FINAL PRODUCTS. 



427 



constant) without water. These three experiments were made on 

 the same animal, an adult male cat weighing 3200 grammes. IV. 

 has reference to a young cat weighing 1170 grammes which was 

 allowed an excess of flesh and water ad libitum. 



It is sufficiently obvious from this review that the elementary 

 analysis which flesh taken as food may be regarded as undergoing 

 in the living body, gives in the normal state as accurately denned 

 values as if it underwent a mere process of fermentation or com- 

 bustion; hence under all conditions, as the above table shows, 

 1 part of dry flesh is decomposed in the living body with the co- 

 operation of 1'67 parts of oxygen into 0'31 of urinary substances, 

 0*02 of fsecal matter, and 1*82 of carbonic acid. The conclusions 

 which may be hence drawn regarding the general metamorphosis 

 of matter in the animal body and especially in the carnivora, are 

 too self-evident to require notice. 



Since the lean flesh which Schmidt supplied to the cats employed 

 in these experiments, contained 19*56^ of albuminates and gela- 

 tigenous substances, 4'74 of fat, 1'00- of inorganic matters, and 

 74*70^ of water, while there are contained in the solid residue of 

 the urine, on an average, 85'5^ of urea, and 14'5^ of salts (con- 

 taining 2'3 of sulphuric acid), and in the dry solid excrements, 

 on an average 63- of biliary residue, we obtain the following com- 

 parative results for 1000 grammes 5 weight of a carnivorous animal 

 (cats having been employed), if we assume that an animal con- 

 sumes 50 grammes of fresh lean flesh in twenty-four hours for 

 every kilogramme's weight. 



