420 FATTY ELEMENTS OF FOOD, .'..ND ON FATTENING. 



power of producing wax for a long period. And Messrs. Milne 

 Edwards and Dumas have lately confirmed the occasional accuracy 

 at least of this conclusion. Their first experiments were unfavora 

 ble to the conclusions of the celebrated bee-master of Geneva. A 

 swarm fed with lump-sugar yielded very insignificant quantities of 

 wax ; three other swarms, placed in glazed hives, and fed on honey 

 and water, failed to produce any wax ; but a fourth swarm gave a 

 totally different result. 



The procedure by analysis was now instituted. The absolute 

 quantity of wax contained in the body of a bee, or in the bodies of a 

 certain number of bees, was first ascertained ; second, the quantity 

 of wax in the combs constructed by the laborers was determined ; 

 third, the quantity of wax contained in the honey consumed was dis- 

 covered. The final result of the inquiry was, that a swarm of 2005 

 laborers, after having in the course of a month consumed 12889.43 

 grs. of honey, had produced 2407 grs. of wax.* 



Granting the accuracy of this conclusion, admitting that the bee 

 fed upon honey has the power of producing wax, I might still ask 

 whether it was therefore legitimate to conclude that the ox was 

 endowed with any faculty of the same kind 1 Still, to the interesting 

 physiological fact above quoted, may be associated the remarkable 

 fact of the conversion of sugar into butyric acid, observed by Messrs. 

 Pelouze and Gelis, a conversion effected by mixing a small quantity 

 of caseum with a solution of sugar, and adding a sufliciency of chalk 

 to neutralize acid as it was formed. This mixture, placed in a tem- 

 perature of from 77" to 86° F., by and by passes through a series of 

 changes, the last term of which is the butyric fermentation. 



This butyric acid is a volatile, colorless, and very limpid fluid, 

 having an odor that brings to mind at once that of vinegar and rancid 

 butter. Although it has a resemblance to the acids which prevail 

 in different kinds of fat, it nevertheless, by uniting with glycerine, 

 constitutes a fatty body, butyrine, which forms about one-hundredth 

 part in the constitution of butter, and must therefore be received as 

 one of the elements of the fats ; and the observations of Arthur 

 Young would even incline us to presume that butyric acid exerts a 

 favorable influence in the fattening of animals. Comparative experi- 

 ments satisfied Young that hogs fattened more quickly on food that 

 had become sour, than on the same food before it had turned. Now 

 it is very probable that there was production of butyric acid in the 

 course of the fermentation. 



The question in reference to the formation of fat is of much more 

 limited interest to the farmer than to the physiologist. The agricul- 

 turist, in fact, cares little whether a couple of pounds of honey con- 

 sumed by a hive of bees will give origin to some 10 dwts. or so of 

 wax ; the matter that concerns him is, as to the degree in which 

 the roots or tubers that he grows are fattening ; and whether or not 

 he can advantageously substitute a cheaper for a more costly articlti 

 in his piggery or stalls 1 And here, as in so many other placei 



• Vide Co>iii)tcs rcnilus dc rAcadtinlc dcs Sciences t. xvii. p. 131. 



