175 
ON THE USE OF SALT IN FEEDING, &C. 
when the forage is sprinkled with salt water; that this practice 
excites a violent action in the digestive organs, and promotes 
superabundant and dangerous secretion of the gastric juices; and 
that, when veterinarians give prescriptions of this nature, we 
may often suspect their honesty/’ To be thus severe, one ought 
to be assured, trebly assured, that we are not deceived; and still 
more we ought to think, with regard to those whom we accuse, 
that this rudeness cannot be justified ; for it is better, when we 
can, to attribute ignorance and error to our opponents, rather 
than dishonesty. A little inquiry will, nevertheless, serve to 
shew that, if the advantage of salting bad forage appears some¬ 
times doubtful, there i 3 a great deal of hay that cannot be called 
good, with which it is incontestibly useful to mix a little salt in 
proper proportions. This leads us to inquire whether salt can¬ 
not be used, in order that forage should not become spoiled, 
and that thus we may be able to prevent an evil which cannot 
be completely repaired. 
There is no doubt, in the first place, that bad forage, which 
is neither mouldy nor musty, but only deficient in nutriment, 
whether from being grown on marshy ground, or mown too late, 
when by the production of the seed the stalks were become yel¬ 
low, hard, and fibrous; or whether, when it was mowed, it was 
wet and discoloured, and deprived of some of its most valua¬ 
ble principles by the successive action of the rain and the sun; 
there is no doubt, we repeat, that fodder of this kind is improved 
by a mixture of salt. This question is quite settled. The fla¬ 
vour of such hay becomes more agreeable to the animals; the 
mastication and impregnation with the saliva (/’ insalivation) is 
much better performed; the digestive canal and the glands, 
which it contains, are sufficiently stimulated. Finally, expe¬ 
rience proves that the food which is artificially salted, as well 
as those plants which grow on land impregnated with marine 
salt (the hay from the salt-marshes), agrees well with animals, 
is highly nourishing, and contributes to keep them in health 
and vigour. 
The advantage of salting bad fodder can only appear doubt¬ 
ful, when it induces the animal to eat mildewed and mouldy 
hay: it is necessary, therefore, to consider for a moment the 
nature of these injuries done to the food. The mildew, which 
in wet seasons, and on grounds which are not sufficiently drained, 
attacks living plants, both the different species of corn, and all 
the grasses. 
The mould, or must, appears in hay which has been badly 
made, or preserved. Both mildew and mould are regarded as 
composed of little fungi, or mushrooms, which not only diminish 
