22 



THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



mined through analyses made of the entire bodies of 

 steers and other domestic animals by Lawes and Gilbert, 

 of England, and the Mame Experiment Station, in this 

 country. These 'results, combined with our knowledge of 

 the constitution of the compounds of the animal tissues, 

 enable us to calculate very closely the proportion of car- 

 bon and other elements in the entire body of an ox: 



Table III 



Fat ox 

 Lawes & Gilbert 



Two steers, 2 yrs.old 

 Maine Station 



Carbon 



Oxygen . 



Hydrogen . 



Nitrogen 



Mineral compounds (ash) 



Per cent 



63 

 13.8 



9.4 



6. 



8.8 



Per cent 



60 

 14.1 



9. 



5.8 

 11.1 



A fat ox contains a much larger proportion of carbon 

 than a lean one, because the fats are richer in carbon than 

 any of the other compounds of the animal body. It is 

 seen that plants and animals are alike in containing much 

 more of carbon than of any other element, and that the 

 quantities of the remaining elements stand in the same 

 order of proportion in the plant and in the animal, 

 oxygen being in greater proportion in the plant, and car- 

 bon and nitrogen in the animal., The plant and animal 

 are alike, therefore, in consisting chiefly of elements 

 derived from air and water. Carbon, oxygen, and hydro- 

 gen constitute from 83 to 86 per cent of the bodies of fat 

 oxen. It follows that less than one-sixth of the animal is 

 built from elements that have, in part, a commercial value 

 for crop production. Nitrogen and certain elements in 

 the ash of the plant and animal bear a market value. 



