ANALYSIS OF CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 481 
rapid motion. In consequence, the author considers meadow 
hay and oats as the type of aliments, as they contain a suit- 
able proportion of the principles necessary for the alimenta- 
tion of the horse, i. e., at least 324 to 330 parts of fatty matter 
to 625 of albuminoids, or nitrogenous matter, that being 
indispensible preparation for the condition of the horse 
destined for hard work. Not having to fix the quantity of 
food to be given, but merely to appreciate the effect in 
accordance with its composition, no account is taken of the 
neutrals , which are nearly in equal proportion in all the 
aliments which are sometimes substituted one for the other, 
while in some grain the fatty matter is three times as much as 
in others. The quality of nutritious matter in the food is to 
be estimated in accordance with the proportion of the carbon 
and nitrogen it contains. 
The caloric in animals being formed by the burning of the 
combustible matter in the aliments with the oxygen, and the 
fact being that more or less is produced in accordance with 
their composition, it is therefore necessary to give to hard 
working horses food containing a certain quantity of carbon, 
w 7 hich is proved by the quantity of w T ater and carbonic acid 
exhaled, and the quantity of oxygen consumed during violent 
exercise. 
Experience demonstrates that the production of carbonic 
acid, and the absorption of oxygen, are in proportion to the 
activity of the organs of respiration, and that they are in- 
creased by the rapidity of the motion when at work. The 
number of respirations in the horse w 7 hen in repose being 
from 12 to 16 per minute, increase to 40 — 50 and more w 7 hen 
put to a rapid trot. 
According to Lassaigne, a horse expires in an hour 341*69 
gr. of carbonic acid, and 745 gr. after 15 minutes' exercise. 
In the first case, 93*38 gr. of carbon are burnt, in the 
second 203*63 gr. per second. Lavoisier observed that a 
man, who absorbs 24 litres of oxygen in an hour when in a 
state of repose, absorbs 63 during exercise. The same expe- 
riments have been repeated on man and animals in our time 
with the same results. 
The alimentary value of the non-nitrogenous substances 
has been long ignored, in consequence of the experience 
of Magendie, which led him to consider their principles as 
non-nutritive. Their utility is however evident when w T e 
compare by experiments the different aliments, their chemical 
composition, and their effects on the animals. 
As far back as 1841, the commission on the hy glen-hippie, 
in the experiments on the alimentation of cavalry horses, 
