Animal Nutrition. 45 



Influence of mixed diet on protein consumption — Voit. 



It will be noticed that with the same quantities of fat in the 

 food, the protein consumption is larger where the amount of meat 

 fed is larger; for instance, in the first, third and sixth experi- 

 ments, 250 grams of fat were fed along with 150, 250 and 1500 

 grams, respectively, of meat. The consumption of protein in 

 the body of the animal was, in the order given, 233, 270 and 1,381 

 grams. The increase in protein consumption does not, however, 

 keep pace with the increased supply of protein in the food, and 

 the fat evidently has protected to some extent the protein in the 

 animal body from consumption. It has been found in the same 

 way that carbohydrates also decrease the protein consumption in 

 the body when fed in connection with protein. Thus they save 

 the protein of the body from decomposition, and as a result more 

 of the protein of the food can be used for the formation of flesh 

 in the body. The following experiment by Voit may be cited to 

 illustrate this important factr^ 



Besults of feeding meat and f at — Voit. 



We see from the above that when on an exclusive meat diet 

 the animal lost 140 grams of protein per day, while when 300 

 grams of fat were added to the same quantity of meat as before it 

 gained 30 grams. We thus learn that the addition of fat (as 



* Armsby, loc. cit., p. 138. 



