340 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



the quantity of water necessary for the operation being so 

 much less, its qualities can be corrected much more easily 

 and with less expense, and its temperature made exactly 

 suitable. Above all, the health of the animal will not be en- 

 dangered, as is done by the old proceeding. The professor 

 calculates that in the average six thousand and forty units 

 of heat are consumed in the evaporation of the adhering w T a- 

 ter, which he thinks too heavy a tax on the animal economy. 



CHANGE OF MATERIAL IN ADULT SHEEP. 



Henneberg and others have been lately conducting a series 

 of experiments upon the change of material in the adult sheep, 

 under uniform feeding, the animals being two four to five year 

 old wethers. These were fed with as much meadow-hay as 

 was needed to keep them in good condition in regard to nour- 

 ishment, while each had ninety grains of common salt daily, 

 and as much water as they wished. The experiments were 

 conducted with the assistance of Pettenkofer's respiration ap- 

 paratus. It was found that the excretion of carbonic acid by 

 the animals during the daytime was different from that dur- 

 ing the night, but that this was determined, not by the amount 

 of light and darkness, but by the distribution of food during 

 the two portions of the twenty-four hours. The feeding was 

 generally followed very soon by the excretion of carbonic 

 acid. The excretion of water by the skin followed much the 

 same rules as that of the carbonic-acid excretion. A paral- 

 lelism was found between the excretion of the carbonic acid 

 and of the water in twenty-four hours, both being greater or 

 less as the consumption of nutriment or respiration material 

 was greater or less. From this it would appear that, to econ- 

 omize food, it is necessary to protect animals from conditions 

 which induce perspiration. 



A certain medium temperature of the stall in which the an- 

 imal is fed will be the most economical, since, while the lesser 

 heat involves the necessity of a greater amount of food, an 

 increased temperature, on the other hand, produces an in- 

 creased consumption of water, and, in consequence, the in- 

 creased transudation of water through the skin of the animal 

 produces a loss of heat of the body by conduction and radia- 

 tion. 



The result showed that the food consumed was slightly 



