116 
THE OAT CROP. 
there is a mutual relation subsisting- among the elements. Life does not consist simply in 
the formation of muscle, nor of bone. The acts of life are seen equally in respiration, as in 
digestion ; in supplying beat, as in supplying nutriment; in supplying a bony frame-work, 
as in giving it motion. Each element has its use, and each organ its function; and not 
one of them can fail in the performance of its office, without deranging the whole fabric. 
Sulphuric acid, or oil of vitriol, is wanted in the animal economy ; so are brimstone and 
phosphorus, two highly combustible bodies ; and no doubt there are instances when life 
is too fully charged with them, still they are as necessary as nitrogen, and life would not 
manifest itself without their aid. 
We may therefore regard a body important to animal life, in proportion as it contains 
the requisite number of all those elements which a living body requires to give it the 
greatest degree of strength and energy. We may, with this view, look first to the inor¬ 
ganic bodies, potash, soda, lime and magnesia. In the same list, too, we may put the 
acids which combine with these bases, as the phosphoric and sulphuric, together with 
chlorine. These by themselves are useless in the absence of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen 
and nitrogen. The four last, but especially carbon and oxygen, enter largely into the 
composition of living beings. The tissues of vegetables, as well as of animals, seem to be 
mostly composed of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, which, always taken in combination 
with the above bases, constitute a frame-work, delicate indeed, but yet essential to the 
performance of any function the tissue in its organic capacity is designed for. Nitrogen 
enters only into a certain class of organs ; in others it is entirely absent, as in the bones. 
In the red and fleshy parts, nitrogen is an essential constituent; but even in these parts, 
iron, oxygen, hydrogen and the phosphates are equally important. A cereal, then, which 
contains the elements of bone and muscle in combination, or matter for the formation of 
the tissues generally, together with the maintenance of respiration, is the fittest nutriment 
in the economy of life. 
Of the inorganic constituents of the oat, we have found the phosphates in the ratio 
nearly of { or } ; potash in about the same quantity, in some instances in a greater ratio. 
Soda and sulphuric acid are also always present. Lime and magnesia, together with 
silica, make up an important though short list of matters which are essential to the con¬ 
stitution of bone, muscle and brain. 
In the list of bodies which are found by approximate organic analysis, are, starch, which 
exists in the ratio of \ of the products, is a respiratory and fat-producing substance ; ave- 
nine, a nitrogenous element, in the ratio of } ; gluten and albumen, two other nitrogenous 
bodies, in a much smaller ratio; oil and sugar, two other respiratory and fat-producing 
bodies, are in the ratio of T 'j ; dextrine and mucilage, which probably contribute to the 
same end, but which also act favorably as demulcents upon the mucous membrane of the 
alimentary canal. With such a composition it is satisfactorily made out that the oat is a 
valuable nutriment, taking the word in its widest sense. It has the materials for bone 
and muscle, as well as for respiratory matters; and it is not deficient in the elements of 
fat, that substance which gives fulness and beauty to the form. Experience, however. 
