152 DESTINATION OF NON-AZOTIZED ALIMENTS. 



to say that they are deposited as fat ; since it is only when 

 a large quantity of them is taken in, that there is any in- 

 crease in the quantity of fat already in the body. "We shall 

 hereafter see that they are used up in the process of respira- 

 tion, one great object of which is, to produce a certain amount 

 of heat, sufficient to keep up the temperature of the body, in 

 warm-blooded animals, to a high standard. "We might almost 

 say with truth, that a great part of the oleaginous and sac- 

 charine principles is burned within the body, for this pur- 

 pose. The process will be hereafter considered more in 

 detail ( 412, 413) ; and at present we need only stop to 

 remark upon the adaptation between the food provided for 

 animals in different climates, and the amount of heat which 

 it is necessary for them to produce. Thus the bears, and 

 seals, and whales, from which the Esquimaux and the Green- 

 lander derive their support, have an enormous quantity of 

 fat in their massive bodies : this fat is as much esteemed as 

 an article of food amongst these people, as it would be thought 

 repulsive by the inhabitants of southern climates ; and by the 

 large quantity of it they consume, they are able to support 

 the bitterness of an Arctic winter, without appearing to suffer 

 more from the extreme cold than do the residents in more 

 temperate climes during their winter. On the other hand, 

 the antelopes, deer, and wild cattle, which form a large pro- 

 portion of the animal food of savage or half-cultivated nations 

 inhabiting tropical regions, possess very little fat; and the 

 comparatively small supply of carbon and hydrogen, of which 

 the combustion is required to keep up the bodily temperature 

 of the inhabitants of those regions, is derived from the flesh of 

 these animals, in the manner that will be presently 'explained. 

 158. The application of the substances forming the albu- 

 minous group, to the support of the animal body, by affording 

 the materials for the nutrition and re-formation of its tissues, 

 needs little explanation. The proportions of the four ingre- 

 dients of which they are al 1 composed, are so nearly the same, 

 that no essential difference appears to exist among them ; and 

 it is a matter of little consequence, except as far as the gra- 

 tification of the palate is concerned, whether we feed upon 

 the flesh of animals (syntonin, 16), upon the white of egg 

 (albumen, 13), the curd of milk (casein, 15), the grain of 

 wheat (gluten), or the seed of the pea (legumin). All these 



