256 
An Essay on Fat arid Muscle. 
believe, also subsidiary to the lungs as a purifier of the blood. 
It is a very common occurrence to find stall-fed animals with 
diseased livers, and yet this does not interfere with the power of 
accumulatino: fat : on the contrary, if our theory be correct, it 
must materially assist in accelerating this process. We have 
witnessed the sam.e in the livers of horses in manv instances — the 
animals will continue to do fair ordinary work in either coaching 
or posting, and always look healthv, when, should thev be attacked 
with some prevailing epidemic or a severe catarrhal affection, the 
veterinary practitioner, if he be a young one, will be surprised to 
find that the remedies which in similar cases had proved suc- 
cessful, should fail here ; and he docs not get at the truth until 
a post-mortem examination reveals to him that there are extensive 
lesions of the structure of the liver, it having the same appearance 
as if it had been boiled. 
10. Professor Playfair was the first who directed the public 
attention to the fact just related, that an animal having small 
offal was more disposed to fatten, and to come quicker to ma- 
turity, than an animal with large lungs, livers, &c. We believe 
we are correct in stating that this discovery was never brought 
before the public until he delivered his two lectures before 
the Roval Agricultural Society on December 27, 1842; and 
it was in consequence of some inquiries which we made to ascer- 
tain the truth of the Professor s statement, that we also became 
acquainted with another singular and important fact — that in pro- 
portion as an animal fattened, so in proportion did the organs tchich 
are chiejiy connected with nutrition become diminished in size. This 
fact we shall find to be intimately connected with the breeding, 
rearing, and feeding of animals. We draw our conclusions from 
examining a great number of stall-fed animals, chiefly of the 
Devon breed, averaging from 5 cwt. to 9 cwt. of meat. ^\ e have 
seen them slaughtered at all stages of feeding — from the compara- 
tively lean to the fatted ox — and the result of our observations has 
been, that in proportion as the fattening process went on, the 
lungs, stomachs, intestines, liver, &c., were reducing in size. It 
has already been stated (6) that a constant change of particles is 
going on in the tissues of the living body ; and it has been com- 
puted by physiologists that the human body, including the 
skeleton, is taken down and rebuilt about every seven years ; so 
that we may safely say that it is being taken down and rebuilt at 
the same time ; and that the processes of destruction and reno- 
ration, absorption and nutrition, are always being carried on 
concomitantly. Now, within certain limits it is observed that the 
greater the waste, the greater is the supply — as by constant exer- 
cise the muscles are increased instead of decreased, so that the 
effect of nutrition is not only to replace what was destroyed, but 
