32 DISEASES OF ANIIVIALS. 



otner herbage, is easiiy digested ; but in steaming dry 

 hard fodder, it is softened, and affords more nutriment 

 In this way, straw was substituted for hay, where con- 

 siderable grain or meal was used, in an experiment 

 made in England, on ninety head of cattle and horses, 

 in which a saving of sixty-seven pounds was made. The 

 cost of cooking was only five pounds. 



In some cases it has been found profitable to cook- 

 potatoes and other roots, for horses and cattle, and there 

 is no doubt that meal of any kind is greatly improved by 

 cooking, but whether this improvement is sufiicient to 

 pay the expense and trouble, is another question. Mix 

 up bran with a small quantity of water, and it appears 

 much like sand, add more water, and it seems thin and 

 light, but put it over the fire, and boil it a short time, 

 and the whole mass becomes thick, and evidently 

 greatly improved. 



As to the economy of cooking food for cattle and 

 horses, much depends on circumstances, such as the 

 price of food and fuel, and the value of labor. Some 

 thing depends, likewise, on the convenience for cooking. 

 Some can cook food with half the labor and fuel that 

 others can, owing to improved apparatus for the purpose. 



Horses, cattle and sheep, are accustomed to the use 

 of coarse food, and their powers of digestion are great ; 

 therefore there is not so much need of cooking food foi 

 them as for hogs, which tlirive far better on cooked 

 food. 



SYMPTOMS OF DISEASES. 



The following is from the American Agriculturist: — 

 A full and frequent pulse, loss of appetite, dejected head, 

 iand a languid or watery eye, with a disposition to lie 

 dowm in a dark or shady place, are certain marks, in all 

 brute animals, of one of the most frequent diseases with 

 which they are affected — that is, the fever. The watery 

 eye, an inability to bark, or barking with a sterterous 

 hoarseness, indicate the approach of madness in the dog. 

 The elevation of the hair on the back of a cat, and its 

 not falling upon its feet when thro^\^l from a moderate 



