1 60 VARIETIES OF FOOD. 



BRAN. 



Bran, except in the form of bran mash, is used for horses in 

 England, almost exclusively as an adjunct to other foods. 

 Muntz (Annales de FInstitut National A gronomique] has shown 

 that it is highly digestible (p. 72), even in daily quantities of 

 16^3 Ib. Its admixture in a dry state, with grains which, like 

 barley and gram, give rise to a foul condition of the dung and 

 more or less diarrhoea, helps to correct this form of digestive 

 disturbance, and consequently improves their wholesomeness 

 (p. 72). At the suggestion of Veterinary Colonel Anderson, 

 late Inspecting Veterinary Surgeon of the Bombay Army, I 

 frequently adopted in India the practice of feeding horses 

 which were doing light work, on dry bran in daily quantities 

 up to 12 Ib., and found it a sustaining and very wholesome 

 food. In countries like India, where the separation of the bran 

 is effected in a primitive manner, the bran retains a con- 

 siderable portion of flour. Owing to the highly economical 

 method of milling in this country, English bran consists almost 

 entirely of the four layers of husk, with a minimum of adhering 

 flour. Dry bran by itself has an excellent effect on horses 

 whose digestive organs have been upset by food of too 

 stimulating a nature. Bran merits a more extended trial as a 

 food for horses than it has received. 



Given as an adjunct to grain, it serves the valuable pur- 

 poses of obliging the animal to chew his food thoroughly, of 

 diluting concentrated food (like wheat) and thus allowing the 

 digestive juices to readily penetrate through it, and probably, 

 of acting like fibre in preventing corn from passing through the 

 alimentary canal too rapidly. Also, its inner layer possesses a 

 ferment which aids in digestion (p. 69). Being rich in mineral 

 matter, it is specially useful as a food for building up the bony 

 structure of young animals; and for the same reason, it is a 

 particularly valuable addition to the diet of horses which are 



