686 TRANSLATIONS FROM CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 
to do their work. The following is from a report made by 
M. Leblanc on the horses of the Imperial Omnibus Company. 
They were in good condition, and did their work well on 
rations consisting of meadow hay 2 kilogrammes 50 grammes, 
7 kilogrammes of oats, 5 kilogrammes of straw, used as bed; 
while others were weak, without vigour, and unable to perform 
their work on cut hay 2 kilogrammes 500 grammes, bruised 
oats 4 kilogrammes 750 grammes, bruised barley 2 kilo¬ 
grammes, cut straw 500 grammes, and straw for bed 5 kilo¬ 
grammes. In the first, the carbon is in the proportion of 
324 to 100 of nitrogen, in the second 238 to 100. In some 
experiments made in 1858, on the cavalry horses, which it 
would be too long to transcribe, it was proved that barley and 
lucerne instead of oats and hay caused the horses to lose 
condition, and rendered them less able to do their work. This 
result could not be attributed to anything else but the less 
amount of carbon in the barley and the lucerne. In all the 
regiments subjected to these experiments it was acknowdedged 
that the horses did not lose flesh when fed on barley; on the 
contrary, some were found to gain it, although not so fast as 
those that w T ere fed on oats; but there w 7 as a loss of vigour in 
them, and they w T ere slow in their paces, and perspired much 
in their work. These experiments w 7 ere discontinued for fear 
of worse consequences. In ail of them, 5 kilogrammes of 
straw 7 w T ere allowed for litter, but which is always partly eaten 
by the horses. Barley has often been given to the horse, but 
always w 7 ith unsatisfactory results, unless it is combined w 7 ith 
other provender rich in carbon. 
M. L—, farmer, in the Camargue, has substituted 3 kilogr. 
500 grammes of barley for 3 kilogr. of oats, allowing in both 
cases straw 7 ad libitum . On this food he has kept his horses 
and mules since 1855. The straw 7 is very rich in carbon, 
and contains very little nitrogen, and therefore constitutes 
w 7 ith the barley a very good provender. Supposing that the 
horses and mules consume 8—10 kilogr. of straw 7 , they would 
receive 395 grammes of carbon to 104 of nitrogen. In the 
first ration, the proportions of carbon are 434 to nitrogen 100; 
in the second, 315 to 100. They thus receive as much 
carbon as when fed on oats and meadow hay; but the drivers 
assert, that w 7 hen fed on oats they w 7 ere more vigorous, 
which tends to prove that the energy of animals is in pro¬ 
portion to the carbon they take in their food. 
Carbonaceous substances are as necessary to man as they 
are to animals, w'hen they have to perform laborious work. 
Thus workmen in the field, navigators, &c., value their 
diet in proportion to the fatty matter it contains. They care 
