424 DISEASE IN WILD MAMMALS AND BIRDS 
Overeating is a factor that must be borne in mind when 
considering the hay- and grass-eating herbivora. Packing 
of the ramen is a not infrequent discover5^ This condi- 
tion is also found in certain seed-eating birds. As a 
supply of food is constantly at the disposal of these ani- 
mals and exercise is prevented by captivity, continuous 
eating becomes their principal diversion. In this group 
also food poisoning was highest, a condition which may 
be due to (1) spoiled food, (2) poisonous substances in the 
foods, (3) fermentation of grass foods (spoiled hay or 
musty fodder) . Malnutrition also, is higher than with any 
other diet, due probably to the somewhat meagre nutri- 
tious value of the food. This group also shows a high per- 
centage of acute pancreatitis, degeneration of the liver, 
myocardium and arteries. Arthritis was present in this 
group 2.2 per cent., against 0.2 per cent, in all 
other groups. 
A study of Table 19 demands a constant recollection 
of the morpholog^^ of the tract involved and its main 
points of vulnerability, the bacteria capable of living on 
the particular type of food or its constituents and the 
by-products produced during the digestion and absorp- 
tion of these foods. Not one of these factors can be 
ignored in evaluating the influence of diet, which to be 
correct must supply elements in proportions that are 
chemically available for body needs (for instance, Von 
"Wendt(3) found that more iron was required if the diet 
was deficient in calcium). These proportions must be 
worked out by carefully combined chemical and biologi- 
cal experiments. 
Malnutrition. 
There was one omnivorous beast, a Hamadryas 
Baboon, which represented the only true case of starva- 
tion, probably induced by nostalgia, as it never ate after 
coming into the Garden. Thirty cases of partial starva- 
tion or malnutrition are listed in our records, the 
(3) Skandinavisches Arch, fiir Physiologic, Vol. 17, p. 211, 1905. 
