Food. 3^§:. 



his working' Horses were kept in higji order l(jj raeana pC !(> a^d tljati, 

 when his stock was expended, altkough they gojt a pqqk of oats daily,, 

 along with excellerit hay, yet,, they visibly fell off. He farther aglxte,; 

 that he observed one of his saddle Horses tfO be in the grea^e>jt cpn?- 

 dition and spirits, iand he therefore suspected that too in«<;h corn w^^ 

 given to the anin[>al, but, upon enquiry, he found that the Horse's 

 condition and spirits were t© be attributed to tbnj Swedish tmnip> 

 inasmuch as the animal had got no corn. rNow, although the niUw- 

 tive efleet of carrots. and Swedisli turnips, upon Hoises, is owing, as 

 has been already o>bs6rved, chiefly to the saccharine matter qointainedj 

 in these roots, yet;^ it must not be put down entirely to this, a-ecpuntjr 

 inasmuch as it is attributable in some, and, I apprehendj^ ia no, 

 inconsiderable degree, to adreurastance which, as far as I know j^ 

 has been entirely overlooked by those who have written on aJiimal. 

 dietetics. And tliis circumstance is, the comparatively ^mall call that 

 is made upon the saliva of the aninml, during the act of masticating, 

 provender of this juicy kind, in comparison of the prodigious; qua;i- 

 tity of this secretion, necessary for the preparation of the bolus^ 

 previously to its being swallowed, when the animal is chewing hjay.- 

 straw, , chaff, or any other species of dry food. 



In order to be enabled to form something like a conjecture, respect- 

 ing the quantity of saliva necessary to prepare dry fopd for being 

 swallowed, I infused lom; ounces of hay, without hruising or 

 crushing it, in boiling water, for fifteen minutes, and then expressed 

 with my hands, as much o^ the water as I was able, using my 

 utmost force for this purpose. The hay did not appear to be moi&ter 

 than a bolus of hay and saliva, chewed so as to fit it for swallowing. 

 On weighing the hay in this state, 1 found that it had gained seven, 



4L 



