1002 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



ferment. It is conceivable that this adaptation occurs in the human being if a proper 

 diet is given — namely, that on a starchy diet the amylolytic power of the saliva is 

 increased. This is being investigated, and the result will be reported later." 



Studies on the digestion of herbivorous animals, P. Bergman (Skand. Arch. 

 Physiol. 18 (1906), No. 1-2, pp. 119-162). — The literature of the subject is reviewed 

 at length and experiments with intestinal ferments of Herbivora are reported, espe- 

 cially those of the cecum, as well as studies of the effects of ferments occurring in 

 plants on natural and artificial digestion. 



Rabbits were used for the natural digestion experiments. In some of the tests the 

 hay or straw used was cooked to destroy the enzyms normally present. Such treat- 

 ment diminished the digestibility of protein and nitrogen-free extract, but increased 

 the digestibility of pentosans and crude fiber. 



According to the author, proteolytic and sugar-forming enzyms are present in 

 uncooked hay and straw, which are very powerful. The diminished digestibility of 

 protein of heated hay was attributed in part to the effect of heat on the protein and 

 in part to the destruction of the proteolytic enzyms. The diminished digestibility of 

 the nitrogen-free extract was attributed to the destruction of cytases. That amylolytic 

 enzyms were not responsible is shown by the fact that in all the experiments starch 

 was thoroughly digested. 



The dig-estive processes in horses when maize is fed, A. Scheunert and W. 

 Grimmer (Ztschr. Physiol. Chem., 47 (1906), No. 1, pp. 88-125).— At the end of a 

 fasting period horses were fed a ration of 1,500 gm. maize and killed at periods vary- 

 ing from 30 minutes to 9 hours after the food was taken, the work as a whole being 

 similar to earlier investigations by H. Goldschmidt «, in which horses were fed oats. 



From a study of the stomach and intestines and their contents deductions were 

 drawn regarding the digestibility of maize, some of which follow: The movement of 

 food through the digestive tract varied greatly with different animals. The stomach 

 contents, aside from the portion near the fundus membrane, had at first an alkaline 

 reaction but soon became acid. Whatever the reaction, lactic acid fermentation 

 could be detected in the intestines, as well as gaseous fermentations, some of the gases 

 produced being inflammable. 



Considering the digestion and resorption of carbohydrates in the stomach and 

 intestines as a whole it appeared that in the first 2 hours 20 to 30 per cent of the 

 amount consumed was digested and about 20 per cent resorbed. In the eighth to the 

 ninth hour about 50 per cent was digested and r.sorbed. The digestion of maize 

 protein in the stomach is very rapid and at first proceeds much like that of oat pro- 

 tein, though later it surpasses it. After 5 or 6 hours about 50 per cent of the protein 

 of both oats and corn in the stomach was digested. The rate of digestion in the 

 stomach and intestines and other questions are considered. 



The rational feeding- of farm animals by syndicates, Kohler (IS amelioration 

 rationnelle du betail, par les syndicats oV elevage. Paris: Librairie Agricole de la Maison 

 Rustique, 1906, pp. 146; noted in Bui. Soc. Nat. Ayr. France, 66 (1906), No. 1, p. 119).— 

 A general treatise on cattle feeding on a large scale. 



Production and feeding- of cattle, horses, asses, and mules, P. Diffloth 

 ( Production et alimentation du betail, cheval, ane, mulet. Paris: J. B. Bailliere & Sons, 

 1904, pp. XVI + 504, figs. 140). — This volume, which is one of the series entitled 

 Encyclopedic Agricole, is a general treatise on the breeding, feeding, care, and man- 

 agement of cattle, horses, asses, and mules. 



Sheep, goats, and pigs, P. Diffloth (Mouton, chevre, pore. Paris: J. B. Bail- 

 Here & Sons, 1905, pp. VIII + 418, figs. 90).— The general characteristics of sheep, 

 goats, and pigs, breeds, feeding, care, management, and related questions are taken 

 up in this volume, which is one of the series entitled Encyclopedic Agricole. 



« Ztschr. Physiol. Chem., 10 (1886), p. 361; 11 (1887), p. 286. 



