Similar appearances may be present in the protoplasm of muscular tissue, the cells of the liver, kidneys, and gastric glands, when poisonous doses of phosphorus or arsenic are given. The occurrence of an acute fatty metamorphosis of the cells of various organs in new-born children has repeatedly been observed. The presence of fat in various organs of the body in pernicious anæmia, and in the heart in connection with stenosis of the coronary artery, is universally recognized. The abuse of alcohol, long-continued obstruction to the flow of venous blood, exposure to high temperatures, are all known to be conditions in connection with which fat-drops are found in the various cells of the body. The effects of poisoning with phosphorus and arsenic are of special importance, as showing that the abundance of fat present in the cells represents a result of the degeneration of these cells, {76} since it takes place when the animal is deprived of food. Although there is an evident destruction of albumen, there is also a diminished elimination of carbonic acid and admission of oxygen. These facts are explicable on the ground that the fat present is not consumed, and the accumulation in the cells is evidence of this lack of consumption. The fat is not simply stored, as none is taken in, nor is any food received from which fat might be formed. Its presence, therefore, must be regarded as due to degeneration. Since fat may be formed in the body as a result of the metamorphosis of cell-protoplasm, it is desirable to ascertain whether there are any means by which stored fat may be distinguished from that present as the result of a degeneration of the cell. The term fatty infiltration has been used to indicate the presence of stored fat, the latter being regarded as simply taken into the cell and retained for a longer or shorter time, without any necessary interference with other functions possessed by the cell. In fatty degeneration, on the contrary, it is considered that the quantity of fat present indicates a corresponding diminution in the albuminates of the cell, and is connected with a diminution in the function of the latter, all the greater the more abundant the fat. It is found that in fatty infiltration, as a rule, the fat is present in large drops, the size of the cell being increased in proportion to the quantity of fat present. Although there may be several drops present, they tend to run together, as is suggested by their different size, varying proximity, and the constant presence of a considerable quantity of protoplasm. In organs, on the contrary, whose function is seriously, even fatally, impaired, the fat, as a rule, assumes rather a granular form. Many minute fat-drops are present, and the cell is not particularly, if at all, increased in size. The more abundant the fat the less the protoplasm. Appearances are met with indicating a transition between cells with few fat-granules and those with many.