30 FEEDING ANIMALS. 



CHAPTEK II. 



ELEMENTS OF FODDER VEGETABLES. 



HAVING considered in the last chapter the complicated 

 structure of the animal body, we now proceed to show the 

 feeder how these complex bodies of animals are nourished 

 and renewed by the assimilation and substitution of the 

 same elements contained in vegetables. These animal 

 bodies are constantly undergoing changes, the substances 

 of which they are composed are broken down or de- 

 stroyed, and substances identical in composition in vege- 

 table foods are replacing them in the animal economy. 



A NUTRIENT. The term nutrient, which will frequently 

 be used, means any single chemical compound, such as 

 starch, sugar, fat, gluten, casein, albumen, etc., which is 

 capable of nourishing the body or repairing its waste. 



Every fodder used in feeding animals is composed of 

 more than one nutrient ; and these nutrients are contained 

 in very unlike proportions in different feeding stuffs. 



RATION. The animal body is made up of these various 

 compounds, but the proportions of the various constitu- 

 ents are nearly the same at all times, so that the food on 

 which it is sustained should have about the same propor- 

 tion of these different nutrients as are the proportions of 

 these elements in the animal body. The skill of the feeder 

 is shown in combining these different foods so as to make 

 uj a mixture meeting all the wants of the animal. This 

 combination is properly called a ration. 



