922 GROWTH OF HERBIVORA MORE RAPID 



would take daily 18 oz. of matter capable of 

 being transformed into blood, and six times 

 more than the labouring man who lives on 24 oz. 

 of flour, with 8 oz. of fat meat, and nearly as 

 much as a horse weighing 700 Ibs. 



Is it then true, that sanguification, secretion, 

 nutrition, and growth, are six times more rapid 

 in carnivora than in herbivora ? that the process 

 of waste and renovation is far less rapid in the 

 latter than in the former, as maintained by Lie- 

 big ? So far is this from being the case, that the 

 calf, lamb, kid, and pig, grow much faster than 

 any of the carnivorous quadrupeds. * Nor is it 

 possible that the quantity of gluten in the food of 

 herbivora and granivora can account for their 

 rapid increase of weight. 



The horse, ox, deer, sheep, goat, hare, and 



* I have been informed by respectable butchers, that a calf 

 18 weeks old, fed on milk and various species of farinaceous 

 aliment, has been known to weigh 400 Ibs. ; a lamb 15 weeks 

 old, 65 Ibs. ; and a pig six months old, 300 Ibs. It is also well 

 known, that the hare and rabbit grow much faster than the cat, 

 or any other carnivorous animal of the same size, and that the 

 deer grows more rapidly than the dog, wolf, or fox. The same 

 general observation applies to birds. It is said by poulterers, 

 that the domestic pigeon is nearly as large when only four weeks 

 old as the parent bird, which consumes 1 oz. 2 drs. of barley per 

 day. But this would afford only 1 dr. 11 grs. of nitrogenized 

 matter, which is manifestly insufficient to renew the composition 

 and supply the rapid waste of the pigeon. The common fowl, 

 when well fed, is usually considered as ready for market at the 

 age of 14 weeks ; while it is certain that the turkey, ostrich, and 

 other granivorous or frugivorous birds, grow faster than the 

 eagle, vulture, and other birds of prey. 



