In view, then, of preventing "bone disorder," which we have termed indigestion, we should endeavor to ascertain what articles are best for food, and learn, from the experience of others, what have been universally esteemed as such, and, by trying them on our own animals, prove whether we actually find them so. Scalded or boiled food is better adapted to the stomach of animals than food otherwise prepared, and is so much less injurious. The agents that act on the internal system are those which, in quantities sufficient for an ordinary meal, supply the animal system with stimulus and nutriment just enough for its wants, and contain nothing in their nature inimical to the vital operations. All such articles are properly termed food. (For treatment, see Hide-bound, p. 196.)
FOOTNOTES:
[30] Whenever there is a deficiency of carbon, bone meal may assist to support combustion in the lungs, and by that means restore healthy action of the different functions, provided, however, the digestive organs, aided by the vital power, can overcome the chemical action by which the atoms of bone meal are held together.