98 
FIRST CLASS OF THE VERTEBRATED ANIMALS. 
and produces the most sensible apon herbivorous animals. Animals feeding 
exclusively upon flesh are much less liable to be influenced by their food than by 
climate, and the several other circumstances, whether favorable or unfavorable, of 
the situation in which they are placed. 
It is chiefly by a proper selection of their food, that we can succeed in rendering 
animals, when domesticated, more fruitful than they would naturally have been. By 
the same means, their flesh can also be rendered more tender, savoury, and delicate. 
It is more especially during the early periods of their youth, that an abundant and 
well chosen food is deserving of the highest attention, for the si ghtest negligence in 
this respect may produce unfavorable consequences upon their general health, whilst, 
by an opposite course, wc may even succeed, to a certain extent, in correcting an 
original and constitutional weakness, accelerate the period of puberty, or promote 
their growth as well as strength. It is even possible, by taking advantage of acci- 
dental connate varieties, to perpetuate new races of great value, and render them 
capable of transmitting these properties undiminished in utility to their posterity. 
These facts are not always attended to by rural economists, nor is a sufEcieut degree 
of attention paid to the kind of food given to young animals. This exercises an im- 
portant influence over their physical and intelligent dispositions, and an undue parsi- 
mony in the distribution of their food, or an injudicious choice in its quality, may be 
regarded as the vice of a false economy, which deteriorates the qualities of the most 
valuable species or races, either by diminishing their fecundity, or preventing the 
development of their most valuable qualities. It is an admitted fact, that, in early 
life, the preponderating function is that of nutrition, while in the adult the reproduc- 
tive function prevails. Considerable differences in the height and proportions of in- 
dividuals arc induced by the abundance, the nature, and the quality of their food j 
and it is to a superiority in these respects, that the domestic animals are generally 
larger and more prolific than the same wild species, which are not so well nourished. 
It may be useful to practical economists to know, that, in general, small animals 
eat more in proportion to their size than large ones ; and for the same reason their 
vital energy is greater. 
The quantity of food necessary to the maintenance of the domestic animals, is in 
the direct ratio of the loss of substance which they experience from various causes. 
For this reason, all those which labour much, and all species naturally exposed to 
violent exercise, stand in need of food in proportion to the degree in which their 
muscular strength is exerted. All animals whose movements are slow, and labour 
light, require but little food, as their loss of force is inconsiderable; and those, again, 
who pass their winter in a state of torpidity, may remain for a very long time with- 
out food, as their loss of striMigth during this time is still less. An elevated tempera- 
ture, by diminishing the force of the digestive organs, and by moderating the move- 
ments of the body, renders less food necessary than a low temperature. Hence, wo 
may dimmish their allowances, with propriety, during the warmest seasons of the 
year. 
It has already been noticed, that the distinction commonly made between herbi- 
vorous and carnivorous animals is by no means constant. This fact has been advan- 
tageously applied by rural economists in various ways. Thus the young of herbivo- 
rous animals, shortly after their birth, arc frequently supplied, when very feeble, 
w'itli fresh eggs. The same nutritious food is likewise giver\ occasionally aux etalons 
avant la monte, and, it has been stated, with beneficial results ; likewise, also, to race- 
horses, with marked success. 
We are assured by M. Yvatt that, in Auvergne, fat soups are given to cattle, 
especially when sick or enfeebled, for the purpose of invigorating them. The same 
practice is observed in some parts of North America, where the country-people mix, 
in winter, fat broth with the vegetables given to their cattle, in order to render them 
more capable of resisting the severity of the weather. The>c broths have long been 
considered efficacious by the veU*rinary practitioners of our own country, in restoring 
Horses which had been enfeebled through long illness. It is said by Peall to be a 
common practice in some parts of India, to mix animal substances with the grain 
given to feeble horses, and to boil the mixture into a sort of paste, which soon 
brings them into good condition, and restores their vigour. Pallas tells us that the 
Russian boor.s make use of the <lricd flesh of the Hamster reduced to powder, and 
mixed with oats; that this occasions their Horses to acquire a sudden and extraordi- 
nary degree of emhonpoint. Anderson relates, in his History of Iceland, that the 
inhabitants feed tlieir Horses with dried fishes when the cold is very intense ; and 
that these animals arc extremely vigorous, although small. We also know' that in 
the Ferbe Islands, the Orkneys, the Western Islands, and in Norway, w'here the cli- 
mate is still very cold, this practice is also adopted ; and it is not uncommon even in 
some very warm countries, as in the kingdom of Maskat, in Arabia Felix, near the 
Straits of Ormuz, one of the most fertile parts of Arabia. Fish and other animal 
substances are there given to Horses in the cold season, as well as in times of scar- 
city. 
The milk of Cows, fed in (his manner, has a disagreeable flavour, while the flesh 
of fuch animals as are killed for the table is not pleasant. In general it acquires the 
flavour, whether good or bad, of the substances on which the animals had been nou- 
rished, and for this purpose, therefore, vegetable substances arc always preferable. 
Thus, the flesh of the Carnassiers, whether true Carnivora, or merely Insectivora, of 
Ant-eaters, &c., is disgusting ; and iu the same manner, the flesh of Birds is always 
agreeable in proportion as they feed more exclusively upon vegetables. Animal sub- 
stances being easily susceptible of putrefaction, impart to the flesh of those which are 
fed upon them an a kaline and amraoniacal odour. The corrupt Fish, sometimes given 
to the domestic animals of the North, contributes greatly to their inferiority; and it 
is well known that Fish in general imparts less muscular vigour and energy than the 
flesh of Quadrupeds. 
The habitual use of animal food renders the herbivorous animals less docile, more 
nntractahle, and even dangerous in some cases, as many facts have demonstrated. 
Cases are quoted of Horses, fed in this manner, having devoured their own masters. 
It is not probable that these animals could long exist on such a diet, without incon- 
venience, from their internal organization being greatly different from that of the 
carnivorous animals, especially in respect to the Ruminants. Still k is abundantly 
demonsti*ated, that animal substances can be administered with advantage, especially 
in cases of scarcity of their ordinary food, or of weakness, wliilst the carnivorous 
animals have an indispensable necessity of living upon flesh, in order to derive a 
sufficient nourishment, and to maintain that kind of life for which Nature has in- 
tended them. 
The food given to the domestic animals may either bo composed of entire and 
unprepared substances, such as Nature spontaneously presents, or it may be divided 
and prepared in various manners ; while its good qualities are susceptible of being 
improved in several ways, according to the object which is had in view. It may 
consist of plants either green or dried, whole or divided, moist or dry, raw or boiled, 
fermented or the reverse, sweet or sour, plain or seasoned with different substances ; 
and, according as it is given to them in these different states, the results obtained 
are very different. 
The mechanical division of boiled food, whether green or dried, facilitates the 
several acts of masticating, swallowing, and also of ruminating when it occurs ; hence, 
by a necessary consequence, their digestion being more perfectly performed, an equal 
weight of food becomes more profitable, and this mode of preparation should always 
be adopted, except when the food is consumed on the field. For this purpose seve- 
ral useful instruments have been invented, such as turnip-cutting machines, chop- 
pers, mills, and many others more or less ingenious, which divide quickly, economi- 
cally, and completely, the different kinds of food, whether root?, seeds, or forage. 
Every farmer who feels any interest in the improvement of his domestic animals, 
should be provided with one or other of these instruments, and he will not fail, 
sooner or later, to bo completely indemnified for the additional expenses tliey may 
occasion. 
Green food is in general more profitable to these animals, especially when it is 
intended to fatten them, than such as is either faded or dry ; for, independently of 
the loss of nutritive principles which it experiences more or loss while drying, it 
is digested more easily, rapidly, and completely, in tlie former than in the latter 
case. 
For the same reasons, food which has been moistened and softened after being 
dried is usually more profitable than when given under a hard or dry form. Seeds 
especially, when broken or reduced to flour, or even made into a paste or broth, are 
more quickly assimilated into the animal substance than when entire. Hence, they 
arc nearly every where reduced to a state of minute division before being given lo 
animals in course of fattening, and numerous experiments have clearly established 
their comparative superiority over those which have not undergone this process. 
The boiling of their food, by performing or facilitating its division, is one of the 
best means known of promoting digestion, and even of increasing the quantity as 
well as quality of the alimentary substances which undergo this process. 
This advantageous result appears to originate in part from the circumstance that 
the molecules of the alimentary substance arc separated by the coction which they 
undergo, and thus present a greater surface to tho influence of the gastric juice, and 
partly from the influence of the water wherein they are immersed, as well as of the 
high temperature to which they arc exposed, augmenting their nutritive powers. 
The water seems actually to become solid as in the making of bread, by entering 
into union with them, or by imparting Us hydrogen, wliich afterwards becoming unitetl 
to carbon, may contribute towards tho formation of fat. These facts have been es- 
tablished by a great number of experiments made here and elsewhere, with roots, 
grains, and even with raw and boiled hay or grass, used for fattening the domestic 
animals. Potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes, which, in their raw state, are cither 
cared for but little by the cattle, or unprofitable, acquire by boiling new prot>crtie8 
which render them extremely advantageous after having undergone this operation. 
Indeed, the general practice of boiling the food cannot be too strongly recommended» 
especially wlien the low price of fuel, and the other circumstances of tlic locality, allow 
it to be performed conveniently and economically. It is also proper to administer d 
to tho cattle while still warm, if possible, for the reason that it appears to bo more 
agreeable to them when given in that state, and that it invigorates and refreshes them 
more quickly than when allowed to cool after boiling. 
As a confirmation of the correctness of these views, regarding the superiority of 
boiled over raw food in the fattening of cattle, wc have only to consider for a me* 
ment what actually takes place every day before our eyes in respect to Man. ^ ® 
here see how greatly substances which have been submitted to the action of heat, 
such as bread, meat, soups, broths, and other articles, surpass those used in their 
natural state. A small quantity of wheat, maize, barley, or rice, well boiled and 
eaten warm with a little milk, gains in nutritive matter an immense superiority over 
the same quantity of these substances, if eaten without this preparation. The same 
remark is applicable to all kinds of grain. 
It may be noticed here, that the food intended for cattle can be conveniently and 
economically boiled by steam, by putting it into a common barrel, cased with iroP; 
and having at its base a grating of the same metal, with the bars tolerably close- 
After filling it with the roots intended to be boiled, it is exposed to the vapour 
boiling water arising from a cauldron placed upon an economical furnace. This ar 
rangement permits the food to bo boiled cheaply and in a very short time. 
must, however, be taken that tho base of the barrel fits accurately into the upper rit® 
of the cauldron, and that it has at its top a moveable cover so as to permit tho root^ 
to be easily placed there and witlidrawn. There must also be a small bole hi th® 
cover to allow a part of tho vapour to escape when it has reached the top. 
The addition of some coarse provender, such as chopped straw, to boiled roots, 
admitted to be advantageous ; probably because it renders the mastication of these 
substances more complete, and serves also as a kind of ballast, which should always 
bear a certain proportion to the nutriment, properly so called. 
Fermentation, which may bo regarded as a sort of cooking afforded sponlaneou . 
by Nature, adds greatly to tho nutritive qualities of the substauces which underg® 
this process. It has long been recommended to allow the barley, intended to 
of 
cattle, to germinate, and this may be regarded as the first step in the process 
