CHAPTER VL 



FORMATION OF FLESH. 

 § 1. Intkoductort. 



In tlie foregoing chapters we liave considered the com- 

 position of the animal hodj and of those substances which 

 serve to nourish it — the nutrients, th^ manner in which 

 these nutrients are digested and resorbed so as to become 

 part of the body, and in outline the changes which they 

 undergo in the body and the forms in which they are 

 finally excreted from it. 



We saw that we may regard the body as composed es- 

 sentially of protein, fat and mineral matters. The object 

 of feeding is a production of these several ingredients in 

 greater or less quantity. If an animal is simply to be 

 kept in the same bodily condition — to be wintered, e. g. — 

 we aim only to produce enough to supply the unavoidable 

 destruction of tissue that goes on in every living organism, 

 while in feeding for milk, or in fattening, we endeavor to 

 obtain the most rapid production possible, especially of 

 protein and fat; but in any case some production must 

 take place. 



Plainly, then, it is of the highest importance to know 

 the laws that regulate the formation of flesh (protein) and 

 fat, from what ingredients of the food they are formed, 

 and what quantities and proportions of the latter will pro- 

 duce the desired effect most rapidly and cheaply. In this 

 chapter we shall consider tlie laws regulating the produc- 



