8 LIVE-STOCK JUDGING 



sustain life, although the necessary elements are contained 

 therein; yet from these materials are produced, in large 

 part, the meat we eat and -the milk we drink, our two 

 most valuable tissue-building foods. 



It is with the view of securing the most efficient animal 

 machines for the different kinds of production that the 

 husbandman practices judging. 



The Function of the Animal Machine 



5. Efficiency. — Mechanical efficiency is a matter which 

 involves the character of the materials of construction, 

 the perfection of the individual parts, the accuracy with 

 which they are assembled, the power available for their 

 operation, and the effectiveness of its application and 

 control. 



Efficiency in the functional capacity of animals is 

 analogous in many respects. Whether in the production 

 of horse power, milk, a carcass, or a fleece, it involves and 

 is directly dependent upon, first, the individual unit of 

 structure, the cell, and its arrangement in the organization 

 of tissue ; second, the gross structure into which the 

 various individual tissues are incorporated; third, the 

 vital phenomena with which the tissues are engaged for 

 both the maintenance and productiveness of the structure 

 as a whole ; fourth, the manner in which they are gov- 

 erned ; and, fifth, the significance of abnormal conditions 

 of structure and the extent to which they may impair 

 function. 



An elementary consideration of histology, anatomy, 

 physiology and pathology, in their relation to the struc- 

 tures and correlated functions concerned in animal pro- 

 duction is, therefore, essential. 



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