It is almost unnecessary to describe obesity, since it is known at the first glance. The face is animated; the circulation is impeded, and renders the complexion turgid, and sometimes almost of a deep wine-colour. The eyes suffer from this impeded circulation; they are sparkling, and frequently suffused with blood. The ears, which are generally colourless in health, are, for the most part, red in those labouring under obesity. The circulation through the head being greater than through any other part of the body, and being impeded, an almost continual perspiration with great heat is established; thus it is that fat people can seldom bear to have the head covered; in some cases it even produces dizziness. As this condition progresses, if fortunate enough to escape threatened cerebral affections, the blood loses its chief characteristic, and becomes watery; such persons are pale and flabby. The integument of the lower part of the face is capable of great distension, and here, in obesity, fat accumulates, and forms on both sides an unsightly mass, sometimes reaching to the chest. A roll of fat is often found on the back of the neck. The trunk becomes enormously developed, and the breasts particularly enlarged. The arms are very fat; and as the areolar tissue which surrounds the wrist is of a close texture, fat cannot accumulate there, and the skin not being distended, a deep groove or furrow is formed, as is the case in very fat children. The hands usually participate in this excess of _embonpoint_, but at a later period than other parts of the body. The abdomen attains a vast size, and impedes walking; so that a person labouring under obesity carries the head erect, and the body thrown back, as in the case of a pregnant woman, in order to preserve the necessary equilibrium and not fall forward. The intestinal mass, with its surrounding fat, being connected with the kidneys, by its weight gives rise to a dragging sensation, and causes pain on walking. It also pushes up the diaphragm, compresses the lungs and the heart, and becomes one of the causes of the sense of oppression complained of by fat people. Many such, especially females, have between the abdomen and the thighs deep furrows, which become scalded, and require the application of starch, or of some other powder, as is the case with infants when very fat. The integument of the thigh is readily distensible, and allows the deposition of fat as far down as the knee joint. At this point the areolar tissue is more dense, and less in quantity. The skin of the thigh, being thus distended, forms large folds, falling over the knee joint. The legs become likewise enlarged, frequently engorged, and troubled with varicosities, more especially towards the lower portion of the limb. Gradually the feet participate in this engorgement.