86 



THE CHEMISTRY OF THE FARM. 



the food of animals. It does not apparently assist di- 

 gestion, but it increases appetite ; and when sodium salts 

 are deficient in the food, it supplies the blood with a ne- 

 cessaiy constituent. Sodium salts are tolerably abundant 

 in mangels, and small in quantity in hay ; they are absent 

 in potatos, and generally absent in grain of all kinds. 



2. Experiments with Horses. — In recent experiments 

 conducted by Wolff the digestive powers of horses and 

 sheep have been accurately compared, the same food 

 having been supplied to each set of animals. 



The principal results were as follows : — 



EXPERIMENTS WITH HORSES. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH SHEEP. 



Pasture gi'ass . 



Meadow hay (very good) 



Meadow hay (ordinary) 



Lucerne hay 



Oats 



Keans .... 



Maize 



65-4 

 54-5 

 44-3 



29-7 

 84-8 

 84-2 

 84-6 



75-7 

 65-6 

 58-7 

 67-9 

 77-7 

 91-2 

 91-3 



79-5 

 63-5 

 59-8 

 43-6 

 26-1 

 78 -.5 

 61-9 



