Oft the Laii) of the Nutrition of Animals. 4-59 



Relation of nutritive to 

 calorifiant matter. 

 Cow's milk — food for a growing animal 

 Human milk 

 Beans 

 Oatmeal 



Semolina"! , « 



Barley J 

 English wheat flour — food for an animaH . g 



at rest. j 



Potatoes ... ... ... 1 ... 9 



Rice 1 ... 10 



Turnips ... ... ... 1 ... 11 



Arrow-root"] 



Tapioca > ... ... ... 1 ... 26 



Sago J 



Starch 1 ... 40 



(Thomson on the Food of Animals, p. 167.) 



From this table it appears, that an animal taking exercise 

 should be supplied with food formed upon the same princi- 

 ples as the first-mentioned six ; and that in proportion to the 

 exertion, the closer should be the relation between the ingre- 

 dients. — Tr.] 



In order to judge of the values of different kinds of food for 

 practical purposes, it must first be ascertained in what relation 

 the blood-forming or nutritive constituents stand to the calo- 

 rifiant. The kind of food must also vary with age, kind of 

 employment, way of living, climate, &c. With the highest 

 probability we may predicate, that a man in an employment 

 demanding great mental activity will require, in addition to a 

 greater proportional amount of bodily rest, that the calorifiant 

 and blood-forming constituents should be in a different pro- 

 portion in the tood, to that of the man whose employment 

 requires great bodily activity. 



Thomson has traced out a very simple and ingenious method 

 of supplying this defect in our knowledge. He ascertains the 

 weight and composition of the food given in a certain time, as 

 also that of the excrement thrown out. From both factors he 

 is enabled to calculate the quantity of food assimilated, as also 

 the relation of the calorifiant to the blood-forming constitu- 

 ents. He found that a cow, stall-fed, assimilated daily 15"2&lbs. 

 of rye-grass, which contained 1*56 lbs. of blood-forming and 

 13*00 lbs. of calorifiant matter. They thus stand in the rela- 

 tion of 1 to 8', a proportion which, it is highly probable, is 

 much more nearly related in man, as the relation in the various 

 kinds of farinaceous food is about 1 to 5 or 1 to 6. We know 



