1 
Lk ta. i BEAN KER UR UM Ye Reese AS Ng Sor apts OM a I Me ale 
Bee trae ae Ua Ae ae We ass ay E> Ng) re Be - 
at 7s) . p “7 Ae Whi ate “~~ al nt ae ae in 7 - 
i ; . Yi Ete te al te rs ye Ye ans USL Val a 
i] > m4 “e ¥ if 
oe y eae yee 
ven ay oe vile Nee Seu Ko 
~ ‘ x ‘ = ov 5 

156 Report oF THE DIRECTOR OF THE 
November, 1892, and November, 1893, the lines representing the 
milk yield and the albuminoids in the food sustained a very inter- 
esting relation, while the per cent of fat in the milk during the © 
same period is apparently uninfluenced by the albuminoids. This 
matter will be discussed more at length elsewhere in the report. 
The Source of Fat in Milk. 
It is of great importance that this question might receive an 
authoritative answer, especially since the increase of fat in milk by 
furnishing the proper ration is an end towards which our dairy- 
men are striving. | 
Of course the first step towards such a result would appear to 
be a correct understanding as to the normal functions of the 
several food constituents, and in order that we may have a better 
understanding of the nature of the problem, the following brief 
summary of the nature of the digestive processes is taken literally 
from the elaborate works of Michael Foster, Professor of physi- 
ology in the University of Cambridge, England. 
The Mechanism and Chemistry of Digestion. 
Saliva. The chief purpose served by the saliva in digestion is 
to assist in mastication and deglutition. In some animals this is 
its only function. In other animals it has a specific solvent action 
on some-of the food-stuffs. Such minerals as are soluble in 
slightly alakaline fluids are dissolved by it. On fats it has no 
effect save that of producing avery feeble emulsion. On proteids 
it has also no specific action, though pieces of meat, cooked or 
uncooked, appear greatly altered after they have been masticated 
for some time; the chief alteration, however, which thus takes 
place is a change in the hemoglobin, and a general softening of 
the muscular fibers by aid of the alkalinity of the saliva. 
Gastric juice. (Secreted into stomach.) The reaction is dis- 
tinctly acid, and the acidity is normally due to free hydrochloric 
acid. This is shown by various proofs, among which we may - 
mention the conclusive fact that the amount of chlorine present 
in gastric juice is more than would suffice to form chlorides with 
all the bases present, and that the excess if regarded as existing 

in the form of hydrochloric acid corresponds exactly to the - ) 

