Proportions of Chemical Elements 23 



larger animals. Lawes and Gilbert, of England, and 

 the Maine Experiment Station, in this country, have 

 made analyses of the entire bodies, or nearly so, of 

 steers and other domestic animals. These results, com- 

 bined with our knowledge of the constitution of the 

 compounds of the animal tissues, enable us to calcu- 

 late very closely the proportions of carbon and other 

 elements in the entire body of an ox: 



Fat ox Two steers, 2 yrs. old 



Lawes and Gilbert Maine Station 

 Per cent Per cent 



Carbon 63 60 



Oxygen 13.8 14.1 



Hydrogen 9.4 9. 



Nitrogen 5. 5.8 



Mineral compounds (ash) . 8.8 11.1 



As the proportion of carbon is much larger in the 

 fats than in the other compounds of the animal body, 

 it is easy to see that the ultimate composition of the ox 

 would vary with his condition, whether lean or very fat. 

 The figures given suffice to show, however, that ani- 

 mals, like plants, contain much more carbon than of 

 any other element, and that the quantities of the re- 

 maining elements stand in the same order in the plant 

 and in the animal, the striking differences being the 

 greater proportion of oxygen in the former and of 

 carbon and nitrogen in the latter. The plant and ani- 

 mal are alike, therefore, in consisting chiefly of those 

 elements which are derived from air and water. Car- 

 bon, oxygen and hydrogen constitute from 83 to 86 per 

 cent of the bodies of fat oxen and steers, raw materials 

 which nature supplies without cost to the farmer, leav- 



