ISO PASSAGE OF FOOD THROUGH DIGESTIVE ORGANS OF A HORSE. 
are to a great extent fabulous; and though we would not 
deny that it has great powers, we cannot help concluding the 
observed effects of its consumption by cattle, which, by the 
way, is usually in a gluttonous quantity, expressive of de¬ 
praved appetite, are due to a combination of causes in which 
the extreme difficulty of decomposition or digestion of yew 
leaves is always prominent. 
Still, whatever the action of yew on the animal economy 
may be, there is no donbt that cattle often fall victims to 
partaking of it, and it is, therefore, not to the credit of science 
that there should be any doubts upon the matter. We shall, 
therefore, look forward with much interest to some more 
reliable information upon the subject than we now possess. 
THE TIME OCCUPIED IN THE PASSAGE OF 
FOOD THROUGH THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS 
OF THE HORSE. 
By Henry Jarvis, Student at the Royal Veterinary College. 
These experiments were made with a view of ascertaining 
how long a time it takes for the food to pass through the 
alimentary canal of the horse. Four horses were submitted 
to experiment. The horses in question had been feeding for 
several weeks upon black oats. They were now placed on 
white ones, care being taken to see in how many hours the 
white oats could be detected in the faeces. The following 
results were noticed: 
No. 1.—This horse, after being fed, underwent a journey 
of about nine miles. The white oats made their appearance 
in the feculent matter in twenty-two hours. 
No. 2.—This horse, after partaking of the white oats, had 
half an hour's exercise. The white oats were observed in 
the faeces in twenty-four hours. 
No. 3.—This horse was kept quiet in the stable, and the 
white oats were recognised in twenty-seven hours. 
No. 4.—This horse was kept under similar conditions to 
No. 3. The white oats made their appearance in twenty- 
seven hours and a half. 
