Chapter VII: Section IV

RELATION BETWEEN THE COMPOSITION OF AN ANIMAL AND THAT OF ITS FOOD.

I have already stated that the results of the admirable investigations of Lawes and Gilbert prove that the non-nitrogenous constituents of the carcasses of oxen, sheep, and pigs exceed in weight their nitrogenous elements. This fact is suggestive of many important questions. What relation is there between the composition of an animal and that of its food? Should an animal whose body contains three times as much fat as lean flesh, be supplied with food containing three times as much fat-formers as flesh-formers? To these questions there is some difficulty in replying. There _is_ a relationship between the composition of the body of an animal and that of its food; but the relationship varies so greatly that it is impossible to determine with any degree of accuracy the quantity of fat-formers which is required to produce a given weight of fat in animals, taken _in globo_. If, however, we deal with a particular animal placed under certain conditions, it is then possible to ascertain the amount of fat which a given weight of non-plastic food will produce. For the greater part of our knowledge on this point, as on so many others, in the feeding of stock, we are indebted to Lawes and Gilbert. In the case of sheep fed upon fattening food these inquirers found that every 100 lbs. of dry[10] non-nitrogenous substances consumed by them produced, on an average, an increase of 10 lbs. in the weight of their fat. In the case of pigs, also, supplied with food, the proportion of non-nitrogenous matters appropriated to the animal's increase was double that so applied in the bodies of the sheep. As the food supplied to these animals contained but a very small proportion of ready-formed fat, it was inferred that four-fifths of the fat of the increase was derived from the sugar, starch, cellulose, and pectine bodies.

These tables exhibit in a condensed form the results of one of the elaborate series of experiments in relation to this point carried out by Lawes and Gilbert:--

ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF CERTAIN CONSTITUENTS STORED UP IN _INCREASE_,
FOR 100 PARTS OF EACH CONSUMED IN FOOD BY FATTENING SHEEP.

+--------------------------------------------------------
| KEY:
| A.--No. of Animals.
| B.--Mineral matter (ash).[11]
| C.--Nitrogenous compounds (dry).
| D.--Non-nitrogenous substance.
| E.--Total dry substance.
|
--------------------+------------------------------------+-------------------
| Amount of each
| Class in Increase
|for 100 of the same
GENERAL PARTICULARS OF THE EXPERIMENTS. | consumed in Food.
--------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
| | | Description of | | | |
| | | Fattening Food. | | | |
| | |-------------+--------| | | |
| | | Given | Given | | | |
| | | in limited | ad | | | |
BREED. | A.|Duration.| quantity. |libitum.| B. | C. | D. | E.
--------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
Class I.
--------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
| |wks. dys.|Oilcake and |Swedish | | | |
| | |clover chaff.|turnips.| | | |
Cotswolds | 46| 19 5 | " | " |3.98|4.43|11.6|9.60
Leicesters | 40| 20 0 | " | " |3.15|3.39|12.0|9.48
Cross-bred wethers | 40| 20 0 | " | " |3.24|3.60|11.6|9.31
Cross-bred ewes | 40| 20 0 | " | " |3.25|3.60|11.8|9.40
Hants Downs | 40| 26 0 | " | " |3.40|4.28|10.3|8.49
Sussex Downs | 40| 26 0 | " | " |3.30|4.16|10.3|8.44
--------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
Means |3.39|3.91|11.3|9.12
=========================================================+====+====+====+====
Class III.--(Series 1.)
--------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
| | | |Swedish | | | |
| | | |turnips.| | | |
Hants Downs | 5 | 13 6 |Oilcake. | " |4.16|4.01|11.1|9.33
| 5 | 13 6 |Oats. | " |5.73|7.07|10.0|9.45
| 5 | 13 6 |Clover chaff.| " |3.98|7.44| 9.0|8.49
--------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+---------+----+----
Means |4.62|6.17|10.0|9.09
=========================================================+====+====+====+====
Class IV.--(Series 2.)
--------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
| | | | Clover | | | |
| | | | chaff. | | | |
Hants Downs | 5 | 19 1 |Oilcake. | " |1.69|2.20| 6.3|5.07
| 5 | 19 1 |Linseed. | " |1.81|2.32| 6.2|5.19
| 5 | 19 1 |Barley. | " |1.75|2.82| 5.7|5.00
| 5 | 19 1 |Malt. | " |1.46|2.17| 5.3|4.61
--------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
Means |1.68|2.38| 5.9|4.97
=========================================================+====+====+====+====
Class V.--(Series 4.)
--------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
| | | |Mangolds| | | |
Hants Downs | 4 | 10 0 |Barley ground| " |3.80|5.65| 9.8|8.91
| 5 | 10 0 |Malt, ground,| " |4.04|6.18|10.4|9.49
| | |& malt dust. | | | | |
| 4 | 10 0 |Barley ground| " |3.72|6.35| 8.9|8.28
| | | and steeped.| | | | |
| 4 | 10 0 |Malt, ground | " |2.95|4.34| 9.3|8.23
| | |and steeped, | | | | |
| | |& malt dust. | | | | |
| 5 | 10 0 |Malt, ground,| " |3.46|5.46| 9.1|8.25
| | |& malt dust. | | | | |
--------------------+---+---------+-------------+--------+----+----+----+----
Means |3.59|5.60| 9.5|8.63
---------------------------------------------------------+----+----+----+----
Means of all |3.27|4.41| 9.4|8.06
=========================================================+====+====+====+====

ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF CERTAIN CONSTITUENTS STORED UP IN _INCREASE_,
FOR 100 OF EACH CONSUMED IN FOOD, BY FATTENING PIGS.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------
| KEY:
| A.--No. of Animals.
| B.--Mineral matter (ash).
| C.--Nitrogenous compounds (dry).
| D.--Non-nitrogenous substance.
| E.--Total dry substance.
| F.--Fat.
|
-----------+----------------------------------------+------------------------
| Amount of each Class
| in Increase for
GENERAL PARTICULARS OF THE EXPERIMENTS. | 100 of the same
| consumed in Food.
--+--------+----------------------------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
| | Description of Fattening Food. | | | | |
| |--------------------+-------------------| | | | |
| | Given in | Given | | | | |
A.|Duration|limited quantities. | ad libitum. | B. | C. | D. | E. | F.
==+========+====================+===================+====+=====+====+====+===
The Analysed "Fat Pig."[12]
--+--------+----------------------------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
| weeks | | | | | |
1 | 10 |Mixture of bran 1, bean and lentil-meal |2.66| 7.76|17.6|14.9|405
| | 2, and barley-meal 3 parts, ad libitum| | | | |
==+========+========================================+====+=====+====+====+===
Series I.
--+--------+--------------------+-------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
3 | 8 |None. |Bean & lentil-meal.|0.68| 4.88|25.3|17.5|621
3 | " |Indian-meal. | " |1.86| 6.39|23.7|17.9|477
3 | " |Indian-meal and bran| " |0.33| 5.02|21.1|16.1|362
3 | " |None. |Indian meal. |2.09| 9.28|20.9|18.6|300
3 | " |Bean and lentil-meal| " |0.99| 9.18|20.9|18.4|324
3 | " |Bran. | " |2.35|12.10|20.3|18.7|300
3 | " |Bean, lentil-meal, | " |2.71|10.03|21.3|18.5|307
| | and bran. | " | | | | |
| | +-------------------| | | | |
3 | " |Bean, lentil-meal, Indian-meal, bran, |0.22| 5.65|21.1|16.8|362
| | ad libitum. | | | | |
--+--------+----------------------------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
Means |0.74| 7.82|21.8|17.8|382
====================================================+====+=====+====+====+===
Series II.
--+--------+--------------------+-------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
3 | 8 |None. |Bean & lentil-meal.|3.20| 3.12|26.5|18.2|801
3 | " |Barley-meal. | " |0.16| 4.65|19.2|14.7|575
3 | " |Bran. | " |0.16| 3.99|21.2|15.2|547
3 | " |Barley-meal and bran| " |0.75| 4.57|20.1|15.6|514
3 | " |None. |Barley-meal. |0.56|10.09|18.5|16.9|574
3 | " |Bean and lentil-meal| " |0.53| 6.57|21.1|17.5|620
3 | " |Bran. | " |0.49| 9.79|18.9|16.9|506
3 | " |Bean, lentil-meal, | " |4.33| 4.49|22.7|18.0|578
| | and bran. | | | | | |
| | +-------------------| | | | |
6 | " |Mixture of bran 1, barley-meal 2, and |0.27| 5.65|20.4|16.1|495
| | bean lentil-meal 3 parts, ad libitum. | | | | |
6 | " |Mixture of bran 1, bean lentil-meal 2, |1.58| 8.10|21.1|17.6|515
| | barley-meal 3 parts, ad libitum. | | | | |
--+--------+----------------------------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
Means |0.59| 6.10|21.0|16.7|572
====================================================+====+=====+====+====+===
Series III.
--+--------+--------------------+-------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
4 | 8 |Dried Cod Fish. |Bran & Indian-meal |1.06| 5.06|24.3|18.1|315
| | | (equal parts). | | | | |
4 | " | " |Indian-meal. |0.26| 8.16|25.6|20.9|352
--+--------+--------------------+-------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
Means |0.66| 6.61|24.9|19.5|333
====================================================+====+=====+====+====+===
Series IV.
--+--------+--------------------+-------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
3 | 10 |Lentil-meal & bran. |Sugar. |3.07| 9.30|19.4|16.9|
3 | " | " |Starch. |3.18| 9.36|19.4|16.9|
3 | " | " |Sugar & starch. |4.06|10.78|17.7|16.1|
| | +-------------------| | | | |
3 | " |Lentils, bran, sugar, starch, ad libitum|4.80| 9.96|18.7|16.5|
--+--------+----------------------------------------+----+-----+----+----|---
Means |3.78| 9.85|18.8|16.6|
----------------------------------------------------+----+-----+----+----+---
Means of all |0.58| 7.34|21.2|17.3|472
====================================================+====+=====+====+====+===

The larger appropriation of the non-nitrogenous constituents of its food by the pig, as compared with the sheep, must not be attributed solely to its greater tendency to fatten, but partly to the far more digestible nature of the food supplied to it.