272 LEGUMINOS^ IN THE FEEDING OF LIVE STOCK 



fluid nature they met the difficulties of the case. At this 

 time no experiments had been made on the employment of 

 this sugar by-product, and there was no knowledge of the 

 fact that organic matters, other than saccharose, fats and 

 nitrogenous matter, which form, so to speak, the non-sugar, 

 had a particular value. Ccmsequently, up to that date it 

 was the sugar especially which represented the sum total of 

 the cash value of this product, and it followed that each unit 

 represented a higher figure than it really should have done. 



It is to M. O. Kellner, Director of the Moekern Station, 

 that we owe the definite and rational determination of 

 nutritive matters. According to older writers, the nitro- 

 genous matter, in being regarded as of five times the value 

 of carbohydrates, starch, or sugar, w-as rated too highly. 

 This scientist restored the balance by gaining acceptance 

 for the fact that from the physiological point of view, at 

 anv rate as far as adult animals are concerned, the kilo 

 of protein was equivalent to 940 grams of starch or 

 of sugar, whilst the fat was worth 2*12 to 2*42 kilos, 

 according as to whether it was derived from coarse or con- 

 centrated fodder. There is a difference between the physio- 

 logical value and the pecuniary value, and, in the calculations 

 made by O. Kellner, it is admitted that the nitrogenous 

 matter being rarer, should command a higher price. This 

 surplus value is estimated at three-quarters of the weight 

 of the nitrogenous matter. Kellner has found from his 

 experiments that the fat (^f fibrous fodders, hay, roots, &c., 

 amounts to i"9i kilos and the fat of concentrated products 

 to 2'4i kilos. 



Kellner thus expresses the sum of digestible principles 

 as the starch equivalent, which he denotes bv a single num- 

 ber. The result is a great simplification in the establish- 

 ment of the ration ; further, we see that the crude protein 

 is not all digestible because, compared with pure albumen, 

 the digestible protein matter of the foods contains 

 various nitrogenous products, such as starch compounds, 



