DIGESTION OF THE FOOD 35 



upon the extent of digestion. Nor has it been 

 shown that the removal of the coat in clipping or 

 shearing has any influence in that direction. 



(b) Influence of the quantity and mixing of the 

 food upon digestion. 



1. If coarse fodder is the only food-stuff given, 

 then smaller or larger quantities do not affect 

 digestion, as has often been shown. To quote one 

 example : 61-62 % of the organic matter of lucerne 

 hay was digested by sheep whether the daily ration 

 was o-8, i-o, or 1-2 kilos (1 kilo=2-2 lbs.). 



2. Varyingly large rations, in which the ratio be- 

 tween coarse and concentrated foods is kept constant, 

 seem to be digested to a less degree the larger the 

 daily ration is. Four successive digestibility trials 

 were made with a mixture of meadow hay, molasses 

 feed, rye bran, and cotton-seed cake. When the 

 dry matter of the daily ration was 10-84 kilos, 76% 

 of the organic matter was digested ; when it was 

 13-01 kilos, 747%; when 15-18 kilos, 72-8%; and 

 again, when the dry matter was 10-84 kilos, the 

 digestibility coefficient rose to 75*8%. The diminu- 

 tion of food digested in the case of the larger ration 

 was equally evident in the various constituents, 

 except the crude fat. 



Although the depression of digestibility is not as 

 a rule large, still, in the total daily rations, it may 

 mean considerable quantities. In the experiments 



