THE CHEMISTRY OF CATTLE 

 FEEDING AND DAIRYING 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTORY 



THE mass of an animal increases manyfold in the interval 

 from the time it is weaned till it reaches maturity. The -whole 

 of the material comprised in this increase is derived from the 

 food and water consumed. There is no other source. 



Animals may be classed as carnivorous and herbivorous 

 according as they exhibit a preference for, and are adapted 

 to subsist on, a diet of flesh or of vegetable matter. Farm 

 animals horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, etc. all belong to the 

 latter class. But the food even of the carnivora is of course 

 also derived ultimately from vegetable matter. 



It is not surprising, therefore, that plants and animals 

 notwithstanding the difference in their external forms and 

 mode of existence exhibit a general similarity in chemi- 

 cal composition. In view of the fact that animals live. on 

 plants we should expect to find that they are composed of 

 the same chemical elements. It is obvious, at least, that only 

 those which are present in plants and in water can enter into 

 the composition of animals. As a matter of fact, the same 

 chemical elements are found in both. They are as follows : 



B 



