INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS DURING THE YEAR 1876. clxxxix 



bohydrates was observed in the different periods. The authors 

 conckide that salt is without influence upon the digestion of these 

 ingredients in the food. On the other hand, the digestion of the 

 mineral substances increased with the addition of the salt. Journal 

 fur LandicirtJischaft, 1874, XXII., s. 371-396. 



Influence of Shearing on Digestion in Sheep. It is a matter of com- 

 mon experience that sheep fatten better after shearing than when 

 carrying a full coat of wool. To test the question whether this is 

 due to a better digestion of food has been the object of some experi- 

 ments by Weiske and his assistants at Proskau, in Germany. The 

 sheep experimented upon were found to digest no more of their food 

 after shearing than before. They consumed much less water, how- 

 ever, when shorn, and excreted somewhat less in the excrement and 

 urine, and very considerably less in respiration and perspiration. 

 The appetite was also much improved, and to this the better results 

 in the fattening of shorn sheep are probably due. Journal fur Land- 

 tcirthschaft, 1875, XXIII., s. 306-316. 



Influence of Arsenic on Digestion of ' Food hy Sheep. The above- 

 mentioned experimenters have also reported results of experiments 

 on the influence of small doses of arsenic upon the digestion of food 

 by sheep. The feeding of twenty milligrammes (about one eighth 

 gramme) of arsenious acid (white arsenic) per head daily increased 

 both the digestion and the accumulation of flesh in slight degree. 

 Journal fur Landicirthschaft, 1875, XXIII., s. 317-322. 



Action of Cold upon Milh. Professor Maurice Perkins, of Union 

 College, translates for the Countrij Gentleman.^ from the Paris Comptes- 

 Eendus., an abstract from a paper by Eug. Tisserand, which gives 

 some statements that are of interest in connection with the discus- 

 sions now going on here with regard to the Hardin and other sys- 

 tems of setting milk for cream. 



Numerous experiments have been made by exposing milk to dif- 

 ferent temperatures varying from 32 Fahr. to 100 Falir., and the 

 following facts have been elicited : 



1. The rise of the cream is the more rapid as the temperature to 

 which the milk is exposed approaches 32. 



3. The volume of the cream is greater when the milk has been effi- 

 ciently cooled. 



3. "The yield of the butter is also greater when the milk has been 

 exposed to a very low temperature. 



4. Finally, the skimmed milk, the butter and cheese, are of better 

 quality when prepared under the above circumstances. 



While it is impossible to offer a satisfactory explanation as to the 

 reason why artificial cold should produce a beneficial effect upon the 

 yield and quality of the products derived from milk, it is probable 

 that it may tend to arrest that fermentative decomposition which 



