PRODUCTS VOIDED BY THE COW IN 24 HOURS.
| Products. | Weight in the wet state | Weight in the dry state | Elementary Matter in the Food. | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon. | Hydrogen. | Oxygen. | Azote. | Salts and Earths. | |||||||||||||||||
| lb. | oz. | dwt. | lb. | oz. | dwt. | lb. | oz. | dwt. | lb. | oz. | dwt. | lb. | oz. | dwt. | lb. | oz. | dwt. | lb. | oz. | dwt. | |
| Excrements | 76 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Urine | 21 | 11 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Milk | 22 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| Total | 120 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| " matter of food | 220 | 3 | 7 | 28 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| Difference | 99 | 3 | 16 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| WATER CONSUMED BY THE COW IN 24 HOURS. | WATER VOIDED BY THE COW IN 24 HOURS. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lbs. | oz. | lbs. | oz. | ||
| With the potatoes | 23 | 12 | With the excrements | 53 | 10 |
| With the hay | 2 | 9 | With the urine | 15 | 14 |
| Taken as drink | 132 | 0 | With the milk | 16 | 3 |
| Total consumed | 158 | 5 | Total voided | 85 | 11 |
| Water consumed | 158 | 5 | |||
| Water passed off by pulmonary and cutaneous transpiration | 79 | 2 | |||
We here perceive a large loss of water, carbon, hydrogen, &c. Nearly all this loss of carbon and hydrogen escaped by respiration, while most of the water, oxygen, nitrogen, and salts, passed off in perspiration. In further illustration of the subject of respiration, Liebig says, "from the accurate determination of the quantity of carbon daily taken into the system in the food, as well as of that proportion of it which passes out of the body in the fœces and urine, unburned, that is, in some form uncombined with oxygen, it appears that an adult taking moderate exercise, consumes 13.9 oz. of carbon daily." The foregoing are facts in the animal economy, capable of vast practical bearing in the management of our domestic animals. But before following out these principles to their application, let us briefly examine
The Effects of Respiration.
We have seen from the experiment of Boussingault, that there is a loss of 6 lbs. 6 oz. of carbon, and 8 oz. 3 dwt. of hydrogen in the food of the horse, and something less in that of the cow, every 24 hours, which has not been left in the system, nor has it escaped by the evacuations. What has become of so large an amount of solid matter? It has escaped through the lungs and been converted into air. The carbon and hydrogen of the food have undergone those various transformations which are peculiar to the animal economy, digestion, assimilation, &c., which it is not necessary, nor will our limits permit us here to explain; and they appear at last in the veinous blood, which in the course of its circulation is brought into the cells of the lungs. The air inhaled is sent through every part of their innumerable meshes, and is there separated from the blood, only by the delicate tissues or membranes which enclose it. A portion of the carbon and hydrogen escapes from the blood into the air-cells, and at the instant of their contact with the air, they affect a chemical union with its oxygen, forming carbonic acid and the vapor of water, which is then expired, and a fresh supply of oxygen is inhaled. This operation is again repeated, through every successive moment of animal existence.