286 THE EOTHAMSTED EXPERIMENTS. 



Section, at the meeting of the British Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, at Nottingham, in 1866 ; and it 

 was published, in abstract, in the 'Keport of the British 

 Association' for 1866, and in full in the 'Philosophical 

 Magazine' for December of that year. And, as it is upon 

 the results as then given that any subsequent discussion of 

 our conclusion has been founded, it is proposed, in the first 

 place, to consider the evidence afforded by those results ; but 

 afterwards to adduce certain modifications of some of them, 

 in order to bring them more into accord with recent know- 

 ledge on some points, and to meet more effectively objections 

 that have been raised against the conclusions drawn from 

 them. 



The first point to consider was — What description of animal 

 is likely to yield the most direct and conclusive results on 

 the subject ? Obviously the one which is fed more especially 

 with the view to the production of fat ; which consumes in its 

 most appropriate fattening food a comparatively low propor- 

 tion of nitrogenous substance, and a comparatively high pro- 

 portion of carbohydrates ; and which yields a large proportion 

 of fat, both in relation to the weight of its body within a 

 given time, and to the amount of food consumed. The fol- 

 TabieQ9 lowing Table (69) briefly summarises the results of very 

 explained. numerous experiments with oxen, sheep, and pigs, so far as 

 they illustrate the comparative characters of the different 

 descriptions of animal in regard to the points above 

 enumerated. 

 Fattening In the first place it is to be observed, that although the 

 qualities of proportion of intestines and contents is greater, that of the 

 stomach and contents is very much less in the pig than in 

 either of the ruminants, as also is that of the stomachs and 

 contents, and intestines and contents, taken together ; the 

 percentage of these collectively being, in oxen 14.3, in sheep 

 10.9, and in pigs only 7.5 of the weight of the body. The fact 

 is, that the appropriate fattening food of the pig consists of 

 ripened seeds, and highly starchy roots, containing but little 

 indigestible fibre, whilst that of the ruminants contains a 

 considerable amount of slowly digestible or indigestible 

 cellulose, and often a much greater amount of indigestible or 

 unassimilable nitrogenous substance. The result is, that a 

 less proportion of the live-weight of the pig consists of more 

 or less effete matter retained in the alimentary organs. 



Then, the second division of the table shows, that with the 

 much higher character of its food, and the much less propor- 

 tion of it indigestible and effete, the pig both consumes very 

 much more, and yields very much more increase, for a given 

 live-weight within a given time. 



