448 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



respiration, going principally to the maintenance of the animal tem- 

 perature. Whatever basis in fact this view may have, it is pretty 

 well established that the substances belonging to the latter class of 

 foods are especially favorable to the production of fat, when taken into 

 the system. This fat may exist ready formed in the food, as it is fur- 

 nished abundantly by both the animal and vegetable kingdoms ; or, 

 as is held by many physiologists, it may be formed in the system by 

 the chemical transformation of starch and sugar. Numerous experi- 

 ments have been made on geese, ducks, pigs, bees, etc., which go to 

 prove that these animals accumulate much more fat than can be 

 accounted for by the quantity present in the food. M. Flourens had 

 the bears in the Jardin des Plantes fed exclusively on bread, and they 

 became excessively fat. Bees confined to a diet of purified sugar con- 

 tinue to produce wax, which strictly belongs to the group of fats. 

 But, whatever its source, the excessive use of non-nitrogenous food, 

 conjoined with inactivity, frequently leads to the deposit of an inordi- 

 nate amount of oleaginous matter. This fact is illustrated by numer- 

 ous instances both among the lower animals and among men. At 

 Strasbourg, the geese are fattened by shutting them up in darkened 

 coops within a heated room, and stuffing them constantly with food. 

 The high temperature lessens the escape of heat, and thus favors the 

 process. Here all the conditions for insuring obesity are resorted to 

 viz., external heat, obscurity, inactivity, and the cramming of the ani- 

 mals with fattening food. A still greater refinement for pandering to 

 the appetite is resorted to by the Italians who relish the fat of the 

 ortolan. To procure this in perfection the natural habits of the bird 

 were watched, and, it having been found that it only takes food at the 

 rising of the sun, they cheat the birds by producing an artificial sun- 

 rise. To effect this, the ortolans are placed in a dark, warm chamber 

 which has but one aperture in the wall. Food being scattered over 

 the floor, a lantern is placed at a certain hour in the opening, when 

 the birds, misled by the dim light, at once commence feeding. The 

 meal finished, the lantern is withdrawn, and more food scattered about, 

 when the ortolans sleep. Two or three hours having elapsed, and di- 

 gestion being completed, the lantern is again made to throw its light 

 into the apartment. The rising sun recalls the birds to the habit 

 of again feeding ; and they again sleep with returning darkness. 

 This process is repeated several times in the twenty-four hours, and 

 in a very short time the ortolan becomes literally a ball of fat, wdiich, 

 strung on a wick, is said to make an excellent lamp. 



It is known that farinaceous and vegetable foods are fattening, and 

 saccharine matters are especially so. The instance of laborers in Italy, 

 who get fat during the grape and fig season, has been frequently 

 quoted. In sugar-growing countries, the negroes and cattle employed 

 on the plantations grow remarkably stout while the cane is being 

 gathered and the sugar extracted. During this harvest the saccharine 



