5Ff:fiDt2^G KAtlOKS. 155 



fat of the tissues, a large portion of the last three and 

 perhaps some of the first two being changed into car- 

 bonic acid by the combustion of the carbon, or, to speak 

 more strictly, by the union of their carbon with oxygen 

 inhaled by the lungs, and affording by this consumption 

 of carbon the heat necessary for the performance of the 

 vital functions of the animals. It is believed that the 

 oil is directly absorbed into the blood and changed into 

 the fat which is deposited in the tissues, or is gathered in 

 masses in various parts of the body, or is secreted in the 

 milk and forms butter. But by some mysterious process 

 this fat is wholly changed in appearance, flavor and char- 

 acter in its passage through the animal, and although 

 the various oils and fats of the food affect to some small 

 extent the taste and color of these animal fats, yet on the 

 whole there is little or no chemical difference between 

 them, and they all partake very much of the same gen- 

 eral character. It is true that an expert can detect, for 

 instance, the flavor of the oil of cotton-seed or of linseed 

 meal in the butter made from them when used as food for 

 the cows, and also the difference in the fat of pigs made 

 by feeding peas, corn, acorns, chestnuts, and beech nuts; 

 also the flavor and color of the fat of oxen are affected 

 by the various fatty foods used; but so far as we know 

 the differences are only apparent to the taste and cannot 

 be detected by chemical analysis. 



Nevertheless the alchemy of the palate being more 

 sensitive than that of the chemist's laboratory, it behooves 

 the feeder of meat and the maker of butter — and cheese, 

 too, beyond a doubt — to make use of concentrated foods 

 with care and judgment, because of their effect upon the 

 character of the products as well as^ upon the health of 

 his animals. This latter, however, affects the dairyman 

 more than the feeder of meat, for as fattening is a 

 morbid process it is only necessary to stop at a certain 

 stage at the obesity of an animal to save it from death 



