ANIMAL CONSTITUENTS. 



77 



The amounts of water, nitrogenous matter, fat, and 

 ash constituents present in a large number of animals 

 have been determined at Kothamsted. The following 

 table shows the percentage composition of eight animals, 

 after deducting the contents of the stomachs and in- 

 testines. The fat pig was one grown for fresh pork, not 

 for bacon. 



PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF WHOLE BODIES OF ANIMALS. 



Water is in nearly every case the largest ingredient of 

 the animal body ; the proportion of water diminishes with 

 the growth of the animal, and especially during fattening. 

 Fat forms in most cases the principal solid ingredient of 

 well-fed animals, its proportion increases very largely 

 during fattening. The proportion of nitrogenous matter 

 and ash tends to increase from youth to maturity, but 

 diminishes during fattening. 



The largest proportion of nitrogenous matter and of 

 ash are found in the ox, the smallest in the pig. The 

 difference in the proportion of ash is chiefly due to the 

 wide difference in the proportion of bone in these two 

 animals. Fat is found in greatest quantity in the pig, 

 and is least in the ox. 



The following table shows the quantity of nitrogen, and 

 of the principal ash constituents, in the fasted live weight 

 of the animals analysed at Rothamsted. For convenience 



