280 MAKUAL OF OATTLE-FEEDINO. 



Effect of Carbhydrates. — All investigation goes to 

 sliow that increasing the protein of a ration has no ten- 

 dency to diminish the digestibility of the latter, but rather 

 to increase it. 



The carbhydrates, on the contrary, when added in large 

 quantities to a ration, depress the digestibility of the crude 

 fibre, and especially of the protein, to a considerable ex- 

 tent. This has been observed in numerous experiments on 

 oxen, cows, sheep, and goats, both when pure carbhydrates 

 were fed and when fodders containing large amounts of 

 these substances wei*e used. 



Starch.— In the earlier Weende experiments this effect 

 of starch on the digestibility of coarse fodder was observed, 

 and the observation has been fully confirmed in later in- 

 vestigations. 



Experiments of this sort have the advantage over 

 many digestion experiments that it is possible to ascertain 

 whether or not the starch is entirely digested. This sub- 

 stance is free from protein, and hence any decrease in the 

 digBstibility of the latter must fall exclusively on the rest 

 of the fodder. The same is true of the crude fibre and 

 fat, while as regards the nitrogen-free extract, it is easy to 

 determine, by a microscopic examination of the excrements, 

 whether any of the starch has escaped digestion. The re- 

 sults, therefore, possess no ambiguity. 



The following table contains a summary of the results 

 of experiments by Henneberg & Stohmann, E. Schulze & 

 Marcker, Stohmann, and WolflF, compiled from Wolff.* 

 The first column contains the name of the experimenter ; 

 the second, the amount of starch fed, expressed in per 

 cent, of the dry matter of the remaining fodder ; the third 



**EmahmngLaiidw. ISTutzfclxiere," pp. ti0»145. 



