270 



CHAPTER IX. 



LECUMINOS/E IN THE FEEDING OF LIVE STOCK. 



The Leguminosie (whether in the form of green fodder 

 or of hay) occupy a special position in the feeding of 

 domesticated animals, through their high content of nitro- 

 genous matter, which marks them off from the Graminje 

 or other food mixtures. 



Nitrogenous matter possesses considerably more value 

 than the other nutritive elements, such as sugar, starch, and 

 fat, not merely because it is rarer, but because it helps 

 to form the plastic elements of the body, particularly 

 in young, growing animals. Further, it may be regarded 

 as being concerned in the control of the compounds which 

 we know as carbohydrates. 



From the very beginning of the foundation of the 

 science of rational feeding (an essentially French science, 

 seeing that its pioneers were Lavoisier, Boussingault, 

 Dumas, &c.), the nitrogenous matter was considered as the 

 most valuable nutritive constituent. It was for this reason 

 that it was christened protein, derived from the Greek word 

 TrpcoTeio^, signifiying first. 



Formerly, in the feeding of domesticated animals, the 

 nitrogenous matter was considered as being, one might say, 

 the only one of value. Obviously, with the advent of 

 physiological research, showing that the source of muscular 

 energy resided in sugar and other bodies which, after becom- 

 ing hydrated, were converted like sugar into glucose, the 

 nitrogenous matter, rightly enough, lost its exclusive value. 

 Nevertheless, in view of its rarity, it was still quoted at a 

 higher price than the remainder. 



