688 TRANSLATIONS FROM CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 
the horse. But, before solving this, he finds it necessary to 
dispose of the quantity of carbon required by the post-horse. 
It is well known, since the time of Lavoisier, that respiration 
uses up the carbon and hydrogen contained in the food, 
thus becoming the source of animal heat; also that the 
consumption of these bodies, considered either in the different 
breeds or in each particular animal, in a state of health or 
disease, and when at rest or in motion, is always in pro¬ 
portion to the activity of the respiration. It is under the 
influence of strong exercise that the large amount of carbon 
which is contained in meadow hay and oats is appropriated. 
MM. H. Bouley and Lassaigne have found that the loss of 
carbon during rest is 2200 grammes, and 4800 when in 
exercise, in twenty-four hours; and other chemists have come 
to the same conclusions. M. Alibert admits, in his learned 
memoir on alimentation, that the loss of carbon in twenty- 
four hours, in a horse weighing 500 kilogr., amounts to 2400 
gr. during repose. To appreciate the influence of exercise, 
he has experimented on man. A man raised a weight of 
10 kilogr. to the height of one metre from the ground 
without letting it fall, and lost carbon at the rate of 58 gr. 
•068 in the hour. The same individual, on getting out of bed 
in the morning, and before having taken any exercise, 
emitted carbon at the rate of 10 gr. 8*40 in the hour. The 
experiment lasted ten minutes. The weight was lifted five 
times, the exertion being very considerable, and the man was 
in a violent perspiration. During this experiment, which 
was made with the greatest care, the consumption of carbon 
was five times greater than when in a state of rest. In an 
old horse the respiration became increased from 12 and 13 to 
27 and 28, during work; in a mare from 16 and 17 to 44 
and 46; in a gelding from 17 and 18 to 36 and 40, after half 
an hour’s trotting. The first two were worked at the plough 
at the end of January, the weather being rather cold; the last 
was ridden by a man of ordinary weight, at the beginning of 
April, the weather being mild. From this it will be seen, 
that the respiration is nearly tripled during exercise. The 
expiration of carbonic acid is not increased in proportion to 
the number of expirations. If the quantity be 4T per cent, 
in 12 expirations per minute, it is only 3—3 per cent, in 
24 expirations, and only 2—9 in 48 ; but although the quan¬ 
tity is less in each expiration, the total in a given time is 
more when the respiration is accelerated. 
The hydrogen contained in the food, like the carbon, is 
consumed during respiration, and forms water, which is 
exhaled by the tissues and cannot be easily estimated. The 
