1 16 THE OAT CROP. 



there 18 a mutual relation subsi&tiug among the elements. Life does not consist simply in 

 the formation of muscle, nor of bone. The acts of life are seen equally in respiration, as in 

 digestion ; in supplying heat, as in supplying nutriment ; in supplying a bony frame-work, 

 as in giving it motion. Each element has its use, and each organ its function ; and not 

 one of them can fail in the performance of its office, without deranging the wliole fabric. 

 Sulphuric acid, or oil of vitriol, is wanted in the animal economy ; so are brimstone and 

 phosphorus, two highly combustible bodies ; and no doubt there are instances when life 

 is too fully charged with them, still they are as necessary as nitrogen, and life would not 

 manifest itself without their aid. 



We may therefore regard a body important to animal life, in proportion as it contains 

 the requisite number of all those elements which a living body requires to give it the 

 greatest degree of strength and energy. We may, with this view, look first to the inor- 

 ganic bodies, potash, soda, lime and magnesia. In the same list, too, we may put the 

 acids which combine with these bases, as the phosphoric and sulphuric, together with 

 chlorine. These by themselves are useless in the absence of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen 

 and nitrogen. The four lest, but especially carbon and oxygen, enter largely into the 

 composition of living beings. The tissues of vegetables, as well as of animals, seem to be 

 mostly composed of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, which, always taken in combination 

 with the above bases, constitute a frame-work, delicate indeed, but yet essential to the 

 performance of any function the tissue in its organic capacity is designed for. Nitrogen 

 enters only into a certain class of organs ; in others it is entirely absent, as in the bones. 

 In the red and fleshy parts, nitrogen is an essential constituent ; but even in these parts, 

 iron, oxygen, hydrogen and the phosphates are equally important. A cereal, then, which 

 contains the elements of bone and muscle in combination, or matter for the formation of 

 the tissues generally, together with the maintenance of respiration, is the fittest nutriment 

 in the economy of life. 



Of the inorganic constituents of the oat, we have found the phosphates in the ratio 

 nearly of J or i ; potash in about the same quantity, in some instances in a greater ratio. 

 Soda and sulphuric acid are also always present. Lime and magnesia, together with 

 silica, make up an important though short list of matters which are essential to the con- 

 stitution of bone, muscle and brain. 



In the list of bodies which are found by approximate organic analysis, are, starch, which 

 exists in the ratio of | of the products, is a respiratory and fat-producing substance ; ave- 

 nine, a nitrogenous element, in the ratio of ^ ; gluten and albumen, two other nitrogenous 

 bodies, in a much smaller ratio; oil and sugar, two other respiratory and fat-producing 

 bodies, are in the ratio of ^'j ; dextrine and mucilage, which probably contribute to the 

 name end, but which also act favorably as demulcents upon the mucous membrane of the 

 alimentary canal. With such a composition it is satisfactorily made out that the oat is a 

 valuable nutriment, taking the word in its widest sense. It has the materials for bone 

 and muscle, as well as for respiratory matters ; and it is not deficient in the elements of 

 fat, that substance which gives fulness and beauty to the form. Experience, however. 



