THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



849 



will diminish — the frame will gradually waste i ved Irom the body in Ivvenly-fbur hours, either in 

 away." 



Among the substances thus daily removed from 

 the body, are portions of n)uscular fibre (fibrin), 

 of the clot of the blood, ol gelatine, &c., ail ol 

 which contain nitroijen, and must tie re|)lace(i 

 by the gluten ol' wheat Hour, by the fibrin ol' lenii 

 meat, by the white ol' eggs, (aibuaien,) tiy the 

 curd of cheese, (cassein,) or by some similar sub- 

 stance in the I'uod. 



" The quantity of one or other of these remo- 



ld lbs. of bread yielding, 

 8 oz. of beef yielding, 



Total consumed by respiration, and 

 the ordinary waste, 



the prrppiraiion or ill the excrRiions, amoimis to 

 (ibout Jive ounces, contaming 360 grains ol" nitro- 

 tzf'n, mid this waste at least must he made up by 

 ilie gUjten or fit)rin ol the Iboi. 



" In the If tis. of wlieaten bread we have 

 >uppo3ed to be eaten to sujiply carbon for respna- 

 lion, there will bo. conuuned also about three 

 DUMcrs of gliilen. Let ihe oiher two ounces be 

 made up in beef, of which halfa pound contains 

 two ounces of dry fibrin, and we have 



For respiration. For vvnsle of muscle, &c. 



18 oz. starch and 3 oz. of irluten. 

 2 oz. of fibrin. 



18 oz. starch and 5 oz. of gluten or fibrin. 



" If, again, the 7^ lbs. of potatoes be eaten, 

 then in these are contained about 2J ounces ol 

 gluten or albumen, so that there remain 2^ ounces 

 to be supplied by beef, eggs, milk, or cheese. 



The reader, therefore, will understand why a 

 diet which will keep up the human strength is 

 easiest compounded of a mixture of vegetable and 

 animal food. It is not merely that such a mixture 

 is more agreeable to the palate, or even that it is 

 absolutety necessary — for, as already observed, 

 the strength maybe fully maintained by vegeta- 

 ble food alone ; it is because without animal food 

 in one form or another, so large a bulk of vegetable 

 food must be consumed in order to supply the 

 requisite quantity of nitrogen in the form of gluten. 

 Of ordinary wheaten bread alone, about three 

 pounds daily must be eaten to supply the nitrogen, 

 and there would then be a considerable waste ol 

 carbon in the form of starch, by which the 

 Btomach would be overloaded, and which, not 

 being worked up by respiration, would pass off 

 in Ihe excretions. The wants of the body would 

 be equally supplied, and with more ease, by If 

 Ibe. of bread, and 4 ounces of cheese. 



" Of rice, again, no less than four pounds daily 

 would be required to impart to the system the re- 

 quired proportion of gluten ; and it is a familiar 

 observation of those who have been in India, and 

 other countries where rice is the usual food of the 

 people, that the degree to which the natives dis- 

 tend, and apparently overload their stomachs 

 with this grain, is quite extraordinary. 



" The stomachs and other digestive apparatus 

 of our domestic animals are of larger dimensions, 

 and they are able, therefore, to contain with ease 

 as much vegetable food, of almost any wholesome 

 variety, as will supply them with the quantity 

 of nitrogen they may require. Yet every feeder 

 of stock knows that the addition of a small portion 

 of oil-cake, a substance rich in nitrogen, will not 

 only fatten an animal more speedily, but will also 

 save a large bulk of other kinds of food." 



Another purpose served by the food, in regard 

 to which we have not space to quote the words ol 

 our author, is to supply the earthy and saline sub- 

 stances contained in the solids and fluids of the 

 body. Of the earthy matter in the bones, and of 

 the saline matter in the blood and in other fluids, 

 a portion is every day rejected, a new portion 

 must therefore every day be introduced into the 

 body with the food, or the animal pines away and 

 dies. This brings us back again to what we have 



formerly stated, that the soil must contain these 

 substances as essential constituents — since they are 

 so essential to the vegetable tribes that these latter 

 could not fulfil their great purpose in the economy 

 of nature — that of feeding the animal race — if 

 they did not contain them. This reasoning back- 

 wards from the wants of animals, had we no 

 other arguments on (he subject, were alone suffi- 

 cient to explode the absurdities of the accidental 

 or non-essential nature of the inorganic part of 

 vegetables, and of the feriilily of soils being 

 mainly dependent upon their physical properties. 

 In short, one leading chemical idea pervades the 

 entire field of theoretical agriculture — explains 

 almost every important step which is taken by the 

 enlightened practical farmer — and points the way 

 to those further, and, we trust, large advances 

 which the art of culture is yet destined to make, 

 since the accelerated march of sound opinions is 

 brinsing under their influence a daily increasing 

 number of the most intelligent farmers of the 

 country. 



CATERPILLARS ON THE ELMS. — HESSIAN FLY. 



From Harris' Report on tlie Insects of Massachusetts. 

 Among the numerous insects that infest our no- 

 ble elms, the largest is a kind of sphinx, which, 

 from the four short horns on the fore part of the 

 back, I have named Ceratnmia quadricornis, or 

 four-horned ceratomia. On some trees these 

 sphinges exist in great numbers, and their ravages 

 then become very obvious ; while a few, though 

 capable of doing considerable injury, may escape 

 notice among the thick foliage which constitutes 

 their food, or will only be betrayed by the copious 

 and regularly formed pellets of excrement beneath 

 the trees. They are very abundant during the 

 months of July and August, on the large elms 

 which surround the northern and eastern sides of 

 the Common in Boston ; and towards the end of 

 August, when they descend from the trees for the 

 purpose of going into the ground, they may often 

 be seen crawling in the mall in considerable num- 

 bers. These caterpillars, at this period of their 

 existence, are about three inches and a half in 

 length, are of a pale green color, with seven ob- 

 lique white lines on each side of the body, and a 

 row of little notches, like saw-teeth, on the back. 

 The four short horns on their shoulders are also 



