THE PREPARATION OF FOOD 85 



dust also hinders digestion in a similar manner to that 

 already pointed out (p. 26, rabbit and flour). The 

 pasty mass which results is often thought to assist in the 

 formation of intestinal stones. 



The hard cereal grains and leguminous seeds are 

 nearly always subjected to some form of pressure, which 

 varies in degree from simple bruising, down to the 

 formation of a floury material. Accordingly, we have 

 the terms bruised, crushed, and rolled oats, kibbled 

 beans, and split beans. A moderate degree of crushing 

 is, however, the most desirable in almost all cases. 

 Many horse-owners question the value of crushing oats, 

 and some even condemn it as being wasteful. However, 

 properly crushed oats have been shown by experiment 

 to be 4 per cent, more digestible than whole grain. 

 There are other advantages which were noted earlier in 

 this chapter. Horses appreciate crushed oats, and eat 

 them up quickly. That the mechanical mastication 

 has been of value is shown by the occurrence of colic 

 when whole oats are suddenly substituted. Similar 

 remarks may be made with regard to maize and beans. 

 The former is increased in digestibility by 7 per cent. 

 Moreover, in the case of these grains, by being crushed 

 the soft interior is gradually exposed to the juices of the 

 alimentary canal. Thus there is no sudden swelling in 

 the bowels, as sometimes happens when the animal's 

 teeth are entrusted with all the crushing. 



Some studs lose a number of horses annually from 

 intestinal calculus or stone. The majority of these 

 stones have some metallic body for a central nucleus, 

 round which salts and fibre have accumulated like fur 

 in a kettle. It is with the idea of preventing such losses 

 that magnets are made use of at some stage in the 

 preparation of feeding mixtures. Unfortunately, many 



