Adulteration of Oilcakes. 
597 
acts usefully, but there is also a peculiar power of changing the starch 
in bailey-meal rapidly into sugar. This accounts for the efficacy of 
malt in certain circumstances. When cattle are highly fed, I believe 
the addition of malted'barley may prove of great utility. 
Another question which strikes me as being of great practical im- 
portance is, whether by the addition of malt other food which is 
objectionable to a certain extent, on accoimt of its indigestibility, may 
not be rendered more available for feeding purposes. On the whole, 
as far as I can see into the matter, I think the fattener of stock might 
find some valuable ends answered by the use of malt ; and although I 
cannot, from our present stock of knowledge on the subject, say 
whether it would be desirable to replace barley-meal by malt, I have 
no hesitation in saying that in certain instances the liberty of manu- 
factui'ing barley into malt would be a great boon to the agricultural 
community. 
The vote of thanks was then put, and carried unaniniously. 
Mr. Holland, M.P., wished to put a question as to the comparative 
feeding powers of a pm-e linseed-cake — that is, as pure a cake as could 
be got — when used alone, in contrast with the action of that cake 
when mixed with a certain proportion of bran and some other feeding 
materials. If the proper proportions are given, would not an animal 
feed quicker upon such a mixture than upon the pure cake alone, 
weight for weight? 
Professor Voelcker : The mixture of a certain proportion of bran 
would be very useful indeed. The animal would fatten better. It is 
also desirable to mix bran with cake when it is given to milking-cows. 
You get better milk and a larger supply. This is due partly to the 
better mechanical division which you get when the cake is mixed with 
bran, whereby the feeding properties of the cake are much increased. 
Some of the best and finest descriptions of cake are very hard, and 
when given in large pieces, do not readily fall into powder ; whereas, 
when mixed with bran, they are more easily moistened, and readily 
digested. When cake is ground to powder, and mixed with bran, it 
becomes much more nutritious, and goes a gi-eat deal farther. There 
is in all descriptions of ordinary oilcakes a very large proportion of 
albuminous matter, and the addition of bran renders a considerable 
portion of this available which otherwise would go to dung. Upon 
the whole, the addition of bran to oilcake can be recommended ; but it 
ought to be practised by the farmer himself, and not by the oilcake 
manufactiu'er. 
Meeting of Weclcly Council, April 29th. Professor Wilson in the Chair. 
On THE Natural History of Parasites affecting the Internal 
Parts of the Bodies of Animals, with the Nature, Symptoms, 
AND Treatment of the Diseases to which they give rise. 
Professor Simonds said : The subject selected by the Journal 
Committee is so comprehensive that it is impossible to do anything 
