"The weight under which an Animal has the greatest strength and activity--which I shall call its _Athletic weight_,--is that weight under which the Heart--and the proportion of the weight of the Heart to the weight of the body are greatest: the strength of the Muscles is measured by the strength of the Heart, p. 117. "If the weight of the body of an Animal be greater than its _Athletic Weight_, it may be reduced to that weight by evacuations, dry food and exercise. These lessen the weight of the Body, by wasting its fat, and lessening its Liver; and they increase the weight of the Heart, by increasing the quantity and motion of the blood. Thus a game Cock in ten days is reduced to his athletic weight, and prepared for fighting. "If the Food, which with Evacuations and Exercise, reduced the Cock to his athletic weight in ten days, be continued any longer, the Cock will not have that strength and activity which he had before under his athletic weight; which may be owing to the loss of weight going on after he arrives at his athletic weight. "It is known by experiment, that a Cock cannot stand above 24 hours at his athletic weight, and that a Cock has changed very much for the worse in 12 hours. "When a Cock is at the top of his condition, that is, when he is at his athletic weight, his Head is of a glowing red colour, his Neck thick, and his Thigh thick and firm;--the day after his complexion is less glowing, his Neck thinner, and his Thigh softer;--and the third day his Thigh will be very soft and flaccid. p. 119. "If the increase of weight in a small compass of time, rise to above a certain quantity, it will cause disorders. "I can bear an increase of above a pound and a half in one day, and an increase of three or four pounds in six or seven days, without being disordered; but think I should suffer from an increase of five or six pounds in that time. "An increase of weight may be carried off by lessening the Food,--or by increasing the Discharges.--The discharges may be increased either by exercise, or by evacuations procured by art. "By lessening the daily quantity of my food to 23 ounces, I have lost 26 ounces;--by fasting a whole day, I lost 48 ounces, having gained 27 the day before. "Mr. Rye was a strong, well set, corpulent man, of a sanguine complexion; by a brisk walk for one hour before breakfast he threw off, by insensible perspiration, one pound of increased weight; by a walk of three hours, he threw off two pounds of increased weight. The best way to take off an increase of weight which threatens a distemper, is either by fasting or exercise. p. 84. "The mean loss of weight by several grown bodies caused by a purging medicine composed of a drachm of _Jalap_ and ten grains of _Calomel_, was about 2-3/4 Avoirdupois pounds; and the mean quantity of Liquor, drank during the time of Purging, was about double the loss of Weight."--ROBINSON _on the Animal Economy_, p. 458.