1300 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AGRICULTURE. mnrLnma. 



of an animal body is the same In all regions, it follows that more carbonaceous food is required to keep 

 Up the animal heat in a eold region than in a warm one, and hence the great importance of protecting 

 animals from a greater degree of cold than is natural to them in every Mage of their growth, and foi 

 obvloul rewOM II la equally Important to protect them from extreme heat. This subject has been 

 beautifully illustrated by Liebig, who says, " were we to go naked like certain savage tribes, or if in 

 hunting and lishing we were exposed to trie same degree of cold as the Samoyedes, we should be able 

 with ease to consume 10 lbs. of llesh, and perhaps a dozen of tallow candles into the bargain, as warmly 

 clad travellers have related with astonishment of these people. We should then also be able to take 

 the same quantity Of brandy or train oil without bad effects, because the carbon and hydrogen of these 

 substances would only sutlice to keep up the equilibrium between the temperature of the external air 

 and that of our bodies." (Chemittry a* applied to Physiology, Sec.) The only use of clothes, says Dr. 

 Playfair, is to economise food by retaining heat. ( Lecture on the Applications of Physiology to the 

 Hearing and Feeding of Cattle. \a Journ. It. A. E.. vol. iv. p. 221.) The animal body is a lurnace which 

 must be kept up to a certain heat in all climates. This furnace must, therefore, be supplied with more 

 or less fuel according to the temperature of the external air. If, then, in winter we wish to retain the 

 vital functions of our cattle in a proper degree of activity, we must keep up the heat of their bodies. 

 This we may do in two ways. We may either add more fuel (food) to the furnace, or we may protect 

 their b.idics'fro'ii the eold. Warmth is an equivalent for food, and as a proof, Dr. Playfair cites the fol- 

 low tag experiment, which was made by the Karl of Dude at Whitfield farm. One hundred sheep were 

 folded by tens in pens, each of which was 22 ft. in length by 111 ft. in breadth, and possessed a covered 

 shed attached to it of 12 ft. in length by in ft. in breadth. They were kept in these from the 10th of 

 October to the 10th of March. Each sheep consumed on an average 20 lbs. of Swedes daily. Another 

 hundred were folded in pens of a similar size, but without sheds attached. They were kept during the 

 same time, and their daily consumption of Swedes amounted to 25 lbs. each. Here the circumstances 

 wire precisely similar with respect to exercise, the only difference being that the first hundred sheep 

 had sheds into which they might retire, and thus be partially protected from the cold. This partial 

 protection was equivalent to a certain amount of food, and consequently we find that the sheep enjoying 

 I his protection consumed one-fifth less food than those sheep which were left entirely exposed to the cold. 

 In the last case the consumption of the additional food arose wholly from the necessity of adding more 

 fuel (food) to the furnace of the body, in order to keep up its normal temperature. This was proved 

 from the circumstance, that those sheep which enjoyed the protection had increased 3 lbs. each more 

 than those left unprotected, although the latter had consumed one-fifth more food. (Journ. A. S. E. 

 1843, p. 222.) The honey stored up by bees is for the purpose of serving as fuel to keep up the heat of 

 their bodies during the winter. Now it has been found that when two hives of bees are placed in one 

 hive during winter, they actually consume less honey than each hive would have done separately. 



8117 «. The assimilative power of the graminieora is enormous, and the quantity of food which they 

 consume is proportional. In summer, when the temperature of the air approaches more nearly to that of 

 the body, the heat generated by the combustion of this food is more than is sufficient to retain the normal 

 temperature of the system. Hence it is that we find oxen so much inconvenienced by hot weather, and 

 that we observe them standing in streams of running water, or exposing themselves, with evident satis- 

 faction to a shower of rain. The cold water serves to carry off the redundant heat, and, consequently, 

 matter, from the body ; for heat is produced by the combustion of matter. This practice, therefore, 

 although agreeable to the cattle, can scarcely be a profitable one for the grazier : and hence, as before 

 hinted at, the advantage of a shed in summer to exclude the heat, as in winter to retain it. " The air 

 in summer being so much expanded by heat, much less air is taken into the system in an equal number 

 of respirations than in winter ; consequently less oxygen is consumed. But oxygen is the principal 

 acting chemical force ; it is, therefore, the cause of waste. The case of cattle now feeding is the very 

 reverse of what it is in winter. In cold weather, the vital force (cause of supply) is reduced in energy, 

 whilst that of the chemical force is augmented ; but in summer the vital functions are elevated and the 

 chemical powers depressed. Vitality, having now a diminished force in antagonism toitsaction, exerts 

 all its powers in increasing the mass of the organs in which it resides ; it therefore converts into 

 blood all azotised parts of the food taken by the animal, except those which supply the small amount ot 

 waste. All the excess of blood is converted into flesh (i. e. muscular tissue and cellular tissue). I he 

 animal now becomes fleshy and plump. The other constituents of the food, such as starch, sugar, and 

 gum, are converted into fat, and deposited as adipose tissue. The cause of the deposition of fat is this : 

 that sufficient oxygen does not enter the system to consume the food, or to convert it Into carbonic acid 

 and water; it is, therefore, only partially consumed, or in other words, converted into fat (Liebig). 

 Fat is not a part of the organism ; it is a* chemical compound arising from an unnatural state. The 

 fattening of cattle is similar to the growing of corn plants, or to .agriculture generally. The object of 

 agriculture is to produce an abnormal increase of some particular constituent of a plant, such as ol 

 gluten in the wheat. This we do by chemical means, by manure. The fattening of cattle is similar. 

 Our object is to produce an unnatural increase of some particular parts of the body ; and to do this we 

 must put the cattle in an unnatural state. (Journ. R. A. S. E.. vol. iv. p. 224.) 



8118. Exercise The most favourable conditions to the development of tallow, are, food destitute of 

 nitrogen, warmth, want of exercise, and in some cases darkness. Motion diminishes the tendency ot an 

 animal to fatten, " by increasing the number of its respirations, and therefore by giving to the system an 

 increased supply of oxygen gas, which consumes the tallow. Hence our practice of stall-feeding cattle. 

 Liebig asserts, ' that every motion, every manifestation of force, is the result of a transformation of the 

 structure or of its substance ; that every conception, every mental affection, is followed by changes in the 

 chemical nature of the secreted fluids ; that every thought, every sensation, is accompanied by a change 

 in the composition of the substance of the brain. There is a constant conflict in the body between the 

 two antagonist powers, vitality and chemical affinity. In the state of health, vitality retains the ascend- 

 ancy, and subdues the chemical powers ; but this subjection is the result of much effort on the part of 

 vitality, for the strength of the rival forces is nearly equal. The moment, therefore, that vitality leaves 

 undefended a single point in the fortress of the body, that moment the chemical forces begin the work 

 of demolition on the unprotected part. Thus, if vitality be called upon by the superior power, volition, 

 to execute some purpose of its will, — to move the arm for example, — the vitality residing in the mus- 

 cles of the arm obeys this command, and occasions the desired movement. Before the production of 

 motion, all its powers were exerted in preventing the encroachment of the chemical forces (i. e. of the 

 oxygen of the air). But when it is employed in effecting a vital movement, such as that of the arm, it is 

 no longer in a position to resist the attack of its antagonist power. This, therefore, immediately acts 

 upon the muscles, which obey the will, destroys part of their substance, and occasions its separation from 

 the tissues. Poultry-feeders confine their poultry when it is necessary to fatten them quickly. The 

 cruel practice of nailing the feet of geese to the ground during fattening is owing to the anxiety of ava- 

 ricious feeders to prevent the expenditure of a particle of the food by the motion of the animal. The 

 greatest part of the food consumed by an animal thus deprived of the means of motion goes to the pro- 

 duction ol fat. When pigs are put up to be fattened, they are removed from the yard, in which exercise 

 is permitted, and placed in a narrow sty, with little room to move. A small amount of the food being 

 now expended in the production of motion, the pig rapidly increases in size. Sheep fed in sheds con- 

 sume from one-fifth to one-half less food, and increase one-third more in weight, than those fed in the 

 open field. The cause of these results is two-fold : — first, the sheep in the sheds are subjected to less 

 motion, and therefore exhaust less food in its production, than those in the field ; and. secondly, the sheep 

 are kept warm in the sheds, and therefore expend less food for the support of animal heat than those 



