DIGESTIBILITY OF FOODS. 



97 



through this system. In changing the diet of an ox, five 

 days will generally elapse before the remains of the pre- 

 ceding diet are entirely expelled by the animal. Animals 

 of this class are specially adapted for the digestion of 

 bulky foods containing much fibre. 



Experiments have been made with oxen, cows, sheep, 

 and goats. The power of these different animals for di- 

 gesting food is apparently very similar, but no accurate 

 comparisons have as yet been made. The following table 

 shows the average results obtained with ruminating 

 animals fed on the foods respectively mentioned. The 

 figures given represent the " digestion coefficients " found 

 for each constituent of the food consumed. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH CATTLE, SHEEP, AND GOATS. 



These results are derived from a few experiments. 



