VEGETABLE FOODS. 167 



amount of albuminous matter of all of the cereals, but a lareer amount 

 of starch than any, and also contains a considerable quantity of oil, and 

 is therefore a useful food for fattening purposes. Rice contains only 

 5 per cent, of albuminous matter and 82 per cent, of readily-digestible 

 starch. 



The nutritive value of oats is very largely governed by the character 

 of manure, and other modes of cultivation. The composition of oat- 

 grains, according to Pott, is about as follows :* 



Solids 86.3 per cent. 



Proteids, 12.0 " 



Fats 6.0 " 



Carbo-hydrates, 56.6 



Cellulose, 9.0 " 



Ash, 2.7 '* 



The nitrogenous matters of oats consist in part of albumen (0.46 

 to 2.3 per cent.), gliadin, the so-called vegetable casein, the latter appear- 

 ing to be almost identical with gluten-casein and legumin. In addition, 

 oats appear to contain a nitrogenous alkaloid, the so-called avenine, 

 which possesses the property of acting as a nerve stimulant. This is ' 

 more abundant in darker sorts of oats, its amount depending upon con- 

 ditions of climate, soil, etc. It may amount to 0.9 per cent. It also has 

 been found by Ellenberger and Hofmeister that oats contain at least three 

 ferments, — an amylotytic, a proteolytic, and a lactic acid ferment. These 

 ferments are destroyed by the temperature of boiling water, but in the 

 stomach of the domestic animals exert their activity, and are to be 

 regarded as important factors in the gastric digestion of these animals. 

 The most active of these ferments is the starch ferment. It has been 

 found that in a digestion of three hours' duration with water 2 per cent, 

 of sugar resulted from the action of this ferment alone. The lactic acid 

 ferment is considerably weaker, and it is stated that in a digestion of 

 three hours' duration 0.1 per cent, of lactic acid was formed, while 0.2 

 per cent, was formed in seven hours. The proteid ferment is stated to 

 dissolve from 0.5 in three hours to 1 per cent, of proteids in six hours. 

 These results were obtained by the simple digestion of a mixture of oats 

 and water, kept at the temperature of the body. They have a practical 

 application to the subject of digestion as occurring in animals, and point 

 to the fact that in disturbances of digestion in domestic animals the 

 administration of vegetable food in a raw state is preferable to its use 

 after boiling, and will further, perhaps, explain the high degree of digesti- 



*It will be noticed, in comparing the different tables of the composition of vegetable 

 fodders, that there is considerable discrepancy in the percentages given of the different 

 nutritive principles. This is to be accounted for by different effects of cultivation, etc., 

 in the various samples analyzed. 



