ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 167 



been shown, is stimnlatod hy the presonco of the fornior. In woll-noui-ished 

 animals tliere is, however, always an c'xccss of ammonia present, hence in this 

 case the tissues will not become acid in riro. Tlie excess disappears j^radnaliy, 

 however, if the animal is dejn-ived of food. A certain stage will then be 

 reached, when the ])rodiiction of acid exceeds the amount of ammonia avail- 

 able for neutralization ; the autolytic enzyni then comes into play, liberates 

 amino acids, etc., which in their turn pass the alimentary tract, and liy means 

 (if the metabolic processes there talcing place liberate ammonia, which again 

 iidiibits the production of nitrogenous degradation products. Degradation of 

 tissue should proceed, therefore, at a definite uinform rate From tlic prc- 

 linunary experiments carried out it seems that the production of acids is in- 

 hibited by the presence of acids : we have, therefore, a mechanism which tends 

 to prevent excessive acidity or akalinity of the liver; in the presence of acid 

 nitrogenous degi'adation products are formed, from which ammonia is produced 

 in the digestive tract; it is jiossible also th;it the presence of alkali stimulates 

 tlie production of the nonnitrogenous acid l)odies. Further research is needed 

 on this point. 



"The ])roduction of nitrogenous degradation ]n'0ducts proceeds also at such a 

 rate that there is never a dearth of nitrogenous bodies in the blood stream, and 

 the bioplasm of the tissues, especially the mucous membrane of the small intes- 

 tine, can remain saturated with side chains, for we have seen that the liver of a 

 fasting aninnil contains more residual nitrogen than does that of a well-fed 

 animal. 



" From these researches it follows that, while the animal derives most of 

 its energy from the oxidation of carbohydrates and rapidly eliminates nitrogen 

 from albumens, the latter, for all that, play an important role in nutrition, for 

 the degradation prodvicts are needed, not only to satisfy, as Folin has suggested, 

 the needs of endogenous metabolism of the organism representing the wear and 

 tear of the tissues, but also to siipply sufficient annnonia to maintain a certain 

 amount of general intracellular alkalinity. In the absence of this amount, 

 nitrogenous equilibrium ceases to be maintained." 



Cattle feed and stock food, T. Macfarlane (Lab. Inland Rev. Dept. [Canada] 

 Bill. 116. pp. 31). — In the different Canadian inland-i'evenue districts 327 sam- 

 ples of feeding stuffs were collected and examined, including oil meals, cocoa- 

 nut cake, gluten meal, calf meals, shorts, middlings, low-grade flour, bran chops, 

 moulee, mixed feeds, corn meal, corn chop, cracked corn, corn feeds, barley 

 meal, barley chop, chopped feeds, and provenders. 



Forty samples of condimental feeds and similar goods were also examined. 

 They were found to be largely artificial mixtures of grain products, oil-cake 

 meal, organic substances, and inorganic salts. " In most of them the total 

 ash is high, and in many of them the ash soluble in water is vei'y high and con- 

 sists almost entirely of common salt. It is certainly not necessary that as 

 nuich as 20 per cent of it should be required for the preservation of a sound 

 and wholesome food, and its addition seems to partake of the nature of a fraud. 

 Occasionally sulphate of soda is present, perhaps to save time by administering 

 a laxative simultaneously with the food, a practice which a veterinarian might 

 possibly condenui. . . . Scmietimes the total proteids are ([uite high, which 

 is uo doubt owing to an admixture of oil-cake meal. On the other hand, so 

 far as nutritive value is concerned, many of these stock foods appear to be 

 no better than bran or ■choii." It is i)ossil»ly on account of the added salt that 

 these are dignified by the name of 'stock food." " 



Fodders and feeding stuffs, F. T. Shutt {Canada Expt. Farms Rpts. 190.'), 

 pp. I'tO-lJfJf). — Analyses are reported of a number of samples of mixed feeds. 



