of Butter ‘ . 125 CHAPTER IX. Muscle of the Body supplied by the Fibrin of the Food.—Fi- brin supplies heat to the Body.—Additional or Calorifient Food also required Amount of Nutritive and Calorifient Food consumed by a Cow per Day.—The true Laws of Di- eting.—Amount of Nutritive Matter in various Kinds of Vegetable Food.—Arrow-root improper for Infant Food, but useful in Diseases.—The largest Quantity of Milk pro- duced by Food containing the greatest Amount of Nitrogen. —Grass an Exception to this Rule.—Explanation of this Fact.—New Forms of Bread.—Oatmeal Bread.—Barley Bread.—Indian Corn Bread.—Peas Bread.—Mode of baking. —Difference between Fermented and Unfermented Bread.— Unfermented Bread recommended : : : . 143 v » 12 CONTENTS. APPENDIX. Taste I. Relations of the Food to the Products of Two Cows . Page 166 Tasie II. Amount of Oil and Wax-5 in ‘the Food, and of the Butter, in each Cow : 197 Tasve III. Amount of Oil and Wax in the Food, ‘aad of the Butter, in both Cows 5 ¢ . 169 Tasie IV. Ratios of Food, Milk, and Butter ‘ occieee Taste V. Amount of Waxand Oil in different Kinds of Food, and in Dung : aay bi Ta ste VI. Comparison between the Wax ee the Food and the Butter, andthe Wax in Dung . . 172 RESEARCHES ON THE FOOD OF ANIMALS, &c. &c. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.—DIFFERENT EXPLANATIONS OF DIGESTION.—IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCHES TO DISCOVER ITS TRUE NATURE.—SIMPLICITY OF LIV- ING, AND NOT THE SAVAGE LIFE, CONDUCIVE TO HEALTH. Ir is a remark no less old than true, That we are often less acquainted with the nature of facts of every- day occurrence, than with those of a rarer description. This may proceed from one of two causes; either from the phenomena constantly under our notice being neg- lected, in consequence of our familiarity with them, or from the complexity of their nature, and the intricate purposes which they ultimately subserve. Some phy- siologists, who have endeavored to explain the nature of the process of digestion, would ascribe our ignorance of that important function to the former of these causes ; since they refer the preparation of the food in the stomach for the purpose of nourishing the body to the presence in that organ of an acid, which, according to them, sim- ply dissolves the food, and enables it to enter as a con- stituent of the circulating fluids of the animal system. The acid which effects this important object is the hy- 2 14 INTRODUCTION. drochloric acid; which they consider to have been satis- factorily proved to be present during the period when food exists in the stomach, and they conceive that they can imitate the process of animal digestion in glass, or other vessels out of the body, simply by exposing ani- mal and vegetable food to the influence of dilute acids. Another class of individuals, who have studied the in- teresting changes which the food undergoes in the stomach and intestines, conceive that we are still unac- quainted with the true nature of this process, and are inclined to the opinion that the reason why we are not sufficiently conversant with the phenomena of digestion, depends more on their intricacy and obscurity than upon a deficiency of research and observation ; and that while we possess some facts which seem to indicate the di- rection in which we are to search for a solution of the difficulties of the subject, we are still at a great distance from the elucidation of the precise manner in which animals digest their food. There cannot be a doubt that if we understood the nature of the process by which the food which we swallow is converted into living flesh, important results would follow in reference to the preservation of the health of animals, and the treatment of diseases. If we were properly acquainted with every transformation through which the constituents of the food pass after it has been masticated, until it is finally removed from the system, it is clear that, in cases where the stomach is unable to perform its accustomed functions, the assist- ance of art might be called in to minister to digestion. Even in the present state of our knowledge, civilized nations cook their food, or, in other words, endeavor to imitate the primary stage of digestion, while the savage * DIGESTION. 15 in his wild, untutored state, being in a condition akin to that of the beasts of the forest, scarcely stands in need of the assistance of art, and devours his prey with less of enjoyment than of necessity. It 1as been a favorite speculation with some philoso- phers, that as beasts thrive best in the forest, so man is most healthy in the savage state ; that when accustomed to brave the severity of the winter’s cold and summer’s heat, to contend with the snow and the thunder storm without the protection of clothing, or pampering food, he is armed, like the Spartan of old, with a shield against the disease and early death so prevalent among the members of refined societies ; that the catalogue of maladies existing among a primitive people is exceed- ingly limited, and that it augments in volume precisely in proportion to the encroachments of civilization, and to the departure from those simple laws by which na- ture, in her unsophisticated state, is uniformly guided. So far has this view been carried by some advocates, that it was the opinion of Plato, that after certain medi- cines were introduced by Podalirius and Machaon at the siege of Troy, different diseases, which these medi- cines produced, became prevalent. It can scarcely be denied, that while these opinions are founded in truth, they have been greatly exaggerated, and made to tell in the wrong direction. It is quite true that simplicity in diet is better fitted to perpetuate health than stimulating and unnatural food; but it is not necessary that, in or- der to acquire health, man should return to the actual condition of the savage; nor is it incumbent that, al- though our domestic animals are seen to thrive well in their primitive forests, they should be cast loose under literally the same circumstances. In other words, it 16 DIGESTION. e does not follow, because savage man and animals are healthy, that civilized man and his attendant animals should be diseased. A little reflection will show, that a greater amount of knowledge is required to manage animals which are subjected to artificial restraints than in their original condition ; for while man in a social state undergoes more mental and physical fatigue than in a state of mere nature, so his attendant animals being placed under certain restrictions, foreign as it were to their primitive condition, it is necessary for those who direct their attention to the management of the physical nature of both man and animals, to possess such an ac- quaintance with their construction and requirements, as to be able to lay down regulations for retaining them in a healthy and natural condition of body, and to prevent cattle, more especially, from acquiring that unwhole- some fat condition which, from want of due attention to the nature of the animal’s system, has assumed al- most the aspect of a permanent fallacy. To render the doctrines to be laid down in the sub- sequent part of this work more intelligible, it will be proper to describe briefly the organs of digestion in man and cattle, and to notice the opinions entertained respecting the nature of digestion. In accomplishing this, it will be necessary to distinguish between what is known and what is assumed. HUNGER AND THIRST. 17 CHAPTER Il HUNGER AND THIRST ARE LAWS OF NATURE.—ANECDOTE.—MASTICATION OR CHEWING NECESSARY AS A PREPARATION FOR DIGESTION.—IMPOR- TANCE OF THE FINE DIVISION OF FOOD FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MILK IN COWS.—EXPERIMENT ILLUSTRATIVE OF THIS POSITION.—ALCOHOL NOT NECESSARY IN HUMAN AND ANIMAL DIET.—ANECDOTE OF A FOR- EIGNER.—DEFINITION OF DIGESTION. Huncer and thirst are the preliminary steps to di- gestion; they constitute a law implanted in the animal economy for the purpose of inducing the living being to take such nourishment as is required to sustain that waste of the system which animated nature is contin- ually undergoing. If the dictates of the sensation of hunger and thirst are rationally obeyed, satisfaction and healthy digestion are the result; but if, on the contrary, these important sensations are neglected, weakness and disease must necessarily ensue. Appetite, or, in its more advanced stage, hunger, teaches animals to seek for*solid food, and thirst suggests the propriety of ren- dering the solid mass more pulpy and dilute by the employment of drink. Experience and reason, both in man and brutes, must in some measure direct the selection of the proper objects to be employed for these purposes. I was some years ago consulted by a wor- thy individual with regard to the propriety of fasting as a religious observance. I told him that the sensation of hunger and thirst constituted a most important law in the aninial economy, destined by the Creator for the Q* 1s MASTICATION, most beneficent purposes; that it ought to be obeyed as a matter of duty, and that if infringed, some preju- dicial result would necessarily ensue; because it is no argument in favor of any such experiment upon human life that existence does not terminate upon its adoption, or that the symptoms of some frightful disease are not instantly ushered in. The seeds of future mischief may be sown by one experiment, and may only lie dor- mant until a second or succeeding infringement shall cause them to spring forth into living activity. In the course of the extensive series of experiments upon cows afterwards to be detailed, it’was found that, when they were not supplied with sufficient food during one day the product of milk was a day or two in reaching its former average ; thus demonstrating that the animal had been weakened by the abstinence, inasmuch as. it took a longer period to reach its ordinary condition than was required to reduce it. ‘The milk, in such an ex- periment, corresponds with the muscle and fatty por- tions of the body of animals which do not supply milk ; hence abstinence in all animals must be followed by a diminution of the weight of the body. It has been well remarked by Liebig, that “in the process of star- vation it is not only the fat which disappears, but also by degrees all such of the solids as are capable of be- ing dissolved. In the wasted bodies of those who have suffered starvation, the muscles are shrunk, and un- naturally soft, and have lost their contractility : all these parts of the body which were capable of entering into the state of motion have served to protect the remain- der of the frame from the destructive influence of the atmosphere.” (Lzebig, p. 26.) There is no difference in this respect between one set ot animals and another. OR CHEWING. 19 Civilized and savage men, wild and domestic animals, must all be classed under the same category. In the human species a morsel of food is grasped by the front teeth of both jaws, which are each supplied with sixteen teeth, making thirty-two in all. In those animals which chew the cud, as they have only one row of teeth the food is less firmly grasped by the jaws, and there is, therefore, a greater necessity that it should be of a soft and pliable nature. By the assistance of the lips, jaws, tongue, and auxiliary muscles, the food is conveyed into the cavity of the mouth, and by the aid of the tongue and lateral motion of the mouth it is placed between the opposing jaws, where it is masti- cated or ground to a proper consistence. But the ac- tion of the jaws in grinding the morsel introduced be- tween them at the same time elicits the compressing power of the muscles of the cheek upon the parotid gland, which is situated in man in front of the ear, and expels its secreted fluid, the saliva, into the mouth, to assist in comminuting the nutritive matter. Besides this mechanical action, there is, however, a nervous sympathy called into operation. ‘The masticated mat- ter acts upon the tongue and adjacent parts, inducing a sympathy with the glands placed under the tongue, and causes them to pour out their copious contents. ‘The object of mastication or chewing is, therefore, to re- duce the food to such a consistence as shall fit it for its reception and proper digestion in the stomach. This is well illustrated in the instance of animals which are not supplied with teeth. The common fowl, for example, is destitute of these grinding apparatus ; but it has a muscular mechanism termed the gizzard, which powerfully compresses the 20 IMPORTANCE OF introduced food, and by means of pebbles and stones, which are a necessary article of food with the class of animals referred to, an artificial substitute for the teeth is provided. In graminivorous animals, we shall pre- sently find that a substitute for the second row of teeth is provided in the operation of rumination, or chewing the cud. From attention to these facts, therefore, we are taught that the preparatory step of digestion con- sists in the fine division of solid food by means of the apparatus set apart in the mouth for this purpose, and its mixture with a certain amount of fluid saliva to ren- der it more dilute. The importance of the proper grinding of the food, and of rendering it as soluble as possible, can be well appreciated by such individuals as have been the sub- jects of indigestion, from the eructation of morsels of food, of gases, and of acid liquors. It is scarcely ne- cessary to remark, that similar rules are applicable to the inferior animals, and more particularly in the state of confinement to which most of them are more or less subjected when they are made to minister to the wants of the human species. ‘The following comparative table exhibits this fact in a sufficiently striking manner. Two cows were fed on entire barley and malt, steeped in hot water; they were then fed on crushed barley and malt, prepared in the same manner. The influence of the finer division of the grain in augmenting the product of milk places the importance of this position beyond all cavil :-— FINELY-DIVIDED FOOD. pe BROWN COW. WHITE Cow. Milk in Periods Milk in Periods of 5 Days. of 5 Days. ; 1111 Ibs. 106 lbs. Entire barley and grass, - 3 g7i 94 é 96 98 Entire malt and grass, -~ - ; 95 104 115! 1091 Crushed barley, grass and hay,< 105 109} 110 110 97 106! Crushed malt and hay, - -¥ 96 1074 98 1114 An inspection of this table shows, that with the entire barley the milk diminished during the second five days of the experiment, while with the crushed barley the milk had a tendency to increase during each succeeding period. In all such experiments there are continually occurring irregularities, of which we have no means of precisely appreciating the causes. ‘These proceed often from atmospherical influences, as temperature, and fre- quently from the condition of the animal. We are, therefore, taking a legitimate view of an experiment, when we direct our views to the tendency to improve- ment or deterioration in the course of the trial, rather than to the actual numbers obtained. In the preceding table, the tendency to an increase of product is decidedly in favor of the finely divided grain. ‘There are some anomalies, more particularly with reference to the brown cow, which was rather a fiery animal, and probably placed in peculiar physical conditions, as will subse- quently be explained. The nature of the saliva, which is a fluid of the sim- plest constitution, as it contains 991 per cent. of water, directs our attention to the nature of the fluid to be used 22 SALIVA, AND NOT ALCOHOL, in quenching thirst. It has become customary in towns to stimulate the systems of cattle, more especially of cows, after the fashion of human beings, by the use of alcoholic fluids, such as pot ale, under the idea of in- creasing the amount of milk. Now as the stimulating portion of this pot ale is alcohol, and contains no curd, or, if so, but an insignificant portion, it is evident that no increase of the nutritive constituents of the milk is thereby obtained. It is an idea, too prevalent with nurses, that fermented liquors increase the quantity of milk; but Iam sure all intelligent physicians will agree with me that this view should not be encouraged, either as improving the quality of the milk, or as benefiting the infants supported on such food. Even for adults a similar advice may not be inappropriate. A foreigner, who had a high opinion of English philosophy, was in- vited to a party consisting of men of science. After a plenteous dinner the table was cleared, and the boitles were placed on the table. Having partaken of two or three glasses of wine, and being still pressed to drink, he seriously assured the company that his thirst was quenched. ‘The philosophers, however, continued to urge him to follow their example, and drink, even al- though he were not thirsty ; upon which the foreigner rang the bell, and insisted on having another course brought up, declaring, that they ought to eat as much against reason, as he to drink. ‘The only advantage gained can merely be by stimulating the system, or in supplying a bad form of heat-producing food in a liquid form. There is no evidence that alcohol ‘can supply any of the constituents of the milk or body. If the milk augments under its action, a position requiring to be proved, it must be in regard to the aqueous ingre- THE TYPE OF HUMAN DRINK. 23 dient, and not by an increase of any of the solid consti- tuents ; a consequence, therefore, which would be more satisfactorily acquired by the addition of water to the milk after it has been drawn from the animal. The saliva would appear to constitute the type of what the drink of man and animals should be. The artificial beverages so much employed by them in a state of confinement seem to be unnecessary, if not hurtful. By the use of fluids as nearly allied to the nature of saliva as possible, we shall, as far as we can judge, be following the simple rules of nature. The operation of mastication, or chewing, is a voluntarv act ; but the next step, or that of deglutition, or swallowing, is of a different character. So soon as the food is suf- ficiently reduced to a pulpy state, the natural impulse appears to be to carry it, by the assistance of the tongue, to the back part of the mouth. This is all the voluntary exertion required on the part of the individual. The instant that it tonches certain nerves which guard the throat, they are excited, and cause the muscles to grasp the morsel and carry it into the gullet, by which it is conveyed, without any peculiar sensation in the healthy condition of animals, and without any exercise of voluntary motion, into the stomach, the primary or- gan of digestion. ; Much ambiguity has occurred in physiological wri- tings respecting the nature of digestion, perhaps as much from the absence of a proper definition of the term as from any other cause. Some writers appear to consider + the disappearance of the masticated food from the stom- ach as a proof of the completion of the process of diges- tion; while others view digestion as the formation of a pulpy mass in that organ. Physiologists generally de- 24 DEFINITION OF THE TERM DIGESTION. scribe the pulpy mass in the stomach under the name of chyme, and that in the smaller intestines as chyle; but as these terms are in some measure artificial, and scarcely admissible in the case of graminivorous ani- mals, in the subsequent description of what is known respecting the changes which the food undergoes in the intestines, these terms will be omitted. By digestion | understand the conversion of food into blood. A con- sideration of this subject will lead us to notice the prin- cipal organs of digestion in man and animals, as well as the primary steps of digestion in the stomach and intestines, with the secondary stage of digestion in the passage of the food to the blood-vessels, and the alter. ation which it there undergoes. HUMAN ORGANS OF DIGESTION. 25 CHAPTER III. HUMAN ORGANS OF DIGESTION.—DESCRIPTION AND FIGURE.—DIGESTION A SOLUTION IN THE STOMACH, BUT HOW PRODUCED IS UNKNOWN.— PROOFS OF THE ABSENCE OF FREE HYDROCHLORIC ACID IN THE STOMACH. —ARGUMENT FROM THE COMPOSITION OF THE FOOD.—INTOXICATION PRODUCED BY OYSTERS.—ANECDOTES.—DIGESTIVE ORGANS IN ANIMALS CHEWING THE CUD.—DESCRIPTION AND FIGURE.—DETECTION OF THE FOOD IN THE BLOOD.——-ENORMOUS DRAUGHTS OF WATER TAKEN BY COWS.——-EXPLANATION OF THE ACTION OF PURGATIVES.——CONVERSION OF BLOOD INTO CHYLE.—PARALLELISM BETWEEN MILK, FLOUR, AND BLOOD. Human Organs of Digestion—The organs of pri- mary digestion in man are all situated in the lower division of the trunk of the body, usually termed the abdomen or belly, (Fig. 1.) They consist of the stomach, which may be viewed as an expansion of the gullet, or meat-pipe. Its form has been compared to that of a bagpipe. It lies principally on the left side, under the edge of the ribs; but it extends towards the middle of the body, and more particularly after a meal its expansion can be detected. ‘The upper border of the stomach is curved ; the hollow of the curve extend-— ing downwards, and forming what is designated the small curvature or arch of the stomach. The lower border of this organ also constitutes an arch, termed the greater curvature. ‘The passage into the stomach from the gullet, and the exit-valve or intestinal or lower ex- tremity of the stomach are thus nearly on a level, so that this organ may be said to be directed across the 3 26 LARGE AND body. ‘The lower opening of the stomach (pyloric ori- fice) is contracted, being supplied with a circular band Fig. 1. HUMAN STOMACH AND INTESTINES, (Grant.) 1. esophagus, or meat-pipe. 2.’ Stomach. 3. Small intestines. 4, Termination of the small intestines in the colon. 5. Great arch of the colon. ‘ 6. Straight gut, or rectum. of muscular fibres, which constitutes a kind of valve in order to prevent food from returning into this organ. This point forms also the connection with the intestines, from whence they extend in the form of a long tube, five or six times the length of the body, and occupy the lower part of the abdomen. ‘The intestines are usually divided into the small and large intestines. The former ‘are estimated to be in length twenty-six feet, or from SMALL INTESTINES. Hg four to five times the length of the body ; and the great intestines one length of the body, or about six feet.’— (Bell.) But it is rather remarkable that we have no precise statistical data in reference to the proportion between the height of the body and the length of the intestinal canal. In the figure the small intestines oc- cupy the middle space, and are surrounded on three sides by the large intestines. The colon, which com- mences on the right side of the body, passes upwards and across to the left side, in the form of a great arch ; then downwards, until it terminates in the rectum, or straight gut. The upper portion of the small intestines is termed duodenum, from its being twelve finger- breadths in length. It crosses over to the right side of the spine, and descends to the kidney, from which it crosses over to the left side of the spine. This is the largest of the small intestines, and it generally contains digested matter. ‘I'he next portion of the small viscera, or two-fifths of what remains, is termed the jeyunum, or empty intestine, because it is generally void of con- tents. The lower portion of the small intestines is termed ilium, and resembles the empty intestine. Both of these are convoluted in a remarkable manner in the cavity of the belly, and terminate in the large intestines by a valve, which prevents the return of their contents. The large intestines, including the colon and rectum, or straight gut, constitute the lower termination of the abdominal viscera, and are destined to serve as a store- house for all that portion of the food which is of no use to the system, and which is usually known under the names of dung and excrement. ‘The masticated food then is received by the gullet into the stomach, and is further reduced to a finer state of division. ‘The mode 28 SOLUTION OF THE FOOD in which this division or solution of food is executed has not yet been satisfactorily ascertained. An acid certainly makes its appearance in the stomach when food is present, but whether this acid takes any part in the digestion or solution is still disputed. During the digestion of vegetable food in pigs, whose stomachs bear a close resemblance to those of man, I have al- ways found a volatile acid present in minute quantities, which corresponded with the properties of acetic acid ; but it is the only acid which distils over from the liquor of the stomach at a temperature of 212°. The filtered liquid of the stomach, under such circumstances, con- tains no hydrochloric acid, but an acid which is either lactic, or corresponds very closely with it.* ‘To ascer- tain if free hydrochloric acid was present in the fluid contents of the stomach, after being distilled for some hours till no more acetic acid came over, the residue was filtered, and divided into three equal portions. 1. To the first portion a solution of nitrate of silver was added, until a precipitate ceased to fall; pure nitric acid was then added, and the temperature raised to the boiling point. The precipitate was filtered, washed, and weighed. 2. The second portion was evaporated to dryness, and ignited: the residue was dissolved in water, and precipitated by nitrate of silver, nitric acid being added, and the solution boiled. 3. The third por- tion was exactly neutralized with caustic potash, evap- orated, and ignited: the residue was dissolved in water, and precipitated by nitrate of silver. The results of these experiments are indicated in the following table in grains :-— * Phil. Mag., April, May, 1845. Lancet and Medical Gazette of same year. : IN THE STOMACH. 29 Experi- Weight of Weight of Chloride Weight of Hydro- ments. of silver. Chlorine. chloric Acid. 1 7°81 1°95 2°00 2 UIT 1°79 1°84 3 7°97 1°99 2°04 The difference between the first and second experi- ments indicated the amount of chlorine in union with ammonia. In the third experiment the potash displaced the ammonia, and hence the amount of chlorine was the same in the first and third experiments. I there- fore infer that no free hydrochloric acid was present. Hence it appears probable th@t this acid is produced at the expense of the sugar or starch of the food, and it appears doubtful if any considerable quantity of acid is secreted, as is generally imagined, from the coats of the stomach. Corvisart tells us, that in a case where there was an aperture in the stomach the contents of that or- gan during digestion were neutral; and I have found the contents of the stomach of a sheep during digestion of grass, and several hours after the food had been in- troduced, without either an acid or alkaline reaction. A strong argument, however, against the hydrochloric acid theory of digestion is derived from the circum- stance of the food containing, in many instances, but an insignificant quantity of chlorides, a considerable portion of which is again thrown out with the dung. Hay made from rye grass, for example, contains often merely a trace of chlorine, while in barley, and other kinds of grain, it is often entirely absent. Now as it is obvious that the hydrochloric acid, if any were present in the stomach, must be originally derived from the food, the absence of such a constituent in many kinds of food renders its disengagement in a free state in the 3* 30 DIFFICULTY OF EXPLAINING stomach so much the less probable. I regret, there- fore, to be obliged to infer that the commonly received view of digestion is scarcely admissible. It is perhaps safer to conclude, that there is a deficiency of know- ledge on this important subject; and that not only do we require to possess a few facts additional before we can be said to understand the process, but we want an entirely new basis on which to found a theory of diges- tion. It seems highly probable, from my own observa- tions, that the starch of food is converted into sugar, and that this again passes into simpler forms, as alcohol, perhaps, acetic acid, or lactic acid, by a kind of substi- tution so well explained by the theory of Dumas, and finally into gaseous forms, as carbonic acid and vapor of water, or after some such fashion as suggested by Liebig. The difficulty lies in explaining how the al- bumen and fibrin become dissolved, and are thus pre- pared to be taken up in a liquid state by the lacteals. What has been described as fermenting or digesting principles, under the names of pepsin, gasterase, &c., are obviously albumen, &c. modified by the action of solvents, and have thrown no light hitherto on the na- ture of the solvent power. ‘The most superficial ob- server must have noticed that digestion is something more than a mere chemical action. Does not the fam- ished man feel refreshed after eating, and does not the pulse beat quicker when food has been swallowed ? There is, therefore, a nervous action induced, the na- ture of which it is only wise to admit we do not as yet understand. But so remarkable is the influence of even simple food on the nerves, when abstinence has been practised for some time, that it may be interesting THE SOLUTION OF THE FOOD. 31 to quote the following case, in which intoxication was produced by the stimulus of oysters alone. In the well-known mutiny of the Bounty, Capt. Bligh was set adrift in boats with twenty-five men about the end of April, in the neighborhood of the Friendly Islands, and was left to make his way to the coast of New Hol- land in such a precarious conveyance. At the end of May they reached that coast after undergoing the great- est privations, the daily allowance for each man having been one twenty-fifth of a pound of bread, a quarter of a pint of water, and occasionally a teaspoonful or two of rum. Parties went on shore, and returned highly rejoiced at having found plenty of oysters and fresh water. Soon, however, “‘ the symptoms of having eaten too much be- gan to frighten some of us; but on questioning others who had taken a more moderate allowance their minds were a little quieted. The others, however, became equally alarmed in their turn, dreading that such symp- toms (which resembled intoxication) would come on, and that they were all poisoned, so that they regarded each other with the strongest marks of apprehension, uncertain what would be the issue of their impru- dence!” Similar observations have been made under other circumstances. Dr. Beddoes states that persons who have been shut up in a coal-work from the falling in of the sides of a pit, and have had nothing to eat for four or five days, will be as much intoxicated by a ba- sin of broth, as an ordinary person by three or four quarts of strong beer. In descending the Gharra, a tributary of the Indus, Mr. Atkinson states (Account of Expedition into Affghanistan in 1839-40, p. 66) that on two occasions during the passage he witnessed the intoxicating effects of food. To induce the Punjaubees oe RUMINANT ORGANS to exert themselves a little more, he promised them a ram, which they consider a great delicacy, for a feast, their general fare consisting of rice and vegetables made palatable with spices. The ram was killed, and they dined most luxuriously, stuffing themselves as if they were never to eat again. After an hour or two, to his great surprise and amusement, the expression of their countenances, their jabbering and gesticulations, showed clearly that the feast had produced the same effect as any intoxicating spirit or drug. The second treat was attended with the same result. The introduction of food, therefore, into the stomach produces an influence or sympathy over the whole body which is worthy of noticé, and shows us that we are too much disposed, perhaps, to localize the physiological actions of the systems of animals. Digestive organs in animals which chew the cud.— (Ruminant animals, fig. 2.) The small and large in- testines of these animals correspond, in general re- spects, with those of the human subject. The stomach is, however, entirely different. Instead of consisting of one cavity as in men, the stomach of the sheep and ox is divided into four compartments, which serve to reduce the food to a finer state, and render it more pulpy. The food in these animals is first received into the paunch, (ventriculus,) which occupies a large space in the belly on the left side. From this bag it passes into the second stomach or honeycomb, (reticulum or bon- net,) from the cell-looking aspect of its interior struc- ture. There the food is formed into a round ball, and is thrown by the cesophagus into the mouth, to be again chewed while the animal is at rest. This is termed OF DIGESTION. 33 chewing the cud, and is a proof that the food has un- dergone little change in the first stomach. In the fine Fig. 2. COMPOUND STOMACH OF RUMINANTS, (from Carus and Jones.) 1. CEsophagus. 2. The paunch, or first stomach. 3. The honeycomb, or second stomach. 4. The manyplies, or third stomach. 5. The caille or red, or fourth stomach. 6. The commencement of the small intestines. state of division in which it now is, the food when swallowed, ‘in consequence of its stimulating quality being now altered, finds the two valvular folds at the lower end of the esophagus closed and shortened by - contraction, and is directed by the short canal they thus form into the third, and thence into the fourth cavity of the stomach,” ( Grant, p. 411,*) which is the true digest- * Outlines of ‘Comparative Anatomy, by R. E. Grant, M. D., &c Part IV. p. 410. 34 CONVERSION OF FOOD INTO ing stomach, and is the one which is active when the young are suckling. The anatomy thus far at least of the ruminant animals is interesting to the cattle feeder, because it may explain the importance of mixing with grain a certain amount of chopped hay, in order that the whole may pass into the first stomach and have all the benefit of a second mastication; whereas, if it is administered at once in a fine state of division similar to that produced by chewing the cud, it may pass into the third stomach at once. The number of digesting operations to which vegetable food is thus subjected exhibits in a strong point of view the difficulty encoun- tered by the systems of animals in extracting from this description of aliment the soluble ingredients fitted for their support. It is thus we find in man, that vegeta- ble is longer of digesting than animal food, and that the American Indians, who live entirely on animals during a great portion of the year, are under the ne- cessity of smoking largely the prepared bark of the willow to delay probably digestion, as the custom of smoking has been plausibly explained by Liebig. There is an interesting confirmation of the fact, if any were needed, of the easier digestibility of animal than of vegetable food, related in the case of Mr. Spalding, the improver of the diving-bell in the last century. He stated that when he had eaten animal food, or drunk fermented liquors, he consumed the air in the bell much faster than when he lived upon vegetable food and drank only water. Many repeated trials had so convinced him of this, that he constantly abstained from animal diet while engaged in diving. But as di- gestion is not confined to the stomach in the view which we have taken of it, we find that in animals CHYLE OR WHITE BLOOD. 35 living on vegetable food the intestines are generally much longer than in animals subsisting on animal food. In the sheep, for example, they are twenty-eight times the length of the body, while in animals which feed on a mixed diet, the intestinal canal, as in man, possesses a medium extent. The importance of the length of this tube is at once apparent for the digestion of a diet which is with difficulty soluble, if we consider that the intesti- nal canal is believed to form an extensive surface, from which the digested food is constantly passing away by the mouths of vessels opening into it, termed lacteals. These lacteals are considered to form a connection be- tween the intestines and the bloodvessels, by which the digested food, under the name of chyle, is transmitted into the current of the blood. The chyle, which may therefore be considered as incipient or young blood, contains simi- lar ingredients to those which we find in the stomach, viz., fibrin, albumen, sugar, oil, red coloring matter, and salts. (Prout.) If we examine the blood when the chyle has been mixed with it, we might expect to find indi- cations of its presence in that fluid. Accordingly it has been ascertained that the serum or watery part of the blood, after partaking of a meal which contains any fatty matter, is milky, and is not clear as is generally supposed. This has been ascertained to be the case in healthy men, and also in the inferior animals. For example, calves were fed on gruel and milk, and after various intervals they were slaughtered. ‘The serum of the blood on examination when the animal was killed from three to six hours after the meal was found to be milky, and to leave a greasy stain on filtering paper, when the amount of milk or fatty matter used was considerable; while the serum taken from an animal 36 LARGE DRAUGHTS OF WATER which had been subjected to starvation for a space of time varying from twelve to twenty-four hours, present- ed generally a clear aspect.* Besides the fatty matter which had been used as food, traces of albuminous matter were detected in the serum of the blood when in the milky state; and from some experiments also it would appear that sugar, either derived from the starch, or from the saccharine matter of the food, can be detected in the blood. These observations, for an opportunity of making which I am indebted to Dr. A. Buchanan, seem to be corroborated by the fact stated by microscopical observers, that particles distinct from those of the fat can be detected in the chyle.- It has been a subject of discussion with physiolo- gists, whether the chyle or incipient blood is taken up in the small intestines alone, or if absorption occurs also in the course of the large intestines. Upon this question it appears that no small degree of light may be thrown by a consideration of some circumstances in the feeding of cattle, which are sufficiently striking. As cows are continually feeding during the whole day, it can rarely happen that the stomach can be in any other condition than in that of engorgement, and yet the amount of water which the animals will swallow at a single draught is certainly more than sufficient to fill the whole of the cavities of the stomach supposing them to be empty. ‘The following table will show the quantity of water swallowed by two cows on different occasions. The animals were placed on the weighing-machine, and their weight noted. They were then allowed to satisfy their thirst, and their weight was again taken. ——————— * Paper by the author, Phil. Mag., April and May, 1845. TAKEN BY COWS. 37 BROWN COW. Pee gh nee me ee One SN ete mewn Te ener re Weight of Cow. Water ; Swallow- Before After ed. Drinking. | Drinking. Ibs. lbs. lbs. 12 Aug. | Barley, molasses, and hay, 1010 1038 28 19 Malt and hay = - 9983 | 1041 424 29 — Ditig: 2-35 = | 10234 | 10483 25 4 Sept. | Barley, linseed, 991 1055 63 and hay, WHITE COW. Weight of Cow. Water Spor) | Sywatiow- Before After ed. Drinking. | Drinking. lbs. Ibs. lbs. 12 Aug. | Barley, molasses, 1052 1106 54 and hay, 26. — Malt and hay - | 1028 1051 23 4 Sept. | Barley, linseed, 1056 1104 48 and hay, By kl bated hale? 6 & 1% — 2 69 el 0 PL 0 0 O01 Ae 18 0 — } 6S < O18 #9 0 0 O@I T. :@ “8s 61 — OL oo 69 L GI 6g 0 0 OOT tox Qa Pe sI — 6 a ¢9 , OF 8 #1 IL 0 0 OOT Il GI #3 Ll — 8 < 6¢ Tk §. 8h 0 0 OO! 8 § 9 91 — L a €9 Il 0 924 0 0 OOT Il SG GZ cI — 9 L9 0 FI 99 0 0 OOT 6 F 9 tI — G 89 6 8 89 ee U0 a AR SR b ae 69 aoe St 1: 8 9 0 OOL GI FI FZ oI — € ° 69 reap CUD GIG §6 Gr fe 1 — j e, |-oL9 Il &I 6L SIG §&6 yr II 9% OI ounr I oO ‘sIp "ZO *Sq] ‘sip "ZO “Sq ‘sip °ZO “Sq] ‘sIp ‘ZO “sq :CPRT 2 ste 2S ce SR Biel’ eae |e a *dulay, ‘royNg *MOD JO 1USIOAA ‘sung "SSRI INA "eh OUT *sheq ie3) ‘MOO NMOUT “LAIQ] SSVUjy—']T LNAWIYad xX EFFECT OF GRASS AS FOOD. 03 8 og ‘ulexy)| 6 ZL OOOT | O BI 9ZFI | B EI FOE PPOI 0 &1 06 0 0 OOL Ol ¢ 1@ $3 — tI are aff 8 6 98 0 0 OOT G II 06 co rd ue GI OL 6L 0 0 O@T 0 FI 02 1% — oI i 6 € 19 0 0 OOT IL. GT ST 06 — II ey 21 2 09 0 0 OBI SI 0 06 61 — O1 766 SHS Shai 0 0 OOT G § 8 sl — 6 SI SIZ 4 tI Fb 39 0 0 OOT S$. § .06 Lt — 8 e* c. 6 BL 0 0 OOT G G 8 91 — L MS I 8 99 0 0 OOT Sl: FI te cl. — 9 ie SI II 19 0 0 OOT GIL GI GZ tl — G y 6 F b9 0 0 OOT 8 9 & cl = t 7 ee = 0 § OL 0 0 OOT S 1 8 ol — € ou G 0 OL GIG §6 G OL IZ i= b mS 8 6 OL SIG $6 tl F &@ OI ounr I “sap °ZO *sq] "Sql ‘sip ‘ZO ‘“Sq[ ‘sip ‘ZO ‘Ssq] ‘SIp °ZO “Ssq| :CPRI “Igy Ng "MOD JO 1YSIOAA ‘sung *SSBLIO “MINA °21eq *sAeq "MOO DLIHM “LAIQ] SSVUrL)y—]T LNAWIYad xy EFFECT OF GRASS AS FOOD. 57 Proximate Analysis of the Experiment.—The com- position of the grass, consisting almost entirely of rye grass, (Lolium perenne,) and of the dung, was as fol- lows :— Grass. | Dung. 7B Si Me at 75° | 88°33 Sol. Salts - - - 1:34 | 0°40 Silica and Insol. Salts - | 1°35 Organic Matter - - 23°66 | 9°92 100° "hoo: Hence the solid matter in the food of the brown cow was 356 lbs., in the dung 147, while in the food of the white cow there were 356 lbs. of solid matter, and in the dung 140 lbs., making in all 425 lbs. swallowed by the two cows. The composition of the milk of the cows was as fol- lows :— Brown. | White Spec. Grav. - - 1029°8 1029°8 Water - - - 87°19 87°35 Butter - ~ - 3°70 Sugar - - - 4°35 | Casein - ~ - 4°16 Ga Sais eric: 4s 0-15 | 0°156 Insol. Salts - - = 0°44 | 0°488 From the previous experiments it therefore appears, that the same quantity of food given to cows nearly of the same weight produced 5 lbs. less of solid matter of milk in one cow than in the other; 100 lbs. of solid matter of grass producing in the brown cow 17} lbs 58 ANALYSIS OF THE EXPERIMENT of dry milk, and in the white cow only 153 1bs. From the column, however, in which the weight of the cattle is represented, it appears that both cows were increas- ing in weight; but, as the white cow advanced most rapidly, it is probable that the difference in the quantity of solid milk may have been applied to increase the weight of the white cow. There is another alternative which is also admissible, viz., that the capacity of the lungs and respiratory organs of the white cow were greater than those of the brown cow, since the former absorbed a greater amount of solid matter from the grass, as appears from the difference between the grass and dung, than in the case of the brown cow. These important differences in the two animals rendered it impracticable to make comparative experiments upon them at the same time. The only method which could afford results of value was, to supply each with the same kind of food, and thus to obtain data which could enable a judgment to be formed of the relative nature of the constitutions of the animals. The whole series, therefore, consists of two parallel sets of experiments, the second of which may be viewed as a repetition of the first trials, thus serving to control any liability to error which might readily occur from the nature of the investigation. Ultimate Analysis of the nea —The ulti- mate composition of the grass and dung was found to be as follows :— WITH GRASS. 59 Carbon - Hydrogen Nitrogen - Oxygen - Ash - - Water - Fresh. =}. 11°35 = 1°48 * 0°46 10°39 “ 1°32 =e 100 Grass. 45°41 5°93 1°84 41°54 5°28 - | 75°00 100 Dried at 212°. Dung. | LE te Fresh Dried at 212°. 6°40 45°74 0°78 5°64 0°25 1°81 5°20 37°03 the 9°78 86°00 Table exhibiting the Amount in Pounds of Carbon, &c. in the Food and Dung during Fourteen Days. Brown. Consump- Consump- Grass. | Dung. aaa) Grass. | Dung. didn. Carbon -| 1612! 67 942 1612} 64 972 Hydrogen - 21 8 13 21 72 | 134 Nitrogen - 64 25, 33 64 24 4 Oxygen -/| 148 541 | 935 148 52 96 en OO 18? y 14 gay ee | ge 5 Water - - | 1070?) 9025 | 1673 | 10705 | 860 | 2103 |14262/ 1049 | 377 | 1426 1000 | 4263 From this table we learn that the brown cow con- sumed daily 62 lbs. of carbon ; this is very nearly equi- valent to 1 oz. of carbon for every 94 lbs. of live weight, (the cow weighing 8 cwt. 71 lbs.) The white cow consumed daily nearly 7 lbs. of carbon, or 1 oz. of car- bon to 82 lbs. of live weight; and the daily consump- tion of all constituents is represented in the following table, which affords a view of the mean of the twe cows:— 60 ULTIMATE NATURE OF FOOD. Ibs. Carbon - - - - - 6°87 Hydrogen - - - - 0°93 Nitrogen - - - - 0°28 Oxygen - - ~ - - 6°76 Ash - - - - - 0°33 Water - - - - - 13°50 28°67 Tliat so much matter should be ejected by animals is a circumstance liable to excite surprise in one who examines the physiology of digestion merely in a cur- sory nianner ; but when we recollect that the stomachs of a ccw are of great capacity, capable of holding seve- ral gallons of water, and that these vessels, if we may so speak, require to be filled, in order that a mechanical excitement may be communicated to their surrounding coats, we may discover perhaps why a condensed regi- men, although it might contain sufficient nourishment to supply the waste of the body, from its insufficiency of bulk to excite the stomach to secrete the requisite gastric fluid, might be incompletely digested. Hence it may be that grain and all farinaceous food are insufhi- cient for cattle: they require a quantity of hay or straw in addition, for the purpose, in common language, of filling up the animal, but possibly to excite the coats of the stomach to the action of secretion. It is perhaps a prefe able view to consider the hay as containing a larger amount of calorifient constituents. — Of the Constituent of the Grass which supplies the Butter.—It is now upwards of a century since Beccaria of Bologna broached the idea that animals are composed of the same substances which they employ as food :— ‘ En effet si |’on excepte la partie spirituelle et immor- THE SOURCE OF THE BUTTER. 61 telle de notre étre, et si nous ne considérons que le corps, sommes nous composés d’autres substances que de celles qui nous servent de nourriture. (1742.)’— Collection Académique, tome x. p.1. In more recent times Dr. Prout has defended the same doctrine, and has referred us to milk as the type of nourishment. In this fluid the main solid constituents are oil, fibrin, and sugar; these, therefore, or analogous bodies, he considers should enter into the composition of all whole- some nutriment. Still more lately a difference of opin- ion has resulted with reference to the exact part which starch or sugar plays in the animal economy. Fibrinous matters, it is generally admitted, undergo little or no alteration in the system; but whether it is necessary, in order to produce fat in an animal, that the food should contain oil, and that no other form of nutriment can produce this substance, is a question which has been very much debated. It has been contended that the presence of oil, if not essential in the food, is at least very important in increasing the amount of fat deposit- ed; while Liebig holds, that oil may possibly be assi- milated or converted into butter, but that the same pro- duct may result from the deoxidation of starch or sugar in the animal economy. ‘To the agriculturist the settle- ment of this question is of no small importance, since it may guide him to the use of various kinds of food for the fattening of cattle which may otherwise be over- looked, and may also conduce to the proper prepara tion of food, a subject which has received less attention than perhaps it deserves. In the prosecution of the present series of experiments the prospect of throwing some light upon this interesting subject has been kept in view; and, in general, such experiments as were 6 62 THE SOURCE OF THE \ required to afford data for calculating, from the different kinds of food, the probable origin of the oily matter secreted by the animals, have been carefully registered. To solve the question, it is necessary to ascertain the amount of oil in the food. ‘The oily matter in the grass was determined by first drying the grass at the temperature of 212°, to remove water; it was then digested in successive portions of ether, until this liquid ceased to remove any matter in solution. The same experiment was performed with the dung. The first process, therefore, gave all the oily matter swallowed by the animal, and the second afforded the oil or wax which was not taken into the system: 2000 grains of grass, when dried, became 500 grains. By digestion in ether, 42°3 grains were taken up of a matter having a dry waxy consistence, possessing a green color, but without any of the characters of a fluid oil; this is equal to 2°01 per cent. 4284 grains of moist dung from grass, equivalent to 500 grains of dry dung, af- forded 13°2 grains of an exactly similar green waxy matter to that found in the grass, equal to 0°312 per cent. ‘The largest amount of wax in the dung of the cattle was obtained while they were feeding on hay ; 1000 grains of dung left, at the temperature of 212°, 157 grains of dry dung, which gave 6 grains of wax, equivalent to 0°6 per cent. in moist dung, or 3°82 per cent. in the dry dung. All of these products were carefully dried for some days at the temperature of boiling water. From these data, then, we are enabled to construct the following table :— FAT OF ANIMALS. 63 los. Amount of wax in food of both cows in fourteen days 57°3 Amount of wax in dung - - - - - 63 Amount of wax consumed by the cows - - - 51:0 Amount of dry butter - - . - - - 16°7 Excess of wax in the food - - - - - 34:3 To ascertain whether the whole.of the butter is re- moved from the milk by the usual process of churning, portions of the same milk were analyzed by the usual methods, for the sake of comparison. ‘The brown cow’s milk in the present experiment contained 3°46 per cent. of butter, while, by analysis, the amount was 3°7, making a difference of rather less than a quarter of a pound in 100 pounds of milk. This is so small that it does not affect the preceding calculation, but rather tends to show that the determination of such questions on a large scale is preferable to the usual analytic methods, since the analysis of milk twice a day for several months would be such a laborious work as to render its accomplishment impossible. It is necessary to explain the circumstance that but- ter, as obtained by the usual mechanical process, con- _ tains foreign matter, consisting of water and curd, or casein. By analysis, butter was found to have the fol lowing composition :— Casein - is te - =, “O-O4 Oil a 2 ~ “ - 86°97 Water - = * ~ - 12°79 The composition of French butter has been stated to be somewhat different, (Boussingault,) as it has been found to contain upwards of eighteen per cent. of im- 64 PRESERVATION OF BUTTER. purity. This difference may be owing to the coldness of the summer during which the present experiments were made. The hardness of the butter was a subject of general remark, and might render it better fitted for being freed from the casein than if it had possessed a more fluid form. Mode of preserving Butter fresh—The cause of the tainting of fresh butter depends upon the presence of the small quantity of curd and water as exhibited by the preceding analysis. ‘To render butter capable of being kept for any length of time in a fresh condition, that is, as a pure solid oil, all that is necessary is to boil it in a pan till the water is removed, which is marked by the cessation of violent ebullition. By allowing the liquid oil to stand for a little the curd subsides, and the oil may then be poured off, or it may be strained through calico or muslin, into a bottle, and corked up. When it is to be used it may be gently heated and poured out of the bottle, or cut out by means of a knife or cheese- gouge. ‘This is the usual method of preserving butter in India, (ghee,) and also on the Continent; and it is rather remarkable that it is not in general use in this country. Bottled butter will thus keep for any length of time, and is the best form of this substance to use for sauces. From the preceding table it appears, that the oil consumed by the cows greatly exceeded the butter, and the oil contained in the dung, even if the casein and the water were not subtracted from the butter; the total quantity of butter being 19 lbs. 6 oz. The result of this experiment is in perfect accordance with the facts observed by Boussingault, who, in similar re- SOURCE OF ANIMAL FAT. 65 searches upon cattle, found the oil in the food to ex- ceed that in the dung and milk. The matter extracted by ether from grass, however, can scarcely be termed an oil, since it possesses all the characters of a wax; that is, a body which contains a smaller amount of oxy- gen than a fat oil,—certainly less than is contained in butter. It is therefore difficult to conceive a wax to obtain more oxygen in the system, and to be converted into an oil, where all the actions are calculated to re- move oxygen, and not to supply it: such an occurrence would be as probable as the addition of oxygen to wood by throwing it into a furnace. The production of but- ter from sugar by the action of casein or curd is, on the contrary, a process with which chemists are now familiar, and is therefore more readily admissible into physiological theories than the idea of the formation of butter from wax, since we are unacquainted with any analogous example. ‘The connection between sugar, oil, and wax is exhibited by the following formula :— Carb. Hyd. Oxyg. Differences. Sugar - - - 48 44 44 Carb. Hyd. Oxyg. Fat - - - 44 40 t 4 4 40 Wax - - - 40 40 2 4202. O'9 In bees we have a well demonstrated example of the production of wax from sugar, while fat, or the inter- mediate stage, is probably first produced in the body of the bee, and is then, by the loss of a small portion of carbon and oxygen, converted into wax, or to the lowest state of oxidation existing in the animal system. The point therefore to which it is necessary to direct attention is, that we have instances in chemical phy- siology of substances being produced from the others preceding i in the table, but that we are unacquainted 6* 66 NATURE OF FIBRIN. with any phenomena of an inverse order; nor would such an occurrence be explicable upon the principles on which the animal system is understood to proceed. Taking all these circumstances into consideration, it appears that there are fewer difficulties in the way of supposing that butter is formed from the starch and sugar, or albuminous matter, of the food, than from the Waxy matter which is present in such considerable quantities. ‘There is only one instance, with which physiologists are at present acquainted, that could be adduced as evidence in favor of any substance being rendered more complex in the animal system, viz., the production of fibrin or flesh from curd or casein. So far as chemical experiments carry us, we are not ina condition to affirm that no fibrin exists in milk, but it is admitted that none has as yet been detected. If these be correct, then it would appear to follow that the in- fant fed on milk must derive its flesh from the curd of that fluid, and that as curd contains no phosphorus, (while fibrin does,) the curd of the milk, in order to form muscular fibre, is united to phosphorus in the animal system, and is thus built up, instead of being, as is the rule with other substances, reduced to a smaller number of elements. The objection to this view of the subject is, that the experiments which have been made on fibrin do not prove that it contains phosphorus ; they only prove that phosphoric acid can be detected in it even when it is purified in the most careful manner suggested by chem- ical knowledge; and it would therefore be somewhat premature to adopt any such analogy as that which we have been considering.* * When this passage was written, in November, 1845, I founded HAY AND GRASS AS FOOD. 67 On the Nature of Grass and Hay as Food.—Grass, as may be readily imagined, varies very considerably in its composition, according to its age, and also, as may be expected, according to its species. The ex- periments undertaken during the present investigation have sufficiently demonstrated the first of these posi- tions; but the second is still open for inquiry, since chemists who have previously analyzed grass and hay have omitted to particularize the botanical names of the plants which they have examined. The grass used in the present experiments consisted almost entirely of rye grass, (Lolium perenne,) and the hay employed was also similarly constituted. It may be interesting, for the sake of comparison, to give a table of the analysis of such specimens of hay as have been analyzed hitherto :— iny reasoning in reference to the probability of phosphorus not being a constituent of animal substances partly on the circumstance that Fre- my, in his analysis of the acid of the nerves, (cerebric acid,) found 0-9 per cent. of phosphorus; while, in my examination of the same sub- stance, further purified, I found only 0°46 per cent. Since that period, however, Liebig has found that, when properly prepared, fibrin and albumen are destitute of phosphorus. In the May number of the Phil- osophical Magazine for 1846, I have described a modification of fibrin under the name of pegmin,.well known as the buffy coat of inflamed blood. This substance contains sulphur, and cannot therefore be termed an oxide of protein. Under the name of pyropin I have also described a ruby-colored substance found in the position of the pulp of the ele- phant’s tooth. The following is their composition :— Pegmin. Pyropin. ay I. II. ‘ Carbon - - - 52°07 53°33 53°50 Hydrogen . ial 7-00 7-52 7-66 Nitrogen - - | 1431 14:50 Oxygen - 2 in : | 38°84 Sulphur - if (| 26°62 | 24.65 | 68 COMPOSITION OF RYE-GRASS. I. Analysis of hay made at Giessen by Dr. Will: the species of grass is not mentioned. II. Hay grown in the neighborhood of Strasburg in France, analyzed by M. Boussingault : the name of the grass is omitted. III. Analysis of Lolium perenne, as previously given and used in the present experiments. ip Il. TIl. Carbon - - 45°87 45°80 45°41 Hydrogen - 5°76 5°00 5°93 Nitrogen - - ; 1°50 1°84 Oxygen - - . sa ; 38°70 39°21 Ash - - 6°82 9°00 761 Although the species of grasses constituting these specimens of hay were in all probability different, the correspondence in their composition is sufficiently stri- king. The amount of solid matter in this grass varied from eighteen to upwards of thirty per cent., according to the early or late period of its growth. The grass made use of in the first experiment contained from eighteen to twenty-five per cent. In our calculations the latter number has been adopted. When grass first springs above the surface of the earth the principal constituent of its early blades is water, the amount of solid matter being comparatively ‘trifling; as it rises higher into day the deposition of a more indurated form of carbon gradually becomes more considerable ; the sugar and soluble matter at first in- creasing, then gradually diminishing, to give way to the deposition of woody substance. COMPOSITION OF RYE-GRASS. 69 The following table affords a view of the composition of rye-grass before and after ripening :— 18th June. 23d June. 13th July. Water - = 76°19 81°23 Solid Matter - 23°81 18°77 These are important practical facts for the agri- culturist ; for if, as we have endeavored to show, the sugar be an important element of the food of ani- mals, then it should be an object with the farmer to cut grass for the purpose of haymaking at that period when the largest amount of matter soluble in water is contained in it. ‘This is assuredly at an earlier pe- riod of its growth than when it has shot into seed, for it is then that woody matter predominates ; a substance totally insoluble in water, and therefore less calculated to serve as food to animals than substances capable of assuming a soluble condition. ‘This is the first point for consideration in the production of hay, since it ought to be the object of the farmer to preserve the hay for winter use in the condition most resembling the grass in its highest state of perfection. The second consid- eration in haymaking is to dry the grass under such circumstances as to retain the soluble portion in per- fect integrity. ‘T’o ascertain whether hay, by the pro- cess and exposure which it undergoes, loses any of its soluble constituents, the following experiments were made :— 1st.—3000 grains of rye-grass in seed on the 13th July, gave up to hot water a thick sirupy fluid, which, when dried till it ceased to lose weight 70 DIFFERENCE OF GRASS AND HAY. at 212°, weighed 217°94 grains, equivalent to 7°26 per cent. 2d.—2500 grains of rye-grass, digested in cold wa- ter, yielded 53°23 grains of exiract, equal to 2°12 per cent. This rye-grass contained 31 per cent. of solid matter, and 69 per cent. of water. 3d.—New hay, made from rye-grass, and containing 20 per cent. of water, for the sake of compari- son, was also subjected to similar trials. Grains. Grains. Ist. 1369 gave to hot water 220°77 of extract, 16°12 per cent. 1000 - - 15934 - =: OSs 7 = 1000 - - 140 - - 14 - 2d. 2000 grains of new hay, in seed, digested in cold water, yielded 101°3 grains of extract = 5°06 per cent. of soluble matter. From these numbers we learn that 100 parts of hay are equivalent to 387} of grass. This amount of grass should contain of soluble matter in hot water 28°13 parts, and in cold water 8°21 parts. But the equiva- lent quantity of hay, or 100 parts, only contains 16 instead of 28 parts soluble in hot water, and 5°06 in- stead of 8} parts soluble in cold water. A very large proportion of the soluble matter of the grass has ob- viously disappeared in the conversion of grass into hay. The result of the haymaking in this particular instance has, therefore, been to approximate the soft, Juicy, and tender grass to woody matter, by washing out or decomposing its sugar and other soluble consti- tuents. These facts enable us to explain the reason why cattle consume a larger amount of hay than is equivalent to the relative quantity of grass. Thus ani- DECOMPOSITION OF HAY. 71 mals which can subsist upon 100 lbs. of grass should be able to retain the same condition by the use of 25 Ibs. of hay, if the latter suffered no deterioration in drying. ‘The present series of experiments, however, show that a cow, thriving on 100 to.120 lbs. of grass, required 25 lbs. of hay, and 9 lbs. of barley or malt, affording thus collateral evidence of the view which we have taken of the imperfection of the process of hay- making at present in use in this country. The great cause of the deterioration of hay is the water which may be present, either from the incom- plete removal of the natural amount of water in the . grass by drying, or by the absorption of this fluid from the atmosphere. Water when existing in hay from either of these sources will induce fermentation, a pro- cess by which one of the most important constituents of the grass,—viz., sugar—will be destroyed. The action necessary for decomposing the sugar is induced by the presence of the albuminous matter of the grass ; the elements of the sugar are made to re-act on each other in the moist state in which they exist, in conse- quence of the presence of the water and oil, and are converted into alcohol and carbonic acid according to the following formula :— Carb. Hyd. Oxyg. l atom sugar - - - - ee Pa Ie ee 2 atoms alcohol - - - - 8 12 4 4 atoms carbonic acid - - So rg 0 8 That alcohol is produced in a heated haystack in many cases may be detected by the similarity of the odor disengaged to that perceptuble in a brewery. We use this comparison because it has been more than g2 LOSS SUSTAINED BY once suggested to us by agriculturists. ‘The quantity of water or volatile matter capable of being removed from hay at the temperature of boiling water varies considerably. The amount of variation during the present experiments was from 20 to 14 per cent. If the lower per-centage could be attained at once by simple drying in the sun, the process of haymaking would probably admit of little improvement; but the best new-made hay that we have examined contained more than this amount of water, the numbers obtained verging towards 20 per cent. When it contains as much as this it is very liable to ferment, especially if it should happen to be moistened by any accidental ap- proach of water. ‘The only method which we have found to succeed in preserving grass perfectly entire is by drying it by means of artificial heat. Rye grass contains, at an early period of its growth, as much as 81 per cent. of water, the whole of which may be re- moved by subjecting the grass to a temperature con- siderably under that of boiling water; but, even with a heat of 120°, the greater portion of the water is re- moved, and the grass still retains its green color, a cha- racter which appears to add greatly to the relish with which cattle consume this kind of provender. When this dried grass (as it may be truly termed by way of distinction from hay) is examined, it will be found to consist of a series of tubes, which, if placed in water, will be filled with the fluid, and assume in some meas- ure the aspect of its original condition. In this form cattle will eat it with relish, and prefer it to hay, which, in comparison, is blanched, dry, and sapless. ‘The ad- vantages obtained by this method of making hay, or rather of preserving grass in a dry state, are sufficiently HAY IN DRYING. 73 obvious. By this means all the constituents of the grass are retained in a state of integrity; the sugar, by the absence of water, is protected from undergoing decomposition, the coloring matter of the grass is com- paratively little affected, while the soluble salts are not exposed to the risk of being washed out by the rains, as in the common process of haymaking. The amount of soluble matter capable of being taken up by cold water is, according to the preceding trials, as much as 5 per cent., or a third of the whole soluble matter in hay. We may therefore form some notion of the in- jury liable to be produced by every shower of rain which drenches the fields during hay harvest. It is not only, however, the loss which it sustains, in re- gard to the sugar and soluble salts, that renders hay so much less acceptable than grass to the appetite of cat- tle. The bleaching which it undergoes in the sun de- prives it of the only peculiarity which distinguishes the one form of fodder from the other; grass deprived of its green coloring matter presents exactly the ap- pearance of straw, so that hay ought to be termed grass straw. It is obvious, from the experiments de- tailed, that the operation of haymaking, as conducted in this country, has a tendency to remove a great pro- portion of the wax in the grass. Thus it was found that rye-grass contained 2°01 per cent. of wax. Now as 3873 parts of rye-grass are equivalent to 100 parts of hay, and as 387} parts of grass contain 7°78 parts of wax, it is obvious that 100 parts of hay should con- tain the same amount of wax; but by experiment it was found that 200 grains of hay contained 4 grains of wax, which is equivalent to 2 per cent., almost ex- actly the amount contained in grass. Hence it appears 7 74 AMOUNT OF RAIN FALL. that no less than 5°78 grains of wax have disappeared during the haymaking process. The whitening process which the grass undergoes in drying renders it appa- rent that the green coloring matter has undergone change ; but that it should have been actually removed to such an extent, or at least have become insoluble in ether, is a result which could scarcely have been an- ticipated without actual experiment. Some improve- ment in the preparation of hay is imperatively demand- ed in such localities as are affected with a more than usual fall of rain. The following table of the fall of rain will point out where such precautions are more particularly required :— Inches. Glasgow - - -| 21:3 London - - - - 24°0 Edinburgh - - - 24°5 z Pie wai : Abbey St. Bathans, “eed sonppa Peace Oe Bec ; 400 feet above sea. Manchester - - - 36°1 Laneaster- - - - 39°7 | Paisley - - - - 47°1 | at the Reservoir. Strathaven - - - 45'8 700 feet above sea. | Grctnaak % 3 f 61:8 ae feet above the town. The Glasgow result is the mean of many years’ ob- servation at the Macfarlane Observatory. The London is taken from the Royal Society Register, the mean of ten years. The Edinburgh number is from observa- tions at the observatory. The Berwickshire number is the mean of two years’ register, by Mr. Wallace, kept at my request. The Manchester and Lancaster are from Dr. Dalton. The Paisley and Greenock re- sults are from the water-works register, the mean of ARTIFICIAL HAYMAKING. 75 seven years. The Strathaven number is from registers kept at my request by Mr. Wiseman. Frequently the quantity of rain which falls in May and June, the haymaking season, is greater than in April and July. In those localities where the fall of rain is so considerable, the preparation of good sound hay by the usual process will be almost impracticable, and in such places too frequently hay in a state of de- composition is given to animals, at the risk of their being seriously injured, since all food whose p:rticles are in a state of fermentation or putrefaction, which are analogous actions, must have a tendency to pro- duce similar decompositions in the fluids of the animal system. In the neighborhood of manufacturing towns there could be no difficulty in preparing abundance of hay by the process now recommended. The waste heat of the chimneys might be sent through apartments or sheds of almost temporary construction, guided by a proper draught, so as to carry off the vapor as soon as it is volatilized ; and the same arrangements might, with economy, ‘be adopted in conjunction with brick and tile works. Haymaking would thus commence at a much earlier period of the season, the grass would be cut, carted to the drying-room, and in the course of a few hours be ready for stacking. When hay pre- pared in this manner is to be given to cattle and horses it may be steeped in a tank for twenty-four hours, or any adequate period, before being placed in the racks and boxes; and the steep water, which will contain sugar and soluble salts, should be given them to drink. By this system of preserving grass we should be continuing to our cattle in winter our summer food, 76 ARTIFICIAL GRASS AND CORN DRYING. which all admit to be superior to every other substi- tute ; and while the animals themselves would be ben- efited, much uneasiness and trouble in winter would be saved to the farmer. In a moist climate, especially like that exhibited in Scotland during the last year, it appears highly desirable that farmers should possess . on their premises a drying-room, where hay, potatoes, and even corn, might be dried. Had such a conve- nience been attached to many of our farmers’ offices last season much corn might have been saved, even by drying one or two cart-loads daily. This desideratum might be effected by running a flue through the barn, level with the floor, its upper surface being covered with iron plate or tiles. By means of a small quantity of fuel a barn-full of corn in sheaves, properly dis- posed, might be dried in a few hours. The artificial method of drying grass here suggested will of course be unnecessary when the grass can be deprived of its water by the heat of the sun with sufficient rapidity, and without being exposed to the drenching influence of the rain of our northern climate. ‘That rapid drying can be effected, even in wet seasons, in Scotland, I have had an opportunity of witnessing, in the case of an excellent sample of hay prepared during the sum- mer of 1845, on the grounds of Mr. Fleming, of Baro- chan, for a specimen of which I am indebted to that gentleman. ‘The only complaint which I have heard . offered to the English plan of haymaking is the addi- tional amount of labor required, but surely any rational excess of labor is preferable to the complete deteriora- tion of the hay crop. The constituents of the rye-grass, washed out by rain, would be principally the sugar and soluble salts. - COMPOSITION OF RYE-GRASS. rire The nature of the inorganic salts, both of the stem of the grass, when dried, as hay, and of the seeds, is as represented in the following tables. | 100 parts of the stem and seeds were composed as follows :— Stem. Stem. Seed. Water ~ - 15°50 19°30 11°376 Organic Matter - 79°52 75°72 82'548 Ash - - - 4°98 4°98 6°070 Table of Saline Matter in Stem and Seeds of Lolium perenne, (Rye-grass.) Stem. Seed. Silica - - - - - - - 64°57 43°28 Phosphorie Acid - - - - - | 12°51 16°89 Sulphuric Acid - - - - - - 3°12 Chlorine - - - - - - - trace Carbonic Acid - a - - - - 3°61 Magnesia - - - - - - 4°01 531 Lime - - - - - ~ - 6°50 18°55 Peroxide of Iron - _ - = - 0°36 2°10 Potash ~ . e . ~ - 8°03 5°80 Soda. = - - - - - - S17. 1°38 There is no doubt, from numerous other analyses which I have made, that these numbers undergo very considerable modifications on different soils. A comparison of the two columns of this table adds another argument to that already brought forward against the practice of allowing rye-grass to come to seed before cutting it for hay, since the seed tends to remove a larger portion of phosphoric acid from the soil than the stem; the quantity of acid found in the i lied 78 COMPOSITION OF RYE-GRASS. seed exceeding that in the stem by one fourth. A sim- ilar observation, with greater force, applies to the lime, as the amount of this earth is two thirds greater in the seed than in the stem. The quantity of alkalies is twice as great in the stem as in the seed, while the total ash of the seed is a sixth part superior in amount to that of the stem. BARLEY AND MALT DIET. wes) CHAPTER VI. ON BARLEY AND MALT DIET. BARLEY AND MALT, WHEN NOT CRUSHED, ALTHOUGH STEEPED IN HOT WATER, ARE IMPERFECTLY DIGESTED BY COWS.—TOO LARGE A QUAN- TITY OF GRAIN DIMINISHES THE AMOUNT OF MILK.—BARLEY PhODUCES | A GREATER QUANTITY OF MILK AND BUTTER THAN MALT.—DIFFERENCE IN THE ULTIMATE COMPOSITION OF BARLEY AND MALT.—DIFFERENCE IN THE AMOUNT OF NITROGEN IN BARLEY AND MALT.—DIFFERENCE IN THE SALINE CONSTITUENTS OF BARLEY AND MALT.—EFFECT OF THE PROCESS OF MALTING. ALTHOUGH it might appear that the most correct method of determining experimentally the comparative nutritive effect of food would be to accustom an animal to a diet of one species of food, and then to substitute for a certain portion of it a definite quantity of that whose nutritive power was intended to be tried, and, lastly, to calculate the results, experience leads us to a different method of investigation. Physiology tends to show us, that an animal performing certain functions consumes an amount of oxygen daily, varying accord- ing to the state of the atmosphere and to other physical causes which are not always capable of appreciation. We adduce at once, then, from these circumstances, apart from experiments, that an animal consumes every day a different amount of fodder, and that, if it is not permitted to use as much food as shall repair the waste of its system, it must lose flesh and strength; and 80 INFLUENCE OF hence experiments made without a due attention to the physiological state of the animal must lead to conclu- sions which are not legitimate. The force of this ob- servation we have had sufficient opportunities of ob- serving, not only on the present but on other occasions, and it may be illustrated by the following example :— A cow, if fed for two days on an insufficient quantity of food, as indicated by loss of weight and diminution of milk, will require at least double that time to reach the condition from which it had deteriorated; and the reason of this is obvious, because the partial starvation has caused it to lose a portion of the substance of its body, which requires a longer time to re-establish than to pulldown. This rule is applicable to the dietary of men as well as the inferior animals. An increase of labor should always be accompanied with an in- crease of food, both at sea and in prison; a short walk to one confined in a solitary cell calls for some aug- mentation of food. A slight increase of temperature, or the irritating influence of insects, will effectually diminish the milk of a cow, and indicates the propriety of increasing the amount of fodder. The first two of the following experiments demonstrates these positions in a striking manner. With the entire malt and barley the amount of grass was limited, but afterwards the hay was supplied ad libitum. 81 ENTIRE BARLEY AS FOOD. be | 9¢ 6L6 610 49 16 te. 4-41 Proce II 1g oie cI 6 I19 Th G GT LI DS tee 3 OT 8G Olé §€ x G F I9 Th OI 8 8st GS 6 gg ee 818 IL ye 1 BT de OF IT Aju 8 09 pose STL 8L sR ge abe a A NS 1 ti L 9¢ T6001 It GI 44 1G 9 GI 0G 66...-= 9 GG po FI Gg O08 1G L G&G & 86 = G GG Ze ete 5 G1 6 GL 1G GI ol 1G ‘5 ier F 9¢ : = tI Fb 96 16 Ol b &@ Hes 55 € 6S — FI Il G8 16 GI oI 16 "| Ca ape G ob 986 oI v 8 1G GI TI G3 ro oun T ‘sIp °ZO ‘Sq “sq *sIp °ZO “Sq| sq] “SApy "ZO “Sq : ChRT ‘sseryg | ‘Aopreg ‘dua, *Io}INg "MOD JO USIAAA “sung So “MINA *ayeq ‘shed "poo “MOO NMOUT “AUILNGA ADTTUVG—']] INAWIaad xh ‘aD Supog ur paynos (axjua) hajung— yy quaursaday INFLUENCE OF 82 ‘sIp °ZO ‘sq{ *19jjng rg ‘ssoT | € §& FPOl “sq "MOD JO IYSIAAA “MOO GLIHM ‘TUILNA ATTUVG—']] LNAWIATAX |] 7o@ oune > SP8T "218q 6 8 L 9 G F € G T ENTIRE BARLEY AS FOOD. 83 The result of this and the following experiment de- monstrates the importance of reducing the food to a fine state of division. Previous to this experiment, as will be observed by consulting the table of experiments on the effect of grass in feeding the cows, the animals were both gain- ing weight. By calculating the value of the barley as a nutritious body from the nitrogen contained in it, it was found that 23 lbs. of barley contain as much albu- minous nutriment as 10 lbssof grass. The result of the experiment, however, shows that although this fact may be correct, yet that the conditions of the trial were not such as to prevent the animals from falling off both in milk and in weight. ‘The true reason of the failure seems to have been, that the digestion of the barley was in some degree prevented by the want of power in the animal organs to rupture the husk of the grain. The result of the experiment demonstrates the import- ance of a certain amount of cookery in feeding cattle which are possessed of teeth only in one jaw. The data which have served as the basis of the pre- ceding calculations are included in the following table, as derived from repeated experiments :— Water and Solid Matter in Food. Dung. Grass. | Barley. Solid Matter - - 12°6 Water - rs - 87°4 13°46 31° 90°54 86°54 69° 9°46 The white cow’s milk on the second of J uly, or ninth day of the experiment, possessed the following compo- sition, the specific gravity being 1,032: 84 ENTIRE BARLEY AS FOOD. Water - - . - - - 87°40 Soluble salts - - - - CPST ‘sung “Ian “MOD JO IYRIOAA “MOOD NMOUE ‘AUILNG LIVJN—']]] LNaAWIadaxg "LaIDA SUurplog ur payvos yopy axyur—]]] quauisadugy INFLUENCE OF 88 ge ‘ssoy| £ 6 _&h8 T8101 O16 62 6 6 &§. G 29 Bite Or ex cl 9 €8 6 FI OL 06 Lb 6 ial te pm rh ao 6 OT OL 61 RE psig 8 | eS GT €--28 6 WI. 8 Ieee L seor 6 I 08 9 6 6 06 i ie ca 9 oa 8 G&G 9L € Gl Ve 06 ff ARE sa G “24 OL GI 08 € G¢ 8 06 GL: ae v St 8. & ui G €& L8 & GI VI 6T Lis € mae: b 0 86 g 0.0 8st OLS S T0SOT 8 0 98 i a ) OS I ‘sip °ZO ‘Sq *sq| ‘sip ‘ZO "sq{ *sq] *sIp ‘ZO “Sq : CERT “We ‘duiay, PCYULICS | *MOX JO IUSIOAA sung “MIUA 93eq sheq “poor “MOO DLTHM “AUILNGA LIVI —' [I] LNAWIYad xy ENTIRE MALT AS FOOD. 89 The malt was covered with boiling-hot water, and allowed to remain for twelve hours, in the first part of the experiment; in the latter period of the trial the malt was weighed out in three portions; the last por- tion was therefore subjected to a digestion of twenty- four hours. The mash water was always acid, and yet was relished by the cattle. This is opposed to the observation of some, who affirm that acid liquors are not liked by cattle, although they are well known to be a luxury to pigs. In consequence of the cattle having fallen off during the time in which they were fed with barley, farina- ceous food was entirely discontinued, and a larger quantity of grass was substituted previous to the com- mencement of the experiment with malt. The result of this experiment is at once observed by an inspection of the table. The brown cow fell off in the amount of butter during the first five days, but increased during the remainder of the trial. ‘The white cow gave a larger quantity of butter with malt than with barley. The milk of both cows increased very considerably, while the weight of the brown cow, which had de- creased with the barley experiment, began to increase under the influence of the malt. We may infer, from the results of this experiment, the advantage of having a large portion of the food readily soluble and adminis- tered into the stomach of animals in this condition. The amount of butter would appear to depend more upon this provision than upon the quantity of matter soluble in ether existing in the food. The mean of several dryings gave the composition of the dung,—water 86, solids 14. 3840 grs. of malt bruised gave 52°7 grs. of oil=1°37 per cent. &* 90 ENTIRE MALT AS FOOD. According to the preceding trials, it appears that the barley and malt experiments may be compared as fol- lows :—(See Appendix I.) I. Milk: 100 lbs. of hay and barley produce 8°41 lbs. dry milk. 100 lbs. of hay and malt produce 7°08 ditto. II. Butter: 100 lbs. hay and barley produce - 1°82 lbs. butter. 100 lbs. hay and malt produce - 2°07 — ditto. “Loss. III. Weight of cattle: Ibs. Ibs. Weight of cattle before barley ex- periment - - - - 2030 Weight of cattle after ditto - 1989 41 “ ‘« before malt ditto 2044 “ ‘e “Vafter.. ditto ==.) 2022 22 It is obvious from this experiment that barley pro- duced more milk than malt, even although it was only partially digested; that malt produced a little more butter ; and that the cattle diminished in weight in both experiments: most in the barley experiment, in conse- quence of a considerable quantity of it being thrown out without being used by the system. It is interesting to observe, that although the barley and grass contained the largest amount of oil and wax, they produced a smaller proportion of butter than the malt and grass. This, however, may have been in part owing to the imperfect extraction of the solid ingre- dients in the barley experiments in consequence of the husks remaining entire. ‘The experiment is one, how- ever, from which no deductions, to be entirely depended on, are to be made. It demonstrates the necessity of cooking barley, more especially when it is employed to COMPOSITION OF FOOD AND DUNG. 91 feed cattle. (1) 8°96 grains of malt, dried at the tem- perature of 212°, gave, when burned with chromate of lead, 14°3 carbonic acid and 5°66 water. (2) 7°86 grains gave 12°91 carbonic acid, and 5°01 water. This corresponds with, per cent :— Carbon - a 44°780 -, - 42°44 Hydrogen - - 7°060 - = 6°64 Nitrogen - - 1°620; 1°19 1°26 1°11 Oxygen - - 44°763 ~ - 43°08 Ash - - ze rare! - _ 1°68 Water - - = 5°05 100° 100° Total amount of constituents of food and dung, of both cows, in ten days :— - Food. Dung. Consump- | Each per tion. Day. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. | Ibs. Carbon . - | 238° 102° 136° 6°80 Hydrogen - -| 32:2 | 12°43 | 19°77 | 0°99 Nitrogen” - - 9°06 4: 5°06 0°25 Oxygen - - | 214°88 82°57. ‘i Ls2al 6°11 Ash - - - 34°22 21°80 12°42 0°62 | 14°77 Experiment IV.—Crushed Barley steeped in Boiling Water. As it appears from the preceding experiments that, when barley was given in an entire state, a considera- ble portion of the grain escaped the action of the di- gestive organs, in consequence of the interposition of the husk, it was necessary to try the effect of the grain as an article of food after it had been mechan- ically bruised. INFLUENCE OF CRUSHED ‘dua, ] ‘sIp °ZO *sq| “19uINg | “AQT ce ‘Ulery 0 Of OTE&T 99% Gai ELBE 6 &. Ive 9E0T cI ¢ 28 a, 6 0€ 9 OL 06 So 0-oRE 269 7 6 0€ 0. = Seis ai 0 4 &g = 6 0€ i aed So Reve $9101 cI € 08 Sar 6 TG cI L & ay GI tl €8 = 6 0€ EL Go ie 6.400 + 08 roy 6 £83 6 G CG he cl GS &8 ces 6 cE Go Me IG an Ole. Gus are 6 cE CATs AGG #86 II § OOT 9G 6 €1 ta eee ie cI If 28 = 6 cE G GL 06 oe CELE ee = 6 ce 8 ¢ 61 ie G2. - 169 ei 6 cE 9 I 6 Pg 8 +F- 98 = 6 0€ Go. Sles1s “Av ur or ¢ 8k 08 6 <= 9 GG 03 ee 0 + 8 08 6 ca G¢ GL 16 FOOT 0; “8 88 08 9 € ‘6 GI “Sq ‘sIp ‘ZO "sq| *sq| “sq *sq| ‘sIp °ZO ‘Sq| “Avy P ‘sseag | AOC | ayy abe iA ‘Sung ee MN | “poo ‘MOOD NMOUE ‘daHSNYD AATUVG—' AT LNAWIYAdIX A ee a ———Lvw_P Ow eer — | se eee | 98 BARLEY AS FOOD. "Tz Aine “uoprooe ayi Aq 380] oq 0; pasoddus yey) st pappe yIIUI Jo "sq] 2 OU“, » tI 8 OL Lg ‘urey} 9 OL OSEET 99% IFT §CLOL aI 8 68 -- 6 0g 8 9 IZ € — eck 0. h..k8 — 6 0g OL 3. 12 i b IT L @ — 6 0g I SI 1d r ysnsny Z80L cI 6 I8 — 6 c% L852 88 le — ste ee eae _ 6 0g 6. 8. 8 0 — 8-8: BE — 6 §LG OL OL t — & “toga — 6 og cl I & 83 — , cI 9 28 -— 6 cE tl 6 & 1 ie 0Z0T Ee: tee 9% 6 rod @ #1 9% — i ’r @ LB — 6 ce ge) £318 co ig aes | _ 6 cg Itc. tB — L FL 28 _ 6 cg GL E&I 06 ts — 6.81, i _ 6 0g Cer es cw — “ACH y 8901 0 OF 08 6 ue Piet oar’ 16; = SI OL 08 08 6 -- tl 9. % 06 — otal 1 a a 08 9 ¢ 6 0 6. Ajue ‘SIP ‘ZO ‘Sq| "Sql ‘SIP “ZO ‘Sq| "sq] "SqI "Sq ‘sIp "ZO *Sq| > CPST “ARH ge 3 ‘ssergy | ‘AopIeg | , a *duia.y, “IoyNg jo imate A “sung abe MUN ale] "poo “MOO DULIHM “CHHSNUOD ATTUVY—'* AT LNAWIYAdXY a S FIL #1 OT %er ‘urexy| [— FI Let | k60r € €9 FEZ01 tI 0 6L 93 — ral el 8 81 66 — 91 19 ae OG. eee 296 — rc § 0 *F 61 8% — cT 6S | te te | am Ae eee $2 ELS — ai € + 6f L6— ai 6S 3966 ales deals 2.5 9% _ I st Tl 61 % — €I 6S "ee I Ot 8b ELT — ai ¢ 9 0 ts — raf 6S = 0 ¢€. §8 $13 _ I 8 8 61 te — Il 6S ore 8 0 8L cB - ral 8 FF 61 s% — i) A gc cog F Aig g:- 6 SL 03 _— rail 6 OL 61 oo 6 <2 9¢ = GI PT OL 0g — oI € OF 361 wo — 8 a GS 2 cI I ¥9 0¢ _ 6 8 OL et oo — L 5 8¢ 7866 & st #8 $¥o = 6 eI él 8I 6. — 9 2 LS uy 8 0 gL 0€ — 6 1 Pees a) 8st — ¢ oO es ~~ SI OL #8 L3 _ 6 | ieee 9 as) | to ¥ te, LS #¢ ob 3 By 0'. >. Se £9% _ 6 0 OL 61 ~1 — £ oO 9S oe 0 @ gL £9% —— 6 oS 3 6 cI — 3 o6S O10 0 FI 68 ¥9G € 9 OL ZI 0% PIT ysnsny I ica] ‘sIp °ZO “sq “sql ‘sIp °*zO ‘sq| “sql "sq “Sq *"sIp ‘ZO ‘Sq > CPST P ie) — | —_—_______.___ SSS ee ee eed a ‘heyy | Aopeg | “112 = ‘dway, “‘ayng Beer ‘sung “MIU "a1eq shed | =| jo IYSIOAA “poo . & Zz "MOO NMOUE ‘dHHSNYO LIVIN—' A LNAWIUEdXT “AgTieq peysnio YIM [ery sutpoaso1d OY} YA juotuLIedxe jayjered e se popudjul sem quouitiodxe SIU], — a “LaDy SUNLOg Ut paysasip yoy paysn4g— A quaursaduy 9% MALT AS FOOD. } r : i i ' 7 €L It 6 Res Soe CL OL 6StI | FeLr £ gOT 8 I ste 9F0T eI ef 92 $8G — ra I SI OL 61 66 — oT it yp OT Fh 83 — ro I T OL 12 8 — cI Il I 3 SE Ske £96 — ral ee Sea) L406 tI S01 Ci. € Fh 93 _ rai IL 0:2 8% 3 — er be 9 € 8 0g _ ar Pats SS so — rai aS Or 0 62h foe _ ro | 9° “IS es — IT Zs cI ¢ @ 0€ _ ra I 0 L @ so or 6 = 8 ST 6L 0€ _ aI gq 2°-.3 T— 6 me ol 6 LL 0g _— ral & FI 13 %— 8 — ct ET --6L 0€ — 6 f7 0a eo — L ~. 0 OL 92 L3 — 6 € II 0@ 6. — 9 a7 05. #8 0g = 6 6 IL 03 sl — ¢ ad g@ Il +s 0g _ 6 SI 9 06 7) ft #€ a 0 T 88 0g — 6 oo Fes tI — € =F O° If SL 08 — 6 CI FL 18 cI rd ZSOT ~The ae 0€ € 9 £ 0 & ial ynsny. I ‘sip “ZO “sq| "sqI ‘sip ‘ZO “sq| "sq] "SUT “sq ‘sip “ZO *Sq| : ChST “Ae | ‘Aotreq | “31eI : ; "MOO : ‘ 4 ; dora, qayjng JO 1431044 sung poi MIVA a1eq sieg “MOO ALIN M SasSre ne oe es ‘G2HSNUO LIVII— A LNAIWIYadX | errr cree ee ee a ee I ee I ee ee ee TE MALT EFFECT OF BARLEY AND 96 % 46st & Or ‘urexy 6 9 BLE LTE 9¢ $+ 6 LOT 9¢OT G&L 89 0€ 8 Re SB ¢ — ¢ A 9 3 08 £3 ro Il € @ v ¥ et & Se OL GL SL 0g oI h “PE 18 IT Jaquieydeg € ri PS ke zc at 8 0 T% le — 3 9FOT oI Tt 9b EFS ro € IL 0 0g Jsnsny I "sIp °ZO “Sq[ *sq] | ‘SIP *ZO “sqy Sq] "sq| "SIP "ZO *Sq| : CPST “Avy, of Aoreg “dura,y, “190g “MOQ JO IYSIAAA “sung —— TA “poo “MOO ALIHM Co erene 21g *sso'yT ¢ SI #F0F Fol 09 LS 666 . 0 SI O08 0g ral 69 — tI IL 3 LG ral €9 oe oe G an OF 8. Sh 0€ ol IT dJaquiejdag 69 ds Pry 8h £3 al SI je— 069 FEZ01 rr 3 8 + zed re I I 8st 0€ Jsnsny Ip ‘ZO *sq{ : CPST ‘SIP *ZO “Sq *sq] ‘sIp °ZO ‘Sq] sq] “Sq] ‘dway, *1911ng "MOD JO JYSTIOAA “sung “poor ‘MOO NMOU ON MILK AND BUTTER. 97 Experiment VI.—Larger Quantity of Crushed Barley steeped in Boiling Water. In the preceding malt experiment the amount of grain was pushed farther than in the case of barley ; it was therefore considered advisable to give a similar trial to that grain. The result shows that no advantage is gained by the administration of so much grain, and that a deteriorating effect is induced. ‘The cause of this seems to depend on the excess of nutritive over calorifient food, as will be afterwards explained. Comparison of Experiments IV., V., and VI. I. Milk. 100 lbs. of mixed barley, hay, and grass pro- duced 8°17 lbs. milk. (Appendix I.) 100 lbs. of mixed malt and hay produced 7°95 Ibs. milk. “I. Butter. 100 lbs. barley, hay, and grass produced 1°95 butter. 100 lbs. malt and hay produced 1°92 butter. IIk. Weight of cattle. Gain. | Loss. Ibs. Weight of cattle before barley experiment | 2022 — after — — 2111; 89 — after malt _ 2069| ... | 42 According to this view of the experiment, it appears that the malt produces a smaller amount of milk and: butter when combined with hay than in the barley ex- periment, andsthat the cattle were losing weight, and o 98 BARLEY AND MALT AS FOOD. consequent strength, daily; while with barley they were gaining weight daily. In whatever manner, therefore, we view the experiment, this is an insur- mountable objection to the use of malt,—that it is not capable when used in any quantity, comparatively with barley, to sustain the weight and consequent strength of animals. But there is another aspect in which the experiment should be examined, and this is obviously the correct one, since a larger quantity of malt was used than of barley. If we consider the hay a constant quantity, and then calculate the amount of product which would comparatively result from each grain, the consequences would be as follows, (Appendix I. :)— I. Milk. 100 Ibs. of barley would produce by Experi- ment IV. 34°6 lbs. dry milk. 100 lbs. of malt would produce by Experiment V. 26°2 lbs. dry milk. II. Butter. 100 lbs. of barley would produce by Experi- ment IV. 7°66 lbs. butter. 100 lbs. of malt would produce by Experiment V. 6°35 Ibs. butter. By the present mode of comparison then it appears that, in every point of view, malt is inferior to barley as ~ an article of diet for cattle, as it gives less milk and butter, and diminishes the live weight, instead of in- creasing it, which barley does under the same circum- stances. All these practical results are explained by the chemi- cal examination of the barley and malt, which will be subsequently stated and discussed. In the mean time COMPOSITION OF BARLEY AND MALT. 99 it may be sufficient to intimate that the deductions now made from the practical trials are in exact accordance with experiments conducted in the laboratory. The soluble salts are much diminished inthe malt, and hence a larger quantity of the grain would be required than of barley to produce the salts of a given amount of milk. ‘The quantity of nitrogen is inferior to that in the barley, and hence malt must be inferior in nutritive agency to the barley, in comparing equal weights, while the quantity of sugar being greater, the amount of butter produced might be equal or nearly so to that formed from barley, as is observable in some of the experiments. On the Chemical Nature of Barley and Malt. From the nature of malting it might be expected that a considerable difference would exist between barley, before and after being subjected to this process. In the following experiment the malt was made from the same specimen of barley, so as to enable a tolerably correct coruparison to be instituted. I. Difference in ultimate Composition.—The barley, when subjected to organic analysis with chromate of lead, was found to possess the following composition :— Carbon wa ae! AEGAN 46° 21 Hydrogen - - 6°02 | 6°65 Nitrogen - - 1°81 2°01 | 1°91 1°98 1°95 Oxygen - - | 37°66 | 41°06 oT i ease 3°41 4:17 | 4:30 3°37 Water - - 9°46 100: | 100: The first column exhibits the composition of the bar- 100 COMPARATIVE COMPOSITION OF ley in its natural state ; the second represents the con- stituents of the barley when dried at the temperature of 212°. Malt from the same barley was also analyzed, and the following result obtained :— i I. Iti. IV. Carbon - - | 42°44 | 43°930) 44°78 Hydrogen- - 6°64 | 7:000| 7°06 Nitrogen - - 111 | 1°290) 1°26 | 1°504 | 1°62 Oxygen - - | 43°08 | 46°510| 45°13 Ash - - - 1°68 1:°270| 1°77 Water == -°- 5°05 i | is | 100° {100° {100° In the first column we have the composition of malt in its natural state, and in the other columns its con- stituents at 212°, as determined by two analyses, the first column being calculated from the third column or second analysis, founded upon the determination of the amount of loss sustained when the grain was subjected for some days to the heat of boling water in a water bath. If we now divide the constituents of barley and of malt by their equivalents, or combining proportions, we shall be able to form some idea of the change which has taken place in the barley during its conversion into malt. The following is the result :— 6." HS NOt Barley - - - - 123 106 2 8 Malt - ~ - oo AIDS Ee): Oy ae Difference - ; ? ne toes 0 6 0O 8 gain. If we consider that 100 parts by weight of barley are converted by the process of malting into eighty parts BARLEY AND MALT. 101 by weight of malt, we shall have the following for- mule :— Mie Sige te F Barley - - - - 123 106 2 82 Malt - - - =. -. 90: ~ 585." OF G9 3a. 21° -2-' E38 Joss; and the barley and its equivalent amount of malt will then stand as follows, per cent., and in eighty parts :— Barley. Malt. Carbon - - - - - 41°64 33°95 Hydrogen - - - - - 6°02 5:3 Nitrogen - ~ > - - 1°81 0°88 Oxygen ~ - - - - 37°66 34:46 Ash - - - - - - 3°41 1°34 Water - - - - - 9°46 4°06 | 100° 80° Hence it appears that four equivalents of carbon have disappeared in the malting, without doubt in the form of carbonic acid, and an equivalent of nitrogen has also been removed in the shape of albumen, possibly in part as ammonia, while the malt contains six of hydrogen and eight of oxygen in excess over that contained in the barley. ‘The odd atoms of oxygen are probably an _ error of experiment; and if we allow this then, we shall have a difference in the malt, in the fact of six equiva- lents of water (6H. 60.) having been added to it during the malting process; and this admits of explanation from the circumstance, that one of the important altera- tions in malting consists of the conversion of starch into sugar. Now the difference between starch and sugar is simply that the latter contains more water than the g* 102 IMPORTANCE OF NITROGEN AS former, the composition and difference of these sub- stances being as follows :— F118 96 € 6 OS 8” C8 01 6S * 0 F G8 0g g 6 ¢ ‘6°61 | 8 — 6 6S BOIS sts G9 02 CB g 6 Sl goeete Tks ee 8 6S mek @ StL) 9% € 6 Geert Ola: je 6¢ 5 3 0 6 6L 0s € 6 Ba. Ute be Oe care 9 Lg | er PV « SteL6.-|¢208 g 6 TPG Ta (Cota Ge * Pode tater G 09 cor S16 &6 | #3 g 6 oS 5 AH cP ee v 09 Lo O18 a4 SI SI F6 0g € 6 g* et 18-69, oo € $9 a 0 6 G8 | & € 6 Os ieee. hO> ae j 009 9S0I br O1 8 | 793 0 6 I 8 81 | ysnsny I ‘sIp °ZO *Sq] "Sq "sap °ZO “Sq| "Sq *sq| "Sq ‘sIp °ZO ‘Sq| > CHT “ARH aT *Ageg *dwa,y, *191]ng bes 2 ‘sung San NUEnnEEnEEREe EEE *MILIN ‘ajeq *sheq JO 1YSIO MW I "poo | ‘MOD NMOUE ‘SHSSVIOJ] GNV ATTUVY— [A INIWINAIX ELT BARLEY AND MOLASSES ors 9 “190)10g fog Suter) 90IT ee T 9 8 G G v 9 € g 0 ‘Z JO WYSI9MA “MOOD GLIHM ‘SHSSVIOJ] GNV ATTUVG—][A LNAIWIATAX —) — aAQMHMOOMDA ge ‘uy | ¢ or | og | & OT 908 L201 Fr 08 06° the 9 9 | @ 010@ |st — O1 Je 8 Gg OL GS 9 9 > 6 8% |sl — 6 ine A ann 9-1; OL -| AOE 9 9 G §106 |1séo 8 ‘ ca GY St'Lh-:| 79s ¥ 8 Oe G6" AOR L a ip b 1198 | 08 € 6 Wi 82 0G 6 Fo 9 ~ 666 8 8 8 | 12 € 6 ¢ ¢°0e |8 0. =— G m, 2 af @° 8 788. | 748 ¢ 6 08s OL — F 5 8 XII s& ue OTIS sie § 6 710 08/9 — € a oe | ng See 0s € 6 € 9 02.\/¢ — S Z 366 e OOhrs € 6 6 OL 6I | ‘Ideas I 4 "SID "ZO ‘S| *Ssq] ‘sip "ZO ‘Sq{ Sq] "Sq "Sq "SIP °*ZO ‘Sq| > CPRT s ‘AeyT «| poesury | ‘Aoyeg rl 3 *MOD fe 1a\jng Jo 14310. “‘sund aa “MIUAL 978 *sheq ie “poo “MOO NMOU ‘CUaSNIT GNV ATTUVY—]I[A LNAWIUIdxXY : oO | 1 ) 11 BARLEY AND LINSEED. -_ *duray, 13: 9 € ‘Sip "ZO "Sq "1910 9SOI sq] “MOD JO 1G5I9M ‘dS9SNIT GNV ATTYVG—JI[A ININIUTAX | f esI~ IK RQreooow |r Bamnmnnmantose BARAMAADDOUOLO if if ‘Ae |‘poasurry | Aaueg ‘poo “MOO GLIA M DBiwwwomamnmatm Sa] wo n Es sS Ss Fim Po mR HIN Om ODO re EFFECT OF BEANS. 120 81 LI 91 CT as FI requiaydag oe TF Wa cu ES reins | RRS a I Sie Sr Fg al I er LS a nara Neral na ay ee ee (ee siete el : CPBI ee *‘poosury ‘dwia,y, *19]1Nng "MOQ JO IYSI9 AA ‘sung “MIU ‘aed | “poo SI — LI ase 9T rn GT = FI raquiajdag CPST TT eS | |_| EE a}eq ‘royng “MOO NMOU "ayy uvag uo suipaay wolf synsay— VJ quaursaday EFFECT OF LINSEED, MOLASSES, AND BEANS. 12] From the three preceding tables we learn the follow- nig particulars in reference to the milk and butter of the cows :— I. Milk: Ibs. 1000 lbs. of hay, barley, and molasses produce of dry milk - - - - - 80°6 1000 Ibs. of hay, barley, and sicstide - - 84°5 1000 Ibs. ditto bean meal - - 81°3 Il. Butter: 1000 lbs. of Bey barley, and molasses produce butter - - - - = 219 1000 lbs. of Whe barley, and eons - - 21°5 1000 lbs. ditto” — bean meal - - 22°5 or, considering the hay a constant quantity, then we have the results as follows :— I. Milk: Bide | 8 1000 Ibs. barley and molasses produce of milk 237 1000 lbs. ditto linseed - - - 257 1000 lbs. bean meal _~— - - - - - 252 Il. Butter: 1000 lbs. barley and molasses produce of butter 64°5 1000 lbs. ditto linseed - - - - 65°7 - 1000 lbs. bean meal - - - - - 70°0 By examining the 4th Table in Appendix, we ob- serve the comparative effect of linseed and beans, during equal periods, in producing milk and butter. In the case of the white cow, particularly, the results are quite unequivocal ; for while during five days the milk pro- duced by beans was equal to the mean of that produced by linseed during ten days, the amount of butter under the bean diet was greater than under any other kind of food whatever. ‘This is an important fact in reference to the source of butter in the food, since the linseed meal, employed in the experiments, contained twice as 1] 122 EFFECT OF LINSEED AND BEANS AS FOOD. much oil as the bean meal. In the brown cow also the quantity of butter was greater, especially during the second five days, with beans than with linseed. Mo- lasses produced in the brown cow also a larger quantity of butter than the linseed, while the amount was slightly inferior to that produced by the beans. ‘These facts, then, are not agreeable to the opinion that the amount of butter afforded by a cow is a test of the amount of oil contained in the food; and hence we are not entitled to recommend oily food as preferable for the production of butter and of fat in animals to food which experience teaches us to be productive of this effect, although less rich in oleaginous matter. Indeed, the constant prac- tice of giving oil cake to cattle is not an argument in favor of the importance of oil in the formation of fat, since from oil cake as much of the natural oil of the rape-seed or linseed has been removed by expression as mechanical means can effect. ‘The oil-cake argu- ment is so much the more, therefore, calculated to re- fute the objects to which it is generally applied. The chemical composition of the linseed and bean meal is calculated to throw some light on the causes of the differences in the amount of products in the ex- periments. The following table represents the ultimate composition of linseed and bean meal, determined by combustion with chromate of lead. AND BEANS AS FOOD. 123 Table of ultimate Composition of Linseed and Beans. Linseed. Dried at 2122. 49°55 Carbon - - - Hydrogen - -| 6°22 7°26 Nitrogen - - 3°78 4°41 Oxygen - . - | 26°35 | 30°68 Ash - ~ - 6°94 8°10 | Water - - - Table of the Composition of the Ash of Linseed and Bean Meal. (Horse Bean.) Linseed. Bean Meal, Silica - - - - - - 34°85 13°12 Phosphoric Acid - - - - 25°22 35°26 Sulphuric Acid” - - - - 2°85 1°29 Chlorine - - - - = trace 1°75 Lime - - - - - - 6°95 5°18 Peroxide of Iron - - - = 3°23 1°80 Magnesia - - - - - 8°04 9-03 Potash - - - - - - 16°85 23°15 Soda: .- - - - - - - 2°22 9°42 The great preponderance of alkaline salts in bear meal is observed distinctly in its incineration, as the ash fuses into a white salt, and, if care is not taken, will en- close charcoal, which can with difficulty be burned away.. To avoid this obstacle the meal should at first be burned, with free exposure to air, at a low red heat. From this and the preceding table we find that a given weight of bean ash contains a much larger quan- tity of phosphoric acid than the same amount of linseed ; but as the ash of linseed is double in amount to that of 124 WAX CANNOT SUPPLY BUTTER. the beans, there is present a larger per-centage of phos- phoric acid than in beans. Linseed, however, contains a large quantity of silica and sand, which is useless to the animal system. ‘The superior influence of beans in producing milk and butter is attributable to the consti- tuents of milk existing with proper equilibrium. They, therefore, restore the waste of the animal system in the proper proportions. The present tables also seem to prove most conclu- sively, that the butter of the cows cannot possibly be produced from the wax and oil of the food, since the greater portion of the wax of the food reappears in the dung, (‘Table I. Appendix,) being expelled from the ani- mal without change ; while the butter and wax of the dung greatly exceed all the oil and wax of the food. From these circumstances it is very much to be doubt- ed, whether the wax of hay occupies any place in the production of the fat and butter of animals. In all the experiments the wax of the dung was found always to vary slightly, so that it seems highly probable if the whole wax had been extracted from the dung, it would be found that all the wax of the food was excreted by the animals. QUANTITY OF MILK PRODUCED, ETC. Le CHAPTER VIII. QUANTITY OF MILK PRODUCED BY DIFFERENT KINDS OF FOOD.—EFFECT | OF GRASS IN PRODUCING MILK.—INFLUENCE OF VARIETY OF FOOD ON MILK AND ON MAN.—ECONOMICAL DISHES FOR THE POOR.—EFFECT OF BARLEY AND MALT ON MILK.—EFFECT OF MOLASSES, LINSEED, AND BEANS ON THE PRODUCTION OF MILK.—INFLUENCE OF QUANTITY OF GRAIN IN THE PRODUCTION OF MILK.—RATE AT WHICH FOOD IS CHANGED INTO MILK.—RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF FOOD IN THE PRODUCTION OF BUTTER. \ WE cannot, from a mere statement of the quantity of the produce supplied to the dairy by a cow, judge of the influence of any particular species of food upon the animal, in consequence of the number of incidental cir cumstances which tend to interfere with the natural pro cesses carrying on in the animal system. 'Thé present series of experiments, as they have extended over a longer period of time than any which have previously been presented to the public, will tend in some measure to exhibit irregularities dependent upon the conditions in which the animals existed, and probably enable some conclusions to be drawn explanatory of such apparent anomalies. It may be convenient to direct attention to a few of these in considering some of the general con- clusions. ; I. Quantity of Milk produced by different Kinds of Food.—In making inquiries respecting the amount of milk afforded by cows, we cannot fail to be struck with the vague and imperfect manner in which the attention rs 126 QUANTITY OF MILK of agriculturists is directed to weighing and measuring. Thus, for example, in Scotland, where milk is generally reckoned by the Scottish pint, when this measure is compared with the English system there is-almost uni- formly an error made in over-estimating its capacity. The usual allowance is four English to one Scottish pint ; but the true relation between these measures Is much inferior to this—the English or imperial pint having a capacity of 34°659 cubic inches, and the Scottish pint of 103°4 cubic inches, a Scottish pint is very nearly equal to three English pints. When meas- urements have been made according to the Scottish system, a certain degree of caution must, therefore, be exercised in converting them to the English standard. Now, as in Scotland the actual measurements are generally made with the Scottish pints, when the amount of milk is stated in English pints we may almost safely conclude that the estimate has been greatly over- drawn ;*but, even taking these sources of error into consideration, it is very remarkable how great a differ- ence exists in the amount of milk given by cows under similar circumstances. No one will be surprised at the Alderney cow of Mrs. ‘Tabitha Bramble* affording a daily supply of 4 gallons of milk, or 32 pints, when we read, in more recent times, of a short-horn giving 17 Scottish pints, (51 imperial pints,) or 644 Ibs., at 102 Ibs. to a gallon ; and of a roan cow yielding 30 Scottish pints, (90 imperial pints,) or 1153 lbs., and requiring to be milked five times a day, so that at each milking 21 * “Tam astonished that Dr. Lewis should take upon himself to give away Alderney without my privity and concurrants. Alderney gave four gallons a day ever since the calf was sent to market.”—-Humphrey Clinker. PRODUCED BY COWS. se gallons must have been extracted from the animal,* an average allowance for one cow during the whole day. All these statements must be understood as referring to cows which are allowed to graze at least during the day, and must be viewed as extraordinary cases. A nearer approach to an average will be obtained by directing attention to the produce of an Ayrshire cow fed in Berwickshire, which yielded, during July 1845, 63 Scottish pints, (193 imperial pints,) 25 lbs.; or to an Alderney cow in Lancashire, which supplied an average amount, in June 1845, of 20 imperial pints = 25+ lbs. ; but even in such instances, which are taken from low- land pasture grounds, the quantity often exceeds this by several pints, and sometimes also falls below it te the same extent, without any very apparent cause. In moorland pastures the average amount of milk is, how- ~ ever, much inferior to what has been stated. In one locality in the neighborhood of Glasgow, where many cows are kept, the supply from each animal does not average more than from 12 (153 lbs.) to 14 (18 lbs.) imperial pints per day ; and in another moorland farm the amount varies from 10 (123 lbs.) to 15 (19 lbs.) im- perial pints. With a statement of these data for com parison we are enabled to form an idea of the influence exercised in the experiment detailed. When the cows were at pasture in Ayrshire they yielded 20 imperial pints each per day, (253 lbs.;) then they were in full exercise, and without any restriction in the amount of their food. ‘They might in these circumstances be rep- resented as in a state of nature, and without any of the * If the old Scotch wine measure is here meant, then it would be equivalent to about twelve imperial gallons. Stephens’ Book of the Farm, III. 1275. 128 EFFECT OF GRASS AND artificial conditions which must always, to a certain extent, interfere with the animal processes. An ani- mal enjoying exercise must also consume a larger amount of food than one shut up, or, in other words, it must convey into the system a greater quantity of ma- terial for producing milk than an animal in a state of confinement. (1.) Effect of Grass in producing Milk.—For seven days after coming to Glasgow, where they were con- fined in a roomy and airy cowhouse, and fed on cut grass, the red cow (the less symmetrical of the two animals) gave a larger amount of milk than when at pasture ; the greatest quantity of milk during the week being 272 lbs., and the smallest amount being 242 lbs., the mean being 261 lbs.; there was therefore, in this case, a decided increase in the amount of milk. With the other cow the result was quite different ; the quan- tity of milk appears to have diminished immediately with the confinement; the mean of the first seven days being 222 lbs. It is difficult to account for the great difference in the result of the produce of the two ani- mals upon any other supposition than that the constitu- tion of the one admitted of confinement with less detri- ment to its system than the other. The causes which have been previously alluded to when treating of the characters of the animals may, probably, also supply a solution to these apparent anomalies. But we deduce the important inference from these facts, that no correct generalization can be arrived at from an isolated ex- ample. During the seven remaining days of the ex- periment the quantity of milk fell off with both cows: that of the brown cow subsiding from a mean of 263 VARIETY OF FOOD ON MILK. 129 lbs. to 221 lbs., and that of the white cow from 222 lbs. to 203 lbs. There was, altogether, a difference in the daily amount of milk, from the beginning to the end of the fortnight, in the case of the brown cow of 4 lbs., and in the white cow of 2 |bs., although the amount of food continued the same throughout. (2.) Influence of Variety of Food on Milk.—The considerable falling-off depended undoubtedly, in some measure, upon the confinement to which the animals were subjected, although on examining the tables it will be found to be a pretty uniform result, that a change of food produces an increase in the quantity of milk, and that after the same diet has been continued for some days the milk begins to diminish in amount. There are several exceptions in the tables, some of which, however, admit of simple explanation. In the second experiment, which was made with entire barley steeped, the quantity of milk decreased very rapidly. In the case of the brown cow there was a difference between the milk of the first and last day of the experi- ment of 5 lbs., and in the white cow of 23 lbs. This arose from a quantity of the barley being ejected by the animals without being digested. Entire malt being given raised the amount of milk immediately, and the quantity continued to rise daily till it amounted at the end of the trial, in the case of the brown cow, to an increment of the last over the first day’s milk of 3 lbs., and in the white cow of 4 lbs. We can see at once why there was an improvement under the malt regi- men, from the circumstance that, being much more soluble than the barley, it was not ejected by the ani- mals ; indeed, none of it was observable in the ding, 130 INFLUENCE OF VARIETY while a considerable proportion of barley was always carried to the dung-heap. ‘The second and third ex- periments do not serve to prove any point in reference to the dietary of animals, but they may be useful as evidence to show that the more divided the food is, the greater is the amount of milk produced. In the fourth experiment, with crushed barley, the brown cow’s milk decreased 14 lbs. in sixteen days, and the white cow’s 10 oz., or considerably more than half a pound, in the same period. In the fifth experiment, with crushed malt, the brown cow’s milk declined 24 Ibs. in sixteen days, and the white cow’s upwards of 2¢ lbs. In the sixth experiment, with a larger quantity of crushed barley, the brown cow’s milk continued to increase up to the fourth day, and then began to decline; a similar result attended that of the white cow. In the seventh experiment, with molasses and barley, the brown cow’s milk reached its acme or culminating point on the second day of the trial, and it then continued to decline till the close of the experiment on the tenth day. With the white cow, the greatest amount of milk was afforded on the fifth day, when it began to decline and gradually diminish till the termination of the trial. In the eighth experiment, made with barley and linseed, the amcunt of milk continued to increase for a longer period than usual; the largest quantity given by the brown cow was on the ninth day, and by the white on the eighth and ninth days. With the bean meal, in the ninth ex- periment, the milk continued to increase up to the fifth day, when the trial closed.* That a change of diet is necessary for animals which are kept in a confined * See Diagram, and Miscellaneous Table No. IV. * ON MILK AND ON MAN. 131 condition is proved by the tables previously given, in a striking manner, and the results now obtained amply sustain the idea supported by me some time ago in reference to the dietary of human beings shut up in poor-houses and places of confinement. It was then argued that, “‘in order to retain the human constitution in a healthy condition, variety of food should be prop- erly attended to,”* and different species of diet were suggested as well calculated to supply a series of dishes to the poor. In the Asylum for the Houseless, and in the House of Refuge at Glasgow, the recommendations were followed out; and, according to the report of the treasurer, Mr. Liddell, the dinner meals being varied two or three times every week, “‘the change in the dietary routine is much relished by the inmates, and inay have had some effect in the greater degree of health which has been evident among them of late.”t * Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Glasgow, p. 39. + Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Glasgow, vol. i. p. 40. The following economical and wholesome dishes are formed on the principles enunciated, and are used in the public charities of Glasgow Fish Pudding for Ten Persons. Quantity Quantity for One. for Ten. Bs Qlbs. 0oz. 20 Ibs. 0 oz. potatoes, at 4d. per lb. - = OF 245 0 8 5 0 salt fish, at 2d. per lb. - =), 18 0 04 0 24 lard or dripping, at 8d. perlb. - O 1% pepper - - - - - 0 04 2 84 25 23 bed Cost, exclusive of fire and cooking, under 13d. per head. Steep and boil the fish as long as the saltness and size of the article to be used re- quires, take out the bones, boil the potatoes in a separate vessel, beat the whole together. If a fire or oven can be had, brown the top of tho dish. ' 132 VARIETY OF FOOD. The analogy subsisting between the physical nature of human beings and of many of our domestic animals would lead us to the conclusion, upon physiological grounds, that their dietary should be conducted upon precisely similar principles. ‘To prove this by exact experiments is a point, it will be admitted, of consider- able importance to the agriculturist, although it may have been, as might be expected, surmised by many intelligent observers. Not only, however, is variety of food requisite for an animal in an artificial state, it is found also to be beneficial to one in a condition more akin to that of nature. For it is upon this principle A Stewed Hash of Sheep’s Draught for Ten Persons. Quantity Quantity for One. for Ten. sd 2 Ibs. 0oz. 20 Ibs. 0 0z. potatoes, at 4d. per Ib. - - C026 0 53 3 8 two sheep’s draughts, 5d each - OQ 10 0 0 0 8 onions, 1d.; pepper, salt, and flour,2d.0 3 2 53 24 0 eee Cost, exclusive of fire and cooking, full 13d. per head. Boil the lights for one hour, preserving the water; hash said lights, liver, and heart together with flour, pepper, salt, and onions; then stew the whole for one hour, using the water in which the lights were boiled. The boiling and stewing should be done over a very slow fire. A Mince of Cow’s Heart for Ten Persons Quantity Quantity for One. ' for Ten. 80 as 2 lbs. 00z. 20 Ibs. 0 oz. potatoes, at 4d. per lb. - - - 0 --5 0 4 2 8 half a heart, ls. 6d. - - - 0°19 0 0 0 8 ~ onions, 1d.; pepper, salt,and flour,ld.0 2 bi 4. Cost, exclusive of fire and cooking, full 14d. per head. Cut up and wash the heart well. Mince it very small, using onions, flour, pepper, and salt. Stew the whole over a slow fire for two hours. EFFECT OF BARLEY AND MALT. 133 that we are able to account for the superior influence of old natural pastures, which consist of a variety of grasses and other plants, over those pastures which are formed of only one grass, in the production of fat cattle and good milk cows. ‘To any one who considers with attention the experiments which have been detailed, there cannot remain a doubt in the mind that cattle, and especially milk cows, in a state of confinement would be benefited by a very frequent and entire change in their food. It might not be too much to say that a daily modification in the dietary of such animals would be a sound scientific prescription. The effect of variety of food is exhibited in the frontispiece. In considering the case of the white cow, we find that a change from barley to barley and molasses increased the milk in three days from 21 lbs. 6 oz. to 23 Ibs. 7 6Z:'; on changing from malt to barley it increased from 19 Ibs. 10 oz. to 20 lbs. 11 oz. on the first day ; from bar- ley to barley and linseed, it increased from 21 lbs. 2 oz. to 23 Ibs. 12 oz. on the sixth day; from barley and lin- seed to beans, it increased on the first day from 21 lbs. 13 02. to 23 Ibs. 14 oz. Some of these changes can be traced in the diagram placed as a frontispiece, while, at the same time, we obtain from it a distinct view of the relative influence of the different species of food in keeping up a great or regular supply of milk. (3.) Effect of Barley and Malt on Milk.—In con- sidering the influence of barley and malt on the pro- duction of milk, it is obvious that Experiments IT. and III. offer no data from which conclusions can be drawn, except to point out the useful practical fact, that grain should never be given to cows in an entire state, but 12 134 INFLUENCE OF BARLEY AND that it should always be ground or crushed, and then steeped before being presented to them. If we com- pare experiments IV. and V., we find that in sixteen days 141 lbs. of crushed barley steeped produced in the brown cow 342 lbs. of milk, and in the white 351 Ibs. of milk, and that both animals gained in weight; while, again, 168 lbs. of malt produced in the brown cow 310 lbs. of milk, and in the white 345 lbs. of milk, during sixteen days; the former cow gaining some weight, and the latter losing a little. The quantity of malt exceeded that of the barley by 27 lbs., and yet the brown cow gave 32 lbs. less of milk with malt than with barley, and the white cow only 6 lbs. less milk ; hence, in the brown cow 100 lbs. of barley produced as much effect as 131 lbs. of malt, and in the white cow 100 lbs. of barley were equivalent to 119 lbs. of malt. Now, as 100 parts of barley, when malted, be- come eighty of malt, it is obvious that 100 parts of barley are equal in value to 125 of malt, for 80 : 100 :: 100: 125. If we take the mean of the result of the preceding experiment, we find that 100 of barley go as far in producing milk as 125 of malt, 119+131+2 =125. Again, by a mean of three experiments, the amount of nitrogen in malt was found to be 1°52 per cent., and that of barley 1°96 per cent., by four experi- ments, which would make 100 parts of barley equiva- lent to 128 of malt in nutritive power. These are all remarkable coincidences of theory and practice, and cannot fail to convince us that the proportions stated are very close approximations to the nutritive equiv- alents of barley and malt, or, in other words, that malt is about one-fifth inferior to barley in its nutritive effects. In considering the sixth experiment, which was made MALT ON MILK. 135 for the purpose of comparing the effect of a large quan- tity of barley with a large amount of malt, it will be observed, that the experiment commenced when the amount of milk was declining under the malt regimen, but that as soon as the barley was given the milk began to increase in both cows. ‘The weather, however, at this time, became much warmer than it had hitherto been. The mean temperature, as exhibited in the table, became more elevated; but the numbers in the table will scarcely give an idea of the stagnant sultry nature of the atmosphere in the cowhouse, in the immediate neighborhood of which, in a room without a fire, the thermometer during the five days stood at 66°, and at one period of the thirtieth, or first day of the experiment, rose to 70°. The cattle were, during this period, very much troubled with flies, which produced, as all agri- culturists will understand, much agitation and constant movement. These circumstances are calculated to ex- plain the loss of weight sustained by the brown cow, and they account for the fact that the increase of milk was not so rapid as in the previous barley experiment. This experiment may be viewed as an interesting ex- ample of the influence which atmospherical causes exercise upon the production of milk, and exhibits a result perfectly in accordance with the experience of good agricultural observers. From the circumstances mentioned it is obvious that this experiment should not be taken apart from the previous barley trial, since the conditions were somewhat different under which it was made; but we have employed it along with the other trial in striking an average, as in Miscellaneous Table No. JV. Another effect which came into operation in this experiment I believe to be, that the quantity of 136 EFFECT OF MOLASSES, LINSEED, ~ barley was too great, and that more nutritive matter was given in proportion to the heat-producing matter than was fitted for the support of the system, and thus gave occasion to a deteriorating action. (4.) Effect of Molasses, Linseed, and Beans in the Production of Milk.—If we examine the Miscellaneous Table No. IV., we find the mean quantity of milk afforded by the brown cow, every five days under dif- ferent regimens, was as follows :—Barley, 107 lbs.; malt, 97; barley and molasses, 101 ; barley and linseed, 1023; beans, 992. And by the white cow the mean - quantities respectively were, every five days, barley, 109 lbs.; malt, 108}; barley and molasses, 1124; barley and linseed, 1153; beans, 115,°. Of all these articles of food, in both cases, malt gives the smallest produce. ‘Then comes, with the white cow, barley, and the other articles increase in effect as they stand above, bean meal affording the greatest amount of produce. It will be observed, in examining the bean meal table, that the milk increased up to the termina- tion of the experiment; and that in the case of the white cow, the quantity yielded exceeded that supplied by this animal on any previous occasion, except in one solitary instance under the grass diet. ‘The quantity of milk given by the white cow on the 18th September, under the bean regimen, amounted nearly to 253 lbs., thus approaching closely to that afforded by both cows when they were at pasture three months previously. This cannot fail to be admitted as an interesting fact, and is strongly corroborative of the propriety of the partiality of cow-feeders for bean meal as an article of nutrition for their stall-fed cattle. If we take a mean AND BEANS ON MILK. 137 of the produce of the two cows, as previously stated, we shall find the relative influence of each in the pro- duction of milk to be as follows :—Commencing with that which possesses the lowest nutritive power, malt produces 102°66 lbs. of milk; barley and molasses, 1064; bean meal, 107°68; barley, 108; barley and linseed, 109. We think it better to state the mean produce of the two cows, because it will afford an average of what we might expect to meet with in feeding a number of cattle with these various articles of food. A comparison of the experiments on the two cows, however, fully de- monstrates that one kind of food will produce a greater influence on one animal than on another; and that, as with human beings, probably, attention should be be- stowed on what is agreeable to each individual animal, both in reference to its palate and constitution. For it should be always borne in mind that stall-fed animals are not in a natural condition, and that being placed _ under artificial restrictions, a due consideration of the adequate means of counterbalancing the adverse cir- cumstances of their condition can alone conduce to a true theory of humane stall-feeding. (5.) Influence of Quantity of Grain in the Produc- tion of Milk.—To ascertain the amount of grain best calculated to afford the largest supply of milk is a prac- tical point of no small importance to the cow-feeder. Perhaps from Miscellaneous Table No. IV. the best solution to this question may be obtained, in reference to the articles of food employed in the present series of experiments. In the barley experiment it will be observed, that when 12 lbs. of barley were given daily, wne amount of milk was inferior, in both cows, to thai i 138 RATE AT WHICH FOOD obtained when 9 Ibs. was the diurnal allowance. This result seems so decided, in both series of experiments, that it may almost be considered as established, that no adequate advantage appears to be attained by push- ing the supply of barley to a cow beyond the extent of 9 lbs. daily. An increase in the quantity of malt ap- pears sometimes to increase the quantity of milk ; but, in general, the same deduction may be made with ref- erence to malt as to barley, that in a remunerative point of view, 9 lbs. a day may be considered a larger pro- portion of malt to supply a cow. It is highly probable, indeed, that a smaller amount, especially if the animals were allowed a certain limited degree of exercise, would be found fully as efficient as a larger quantity. We have, in the body of the report, endeavored to ex- plain this upon the physiological principles of digestion, and to show, that, as ruminating animals more espe- cially are possessed of great capacity of stomach, an excess of concentrated food, by failing to effect ade- quately the purpose which bulky food accomplishes— of exciting the coats of the stomach to secrete thejr digesting fluid—will tend rather to diminish than to in- crease the result which we desire to gain. (6.) Rate at which Food is changed into Milk.—As a variety of views prevail with regard to the period re- quired by the animal system for the conversion of. food into milk, I endeavored to solve this question by keep- ing an accurate register of the amount of milk supplied by a cow, morning and evening. From this register it appears, that in the course of a month, the brown cow gave the largest amount of milk in the evening only 6 tires, while the white cow was in the same condition IS CHANGED INTO MILK. 139 only 3 times. It may be considered therefore certain, during these experiments, that as a general rule the greatest quantity of milk was yielded by the cows in the morning. An example, taken at random from the register of the white cow’s milk, will show the force of this observation :— Food. “Milk. Ibs. oz. drs. Aug. 1. Barley and hay - - - morning 11 8 15 evening 10 3 14 2. — morning 11 7 1 evening 911 9 3. —_ morning 11 10 15 evening 911 9 4, —_ morning 10 14 5 evening 911 3 5. Barley, molasses, and hay, - morning 11 4 10 evening 10 4 8 6. — morning 12 5 7 evening 10 10 11 Now, as comparatively a small amount of food is con- sumed during the night, it is obvious that this superior amount of milk must be derived from the previous day’s fodder. An observation which was frequently made, viz. that undigested food did not appear in the dung till sixteen hours after being swallowed, would tend to de- monstrate that, during this period at least, absorption of the nutritive part of the food was going on; since we know that along the whole course of the intestinal canal the soluble food continues to be taken up through the coats of the viscera. II. Relative Influence of different Kinds of Food in the Production of Rutter.—In the Table IV. (Appen- 140 SOURCE OF BUTTER. dix) we have collected the amount of butter produced by five kinds of food during periods of five days each. But previous to these trials, thus arranged, the largest quantity given by the brown cow was under the grass regimen. ‘The first five days of the experiment yielded 4°93 lbs. of butter, after which the quantity diminished to the last five days of the trial, when the quantity yielded amounted to 3°75 lbs., a proportion not supe- rior to what was produced in some of the subsequent experiments. ‘The same law does not appear to hold with reference to the diminution of the butter as per- tains to that of the milk, when the food has been con- tinued for some time. We find, on the contrary, fre- quently the amount increasing towards the close of the experiment, even when it is continued for ten or fifteen days. The largest amount of butter was afforded in the brown cow by crushed barley. During the third series of five days the amount was 3°935 lbs. ; bean meal gave the next greatest quantity 3°69 lbs. in five days; then comes barley and linseed, 3°689 lbs. during the first five days; barley and molasses, 3°63 l|bs., and malt 3°60 Ibs. In the case of the white cow the quan- tity was, beans, 3°76 ; barley and linseed, 3°421 ; crush- éd barley, 3°376 lbs. ; barley and molasses, 3°26 ; and malt 3°126. With both animals we observe that malt is lowest in the scale, a fact which seems in some measure to militate against the idea of the origin of the butter being in the sugar of the food. Be this as it may, however, although there are many counter argu- ments in favor of the opinion that sugar affords such a supply, we think the Tables II. and III. (Appendix) tend to show that there is no relation between the but- ter of the milk and the wax and oil of the food; since SOURCE OF BUTTER. 141 frequently, when the oleaginous matter of the food is small, the butter is more considerable than on other oc- casions when ihe reverse happens. Since then the facts contained in the tables, and the arguments used in the body of the report, seemed to prove that the but- ter cannot be supplied from the oil of the food, it be- comes an interesting point for the agriculturist to learn from what element of the food it proceeds. It may safely be inferred that it must be formed from some other constituent of the diet by means of the vascular system, either as a primary or secondary stage.- Sugar affords the most simple element from which it may be produced, because we now understand how the acid of butter can originate from sugar; but even the albumi- nous principles might afford butter. (Wurtz, Liebig.) Upon these grounds, then, we can infer that a certain degree of exercise would be more conducive to the pro- duction of fat than if the animal is allowed to remain at rest; because, as the source’ of the fat or butter is dependent on the process of respiration, it 1s obvious that the more the function is encouraged within mod- erate bounds, the greater will be the amount of the oil- giving principle of the food taken into the system and converted into fat. We believe that this theoretical de- duction is perfectly in consonance with the experience of good observers, who find that box or hammel feeding is more conducive to health of cattle and cows destined for the butcher, or for the production of butter, than close plant-like confinement, which is foreign to the na- ture of every animal, and at variance with the first prin- ciples of physiological science. It appears to result from these experiments, as an irresistible conclusion, that the fat or butter of the milk 42%... SOURCE OF BUTTER. must be produced at the expense of the calorifient in- gredients of the food, aided by the presence of the nu- tritive or azotized principles ; and that the greatest pro- duct of butter must be obtained when the two ingredi- ents of the food are present in the best proportions. THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS. 143 CHAPTER IX. MUSCLE OF THE BODY SUPPLIED BY THE FIBRIN OF THE FOOD.—FIBRIN SUPPLIES HEAT TO THE BODY.—ADDITIONAL OR CALORIFIENT FOOD AL- 50 REQUIRED.—AMOUNT. OF NUTRITIVE AND CALORIFIENT FOOD CON- SUMED BY A COW PER DAY.——-THE TRUE LAWS OF DIETING.—AMOUNT OF NUTRITIVE MATTER IN VARIOUS KINDS OF VEGETABLE FOOD.— ARROW-ROOT IMPROPER FOR INFANT FOOD, BUT USEFUL IN DISEASES. —THE LARGEST QUANTITY OF MILK PRODUCED BY FOOD CONTAINING THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF NITROGEN.—GRASS AN EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE.—EXPLANATION OF THIS FACT.—NEW FORMS OF BREAD.—OAT=- MEAL BREAD—BARLEY BREAD—INDIAN CORN BREAD—PEAS BREAD.— MODE OF BAKING.——DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FERMENTFD AND UNFER- MENTED BREAD.—UNFERMENTED BREAD RECOMMENDED. Tue idea which is now entertained by physiologists, that the muscular part of the animal frame is derived from the albuminous constituent of the food, was clear- ly pointed out by Beccaria in the year 1742. (Histovre de Académie de Bologne, Collect. Acad. xiv. 1.) He demonstrated that the flour of wheat contained two characteristic ingredients, which on distillation or di- gestion afford products totally dissimilar to each other. One of these, which he termed the starchy part, re- sembles in its constitution vegetables, and supplies analogous products. Vegetable substances, he says, may be recognised by their fermenting, and yielding acids without exhibiting symptoms of putrefaction. The glutinous part of flour, on the contrary, resembles ani- mal matter, the distinguishing feature of which is its tendency to putrefaction and conversion into a urinous (ammoniacal)* liquid. ‘So strong,” he adds, “is the 144 FIBRIN SUPPLIES HEAT TO THE BODY. resemblance of gluten to animal matter, that if we were not aware of its being extracted from wheat, we should not fail to mistake it for a product of the animal world.” To be convinced tliat he considered this identical sub- stance to enter into the constitution of our frames, it is only necessary to quote his query: ‘Is it not true that we are composed of the same substances which serve as our nourishment?” ‘The same doctrine has been taught and practised in our own country, in more re- cent times, by Dr. Prout, and is now almost universally received by European physiologists, although the true authors may not have been always recognised. That the systems of animals are capable of sustentation by a supply of fibrinous matter almost alone is obvious from the history of the primitive inhabitants of the prairies of America. It is stated on good authority, (Catlin,) that - there are 250,000 Indians who live almost exclusively on buffalo flesh during the year. The fresh meat is cut in slices of half an inch in thickness across the grain, so as to have fat and lean in layers, and is hung up ex- posed to the sun and dried. Upon this food, which is pounded, and eaten sometimes with marrow, the wild hordes of the West are not only nourished, but it is ob- vious that the heat of their bodies is kept up, since they taste no vegetable food whatever. Fibrin, then, is calorifient, or capable alone, we infer, of producing ani- mal heat. Liebig, it is well known, divides the functions of the food into nutritive and respiratory. I have ven- tured to employ, instead of the latter term, the expression calorifient or heat-producing, so as to give a wider range through the whole system to the function of the unazotized food than the more local term of respiratory would appear toimply. According to this view all food is USE OF CALORIFIENT FOOD. 145 destined for repairing the waste of the body, and for the production of animal heat. The heat may be produced by the union of the carbon and hydrogen of the food with oxygen (the latter gaining admission to the system by the lungs, stomach, and skin,) or by the condensa- tion of oxygen during its substitution for hydrogen and formation of oxygen products. The preceding inference we also deduce from the experiment in which a dog was fed for some weeks on the glutinous matter of flour, (Magendie ;) and it may be further concluded, that fib- rinous ‘or albuminous matter when given alone is par- tially converted into carbonic acid, and is removed from the system during the process of expiration. But it would appear, from consideration of the experiments which have been made on the nutrition of animals with pure fibrin, that an auxiliary in the production of ani- mal heat is either indispensable or highly advantageous, since animals fed on fibrin alone invariably declined in health, (Magendie,) and the American Indians have a certain admixture of fat with their dry meat, and are in the habit likewise of using marrow with it. The reason why an auxiliary is required for the sup ply of animal heat appears to be, that the fibrinous matter which is taken up by the vessels of the intes- tines and is carried into the blood, requires to pass through the condition of muscular tissue before it can be of service as a calorifient agent. ‘The only view _ which appears at present to be tenable is, that all or the greater part of the fibrinous and albuminous matters which enter the blood displace a certain amount of the same substances existing in a solid form in the system, as brain, muscle, &c., and that the displaced matter undergoes certain modifications ; probably, for example, 13 146 AMOUNT OF NUTRITIVE AND it passes into the form of gelatin, and is excreted in the soluble state of urea, uric acid, and nitrogenous pro- ducts. It is in passing into these last conditions that we can alone expect fibrinous matter to give out animal heat. Time, therefore, is required to produce these changes. It is to save the system, then, from too rapid waste, and at the same time to afford an abundant sup- ply of heat, that the calorifient food is required, and is always employed by all members of the human family who have advanced beyond the savage state. That the amount of calorifient food, in contradistinc- tion to nutritive food, properly so called, as it has been well defined by Liebig, is out of all proportion greater than that required to supply the waste of the solid mat- ter of the body, is obvious from the following table, which represents the amount of the ultimate consti- tuents of the food of a stall-fed cow, consumed during one day :— Food. Feces. Consumption. Ibs. lbs. lbs. we Carbon - - - 11°90. 5°10 6°80 Hydrogen - - - 1°61 0°62 0°99 Nitrogen - - - 0°45 0°20 ~ 0°25 Oxygen - - - 10°74 4°12 6°62 Ash “+... - - 1°71 1°09 0°62 26°41 11°13 15°28 The food in this case was grass, (the lolzum perenne, . or rye-grass.) If we now calculate the amount of food which was destined for nutrition by the formule below,* * Albuminous matters contain about 53 per cent. of carbon, 7 of hydrogen, 16 nitrogen, and 24 oxygen. Hence, to obtain the carbon CALORIFIENT FOOD CONSUMED. 147 we find that it amounts only to 1°56 lbs., as represented in a tabular form :— Nutritive. Calorifient. = > Ibe Ibs. Carbon - - - 0°828 - - 5°982 Hydrogen” - - 0109 - - 0°77] Nitrogen - - 0°250 - - Oxygen a deta - - 6°247 1°560 13°000 A true system of dieting would therefore require such tables for each condition of animals, in order that a comparison may be instituted between the wants of the system and the food. If this mode of viewing the question be correct, then the relation of the nutritive part of the food absorbed by the animal system in the preceding experiment is to the calorifient portion as 1 to 8i nearly. By comparing this fact, then, (which is independent of all hypothesis,) with-the different varie- ties of human food, it is probable that some light may be obtained in reference to the differences in the rela- tive proportion of these constituents. Milk, for exam- ple, the food of the infant mammalia, contains one part of nutritive to two parts of calorifient constituents, and in the growing state of an animal the nutritive part of the food not only supplies the place of the metamor- phosed solids, but an additional amount of it is required to increase the bulk of the individual; and, as wa have already stated that animal heat is generated by the change or degradation of the fibrinous tissues, it is ste 53 ‘828 Ibs. carbon; for the at = °109 Ibs. hydrogen; for the oxygen => = 0-373 lbs. oxygen. from the above table we have hydrogen 148 RELATION OF NUTRITIVE TO obvious that in the nourishment of infant life there is a supply of heat from the casein, vastly superior to that afforded by fibrin supplied to full-grown animals, be- cause the amount taken in proportion to the quantity of calorifient matter is much greater. If we refer, again, to the food which is generally employed by the inhabitants of this country, wheat and barley, we find by a mean of experiments afterwards to be detailed, that the average amount of albuminous matter present in them is 11 per cent., while the quantity of starch and sugar existing in these substances may vary from 70 to 80 per cent.; thus affording the proportion of nutritive to calorifient food as 1 to 7, and upwards. Such food, it may be inferred, is fitted for the consumption of an animal which is not subjected to much exercise of the muscular system, and may be viewed as the limit of excess of the calorifient over the nutritive constituents of food. As the demands upon the muscular part of the frame become more urgent, the proportion of the azotized or nutritive constituents should be increased, and this may be extended until we arrive at the point where the fibrinous matter is equal to the half of the calorifient, which is probably, in a perfectly normal physiology, the greatest relative proportion of nutritive material admissible. The proportion of the nutritive to the calorifient constituents of food should therefore vary according as the animal is in a state of exercise or rest; and it is upon the proper consideration of such relations that the true laws of dieting depend. For calculations of this nature, tables exhibiting the amount of albuminous matters in the different articles of food are indispen- sable, as they afford at a glance the required knowledge. HEAT-PRODUCING FOOD. 149 The constituents of the flours used as human food are principally albuminous matter, calorifient matter, water, and salts; so that when we have determined the amount of albuminous substance in the dried condition of the flour, the remainder may be estimated as calorifient matter without any sensible error. In the following table the water has not been removed from the flour The numbers are the results of my experiments :— Albuminous or Nutritive Matter per cent. Bean meal - - - - - 25°36 _ Linseed meal - - - - 23°62 Scotch oatmeal - - “ - 15°61 Semolina - - - - - 12°81 Canadian flour - - - - 11°62 Barley - - - - - 11°31 Maize - - - - - 10°93 Essex flour - - - 10°55 to 11°80 East Lothian flour - - 9°74 to 11°55 Hay - - - - - - 9°71 Malt - - - - - - 8°71 Rice (Kast Indian ~ ~ - 8°37 Sago-. - - - - - 3°33 South Sea arrow-root - - ~ 3°21 Tapioca - - - - - 3°13 Potatoes - - - - - 2°23 Starch (wheat) - - - - 2°18 Swedish turnips - - - - 1°32 The numbers represent the amount of albuminous matter contained in 100 parts of the various substances as they occur in commerce. As all of the substances in the table contain from 5 to 14 per cent. of water, certain deductions are required, to arrive at the true amount of calorifient matter. In general, it may be stated that wheat flour, maize, barley, and beans con- 13* 150 NUTRITION AND HEAT FROM FOOD. tain from 10 to 14 per cent. of water, while oatmeal contains 6 per cent., and tapioca, arrow-root, and sago, from 10 to 13 per cent. In order to arrive at the true amount of calorifient matter contained in the substances in the table, we have only to deduct the amount of al- buminous substances, with the water and salts, which, upon an average, amount together to about 12 to 15 per cent. ‘Then, by dividing the remainder, or calorifient matter, by the amount of albuminous substances, we obtain the relation subsisting between the nutritive and calorifient constituents. In this manner tables may be constructed, illustrating the true practice of dieting. Approximate Relation of Nutritwe to Calorifient Matter. Relation of Nutri- tive to Calorifient. to .'2 ao. OE — Milk.—F ood for a growing animal - - - Beans - - - - - - - - 1 Oatmeal - - - - - - - 1 5 Semolina . Barley t @ : i English Wheat Flour.—F ood for an animal at rest 1 — 8 1 9 1 0 1 1 Potatoes - ” - - = ye Rice - .- > - - - - - - Turnips - - - - - - - ts Arrow-root Tapioca Sago Starch - - - - = = = “ 1 — 40 From this table we are led to infer that the food des- tined for the animal in a state of exercise should range between milk and wheat flour, varying in its degree of dilution with calorifient matter according to the nature and extent of the demands upon the system. The animal system is thus viewed as in an analogous con- FOOD FOR CHILDREN. 151 dition to a field from which different crops extract dif- ferent amounts of matter from the soil, which must be ascertained by experiment. An animal at rest con- sumes more calorifient food in relation to the nutritive constituents than an animal in full exercise. The food, therefore, employed by a person of sedentary habits should contain more calorifient and less nutritive matter than one whose occupations cause him to take more exercise. It is to be desired that some light should be thrown on this subject by careful experiments. ‘The food of animals and the manure of plants we thus see afford somewhat of a parallelism. Milk may therefore be used with a certain amount of farinaceous matter, such as the class of flours and meals, with probable ad- vantage.; but the dilution should not exceed the pre- scribed limits. It is thus that we may explain the fact of beans, oats, oatmeal, and barley meal being used so extensively in the feeding of horses. These articles of food, however, do not suffice alone: calorifient mat- ter in the form of hay should also be administered. From this table, likewise, we infer that, as nature has provided milk for the support of the infant mammalia, the constitution of their food should always be formed after this type. Hence we learn that milk, in some form or other, is the true food of children, and that the use of arrow-root, or any of the members of the starch class, where the relation of the nutritive to calorifient matter is as 1 to 26 instead of being as 1 to 2, by an animal placed in the circumstances of a human infant, is opposed to the principles unfolded by the preceding table. In making this statement, I find that there are certain misapprehensions into which medical men are apt to be led at the first view of the subject. To render 152 ARROW-ROOT IMPROPER FOR CHILDREN. it clearer, let us recall to mind what the arrow-root class of diet consists of. Arrow-root and tapioca are prepared by washing the roots of certain plants until all the matter soluble in water is removed. Now, as albumen is soluble in water, this form of nutritive matter must in a great measure be washed away: under this aspect we might view the original root before it was subjected to the washing process, to approximate in composition to that of flour. If the latter substance were washed by repeated additions of water the nitro- genous or nutritive ingredients would be separated from the starchy or calorifient elements, being partly soluble in water, and partly mechanically removed. Arrow- root, therefore, may be considered as flour deprived as much as possible of its nutritive matter. When we administer arrow-root to a child it is equivalent to washing all the nutritive matter out of bread, flour, or oatmeal, and supplying it with the starch; or it is the same thing approximately as if we gave it starch; and this is in fact what is done, when children are fed upon what is sold in the shops under the title of farinaceous food, empirical preparations of which no one can under- stand the composition without analysis. Of the bad effects produced in children by the use of these most exceptionable mixtures, [ have had ample opportunities of forming an opinion, and I am inclined to infer that many of the irregularities of the bowels, the production of wind, &c., in children, are often attributable to the use of such unnatural species of food. How often are the ears of parents and nurses distressed with the ago- nizing cries of the helpless child, and how often are these sympioms of suffering treated as the effects of ill- humor, or of causeless peevishness ; when, on the con- NUTRITIVE EFFECT OF OATMEAL. 153 trary, they have been produced by the improper diet in many cases with which the child has been supplied! It should be remembered that all starchy food deprived of nutritive matter is of artificial production, and scarcely, if ever, exists in nature in an isolated form. The administration of the arrow-root class is therefore only admissible when a sufficient amount of nutritive matter has been previously introduced into the diges- tive organs, or when it is inadvisable to supply nutri- tion to the system, as in cases of inflammatory action. In such instances the animal heat must be kept up, and for this purpose calorifient food alone is necessary. This treatment is equivalent to removing blood from the system, since the waste of the fibrinous tissues goes on, while an adequate reparation is not sustained by the introduction of nutritive food. A certain amount of muscular sustentation is still, however, effected by the use of arrow-root diet ; since, according to the pre- ceding tables, it contains about one-third as much nu- tritive matter as some of the wheat flours. ‘The ex- tensive use of oatmeal, which is attended with such - wholesome consequences among the children of all ranks in Scotland, is, however, an important fact de- serving of serious consideration ; and, it appears to me, is strongly corroborative of the principles which I have endeavored to lay down in the preceding pages. After the explanations which have been given, it is scarcely necessary to particularize further the specific nature of the food to be recommended for the use of children. A certain admixture of milk, the natural type of the food, is still to be retained, while the solid matter to be prepared along with it may be of great variety, such as bread made into panado, semoliaa or pounded wheat ; 154 OATMEAL VERY NUTRITIVE. I believe this kind of food, which is sold in the shops, to be generally prepared from wheat brought from a more temperate region than that of this country, in con- sequence of the amount of nitrogen which I have found in it. The best American wheat flour, good Scottish oatmeal, and barley-meal, may all be employed at dif- ferent times by way of variety, and repeated according to their agreement with the child’s organs of digestion. The digestion of all these forms of food containing starch is greatly promoted by long boiling either with water or milk, as this process is Just so much labor saved to the intestinal organs. It is thus obvious that we have a great variety of food fitted for children of which we know the composition, and that we should prefer it to any species of compounded stuff the con- stitution of which we are ignorant. It is a sufficiently remarkable fact, that oats increase in nutritive power in proportion to the increase of latitude within certain limits, while wheat follows an inverse law. ‘Those who are in the habit of representing mankind as the ‘lords of the creation,” who take the limited view of considering all that we see around us as created merely for their use, misapplying the thought—‘“‘ the proper study of mankind is man;” and who thus, with the characteristic vanity of earthliness, follow the footsteps of Kant, profanely attempting to survey the divine mind, will discern probably in this curious circumstance further proofs of their theory, as if to show “ how little can be known.” In the table which contains the amount of albuminous matter in different kinds of food, a second column, in accordance with tables of this description, might have been added, representing 100 parts of beans as equal in EQUILIBRIUM OF THE FOOD. 155 nutritive power to 1160 of starch; but if the views now explained are legitimate, we see that such a method of estimating nutritive power is not founded on scientific principles. In a correct plan of dieting the proper equilibrium must be retained between the demands of the animal organism and the constitution of the food, otherwise, either the nutritive or calorifient system must be deteriorated. These views sufficiently explain the ex- periments which have been made upon cows ; in which the result was unfavorable, when they were fed on po- tatoes and beet-root in considerable quantities, as both of these substances contain an excess of calorifient matter. It is well known to feeders of cattle, that an animal fed on large quantities of potatoes is liable to complaints, such as affections of the skin, and also to loss of weight. ‘These consequences, it may be readily inferred, are derived from the want of the proper bal- ance between the elements of the food. The importance of attention to the proper equilibrium of the constituents of the food is clearly pointed out in the following table, from which it is evident, that food containing the greatest amount of starch or sugar does not produce the largest quantity of butter, although these substances are supposed to supply the butter ; but the best product of milk and butter is yielded by those species of food which seem to restore the equili- brium of the animals most efficiently. The first column in the table represents the food used by two cows; the second column gives the mean milk of the two animals for five days; the third, the butter during periods of five days; while the fourth contains the amount of nitrogen in the food taken by both animals during the*same periods :— 156 EQUILIBRIUM OF THE FOOD. \ Milk in | Butterin]| Nitrogen | five five in Food in Days. Days. | five Days. Ibs. lbs. « Ibs. I. | Grass” - - = - 4-114 3°50 2°32 II. | Barley and hay - - | 107 3°43 3°89 III. | Malt and hay - - - | 102 3°20 3°34 IV. | Barley, molasses, and hay} 106 3°44 3°82 V. | Barley, linseed, and hay - 108 3°48 4°14 VI. | Beans and hay - - | 108 3°72 5°27 We may infer, from these results, that grass affords the best products, because the nutritive and calorifient constituents are combined in this form of food, in the most advantageous relations. ‘The other kinds of food have been subjected to certain artificial conditions, by which their equilibrium may have been disturbed. In the process of hay-making, for example, the coloring matter of the grass is either removed or altered ; a por- tion of the sugar is washed out or destroyed by fer- mentation, while certain of the soluble salts are re- moved by every shower of rain which falls during the curing of the hay. Perhaps similar observations are more or less applicable to the other species of food enumerated. The principles which we have been endeavoring to explain being understood, little difficulty will be expe- rienced in constructing dietaries, so as to meet the wants of the animal system under the particular circum- stances in which it may be placed. By various mix- tures of one kind of flour, less supplied with azotized matter, with another which is richer in this material, the equilibrium of the food which from meteorological causes prevailing in any particular country, may not have reached the proper standard, may be effectually testored. ‘The wheat of England, for example, is infe- NEW FORMS OF BREAD. 157 rior to that of the continent of Europe, and of America, as appears from the table. It may, however, be im- proved by an admixture either with foreign flour, or with oatmeal, barley, beans, or any of those substances which stand above it in the table; and in this state it will be found to form palatable bread. All these spe- cies of grain owe their nutritive properties to the pres- ence of fibrin, casein, gluten, and albumen. It is inthe predominance of gluten over the other azotized mate- rials that wheat owes its superior power of detaining the carbonic acid engendered by fermentation, and thus communicating to it the vesicular spongy structure so characteristic of good bread. By mixing one-third of Canada flour with two-thirds of maize, a very good loaf is produced, and when equal parts of flour and oatmeal, or of barley, or of peasmeal, are employed, palatable bread is the result. Beneficial effects would probably follow from the admixture of two or three different kinds of grain, and many of these forms of bread might be substituted with advantage for pure wheat flour in peculiar conditions of the system. When it is proposed to make a loaf of oatmeal and flour, the common oatmeal should be sifted so as to obtain the finest portion of the meal, or it may be ground to the proper consistence. ‘This should be mixed then with an equal weight of best flour, Cana- dian, for example, and fermented. I have not suc- ceeded in making a good loaf with a smaller amount of flour than one half, although I have tried it in vari- ous proportions. If we were to attempt to raise oat- mea] without an admixture with flour, in consequence of the absence of gluten, that principle which retains the carbonic acid of fermentation, we should obtain only 14 158 OATMEAL AND MAIZE BREAD. a sad, heavy, doughy piece of moist flour. This form of bread, it appears to me, and to many who have ex amined it, would be a great improvement on the hard, dry oat-cakes, so much used in the more unfrequented parts of our country, where the inhabitants have scarcely as yet commenced to share in what are in other localities considered to be necessaries of life. It is an observation which all must have made who have considered the condition of mankind in their various stages of advancement, that an increase in the physical comforts, and above all, the improvement in the diet, are the first symptoms of an onward movement in civil- ization. It has always appeared to me, that it is in vain to expect any other condition than that of retro- gression among people, such+as are too abundant in Scotland and Ireland, where the clothing is so defi- cient as to leave the extremities of the body, more par- ticularly among the female classes, the educators of the community, in a state of nudity, and where the food is confined in a great measure to the watery potato, or the dry and unpalatable oat-cake.* Maize bread may be made of good quality by a smaller admixture of flour than is necessary in the in- stance of oatmeal. For this purpose, it should be re- duced to a fine meal,—finer than is usual in America. It may then be mixed with one-third its weight of best flour, and fermented in the usual way. When thus prepared, the best maize bread is always dark colored, and cannot be made much lighter than coarse wheat bread. The shade, however, is somewhat different * By custom, it becomes more agreeable, but at first it is usually nauseous, especially to one who is not a native of the country. BARLEY BREAD, AND BISCUITS. 159 from that of wheat, as it inclines more to a yellow tint. We may be quite certain, however, when we see what is called maize bread possessed of a white color, that it contains much more than one-third its weight of wheat flour mixed with it. Even when one-half its weight of wheat flour is added to it, the dark color, characteristic of maize, is retained. In these cases, of course the - price of the bread must be higher than when a smaller amount of maize is present. The whitest bread, however, is made by an inter- mixture of barley meal and wheat flour. The smallest amount of wheat flour in this mixture, which I have found requisite to make a good loaf, was one-half, al- though the quantity of flour may be diminished accord- ing to the increase in the richness of wheat in albumin- ous matter; an observation which, of course, applies to the various kinds of bread to which allusion has already been made. The most successful of these varieties of bread is, perhaps, that which is made with equal quantities of peas-meal and flour, so far as re- spects the exterior aspect. ‘The last, however, is pala- table, and the specimen is a good example of a whole- some, condensed vegetable diet, and would probably answer as a substitute for animal food where the func- tions of the stomach are not materially impaired. Upon similar principles, excellent biscuits may be made, either for rapid consumption, or for preservation, at a more moderate expense than when they are entirely composed of wheat flour. When a biscuit is formed offIndian corn, without any intermixture of wheat, the color has a yellow tint, which, however, in a great measure, disappears when wheat flour is added in the proportion of one-third. When destitute of the pres- 160 FERMENTED AND ence of wheat, it is not so consistent, and is apt to crack and break off short. Oat-meal and barley-meal biscuits may be produced also by mixture with wheat flour. They require, however, a somewhat larger pro- portion of the latter, as their particles seem even less adapted of themselves to cohere than those of the In- dian corn. An admixture of a variety of meals forms a very palatable biscuit, as it possesses a sweeter taste, even without the artificial addition of sugar, than wheat flour alone. Such biscuits are calculated to keep for a longer or shorter time, according to the firing to which they are subjected. In the former case they are well calculated to keep at sea. Bread of such a description may be made either by the usual process of fermentation, or by the action of hydrochloric acid upon sesquicarbonate of soda. In many respects the latter process deserves the prefer- ence, when we consider the chemical nature of the two methods. The vulgar idea, which yields the palm of superiority to the former, does not appear to be based on solid data, and it seems desirable, that in a case of so much importance in domestic economy, the arguments in favor of such an opinion should be subjected to a careful experimental examination. Judging @ priort, it does not seem evident that flour should become more whole- some by the destruction of one of its important ele- ments, or that the vesicular condition engendered by the evolution of carbonic acid from that source, should at once convert dough (if it were unwholesome) iffito wholesome bread. When a piece of dough is taken in the hand, being adhesive, and closely pressed together, it feels heavy, UNFERMENTED BREAD. 161 and if swallowed in the raw condition, it would prove indigestible to the majority of individuals. ‘This would occur from its compact nature, and from the absence of that disintegration of its particles which is the pri- mary step in digestion. But, if the same dough were subjected to the elevated heat of a baker’s oven, 450°, its relation to the digestive powers of the stomach would be changed, because the water to which it owed its tenacity would be expelled, and the only obstacle to its complete division and consequent subserviency to the sol- vent powers of the animal system would be removed. This view of the case is fully borne out by a reference to the form in which the flour of the various species of cerealia is employed as an article of food by different nations. By the peasantry of Scotland, barley-bread, oat-cakes, peas-bread, or a mixture of peas and barley- bread, and also potato-bread, mixed with flour, are all very generally employed in an unfermented form with an effect the reverse of injurious to health. With such an experience, under our daily observation, it seems almost unnecessary to remark, that the Jew does not labor under indigestion when he has substituted, during his passover, unleavened cakes, for his usual fermented bread ; that biscuits are even employed when fermented bread is not considered sufficiently digestible for the sick ; and that the inhabitants of the northern parts of India and of Affghanistan very generally make use of unfermented cakes, similar to what are called scones in Scotland. Such, then, being sufficient evidence in favor of the wholesomeness of unfermented bread, it becomes important to discover in what respect it differs from fermented bread. Bread-making being a chemi- cal process, it is from chemistry alone that we can ex- 14* 162 FERMENTED AND pect a solution of this question. In the production of fermented bread a certain quantity of flour, water, and yeast, are mixed together, and formed into a dough or paste, and are allowed to ferment for a certain time at the expense of the sugar of the flour. The mass is then exposed in an oven to an elevated temperature, which puts a period to the fermentation, expands the carbonic acid, resulting from the decomposed sugar and air contained in the bread, and expels the alcohol formed, and all the water capable of being removed by the heat employed. ‘The result gained by this process may be considered to be merely the expansion of the particles of which the loaf is composed, so as to render the mass more readily divisible by the preparatory organs of di- gestion. But as this object is gained at a sacrifice of the integrity of the flour, it becomes a matter of inter- est to ascertain the amount of loss sustained in the pro- cess. ‘l'o determine this point, I had comparative ex- periments made upon a large scale with fermented and unfermented bread. ‘The latter was raised by means of carbonic acid generated by chemical means in the dough. But to understand the circumstances, some preliminary explanation is necessary. Mr. Henry of Manchester, in the end of last century, suggested the idea of mixing dough with carbonate of soda and mu- riatic acid, so as to disengage carbonic acid in imita- tion of the usual effect of fermentation; but with this advantage, that the integrity of the flour was preserved, and that the elements of the common salt required as a seasoner of the bread was thus introduced, and the salt formed in the dough. The result of my experiments upon the bread produ- ced by the action of hydrochloric acid upon carbonate UNFERMENTED BREAD. 163 of soda, has been, that in a sack of flour there was a difference in favor of the unfermented bread to the amount of 30 lbs. 13 oz., or, in round numbers, a sack of flour would produce 107 loaves of unfermented bread, and only"100 loaves of fermented bread of the same weight. Hence it appears, that in the sack of flour by the common process of baking, 7 loaves, or 6} per cent. of the flour, are driven into the air and lost. An impor- tant question now arises from the consideration of the result of this experiment: Does the loss arise entirely from the decomposition of sugar, or is any other ele- ment of the flour attacked? _ It appears from a mean of eight analyses of wheat flour from different parts of Europe by Vauquelin, that the quantity of sugar contained in flour,amounts to 5°61 per cent. But it is obvious that, as the quantity lost ’ by baking exceeded this amount by nearly one per cent., the loss cannot be accounted for by the removal merely of the ready-formed sugar of the flour. We must either ascribe this extra loss to the conversion of a por- tion of the gum of the flour into sugar and its decompo- sition by means of the ferment, which is highly proba- ble, or we must attribute it to the action of the yeast upon another element of the flour; and if we admit that yeast is generated during the panary fermentation, then the conclusion would be inevitable, that another element of the flour, beside the sugar, or gum, has been affected. For Liebig has well illustrated the fact that when yeast is added to wort, ferment is formed from the gluten contained in it, at the same time that the su- gar is decomposed into alcohol and carbonic acid. Now, in the panary fermentation, which is precisely similar to the fermentation of wort, we might naturally expect 164 UNFERMENTED BREAD. that the gluten of the flour would be attacked to repro- duce yeast. A wholesale and palatable bread may be produced by the employment of ammoniacal alum, and carbonate of ammonia, or soda as a substitute for yeast In this process the alum is destroyed by the heat: the bread is vesicular and white, and rises, according to the judg- ment of the baker, as well as fermented bread. It is obvious that none of the ingredients added can affect the integrity of the constituents of the flour; an oc- currence which may possibly happen in the preparation of bread by the common process of fermentation, as has been shown even to the azotized principles of the flour. The disadvantage of such a deterioration is sufficient- ly evident, if we view these principles as the source of nutrition in flour: A good method of making unfermented bread is to take of flour 4 pounds. Sesquicarbonate of soda, (su- percarbonate of the shops,) 320 grains. Hydrochloric acid, (spirit of salt or muriatic acid of the shops,) 63 fluid drachms. Common salt 300 grains. Water, 35 ounces by measure. The soda is first mixed’ with the flour very intimately. The salt is dissolved in the water, and added to the acid. The whole being then rapidly mixed as in common baking. The bread may either be baked in tins or formed like cottage loaves, and should be kept from one to two hours in the oven. Should the bread prove yellow, it is a proof that the soda has been in excess, and indicates the propriety of adding a small additional portion of acid; the acid varying somewhat in strength. The same process may be employed in raising the other mixture previously recommended. 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