24 THE FARMER'S VETERINARIAN 



remember this fact: live stocK are cioseiy associ- 

 ated with right feeding. If foods be improperly 

 prepared, or improperly supplied, or the rations 

 poorly balanced, with too much of one constituent 

 and too little of another, the effect will be manifest 

 in an impoverished condition of the system. That 

 means either disease, or disease invited. 



Not only must these facts be considered, but 

 other matters given recognition also. The greater 

 part of the trouble of the stockman in the way of 

 animal diseases is due to some disturbance of the 

 digestive system, or to the water supply, or to ven- 

 tilation, or to the use to which the animal is put from 

 day to day. Attention to the details of digestion 

 has its reward in thrifty, healthy stock; a lack of 

 this attention brings trouble and either a temporary 

 ailment or a permanent disease. 



Process of Mastication. Food is taken in the 

 mouth, where it is masticated by means of the teeth, 

 lips, cheeks, and the tongue. While the process of 

 mastication is taking place there is being poured 

 into the mouth large quantities of saliva, which 

 softens the food and starts the process of diges- 

 tion. The active principle of saliva is a soluble fer- 

 ment, called ptyalin, that converts the starch of 

 food into sugar. The amount of saliva that is 

 poured into the food is very great, being often as 

 much as one-tenth of the weight of the animal. This 

 ferment is active after the teeth have been formed, 

 which explains why it is not advisable to feed 

 much starchy food to children before their teeth 

 have begun development 



The food, after being ground and mixed with the 

 saliva fluid, goes to the stomach. With the horse 

 and hog the stomach is a single sac not capable 

 of holding very large quantities of food; with the 



