118 PRINCIPLES OF STOCK-BREEDING. 



male, or of the testicles of the male, gives an increased 

 tendency to fatten. 



The influence of an excessive deposition of fat in 

 the tissues upon the general health and activity of the 

 system is thus referred to by Dr. Cragie, in his paper 

 on " Adipose Tissue : " 



" In persons of this description, who, it is matter 

 of common observation, are generally not only pleth- 

 oric but bloated, and liable to imperfect circulation, 

 and disorders of the circulation and secretions gener- 

 ally, and in whom very slight causes often induce 

 serious disorders, the adipose tissue appears to lose a 

 great proportion of the small degree of vital energy 

 which it possesses ; and the more abundant its secreted 

 product is, the less active are its vessels and the in- 

 herent properties of the membrane. 



" In consequence of this greatly-impaired energy, 

 slight causes, as cold, injury, punctures, etc., produce 

 suddenly a complete loss of circulation and action in 

 the tissues for it is not increased but diminished 

 action and this impaired energy continues until the 

 natural function of the tissue becomes extinct." As 

 to the formation of fat, he adds: "In females and 

 eunuchs it is more abundant than in males; in fe- 

 males deprived of the ovaries it is more abundant 

 than in those possessed of those organs, and it is well 

 known that sterility is frequent among the corpulent 

 of both sexes." l 



In many instances the integrity of important or- 

 gans is impaired by deposits of fat, or by the actual 

 transformation of their substance into fatty tissue, 



1 " Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology," vol. i., p. 62. 



