188 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ful of all vocations. Yet the statistical! tells us that the farmers as a class 

 live less years thau do those of most other occupations. Physiology shows 

 how and for what purpose the various organs act ; and so suggests the requi- 

 sites to healthy action. Physiology then is the very foundation stone to 

 hygiene. He who would surely conserve his health must be versed in practi- 

 cal physiology. That farmers, whose very business calls them away from the 

 poisonous germs of the city sewerage, the impure water and pent up life of 

 the city, and the confinement which calls into life-giving activity but few of 

 his organs, should lack longevity, only shows that j)ractical physiology is not 

 understood and practiced as it should bo by this class. A practical knowledge 

 of physiology may, nay, will do more than to conserve health and promote 

 longevity; it will contribute directly toward the success of the husbandman. 

 The laws of physiology concern not man alone, but the lower animals as well ; 

 and that farmer who knows not and practices not the laws of this science as 

 he tends and cares for his stock, is like the workman who hews with unsharp- 

 ened steel. 



One of the most important subjects to which physiology calls our attention 

 is that connected with food. The lately discovered law of conservation of 

 energy applies here as elsewhere. Brain force, muscular force, all organic 

 force directly depends on food, on the nutrition of the organ through whose 

 action the force is exerted. Our own well-being then, as well as the condition 

 of the animals that minister to our needs, depends on the proper digestion and 

 assimilation of foods. Let us study the process and see what practical sug- 

 gestions we may glean. 



Digestion is accomplished in the stomach and intestines. In the stomach, 

 the gastric juice acts on all of the albuminous elements, as muscle, cheese, 

 and the glutin of our bread ; while in the intestine the same articles are 

 farther digested by the pancreatic juice, which also digests the oils and starch. 

 This digestion is simply liquefaction, which renders it possible for the matter 

 to pass through the animal membrane to reach the blood, and also fits it the 

 better to be assimilated or changed into tissue. Whenever we use an organ 

 its substance is broken up in part, and for it to continue in good condition 

 there must be close at hand in the blood suitable and sufficient nourishment 

 to supply this loss. The best condition and maximum activity of all of the 

 organs demands ample food, and the most thorough digestion. 



The importance of full rations needs hardly to be considered. We all 

 know that to work well we must eat well. The man who feeds his animals 

 liberally not only has fine, sleek stock, but he has animals that can be counted 

 on at the dray or the plow, animals that always bring money, and lots of it 

 at the shambles. The recommendation sometimes heard from the lips of the 

 jockey: This animal eats almost nothing, deserves the retort, then I do not 

 wish him for he will be worth nothing. Intelligent farmers understand that 

 that animal has most merit that eats most, and converts the most of what is 

 eaten into tissue. 



It is a more difficult undertaking to point out the precise rations that will 

 be best calculated to minister to the strength and vigor of the several organs. 

 In our own case, nio rule is better than the normal appetite. The food that 

 ■we most relish is the food that does us the most good. This rule enforces the 

 necessity of a variety of food ; doubtless for the reason that a variety is more 

 likely to supply the carbohydrates, the fats, the nitrogenous elements, and 

 the several inorganic elements, which are demanded by the healthy organism. 

 The tissues need all of these elements, and so the appetite, the errand boy of 



