130 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 



eating of ashes by a sort of compulsion, with their 

 salt, might be injurious. 



233. The reader will notice, also, that chloride of 

 sodium (common salt) is another of the inorganic sub- 

 stances in milk. There can be little doubt that the 

 withholding of salt from milch cows diminishes the 

 value of their milk many times over what the salt is 

 worth. If we resolve the mineral ingredients of milk 

 into their elements, we shall have phosphoric acid, 

 lime, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and chlorine. 

 All of these are contained in bone-dust, ashes, and 

 salt. Now if, instead of mixing ashes with salt, as 

 some farmers have done, or of mixing salt and bone- 

 dust, as others have practised, we should put the 

 three things in separate troughs, there is reason to be- 

 lieve that the instinct of the animals would be an un- 

 erring guide with regard to them all. To say the 

 least, the offer of them could do no harm in any case ; 

 in some cases it might be beneficial. 



234. We must remember that the cow creates no- 

 thing. She manufactures milk out of materials con- 

 tained in her food. If any one of these materials 

 fails, the whole operation is thwarted ; for those pro- 

 portions which Divine skill has established cannot be 

 essentially varied. 



235. Milk is sometimes said to be a solution of curd, 

 sugar, and oil, together with the above-mentioned 

 mineral substances, in water. This is not strictly cor- 

 rect. Solutions are transparent. Salt, for instance, is 



