CHAPTER V 



THE COMPOUNDS OF ANIMAL NUTRITION, CONTINUED 

 — THE NITROGEN COMPOUNDS 



The nitrogen componnds of the vegetable and ani- 

 mal kingdoms have received much attention from scien- 

 tific investigators and writers during the past fifty 

 years. It is quite the custom to declare "that certain 

 members of this class of substances are the ones most 

 important in the domain of animal nutrition, and many 

 writers give to protein so prominent a place in dis- 

 cussing the relative value of feeding stuffs as to 

 almost ignore the other nutrients. Certain investi- 

 gators claim, on the other hand, that from the stand- 

 point of results in practice the function and relative 

 value of protein have been unduly magnified. What- 

 ever may be the correct view concerning these antago- 

 nistic opinions, it is very evident that the present 

 tendency is towards a fuller discussion of the office 

 and value of the non- nitrogenous bodies. 



There can scarcely be any disagreement, however, 

 concerning the general proposition that protein plays 

 a leading part in the processes and economy of animal 

 nutrition. This is true for several reasons: 



(1) The nitrogen compounds are those fundamental 

 to the energies of the living cells which make up the tis- 



(51) 



