SELECTION OF FOOD 57 



food has, speaking generally, the less have the intestines 

 to contract in order to move it about. If this condition 

 of bulk be not complied with, the digestive apparatus will 

 get out of order, however accurately materials for building 

 up tissue be supplied. Indigestible woody fibre — contained 

 in large quantities in the various grasses — and unassimi- 

 lated starch, chiefly serve the required purpose. The fact 

 that, within certain limits, the measure of a horse's 

 appetite is by bulk and not by weight, is evidently due 

 to the necessity the animal feels of having his intestines 

 filled. We see the same craving for bulk evinced by 

 human beings. '' The Kamschatdales, for example, are in 

 the habit of mixing earth or saw-dust with the train-oil 

 on which alone they are frequently reduced to live. The 

 Veddahs, or wild hunters of Ceylon, on the same principle, 

 mingled the pounded fibres of soft and decayed wood with 

 the honey on which they feed when meat is not to be had ; 

 and on one of them being asked the reason of the practice, 

 he replied, ' I cannot tell you, but I know that the belly 

 must be filled.' " {Carpenter.) 



Selection of Food. — I'or all practical purposes, we 

 need not consider grain beyond its use as a former of fat, 

 and of nitrogenous tissues, such as the various muscular 

 and nervous structures. To give bulk to the food (except 

 in the case of horses getting as much oats as they can eat), 

 and to supply the required mineral matters, we must 

 principally depend on grass. As exercise directly increases 

 the waste of tissue, we must add to the amount of grain 

 according to the degree of labour, though, at the same 

 time, allowing an unlimited supply of hay, in order to 

 comply with the conditions just stated. The exceptions 



