38 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



and quality of lier milk, which is attractive to the breeder, or 

 satisfactory to the consumer. 



So too of fat. Tlie fat-cells, that tissue of the body in which 

 adipose matter is deposited, are found in fat and lean animals 

 alike — the difference consisting in the amount of their contents 

 and their number only. For the supply of fat, certain organs 

 are provided, which are ca})able of receiving all that excess of 

 non-azotized compounds, such as starch, oil, &c., which is con- 

 tained in the alimentary matter taken into the body. Where 

 there is a ready absorption of these compounds into the vessels, 

 fat is produced, especially if with this absorption there is com- 

 bined a vigorous power to generate adipose tissue. "Where they 

 are not absorbed, accumulations of fat do not take place ; and 

 where they are absorbed, without being provided with adipose 

 tissue, they would accumulate injuriously in the blood, if not 

 drawn off by the* liver. Hence it is that in warm climates, 

 where there is diminished excretion through the lungs, and non- 

 azotized food is not got rid of by the respiratory process, the liver 

 is overworked, its function becomes disordered from its inability 

 to separate from the blood all that it should draw off, and these 

 injurious substances accumulating in the blood, " produce 

 various symptoms that are known under the general term 

 bilious." Hence, also, some persons never become fat, however 

 large the quantity of oily matter taken into the stomach ; and 

 it is in such persons that the tendency to disorder of the liver 

 from overwork is most readily manifested ; they are, therefore, 

 obliged to abstain from the use of fat-producing articles of 

 food. It is the power, therefore, to absorb these fat-producing 

 articles of food, and to generate adipose tissue for their recep- 

 tion, that saves the liver from being overtasked, and results in 

 accumulations of fat. The constituents of fat are termed 

 stearine, marzerine, and oleine. 



We have dwelt upon the production of animal fat, and the 

 organs engaged in its manufacture, in order to show how 

 distinct a part of the animal economy it is, and how naturally 

 the fat-producing functions can be transmitted, independently 

 of all others, and may be cultivated at the expense of all 

 others. 



The secretion of milk is a very different matter, and is 

 performed by certain glands, whose business it is rather " to 



