110 



HEALTH AND DISEASE 



animals were adapted for the digestion of bran, it would be a most valuable 

 article of diet for horses, as the following table will indicate: — 



Analysis of Bran. 



It will be seen that the results of analyses by different authorities are 

 given, showing certain variations in the amount of nitrogenous matter, 

 cellulose, and carbohydrates, but they all agree sufficiently to show 

 that bran, chemically speaking, contains all the requisites for nutrition. 

 The nitrogenous ratio varies from 1 : 2"8 to 1 : 4"3. Among the total 

 salts are represented potash, soda, magnesia, lime, phosphoric acid, and 

 silica. 



Hay. — Although the term hay has a general signification as being 

 grass which has undergone the process of drying, it really includes several 

 varieties of fodder which have different degrees of feeding value. 



The best hay, it is allowed, is that which is grown in the uplands. 

 There is, besides, the ordinary meadow hay, and the hay from water 

 meadows, and there is also hay which is made from various artificial 

 grasses, such as the different varieties of clovers, vetches, lucerne, and sain- 

 foin, all of which have a highly nutritive value. 



Different specimens of hay vary considerably in their nutritive value, 

 according to the character of the soil in which the crop is grown, the time 

 of mowing, and the care which is taken in making it. It is hardly neces- 

 sary to add that a very great deal depends upon the state of the weather 

 during haymaking time. Hay of good quality should not be less than 

 one year old, should retain some of its greenish tint and be perfectly sweet 

 in smell. The slightest trace of mouldy odour should lead to its rejection. 

 Burned hay has a dark colour, powerful odour, and pungent taste, rather 

 suggestive of tobacco, and, as a rule, horses, unless forced by hunger, object 

 to eat it. It is said, however, that some horses will eat burned hay, when 

 it is not too much damaged, with avidity, for a time, and after a while 

 reject it. It is, however, always injurious to the animals which partake 

 of it for any length of time, causing excessive thirst and serious loss of 



