Bulletin 93. 
6 
average samples of alfalfa hay is open to serious doubt. The 
feces voided by sheep feeding on this hay are, on the other hand 
quite as j^ricli in ether extract as those of sheep which had been 
feeding on much better hay. 
The case presents itself to me in the following light, as it 
will probably present itself to others, i. e., if the feces of two sets 
of sheep feeding on the same kind of hay show practically the 
same amount of the ether extract, we ought to find a correspond¬ 
ing agreement in the amount of ether extract in the respective 
hays, provided the digestive processes have acted upon them in 
the same manner and degree. But we do not find this to be the 
case, and I view the discrepancy as of such importance that I con¬ 
sider it my duty to reject this series of experiments with alfalfa 
hay or to give the results obtained and a fuller account of the 
study made in onr endeavor to find the error, or some explanation 
for the results obtained. I shall give the series with all results as 
found and then an account of the work done. 
The digestion coefficient for the ether extract seems to be the 
only one concerning which any serious question can be raised. The 
coefficient obtained being negative cannot be used, but it seems to 
me that there must be some facts indicated by this result, for, 
though the agreement of the coefficients found is very poor, they 
agree in their general purport, i. e., they are all three negative. 
The hay seems to have undergone some change which lessened 
the amount of ether extract in the hay, but in passing through 
the digestive processes it appears to have been rendered soluble 
again. This can scarcely be the case. The excess is more likely 
due to ether soluble substances in the feces which are not fur¬ 
nished by the undigested portions of the hay. 
The sheep used in the first four series of experiments were 
wethers between three and four years old. 
The fodders used were corn fodder, native hay, timothy 
hay and alfalfa hay. 
The animals were fed for a period of twelve days and the 
feces collected during the last five days. 
