THE MAMMALIA—MAN AND BEASTS. 
99 
Taentation, which the grain undergoes when used for malting beer. By this means, 
the saccharine principle becomes more fully developed, while the food is unquestionably 
made more digestible and nutritious. Hence cattle-dealers seek with avidity, and em- 
ploy with great advantage, the residue of breweries, distilleries, and starch manufacto- 
ries. A part of the grain thus prepared, or its refuse, is used largely for feeding 
cattle in Belgium, Alsace, and generally in tho immediate neighbourhood of all large 
manufacturing towns. The nutritive properties of the food are further augmented by 
rendering it sour, or at least, it tends in this state to render the digestive function 
more energetic. Hence, the farinaceous substances used for food, especially when it 
is intended to fatten the cattle, are made in a great number of places to undergo the 
acetous fermentation. Indeed, all the modes of preparation already enumerated are 
but little useful to animals destined for hard labour. Seasoning renders the food more 
agreeable to their taste, more digestible, and therefore more profitable. Common 
salt is probably the most powerful and useful of ail substances for this purpose, and 
hence it is employed almost every where with advantage. It sharpens the appetite, 
escites to drink, facilitates digestion, renders the flesh of animals intended for the 
table of a superior quality, and either promotes or supplies the acidity induced by tho 
second stage of fermentation. All Mammalia seek salt with as much avi^hty in their 
wild state as in that of domestication, and show a degree of pleasure, which is a sure 
index of its utility when mixed with their food, and of its power of correcting the 
hurtful qualities of their aliment when it happens by some accident to have become 
vitiated. 
In addition to those precautions, which are essential to the proper selection and 
preparation of food for the domestic animals, it is of great importance to regulate the 
rations or quantity of food distributed to them at intervals, in order that they may be 
rendered as profitable as possible. The quantity of food ought always to bo in pro- 
portion to their age, state of health, the violence of their exercise, and final destina- 
tion, always observing, at the same time, the general principle, that the quantity of 
tho food must bo more considerable when it is less sub-itantial, as any diminution of 
its nutritive qualities can only be compensated by a proportional increase of its quan- 
tity. It is always impussible to determine, in a fi.ved snd positive manner, how much 
of each kind of food an animal should consume in a given time, because this depends 
upon a great number of circumstances relative to its species, its race or breed, the 
peculiar constitution of the individual, its employment, as well as its age and state of 
health. The daily allowances further change with the very variable nature of their 
food, the difTerent ways in which it is administered, the state of the atmosphere, the 
season of the. year, and several other circumstances, all of which should be taken into con- 
sideration before wo can determine their proper daily rations with any degree of accu- 
s'acy. Heuae result the various and contradictory opinions emitted on tho subject by 
most writers who have attempted to fix quantities. Some have laid down as a principle, 
that certain doraesfic animals will daily consume tho third part of their weight of watery 
food, such as turnips, beet-root, or green clover ; while others have fixed for the 
same animals a fourth part of their weight of cabbages, carrots, and parsnips, and 
a fifth or a sixtli of beet-root, potatoes, and Jerusalem artichokes. There must be, 
however, a great variation according to the different circumstances just enumerated. 
It appears to us that all these matters should bo regtdaied by particular and in- 
dividual trials, and be left wholly to cxperienc.c. This is of more real use than 
the futile attempts made in most practical books to fix quantities, and which only 
serve to demonstrate the real ignorance of the persons attempting to enforce them. 
Physiologists, and .all who have studied this matter properly, know very well, that 
^though there are certain well ascertained general laws which regulate the entire 
’ animal economy, each individual possesses a peculiar constitution, or idiosyncrasy ; 
which more or less serves to modify these laws. Hence wc frequently find a dis- 
parity of effects resulting from the same apparent or real cause, and these variations 
show themselves in the quantity of food which animals consume, as well as on a 
great many other occasions, tho explanation of which can only be obtained on the 
principles already expl.ained. 
Along with the really nutritive food, there must always be mixed a certain quan- 
tity of ballast, that is, of some coarse and slightly nutritious food, otherwise the 
sides of the stomach, as well as the intestines, w ill not bo sufficiently distended 
^nd stimulated, so os to perform completely the functions for which Nature intended 
'■hem. Unless this condition is rigorously attended to, the digestion, elaboration, 
^»*d assimilation of the nutritive juices, will always be incomplete oven in healthy 
’U'd well constituted animals. It is therefore a very important error to overload the 
stomachs of these animals with any very nutritious food unraixed, even when it is 
exclusively intended to ‘fatten them. 
fn respect to the distribution of their food, it is only necessary to notice one ex- 
^llent maxim, Goodfoodt a little ai a iimCi and often; they should be allowed 
to eat quietly and slowly in order that they may digest tho largest quantity of food 
tti the shortest possible time. Regular intervals of feeding should be observed, with 
'^casional fasting, which servos to appetize them, and give an impulse to their di- 
gestive organs. They should not, however, be allowed to grow impatient, which 
occasions a loss of animal force and nutrition. Digestion never proceeds rapidly as 
long as the anira.il continues eating. It is only when sufficiently filled that the 
''ifculation becomes accelerated, the temperature of the body more elevated, and 
'^'gestion proceeds with its greatest activity. All those phenomona succeed in the 
course of a few hours, after which the temperature of tlic body falls, the res]fira- 
tion becomes moderate, and hunger returns. It is only at this time that more food 
'•‘'ould be given, in small rations at a time; and when treated in this manner, the 
^'unial consumes less, and derives more benefit from its foorl. 
To alternate and vary tho kind of food used is always necessary, because tho continual 
''se of the same aliment does not sharpen the appetite so ivcll jia a judicious selcc- 
and rotation. A variety of food serves to stimulate the digestive organs, and 
prevent that di‘gu8t which the same diet continued too long alw-iys occasions by its 
'*niforinity. Care should he taken, in respect to these changes of food, to avoid a 
^dden alteration of diet, especially from green to dry food, or vice versa^ for these 
^‘*0 always more or less prejudicial It is also very important not to overload tho 
stomachs of labouring animals, immediately before they set out to their work, as is 
too frequently done, for this often occasions indigestion, or at least renders it imper- 
fect or laborious. From want of food or other circumstances, these animals are often 
obliged to submit to a long fast, which they are always better able to endure in pro- 
portion as their food has been the more substantial. 
There are some domestic animals, such as the Camel and the Ass, which are re- 
markable for their frugality, as well as their capacity of remaining long without food. 
There are also some races of other animals which are equally celebrated for these 
qualities ; and when they do not originate in some constitutional defect, or from ill 
health, and when it is not effected at the expense of their other useful properties, this 
forms a powerful inducement for propagating some races in preference to others. 
The Mule is an instance of the above, as well as some of the improved breeds. A 
quantity of barley, equal to about one feed, is sufficient, according to the report of 
travellers, for tho daily maintenance of an Arabian saddle Horse, after a long jour- 
ney in the deserts ; while a European Horse performing the same service would have 
consumed, in tho same time, a much larger quantity of barley, besides a considerable 
bulk of hay and straw. The remarkable frugality of the former, although doubtless 
owing to an original constitution improved by habit, is partly due to a difference in 
the nutritive qualities of the food, as well as to the climate. If animals of the South 
consume, in general, a smaller quantity of food than those of the North, this is in 
part due to the circumstance, that the food is much more nutritious in the former 
than in the latter cas.e, and also that it possesses a greater specific gravity. It may 
not be improper in this place to notice a remarkable error almost universally adopted 
in this country, of giving out corn, which is the most substantial part of their food, 
by mcasvre instead of by weiyhty as it has been ascertained by many trials, that the 
quantity of really nutritive matter may vary in bulk by n.'aidy one-half, according to 
the quality of the corn. 
As the most useful and important of our domestic animals are herbivorous, it may 
be advantageous briefly to notice here the general qualities of the several vegetable 
substances which usually foim the basis of their diet. 
The substances principally used for this purpose are, Isf, Grass, cither fresh, or 
under the form of Hay. 2c/, The Straw of the Cereal plants. 3t/, Leaves or 
Stalks. 4//i, Roots or tubers, bth, Seeds, Grains, or Fruits. Each of these sub- 
jects admHs of being treated somewhat in detail. 
Gr.iss is the most natural food of the herbivorous animals, and is often sufficient to 
rcsU)re feeble animals to a good condition when they have fallen off, upon any other 
kind of diet. This food is not, however, adapted for hard-w-orking animals. 
The best kind of green food is fine, substantial, not very watery or faded, and 
should not hate grown in a shady situation; it is usually found upon natural or arti- 
fici.al meadow-land. The Natural families of the Graiuincra and Logurainosra arc the 
most abundant in important Plants. In the former we may notice the Meadow- 
grasses Fescue-grasses {Fesiuca)^ Fox-tail-grasses {Alope.cvrusf Oat-grasses 
(^Avenaf Cat’s-tail-grasses (PA/e?<rti), Bcut-grasscs (Ayrostisf Canary-grasses (PAa- 
laris^f Wheat-grasses {Triticum)y the Barleys (^IIordeuni)t Hair-grasses {Aira)y 
Soft-grasses (//o/cks), Dog’s-tail-grasses {Cynosnrvs)^ Quaking-grasses {Briza), 
IMillct-grasses (ff/i/iu/n), .md a few other genera. Of the Leguininos®, tho follow- 
ing are the most remarkable : — The Medicks or Lucerns {Medicago)^ tho Trefoils 
{Trifolium), SaXntfom (Onohrychis), the Melilots {McUlotus), the Vetches ( Ficia), 
the Tares {Ervum), the Milk- Vetches (Astragalus), and the Bird's-foot Trefoil 
(Lotus). There arc some plants, which not only have tho property of exciting a 
more abundant secretion of milk in those females which are fed thereon, but 
also render it of an excellent quality ; such are the roots of the Parsnip or 
Carrot, and tho stalks of the JMaize; while others, such as the Garlics (Alliwn), 
actually impart a disagreeable odour, or other unfavorable qualities. Each domestic 
animal shows a marked predilection in favor of some plants, and either refuses cer- 
tain others altogether, or feeds upon them only when compelled by a scaraity of food, 
as Linnraus and several of his followers have long ago remarked. Not only do they 
derive pleasure from particular parts of certain plants in preference to the remainder, 
but the ditferent states of vegetation in wliich each of them is found, as well as tho 
different situations and nature of the soil on which the plants grow, contribute still 
more strongly in determining tlieir clioice. With a very small number of exceptions, 
we find in general that when plants are in their flowering state, or one which nearly 
aijproachcs to it, they are most nutritious. At this time, their nutritive particles 
arc diffused abundantly and equally throughout the whole plant, and they hold a 
middle state between the aqueous condition which is too relaxing, or not sufficiently 
nutritious, and the ligneous condition, which renders difficult the functions of mas- 
tication, deglutition, and digestion. In general, also, medium qualities of tho soil, 
as well as intermediate stations, should be preferred for pasture grounds. 
After numerous comparative trials mode at Upsal in Sweden upon the common 
plants of the meadows, fields, and other pasture lands, it was found, by I\I. Hessel- 
green, that the plants used by each species of domestic animals vary greatly In iimn- 
ber. His results are represented in the following table : — 
Of 57.'3 Plants, the Goat cats 449, and refuses 126 
528 
the Sheep 
387, 
141 
494 
the Bull 
27H, 
218 
474 
the Horse 
2«2, 
212 
213 
tho Pig 
72, 
171 
This serves to indicate that the Goat is the least delicate in his taste, and can eat 
without inconvenience a great number of plants hurtful to other species. The Sheep- 
feeds upon nearly three-fourths of all the plants it encounters ; the Oxen and Horses 
refuse nearly one-lnalf, while the Hog can cat the leaves and roots comparatively of 
a very small number of species. The above results are, however, very incomplete, 
and must be considered merely as approximations. 
Subsequently to the investigations of M. Ilessclgreen, M. Yvart examined nearly 
seven hundred of the most common plants of France, or those capable of being na- 
turalized there, and as his inquiry appears to have been conducted with much carc> 
