DIGESTIBILITY OF POODS. 101 



horse digests 7 10 per cent., of the fibre 21 per cent., 

 and of the fat and waxy matter 24 52 per cent, less 

 than the sheep. On the whole, the horse digests about 

 12 per cent, less of the total organic matter of grass hay 

 than the sheep. With red clover hay the results with the 

 horse are better. With lucerne hay of good quality the 

 digestion by the horse is still better, and (save as regards 

 the fat) practically equals that of the sheep. 



The smaller digestive power of the horse for vegetable 

 fibre is plainly connected with the fact that it is not like 

 the sheep a ruminant animal, and is thus unprovided with 

 the same means of attacking an insoluble food. In a 

 trial with wheat- straw chaff the horse digested 22*5, 

 and the sheep 47*6 per cent, of the total organic 

 matter. 



With corn the digestion of the horse is apparently 

 quite equal to that of the sheep. No stress must, of 

 course, be laid on the digestion coefficients found for 

 ingredients of the food present in small quantity, as the 

 fat and fibre of beans, and the fibre of maize. In French 

 experiments on horses, in which maize or beans were 

 consumed alone, without the addition of hay, it was found 

 that with maize 94'5 per cent, of the total organic matter, 

 and 87*1 per cent, of the nitrogenous substance, and with 

 beans 90*4 per cent, and 89*3 per cent, respectively, 

 were digested. 



Of potatos 93 per cent., and of carrots 87 per cent, 

 of the organic matter were digested by the horse. 



3. Experiments with Pigs. These have not been so 

 numerous as those with ruminant animals. The following 

 table shows the digestibility ascertained for some of the 

 common pig foods : 



