FEEDING HORSES AND HOUNDS. 577 
upon them ; they must, therefore, contain the elements of vegeta- 
tion and nourishment. 
***** 
Opponents to the practice of bruising oats contend that, by so 
doing, the powers of mastication are not so energetically called 
forth ; and, therefore, that the saliva is not carried with the food 
into the stomach in such quantities as when the corn is presented 
whole. But it would appear from an anecdote related by Dr. Paris 
in his “ Treatise on Diet,” that the process of mastication is not 
necessary to the flow of saliva ; for that, in the case of a felon who 
cut his throat in prison in such a manner that, although it did not 
immediately destroy his life, caused the food when introduced into 
his mouth to escape by the external wound, it was found that 
during each meal there was a discharge of saliva from the mouth 
amounting to five or six ounces, or more. The sensation in the 
mouth created by the sight of, or sometimes even by anticipation of, 
any relishing delicacy, is well known. Yet, even if mastication 
be essehtial to the promotion of the flow of saliva; if the oats are 
only just bruised or cracked — not ground to flour — the horse’s mas- 
ticatory powers will be thoroughly brought into action, and each 
mouthful of oats duly saturated before they can pass into the sto- 
mach ; for it seems to be one of the wise ordinations by which ani- 
mal economy is governed, that food shall not pass down the throat 
in a dry state. Take, for example, a piece of bread or biscuit into 
the mouth when it is extremely parched by thirst, and all the chew- 
ing and mastication in the world will not enable you to swallow 
it until it is moistened either by a flow of saliva or a portion of 
fluid. 
Herbaceous animals swallow more air with their food than car- 
nivorous ones ; that is, they require more saliva for the process of 
mastication and deglutition, and that saliva contains a great portion 
of air, which may be understood by its frothy appearance, each little 
bubble being filled with air, and by that means a quantity of oxy- 
gen is conveyed into the stomach with the food. On this account it 
is a most mistaken practice to wet the corn for a horse before it is 
put into his manger. The food which an animal takes into its sto- 
mach becomes soluble, in which state it enters into the circulation. 
The oxygen of the air, and the fluid secreted by the coat of the 
stomach, produce this result. Physiologists have decided this to 
be the case, and that it is a chemical action free and independent 
of vital force. The gastric juice seems to possess a most extra- 
ordinary power in dissolving or digesting all kinds of food ; a power 
which no other fluid possesses, be it water, acid, or alkali. It ap- 
pears, however, that the power and quality are somewhat dimi- 
