THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



G73 



&c , he made dissections of these organs, and 

 provided faithful drawings of both their visi- 

 ble and microscopical appearances. Our space 

 will only admit of a slight r^iference to their 

 symptoms. 



In the sheep, tlie hearts of several speci- 

 mens were found in an unnatural, that is, un- 

 sound condition ; the external surfaces very 

 soft, greasy, and of a dirty brownish yellow 

 colour, motted with yellow spots of fat imbed- 

 ed in the substance of the heart. Under the 

 microscope the process was readily detected of 

 the muscles being changed into, or overlaid by 

 fat. The lungs were flabby, with numerous 

 tubercles, and their function, or power of ac- 

 tion, greatly diminished. Similar observations 

 apply to the pigs, vrhose circulating system 

 suffered serious interruption, indicated by the 

 dark, livid liver. In horned cattle, the left 

 ventricle of the heart had, in the several in- 

 stances examined, been more or less converted 

 into fat, having a yellow, soft, and greasy ap- 

 pearance. The intestines, also, exhibited a fat, 

 putty-like mass, from aa inch to an inch and 

 a half thick, in various parts of their surfaces. 

 The worst feature of high breeding, early ma- 

 turity, and consequent aptitude to fsitten, ap- 

 pears to be under our modern stimulating sys- 

 tem to convert the most important organ of life 

 and health into a mass of fat. The stomach 

 may indeed prepare food for the production of 

 blood, and the lungs and kidneys may purify 

 it of excrementitious matter, but these depart- 

 ments of the blood-factory are only subsidiary 

 to the heart, whose special duty it is to propel 

 the vital fluid to the most distant recesses of 

 the body, that every part may be nourished 

 and renovated. Yet I found the great central 

 organ more than any other damaged. * * * 

 This material (fat) may itself be regarded as 

 the superfluous food with which t!ie animal 

 had been gorged. It was first deposited in all 

 loose parts of the body, these being most adapt- 

 ed for its accumulation, beneath the skin, and 

 around the kidneys, stomach, intestines, and 

 heart. At length, in such localities, the fat in- 

 vaded the muscles themselves, by passing in 

 bet\Teen the fibres. Thus is produced the 

 streaked appearance of meat, — a condition 

 which, within due limits, in no Avay interferes 

 with the health of the animal, nor impairs the 

 nutritive quality of its flesh for food. On the 

 contrary, fat itself is a necessary constituent 

 of the most nutritious food ; and by no pro- 

 visions can a due proportion of this ingredient 

 be secured so effectuall}^ as when it is thus in- 

 termixed with the substance of the muscles 

 themselves. Thus each moutliful of meat con- 

 tains a wholesome and agreeable proportion of 

 fat ; but beyond those limits an animal cannot 

 be fattened w^ithout impairing its own health, 

 and also its nutritive value as human food. Let 

 an animal be fed beyond the limits compatible 

 with health, and the superfluous fat la^ no 

 ^longer confined to the interstices of musciilar 

 43 



fibres, but actually invades, and eventually 

 superseded them." 



It may be said that there is but little danger 

 of over-fattening live stock in Canada, as our 

 animals, generally, are not distinguished for 

 too high breeding, nor are they crammed and 

 pampered Avith oily and stimulating food. We 

 have seen, however, particularly at our butch- 

 ers' Christmas show of meat in Toronto, both 

 cattle, sheep, and swine, fattened to a degree 

 that can scarcely be considered compatible 

 with the health of the animals, or the whole- 

 someness of their meat for human food. Both 

 sheep and cattle, although in low condition in 

 spring, will often upon our pastures in summer 

 and autumn, lay on fat rapidly, sufiiciently 

 so for all useful and practical purposes, without 

 recourse to artificial stimulants. 



The report thus concludes: — "Under the 

 present system the public have no guarantee, 

 and are not insured the best, if indeed the 

 cheapest food. The bulky withers of a fat bul- 

 lock are no criterion of health, for his fat, tu- 

 bular back may conceal the revolting ravages 

 of disease. All this alone can be discovered 

 by an inspection of the animal's interior after 

 death. The flesh of animals which has been 

 produced by organs themselves diseased, is it- 

 self also necessarily deteriorated, and ought 

 not to be regarded as prime samples of human 

 food. These facts will be best understood by 

 pathologists, but they also come home to the 

 understanding, and certainly to the stomachs 

 of the people.'' 



A Miraculous Corn. 



The " Michigan Farmer" says : " There are 

 nevr circulars being issued which proclaim the 

 Wyandotte Prolific Corn the wonder of the 

 age. Its yield is terrific — twenty stalks from 

 a single grain, and one hundred and twent3'- 

 eight bushels of shelled corn a common pro- 

 duct. This is all certified to by respectable 

 parties, and of course we have to believe it. It 

 must be so, or it would not be put in print ! — 

 especially by those who have the corn for sale 

 at the rate of $4 enough to plant an acre. 

 Wyandotte corn is a new variety of white corn, 

 said to have come originally from California, 

 where it was cultivated by a tribe of Indians 

 of that name. It stools out more than any 

 other variety, and if the accounts are correct, 

 it yields remarkably. Mr. Wm, Cochrane of 

 Corunna, Shiawaesse county, the agent of 

 Messrs. Penfield, Burrall & Co., nurserymen, 

 Lockport, N. Y., called upon us on the 25th, 

 and showed us an ear of this corn, which he 

 had bought at Evansville, Indiana. It was one 

 of fourteen which had grown from a single 

 grain. The ear was handsome in shape, about 

 eleven inches long, and the grains of corn 

 were large, w^hite, flat, compact and regular. 

 The question is, will this corn ripen as far 

 North as this? It did not ripen in New York 



♦ 



