132 
DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
Preparation of Food for the animal’s stomach, or a system of cooking, 
is a very important question. Steaming hay, potatoes and turnips, has 
been tried very carefully in Scotland, and failed. For cattle , at least, it 
is useless; how valuable soever it may be for pigs. It is pretty certain, 
however, that, with certain combinations, all that a feeder can desire is 
attained by the cooking of flax-seed. 
The fat of animals is strictly analogous to vegetable oil ; its elements 
are much of the same character as sugar, starch and gum, and no doubt 
is entertained, by physiologists and chemists, that the fatty matter (vege- 
table oil) in plants, is assimilated into animal fat, with but little change. 
The elements of those compounds severally are : — 
Sugar. 
Starch Gum. 
Animal fat 
Mufcilage. (stcarine). 
Carbon 
12 
12 12 
24 11 
Hydrogen 
11 
10 10 
19 69 
Oxygen 
10 10 
19 1 
The oil contained in many seeds 
is given by Professor Johnston — 
Flax-seed 
Oil per cent. 
11 to 22 sav 17 
White mustard . 
Oil per cent. 
40 “ 54 “ 41 
Hemp-seed 
14 “ 25 “ 19 
Sweet almond . 
Rape-seed 
40 “ 10 “ 55 
Bitter do 
28 “ 46 “ 31 
This would naturally indicate that any of these seeds would, so far as 
they were palatable, be useful ; and when linseed contains as much as 
seven per cent, of mucilage, ten per cent, of sugar, and fifteen of soluble 
albumen, it is clearly indicated as being a seed most valuable for feeding 
and nourishing purposes. 
Various attempts have been made to adapt it to the feeding of cattle. 
There was some difficulty in grinding it by ordinary mills, as it clogged 
up the teeth ; and when given to animals either alone, or combined 
with considerable quantities of corn, meal, or other feeding matter, the 
effect on the animals was purgative, and but few breeders persevered in 
the use of the seed alone. The demand for the oil, however, induced 
the crushing of the seeds to obtain it, and the refuse left was found to 
be very valuable as feeding material; while the portability of oil-cake, 
its cleanliness, and capability of being long kept, made it a general and 
desirable food, both for growing and feeding stock. The oil abstracted, 
the cake contains, according to the same authority : — 
Water 
Mucilage 
Albumen and gluten 
Oil 
Husks 
Saline matter and sand 
1.00 
We do not see exactly how the cake can contain so large a propor- 
tion of oil relatively with the seed; but it is probable that the seed had 
originally contained a large proportion of oil, and that it had been but 
indifferently crushed. Good English-made cake, however, has been 
