146 
iiupplement to the '■'•Tvopical AgvicnlUwkt." 
[August 1, 1890. 
each constituent of the food which has passed 
through the animal unabsorbed, and by difference 
the amount digested. The proportion of each 
constituent digested for 100 parts is known as 
the “ digestion co-efficient.” There are some foods 
which, though chemical analysis proves, they 
have less of the valuable ingredients of food than 
others, are superior to these latter from the fact 
that they show a larger digestive co-efficient. For 
instance, linseed cake from the large proportion 
of fats and albuminoids which it contains would 
be expected to occupy a higher position as a 
heat-producing food than maize ; its lower rank 
is due to its less perfect digestibility. 
The necessary proportion of albuminoids to 
carbo-hydrates in the food of animals is analogous 
to the proportion of food ingredients necessary 
for the healthy growth of plants. Plants wiil 
not take up any more of an ingredient that 
is supplied to them in excess than they require 
in order to maintain the proportion to be ob- 
served between the amounts of the various ele- 
ments of food. As different species of animals 
require different kinds of food, that is foods of 
different composition, so plants too require the 
ingredients of their food to be supplied in dif- 
ferent proportions. Some take in more of one 
element of food than another ; while some are 
able to attack substances in a little soluble form, 
as some animals have a greater power of assi- 
milating little digestible parts of food. 
There are yet many considerations to be taken 
into account, such as the influence of one ele- 
ment of food on another. The x’resence of an 
excess of water results in a certain amount of 
waste of the nitrogenous x^^irt of food; the 
addition of oil to a diet of fodder results in 
most cases in improved digestion ; common salt 
hastens the conversion of starch into sugar. The 
digestion of vegetable fibre differs in different 
animals, and according to the source from which 
it is derived. Cattle and sheep have tlie greatest 
power from the fact of their being ruminants, 
horses and pigs come next, while poulty seem 
to have no power of digesting vegetable fibre. 
Flavour, too, has a great influence on diets ; 
an agreeable flavour stimulates the appetite 
and promotes digestion. The reason for sowing 
a small quantity of yarrow with jjasture grasses 
is no doubt this, and the fact of cattle greedily 
devouring bracken ferns and thistles after being 
made into silage that has acquired an agreeable 
flavour from fermentation, amply piroves it. Even 
.smell has some influence on appetite. The .sweet 
smell of anthrox'anthnmn odomtum in hay is greatly 
appreciated by cattle, though the grass is not 
very palatable and by no means very nutri- 
tious ; while the aversion of cattle for fodder 
contaminated by tlie excrements of their own 
.species is evidently owing to the peculiar odour 
it has acquireil. 
Thus the feeding of animals with the best results 
must be looked ii];on as an art that requires the 
help of chemi.stry, and calls for a knowledge of 
the results of e.\])erimenl, and ob.servation by no 
means limited. And it is the total ignorance, or 
litter neghct. of the ])rinci|)le,s of feeding animals 
that are sjjeciully intended for di'awing heavy 
loads, laying on beef, and secreting milk, that has 
brought, the cuttle of this country into the degene- 
rate coiulition in which we lind them. 
INDIGENOUS FOOD PEODUCTS: 
CULTIVATED AND WILD. 
By W. a. De. Silva. 
Sapindaceae. 
22. Schleichera Tvijuga Wild ; Sin. Kdn. 
This is a tree common in the warmer parts of 
the Island. It attains very large dimensions, 
but the special feature of a Kdn tree is the dense 
mass of foliage which covers it. The stem is 
thick and has a hardy appearance, the bark being 
grooved as it were. The main branches are few, 
but the minor branches are many. The dense 
leaves of this tree are compound (pinnate), and the 
leaflets have entire margins ^vith prominent veins ; 
in general, the leaf may be said to have a desic- 
cated appearance. The trees shed their leaves 
once a year, after which young leaves begin to 
spring up. The young leaves of the Kdn tree are 
of a xii’ik hue, whilst the ordinary ones are 
of the usual green colour. The fruits are borne 
once a year in large bunches containing hun- 
dreds of them. They are round and small, about 
the .size of small marbles, and are covered with a 
rather brittle leathery pericarp of a dusty colour. 
The mesocarp is a succulent mass of pulp encir- 
cling the seed. This succulent mass is of a 
yellowish colour and contains an acid substance. 
When unripe it is very acid and also has a little 
astringent taste, whilst when fully ripe the astrin- 
gency is replaced by a sweeter taste, and the 
acid character too disappears to a certain extent. 
This pulp is much eaten when ripe, and where- 
ever the trees are met with, the fruits are not 
allowed to waste. In some places they become a 
marketable article where a hundred is sold for a few 
cents. The pulj) of the Kdn fruit is also made into 
curries and eaten along with rice, but this curry, 
though liked by some, is not to the taste of many 
on account of its acid nature. A palatable jam may 
also be jirepared from the pulp of this fruit by boil- 
ing it in a syrup. A large quantity of oil is found 
in the seeds of Schleichera, and is extracted in some 
parts of the Island and used for burning. It is also 
said that a considerable quantity of lac is 
piroduced in the young branches. 
The timber of this tree is known as the Ceylon 
oak. It is very durable as well as elastic, on 
account of the latter property the wood is in 
much demand for making native oil mills 
(chekkus), and for many other purposes as planks, 
beams, &c. 
The medicinal properties of this plant unlike 
many other native plants are known to be of a 
definite nature, as the juice expressed from the 
leaves is always recommended for disorders of 
the lirain, giddiness, biliousness, &c. 
23. Nepheliiim Longana Cam. ; Sin. Mora. 
This tree very much resembles the one described 
before, but it does not appear to be of such a 
hardy character. The leaves are greener in 
ajipearance and the fruits are smaller. The 
epicarp or the outer covering of the fruit is 
leathery and smoother than that of the Kdn. The 
mesocarp) which surrounds the seed is of a black- 
ish tint, and instead of its being sour as in the 
Kdn, it is of a veiy sweet taste ratlier more than 
is ifleasant. The fruits when ripe have a smell 
of ether. Bats are very fond of this fruit, and it 
is dillicult to p)reserve them from their attacks. 
The fruit is eaten much and is in demand always. 
The seed is of a very black colour and light, and p 
