484 
Extracts from British and Foreign Journals. 
CELLULOSE DIGESTED BY SHEEP. 
The researches of several German chemists, says the 
Chemical News, have proved that the cellulose of plants is by 
no means so indigestible a substance as was at one time sup¬ 
posed, but that on the contrary it is digested in considerable 
quantities, by the ruminants at least, especially when a por¬ 
tion of the food of the animal consists of some substance rich 
in oil. 
In order to ascertain to what extent the digestibility of 
cellulose may depend upon its state of aggregation, Sussdorf 
and A. Stoeckhardt have undertaken a series of experiments, 
of which only a very brief abstract can be here given. From 
their results it is evident that even the most compact kinds of 
cellulose can be in great measure digested by sheep. The 
experiments, commenced in July 1859 5 were up on two wethers, 
respectively five and six years old. These were fed—1st, upon 
hay alone; 2d, upon hay and rye straw; 3d, hay and poplar 
wood sawdust which had been exhausted with lye ; in order 
that the sheep should eat the sawdust, it was found necessary 
to add to it some rye bran and a small quantity of salt; 4tb, 
hay and sawdust fiom pine-wood, mixed with bran and salt; 
3th, hay, spruce sawdust, bran, and salt; 6th, hay, paper- 
maker’s pulp from linen rags and bran ; after several unsuc¬ 
cessful attempts to induce the sheep to partake of the pulp 
when mixed with dry fodder, it was at last given to them in 
a sort of paste or pap, prepared by mixing bran with water. 
The experiments were continued until November, with the 
exception of a short intermission, during which the animals 
were put to pasture, in order that they might recover from the 
injurious effects—probably due to the resinous matters of the 
spruce wood—of the fifth series of experiments. 
The animals, as well as their food, drink, and excrements, 
were weighed every day. The amount of cellulose in the 
excrements was also daily determined by analysis, the 
composition of the food ingested having been previously 
ascertained. 
It thus appeared that when the animals were fed—(1.) with 
ha} r (35 lbs. per week), 60 to 70 per cent, of the cellulose 
contained therein was digested, i. e. it did not appear as such 
in the solid excrements. In this experiment the animals 
gained 7Jlbs. in 18 days. (2.) With hay 14 lbs. and straw 
7 lbs. (per week), 40 to 50 per cent, of the cellulose of the 
straw was digested, the animals having lost 2J lbs. in 11 days. 
(3.) With hay 10J lbs., poplar sawdust 5^1bs., bran 7ibs. (per 
