CONCLUSIONS RESPECTING BEET-LEAF FEEDING. 113 



the siloing, owing to the action of a certain mushroom which, 

 according to Keller, decomposes the oxalates during their keep- 

 ing. Zuntz has demonstrated by his experiments that oxalic 

 acid has without doubt a toxic action; oxalates, on the con- 

 trary, possess this action to a very much less extent. On the 

 other hand, beet leaves that contain oxalic acid in the propor- 

 tion from 5 per cent, to 10 per cent, of their dry substances, 

 contain it mainly in the form of oxalate of lime, which is not 

 dissolved in the first stomach of ruminants, nor in the lower 

 portion of the intestinal canal. However, it may be digested in 

 the rennet, and if a certain amount of lime is present there can 

 be no possible danger of toxication. It is proposed, under these 

 circumstances, to give at the same time with a regular ration of 

 leaves, 0.05 to 1 per cent, of lime as chalk, carbonatation scums 

 or in some other form. The need of lime is not urgent during 

 the first stages of digestion as the oxalic acid is neutralized by 

 the lime taken from the bony tissues of the body. 



The body of man, and also that of animals, has the peculiar 

 property, as previously pointed out, of yielding to the organism 

 little by little the components requisite to sustain life during 

 periods of excessive work or abnormal strain. This expendi- 

 ture or absorption of lime, according to Zuntz, demonstrates 

 that it is impossible to feed live stock indefinitely with green 

 leaves without the addition of this calcic salt, as there would 

 necessarily follow a reduction in the bony tissues, resulting in 

 dangers of a very serious nature as far as the health of the 

 animals being fed is concerned. 



The addition of lime to the forage in the form of chalk or 

 carbonatation scums, reduces very materially, if not to a mini- 

 mum, the deleterious actions referred to above. 



Gaspari arrives at the same conclusion as Zuntz and declares 

 that this forage, which contains only a small quantity of oxalic 

 acid, far from being deleterious, plays on the contrary an im- 

 portant role in stimulating the appetite of the animals fed. It 

 is further recommended by this authority that special precau- 

 tions, such as those first mentioned, be taken with the view of 

 preventing accidents that may occur through this mode of 

 feeding. 



