DIETETIC DISEASES. 445 



will produce the most beneficial results. Digestibility, readiness 

 of assimilation, absence of unduly heating properties, and many 

 other qualities, are needed in order to make a substance pos- 

 sessing the necessary ingredients available as food. Chemistry 

 is a valuable but not an infallible guide, and its indications 

 require to be tempered by the test of experience." 



Professor Dick said that a horse may be kept without work, 

 but taking a little exercise, in fair condition on 12 lbs. of hay 

 and 5 lbs. of oats per day ; but if a good amount of work is to 

 be got out of it, the horse should have 14 lbs. hay, 12 lbs. oats, 

 and 2 lbs. beans. In this diet of the horse at rest there are 

 29-2 ounces of flesh-formers, and 150 ounces of heat-givers and 

 fat-makers; and in the work diet there are 251 ounces of 

 heat-givers and 591 ouuces of nitrogenous constituents. 



It is not my intention to enter into a lengthy discussion on 

 the above subject. My experience leads me to conclude that the 

 scale laid down by Professor Dick is too limited ; that it is 

 necessary to give to a horse at rest several pounds more corn 

 per day in order to keep it in good health. Every-day experience 

 teaches us that no horse can be kept in health without exercise, 

 and no horse taking sufficient exercise to keep it in health can 

 maintain its vigour and flesh on 5 lbs. of oats per day. 



I am also of opinion that all horses at work should have a 

 mixture of oats, beans, and hay ; say 14 lbs. oats, and 2 lbs. to 

 4 lbs. of beans per day. I find this to be the cheapest and best 

 of food. It must be given either whole or crushed, dry, and it is 

 advantageous to mix it with chopped hay. The quantity, how- 

 ever, must vary with the size of the animal. 



The corn and hay must also be of good quality, sweet, free 

 from mildew, well harvested, old, and dry. 



For further information on the subject of feeding, the reader 

 is referred to Sellar and Stephen's Physiology at the Farm; 

 General Sir F. Fitzwygram's Horses and Stalks; Low, Playfair, 

 Voelcker, and others. 



Effects of over -feeding. — Too much uon-nitrogenous food favours 

 the development of fatness and obesity. This is well seen in 

 pet dogs and cats fed on cream, sugar, and tit-bits of various 

 kinds. These animals die before half their days are over from 

 fatty infiltration and degeneration of the heart, liver, and other 

 organs. Lions, tigers, and other carnivora kept in menageries 



