FOODS ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 751 



Relative value of corn and oats for horses, A. A. Mills ( Utah 

 Sta. Bui. 36, px}. 12). — Two teams of work Lorses were divided into 2 

 lots, one horse for each team being iu each lot. Fifteen pounds of 

 mixed hay and 3 lbs. of wheat or bran per head were given to the 

 horses in both lots, and those iu one lot received 6 lbs. of corn, while 

 those in the other lot received 6 lbs. of oats per head. The graiu was 

 ground and mixed before feeding. The trial lasted from April 18 to 

 September 26, and the rations were reversed several times during the 

 trial. Grouping the changes iu weight according to the kind of feed, 

 "It will be seen that those on the oat ration lost i7 lbs., while those on 

 the corn ration gained 29 lbs., thus favoring the corn ration by a total 

 of 76 lbs. . . . The corn contained 323.77 lbs. more digestible matter 

 than did the oats. This is just about sufiQcient to account for the 

 excess of gain of the corn-fed lot over the oat-fed." 



Reference is made to previous experiments bearing on this subject 

 published in the Annual Eeport of the station for 1892 and Bulletin 

 30 (E. S. R., 5, p. 77, and 6, p. 240). 



"To sum up the 3 experimeuts, we find: First, that during the summer corn and 

 timothy were not so good as oats, wheat, and clover in maintaining the weight of 

 horses: second, that during the winter corn and timothy did as well as oats, clover, 

 and timothy iu maintaining the weight of horses; third, that during the spring 

 and summer corn, wheat, or bran and mixed hay produced more gain than oats, wheat, 

 or bran and mixed hay." 



The effect of different acids on pepsin digestion, M. Hahn ( Vir- 



chow''s Arch. path. Aiiat. und Physiol., 137, xij). 597-604; abs. in Chem. 

 Centbl, 1894, II, No. 14, p. 618).— The effect of sulphuric, nitric, phos- 

 phoric, boracic, oxalic, citric, and tartaric acids was compared with that 

 of hydrochloric acid, in a 0.281 per cent digestive solution, on the follow- 

 ing substances: (1) Albumen solution, prej)ared by neutralizing egg 

 albumen with dilute hydrochloric acid; (2) moistened fibrin; (3) dry 

 fibrin ; and (4) coagulated egg albumen. 



The results showed that the acids employed had different effects, but 

 that the hydrochloric acid was the most advantageous in the digestion 

 of albuminoids. The organic acids taken as a whole were less effective 

 in digestion than the inorganic acids. Only in the case of fibrin were 

 tartaric and oxalic acids of value. The order of effectiveness of the 

 mineral acids on albumen solution was hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, 

 sulphuric acid, and phosphoric acid. When moistened fibrin w^as used 

 13hosj)horic acid stood at the head. The boracic acid was of no value 

 to digestion, which was to be expected. It gives insoluble precipitates 

 with most albuminoids, and, like all antiseptics, retards the action of 

 the ferments. As a practical result of these studies it follow^s that 

 phosphoric acid is best fitted to take the place of hydrochloric acid in 

 pepsin digestion. Although this had only weak effect on the albumen 

 in solution, which forms the smaller part of -our food, it had a notice- 

 able effect in the case of solid albuminoid bodies. 



