THE DISEASES OF CATTLE. 139 



the performance of which feats the carbon of the food is in 

 ratio to the oxygen inspired. Now note the difference : should 

 the latter be attacked with acute disease, it generally yields 

 under proper medical treatment. This teaches us that if we want 

 horses capable of enduring fatigue, under rapid muscular action, 

 we must not allow the fat to accumulate, but the moment a 

 horse increases in bulk or weight, — beyond what may be con- 

 sidered fair condition, — that moment the daily allowance of 

 food must be diminished, or he must be compelled to work 

 harder, and thus exhaust the superabundant carbon. It will be 

 seen, therefore, that it is a matter of impossibility to lay down 

 any dietary rules that shall meet the wants of all animals, for 

 their wants are subject to considerable modification, and the 

 quantity of food suitable for one animal might be too great or 

 small for others. Age, sex, climate, constitution, condition or 

 life, state of health, kind of work, etc., are the modifying cir- 

 cumstances. 



Under a state of rest cattle are more prone to accumulate 

 fat than horses. The working ox should never be allowed to 

 acquire much fat, for he will not only be lazy like the " fat boy," 

 but he will also feel uncomfortable, and actually suffer in hot 

 weather. It has lately been discovered that almost all fat 

 animals are subject to enlargement of the heart, and this en- 

 largement is occasioned by the substitution of fat for muscle, 

 and this leads not only to distortion of form, but the cavities 

 of the heart contract, and thus circulation is defective. The. 

 moment this occurs the animal is liable to become diseased, and 

 like the horse, is liable when diseased to die suddenly. There- 

 fore, I advise farmers, in view of guarding against sickness and 

 death, to feed their animals lighter, and give them an occasional 

 meal of straw, for considerable farinaceous aliment can be ob- 

 tained from it. 



" The attention of agriculturists in France has been recently 

 directed to the discovery of a method of converting straw into 

 a kind of bran. The discovery has been claimed by two in- 

 dividuals. The first is a miller, near Dijon, who, it is said, on 

 trying the mill-stone of a new mill, discovered the possibility 



