T24 PRINCIPLES OF ANIMAL NUTRITION. 
Disregarding for our present purpose the slight effect of these sub- 
stances upon the digestibility of the non-nitrogenous ingredients 
of the ration the results were: 
Nitrogen Nitrogen Gain of 
Digested, of Urine, | Nitroge: 
Grms. Grms. Grms. 
Basal ration iio ccc 8 Me iainled couse dod Rib aeiea tees 18.06 17.56 0.50 
ne “ + 60 grms. lactic acid ......... 17.83 15.60 2.23 
“k “c + 120 “cc “ “e 
a isesdae ol { Solesne 18.03 | 15.72 | 2.31 
Basal ration: 4.4.5 wie uae tye Be aa Als etagudaealew eee 18.69 16.85 1.84 
“+4 60 grms. dextrose .......... 17.69 15.29 2.40 
«“ 4190 o } 17.93 12.86 5.07 
(Three days only.) f°" **""** : ee : 
Basal PANO i.25 sole eaten en Pe asea ead Leas 18.70 16.54 2.16 
ss «+60 grms. acetic acid t me . 
(Three days only.) § "°°" "" [18.70*] | 17.04 1.66 
The smaller amount of lactic acid seems to have produced as 
great an effect in reducing the proteid metabolism as an equal 
weight of dextrose, but no further effect was noted from an increase 
in its amount, as was the case with the dextrose. The acetic acid, 
on the contrary, seems to have had a tendency to increase rather 
than to diminish the proteid metabolism, and the same effect was 
indicated in one of the experiments on a rabbit. It is to be re- 
marked, however, that the sodium acetate appeared to be particu- 
larly obnoxious to the animals. In the case of the sheep it was in- 
troduced into the stomach in solution by means of a funnel, and 
besides causing the animal considerable discomfort had a very 
marked diuretic action. It may perhaps be questioned whether 
the results obtained under such conditions represent the normal 
effects of acetic acid. 
Pentose Carbohydrates.—While the fate of the pentose carbo- 
hydrates in the body has been the subject of considerable research 
(compare Chapter II, p. 24), their effect upon the proteid meta- 
bolism does not seem to have been specifically investigated, although 
Pfeiffer & Eber,t in the course of experiments upon the origin of 
hippuric acid, observed that after the consumption of 500 grams of 
* Assumed to be the same as with the basal ration. The actual nitrogen 
of the feces for these three days was 4.78 grms., making the apparently 
digested nitrogen 19.33 grms. 
+Landw. Vers. Stat., 49, 137. 
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