CHAPTER XV 

 THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 



H. H. WING 



1. Sources of Food of Animals 



427. Broadly speaking, an animal must feed 

 upon either animal or vegetable substances, and 

 it has no power to use as food mineral or inor- 

 ganic substances. 



428. Any substance which an animal may use 

 as food is called a fodder. A fodder must con- 

 tain the substances that are needed for suste- 

 nance in such form that the animal can use 

 them, and must not contain anything that is 

 injurious or poisonous to the animal. 



2. How the Animal Uses Food 



429. The plant, by reason of its vital force 

 and with the aid of the energy of the sun, trans- 

 forms simple forms of matter into more complex 

 ones, and in so doing locks or stores up a part 

 of the energy received. The animal, by means 



(240) 



