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ON
FOOD AND DIETETICS.
TREATISE
FOOD AND DIETETICS,
PHYSIOLOGICALLY AND THERAPEUTICALLY
CONSIDERED.
BY
F. W. PAVY, M.D., F.E.S.,
FELLOW OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS;
PHYSICIAN TO, AND LECTURER ON PHYSIOLOGY AT, GUY'S HOSPITAL.
PHILADELPHIA:
HENRY C. LEA.
1874.
PREFACE.
IN the Preface to the second edition of my work on " Digestion,
its Disorders and their Treatment," I mentioned that I had originally
intended to add a section on Food to the contents of that volume,
but that for the reasons given I afterwards determined to publish a
separate treatise on the subject. Thus originated the present work,
which, with the progress of time and a large consumption of mid-
night oil, has grown to dimensions far exceeding those I had at
first contemplated.
From the fact that the subject of Food is one of deep concern,
both to the healthy and the sick ; that the information which has
been obtained during the last few years has completely revolutionized
some of the cardinal scientific notions formerly entertained ; and that
no modern systematic treatise of the kind here presented exists in
the English language, I have been encouraged to think that the task
I have undertaken may not be deemed superfluous. Whatever the
results attained, I have steadily striven, sparing no pains for the
purpose, to render the work produced instructive and useful.
On account of the change recently introduced in chemical notation,
I have given both old and new formulae, placing the latter within
square brackets after the former.
35 GROSVENOR STREET,
GROSVENOR SQUARE, March, 1874.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ox THE DYNAMIC RELATIONS OP
FOOD, 17-24
Matter and Force, 17. Correlation of the Physical Forces, 17,
18. Equivalent of heat in mechanical motion, 18. Force and
energy distinction explained, 18, 19. Analogy between living
matter and a machine, 20. Forms of force derived from the sun,
20. Analogy between the animal system and a steam-engine, 22,
23. Life implies change, 23. Dormant vitality, 23.
ON THE ORIGINATION OF FOOD, 25-35
Power possessed by animals of forming one kind of organic com-
pound out of another, 25, 26. Influence of the solar force, 26-29.
Action of vegetable life, 29-32. Formation of organic compounds,
33, 34. Kesults of animal and vegetable life, 34, 35.
THE CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS OF FOOD, .... 36
ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES : THEIR CLASSIFICATION, CHEMICAL
RELATIONS, DIGESTION, ASSIMILATION, AND PHYSIOLOGI-
CAL USES, a7-146
Distinction between alimentary principles and alimentary sub-
stances, 37. Separation of food and drink not physiologically cor-
rect, 37, 38. Classification of food, 38-40.
THE NITROGENOUS ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES, 41-96 :
Albuminous or protein compounds animal and vegetable pro-
tein compounds, 41-44. Gelatinous principles, 44, 45. Digestion
of the nitrogenous principles, 45-48. Action of pancreatic juice,
48-50. Production of albuminose, 51, 52. Uses of nitrogenous
matter, 53. Its relation to force-production, 54, 55. Experiments
on the elimination of nitrogen, 55-72. Resume on nitrogenous
food and muscular action, 72-74. Heat-production, 74, 75. Varied
amounts of urea excreted on vegetable and animal diets, 75, 76
*
CONTENTS.
Metamorphosis of nitrogenous food, 77-86. Force value of nitro-
genous food, 86-89. Nitrogenous matter as a source of fat, 90-93.
Alimentary value of gelatinous principles, 93-96.
THE NON-NITROGENOUS ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES, 97-113:
Hydrocarbons, or fats, 97-100. Uses of fat, 100-102. Fat as a
heat-producing agent, 102-105. Oxidizable capacity of fat, 105,
106. Fat in relation to muscular force-production, 107-110. Ac-
tual force-value of fat, 111-113.
THE CARBOHYDRATES, 114-141 :
Starch, 114-117. Sugars, 117-120. Gum, 120, 121. Dextrin,
122. Cellulose, 122. Lignin, 122. Lactic acid, 122. Assimila-
tion and utilization of the carbohydrates, 123-126. Their destina?
tion, 127. Power of animals to form fat, 128. Production of foie
gras, 129-130. Conversion of the carbohydrates into fat, 130-134.
Ultimate use of the carbohydrates, 134-136.
Ternary principles not carbohydrates :
Pectin, vegetable acids, alcohol, 136-141.
THE INORGANIC ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES, 142-146 :
Water, 142. Saline matter, 142-146.
ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES, 147-396
ANIMAL ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES, 147-223 :
Their classification, 147, 148. Varieties of meat, 148-158. Un-
wholesome meat, 158-167. Poultry, game, and wild fowl, 167-169.
Fish, 169-177. Shell-fish, 177-181. Eggs, 181-185. Milk, 185-
199. Butter, 200-202. Cheese, 202-205.
Animal foods sometimes but not ordinarily eaten, 206-223.
Cannibalism, 206, 207. Mammals, 206-214. (Horseflesh, 211-
213.) Birds, 214-215. Reptiles, 216, 217. Fish, 217, 218. In-
sects, 218, 219. Earth-eating, 219, 220. Table of references, 221-
223.
VEGETABLE ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES, 224-327 :
Farinaceous seeds, 224-259. The cerealia, 225-254. Wheat and
flour, 226-231. Bread, 231-237. Miscellaneous articles prepared
from flour, 237-239. Unwholesome wheaten products, 240-242.
Oats, 242-244. Barley, 245, 246. Eye, 246-248. Indian corn,
248-250. Rice, 250-252. Millet, 252, 253. Buckwheat, 253.
Quinoa, 254. Leguminous seeds, or pulses, 254-259. Oleaginous
seeds, 259-264. Tubers and roots, 264-276. Potatoes, 264-269.
Herbaceous articles, 276-285. Products of the cabbage tribe, 277,
278. Various vegetables, 279-285. Fruity products consumed as
vegetables, 285, 286. Esculent fungi, 286-289. Varieties of fruit,
CONTENTS. XI
290-314. Bark, 315. Sawdust and wood}' fibre, 315. Saccharine
preparations, 316-320. Saccharine products, 320-322. Farinaceous
preparations, 322-327.
BEVERAGES, 328-395:
Water, 328-335. Non-alcoholic, exhilarating, and restorative
beverages, 335-357. Tea, 336-342. Kepresentatives of tea, 343, 344.
Coffee, 344-350. Fictitious coffee, 350. Chiccory, 350, 351, Gua-
rana, 351, 352. Cocoa, 352-357. Fictitious cocoas, 357. Alcoholic
beverages, 357-395. Effect of alcohol on the system, 358-361.
Beer, 361-365. Cider, perry, 365, 366. Wine, 366-390. French
wines, 381-384. German wines, 384, 385. Hungarian wines, 385.
Greek and Italian wines, 386. Australian wines, 386. Port and
other wines of Portugal, 386, 387. Sherry and other Spanish
wines, 388, 389. Marsala, 389. Madeira, 389. Cape or South
African wines, 389, 390. Fruit wines, 390. Mead, 390. Spirits,
390-394. Liqueurs, 394, 395.
CONDIMENTS, 396.
THE PRESERVATION OF FOOD, 397-402
Modern processes of preservation, 897. Four means of preserving
food, viz., by cold, drying, exclusion of air, and use of antiseptics,
398-402.
PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS, 403-442
Composition of milk and the egg, 403. Researches of the Paris
Gelatin Commission, 404-406. Position held by nitrogenous matter,
407-409. Question as to the necessity of fats and carbohydrates,
410. Adaption of food to demand, 411, 412. Liebig's estimate of
the nutritive value of food, 413. Frankland's estimate of the force-
producing value of food, 414-418. The appetite as a measure of
capacity for work, 419. Nitrogenous matter required for physical
development, 419, 420. Human labor more expensive than steam
work, 421. Moleschott's table of a standard or model diet, 422.
Adjustment of food to climate and work, 423-426. Table showing
percentage composition of various articles of food, 427. Playfair's
dietaries, 428-430. Workhouse dietaries, 430. Prison dietaries,
431, 432. Tables of hard and light labor diets, 433. Industrial
employment, penal, and punishment diets, 434, 435. Instances of
limited diet, 436, 437. Table from Payen of percentage value of
food in nitrogen and carbon, 438, 439. Outgoing of nitrogen and
carbon as a diet basis, 440-442.
PRACTICAL DIETETICS, 443-502
Kind of food best adapted for the support of man, 443. Varieties
of diet consumed by different nations : Arctic regions, 444-446 ;
Xll CONTENTS.
North American Indians, 446; Mexico, 447 ; Pampas Indians, 448 ;
Guachos, 448, 449. Natives of Australia, New Zealand, 449, 450 ;
of the Friendly Islands, 450; Otaheite, 450; Feejee Islands, 451 ;
Tanna, New Caledonia, Savu, 451 ; Sandwich Islands, 452 ; China,
452,453; Japan, 453, 454; India, Ceylon, 455; Africa, 455-459.
Mixed food the natural diet of man, 459. Vegetarianism, 460, 461.
Dietetic value of meat often overestimated, 461. A certain amount
of fresh food necessary to health, 462. Effects of animal and vege-
table food compared, 463-467. Proper amount of food, 467-472.
Effects of excess and deficiency of food, 472-476. Times of eating,
476-484. Culinary preparation of food, 484-491.
DIET or INFANTS, 492-496.
Woman's milk, 492-494. Milk of lower animals, 494, 495. Fari-
naceous food, 496. Liebig's food, 496
DIET FOR TRAINING, 497-502.
Object of training, 497. Old and new systems, 498-500. Oxford
and Cambridge systems, 501, 502.
THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS, . . . . . . . 503-559
General considerations, 503-506. Diet for gout, 506, 507. Influ-
ences of food, 508. Principles of dieting for thinness and stoutness,
509, 510. Keduction of corpulency, 511-513. Dietary for the dia-
betic, 513-515. Ill effects of restriction to salted and dried provi-
sions, 515. Eegulation of amount of fluid, 516. Effect of varieties
of food on the urine, 517-519. Food for weak digestion, 520-522.
Food for dyspepsia, 522-524. Food for disordered states of the in-
testinal canal, 525, 526.
DIETETIC PREPARATIONS FOR THE INVALID, 527-536.
HOSPITAL DIETARIES, 537-558.
Guy's Hospital, 537. St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 538, 539. St.
Thomas's Hospital, 539. London Hospital, 540. St, George's Hos-
pital, 541. Middlesex Hospital, 542, 543. University College
Hospital, 543, 544. King's College Hospital, 544. St. Mary's
Hospital, 545. Westminster Hospital, 546. Seamen's Hospital,
547. Leeds General Infirmary, 547, 548. Manchester Royal Infir-
mary and Dispensary, 548, 549. Birmingham General Hospital,
549, 550. Newcastle-upon-Tyne Infirmary, 551. Edinburgh Royal
Infirmary, 551, 552. Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 553. Richmond,
Whitworth, and Hardwicke Hospitals (Dublin), 553, 554. Bethlem
Lunatic Hospital, 555. St. Luke's Hospital for Lunatics, 555, 556.
Han well Lunatic Asylum, 556-558. Colney Hatch Lunatic Asy-
lum, 559.
INDEX, . 561-574
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
ON THE DYNAMIC RELATIONS OF FOOD.
THE discoveries and inductions of the present age have thrown
a new light on the physiology of food.
Around us we have to deal with Matter and Force the one a
substantive entity, the other appreciable only as a principle of ac-
tion. It has long been known that (as cognizable in onr own era)
matter can be neither created nor destroyed. It may be variously
combined and modified, but it remains the same in essence and un-
altered in amount. Force also has more recently been recognized
as similarly conditioned; and in order that the bearings of food in
relation to this principle may be understood, some preliminary con-
siderations explanatory of the views now entertained regarding it
are necessary.
First, then, we may take it as accepted that, like matter, under
present circumstances, force can be neither created nor destroyed.
" Ex nihilo nihil fit " and " Nihil fit ad nihilum " form axioms that
must be admitted to be incontrovertible. If we except the incon-
siderable accession derived from the occasional descent of a meteoric
body, the earth's matter remains fixed in amount. It is otherwise,
however, with respect to force. Under the form of heat and light,
force is constantly being transmitted to us from the sun ; and it is
from the force thus derived that, in a manner to be explained further
on, life on earth originates and is sustained.
In enunciating his doctrine on the " Correlation of the Physical
Forces," Grove demonstrated that one kind of force was capable of
producing another. His views were first made known at a lecture
delivered at the London Institution in 1842. The word "correla-
tion" he employed as meaning "reciprocal production in other
words, that any force capable of producing another may in its turn
2
18 ' 'INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
be produced by it." The position sought to be established was that
heat, light, electricity, magnetism, chemical affinity, and motion, are
all correlative, or have a reciprocal dependence that either might
produce the others, and that neither could originate otherwise than
by production from some antecedent force or forces.
Just at this time the same field of inquiry was being investigated
by other workers. While Grove was asserting that the great prob-
lem awaiting solution in regard to the correlation of physical forces
was the establishment of their equivalent of power, or their measu-
rable relations to a given standard, Mayer, Joule, and Helmholtz
were announcing the actual equivalents themselves.
Mayer, of Germany, had the priority in the publication of his
researches. As a member of the medical profession he approached
the subject through its relation to physiology. In 1842 he pro-
pounded, in its full comprehensiveness, the doctrine of the "Con-
servation of Force."
Nearly at the same time Mr. Joule, of Manchester, discovered the
equivalent of heat in mechanical motion. He had been led to prose-
cute researches in that direction, with the view of ascertaining the
relative value of heat and motion for the advantage of engineering
science. He found that what sufficed to raise the temperature of a
pound of water one degree Fahrenheit would, under another mode
of action, raise 772 pounds a foot high ; or, putting it conversely, the
fall of 772 pounds of water from a height of one foot would give
rise to an amount of heat sufficient to elevate the temperature of one
pound to the extent of one degree Fahrenheit. Thus the mechani-
cal work corresponding to the elevation of 772 pounds a foot high,
or, what comes to the same thing, one pound 772 feet high, forms
the dynamic equivalent of one degree of heat of Fahrenheit's scale.
It is necessary to state here that the term " force," when used in
a strict sense, is employed under a more limited acceptation now
than formerly. Originally it represented what is now distinguished
as both " force " and " energy." By " force," in a rigid significa-
tion, is understood the power of producing energy ; by " energy "
the power of performing work. To give an illustration : powder
has force, the cannon-ball energy ; but to speak of the force of the
cannon-ball is inexact. I may also remark that the words " actual "
and " potential " are in frequent use to qualify the state in which
energy is met with. By actual energy is meant energy in an active
ON THE DYNAMIC RELATIONS OF FOOD. 19
state energy which is doing work. By potential energy, energy at
rest energy capable of doing work, but not doing it. In a bent
crossbow there is potential energy^ energy in a state of rest, but
ready to become actual, or to manifest itself when the trigger is
pulled. Again, actual energy is evolved from the sun. By vege-
table life this is made potential in the organic compounds formed.
In these organic compounds the energy is stored up in a latent con-
dition ; potential energy is reconverted into actual energy when they
undergo oxidation during combustion or in their utilization in the
animal economy.
The doctrine of the " Conservation of Energy " implies that
energy is as indestructible as matter, that a fixed amount exists in
the universe, and that, however, variously it may be modified, trans-
ferred, or transformed in spite of all the changes of which it may
be the subject throughout the realm of nature it cannot be created
or annihilated, increased or diminished. The doctrine further im-
plies that the diiferent forms of energy have their definite reciprocal
equivalents ; that so much chemical energy, for instance, will pro-
duce so much heat, which is the representative of so much motive
power, and so on. The ascertained equivalents of heat and motive
power have been already given.
Accepted as applicable to the physical forces, the doctrine of the
" Conservation of Energy " next began to be applied to living na-
ture. Grove in his " Correlation of Physical Forces " (second edi-
tion, p. 89), suggested that the same principles and mode of reason-
ing adopted in his essay might answer equally for the organic as for
the inorganic world, and that muscular force, animal and vegetable
heat, &c., might, and one day would, be shown to possess similar
definite correlations. He proceeded no further, however, remarking
that he purposely avoided entering upon a subject not pertaining to
hi> own field of science.
At this time the general belief prevailed that the processes going
on in the living body were determined by "vitality" or the "vital
principle." The physical forces, it was supposed, were overruled in
the living body by the vital principle. Without discussing whether
we are to admit or deny the existence of this principle as a distinct
operating force a question which has been handled by some of the
leading men of science of the day we must, I think, concede, as a
matter of experience, that in the living organism there are influences
20 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
at play which have no existence in the dead matter around. Matter
which has been impressed with life can produce effects which dead
matter cannot. This does not conflict with the extension of the law
of the " Conservation of Energy " to living nature. The effects
produced may have their origin in the physical forces the living
matter forming the medium through which they operate. With ar-
tificial appliances force may be made to produce various effects, ac-
cording to the nature of the instrument employed. With the same
force in operation different kinds of work are performed, according
to the character of the machine set in motion. Between the two
living matter and a machine there exists an analogy which admits
of being followed still further. It is only when in a certain state
that matter is capable of forming the medium for the exercise of
force in the production of living operations. Modify this state, and
though there may be the same matter to deal with, yet it is no longer
capable of fulfilling the same office it before performed. So, in the
case of an ordinary machine ; it must possess a particular construc-
tion before it can form the medium for the operation of force. Dis-
arrange this construction, and, although the matter remains un-
changed, the application of force is without its proper effect. Thus
a disarranged machine may be compared with living matter devital-
ized. In both, the capacity of being set in operation by force has
existed, and in both that capacity has been lost. Further, it may
be said that a machine in working order, but unoperated on by force
that is, in a state of rest is like matter possessing vitality, but in
a dormant state. Both are ready to move directly the proper force
is supplied.
Applying the law of the " Conservation of Energy " to living na-
ture, the forms of force which we observe in operation are, in the
first instance, derived from the sun. When a weight is lifted by the
hand it seems a long way off to go to the sun for the muscular force
employed in the act. Yet the doctrine of the " Conservation of
Energy " justifies, as I will proceed to show, the conclusion that its
origin is there.
In the first place, the force evolved in muscular action has its
source in the material which has been supplied to the body in the
form of food. Now, all food comes primarily from the vegetable
kingdom, and vegetable products are built up through the agency
of the sun's rays. It may be said that the energy contained in these
ON THE DYNAMIC RELATIONS OF FOOD. 21
rays, which has been employed in producing the compound, is fixed
or rendered latent within it. When a crossbow is bent, the force
derived from the muscular action employed in bending it is stored
up, ready to be again liberated when the trigger is pulled, no matter
whether this be at once or a hundred years hence ; and the force
given to the arrow when it is launched is neither more nor less than
that which has sprung from the muscular action employed in bend-
ing the bow. The same with vegetable products. Their formation
is coincident with the disengagement of oxygen from oxidized prin-
ciples and the development of combustible compounds. To effect
this disengagement the operation of force is required. Now, the
force so employed has its source in the heat and light evolved from
the sun, and that which is used for the purpose may be said to be-
come fixed and to exist in a latent condition to exist stored up in
the product, ready to be again liberated on exposure to conditions
favorable to oxidation. Thus may these vegetable products be com-
pared to a bent crossbow, containing as they do a store of latent
force, which may for an indefinite period remain as such, or may be
liberated soon after it has been fixed. Whenever liberated, it is no
more nor less than the equivalent of the force which has been used
in the formation of the product. Our coal-fields represent a vast
magazine of force drawn, ages ago, from the sun's rays, and capable
at any moment of being set free by the occurrence of oxidation.
Vegetable products, then, may be regarded as containing a store
of force accumulated from the vast supply continually emitted with
the sun's rays ; and, upon the principle of the indestructibility of
force, that force which has been applied to unlocking the elements
in the combinations from which vegetable products are built up, and
to forming the new compound, is contained in such compound in a
latent state. Now, as above stated, animals either directly or in-
directly subsist upon these vegetable products, and are thence sup-
plied by them with accumulated force. By oxidation the force is
set free in an active state under some form of manifestation or other.
It matters not in what way whether rapidly or slowly, or under
what circumstances whether inside or outside the living system, the
oxidation occurs ; the result is the same, as far as the amount of the
force liberated is concerned, it being implied in the doctrine of the
" Conservation of Energy" that it should constitute the equivalent
of the solar force originally made use of. This is presuming com-
22 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
plete oxidation to occur ; but in the processes of animal life, although
fully oxidized compounds, like carbonic acid and water, are formed
and discharged, yet others, like urea, are expelled in an imperfectly
oxidized state, and carry with them a certain amount of latent or
unutilized force.
Thus it is that the various forms of force manifested in the actions
of animal life trace their origin to that emitted from the sun. Plants
are media for fixing solar force for converting actual into latent or
potential energy. Animals reconvert latent into various forms of
actual force. Thus, in the various forms of actual force liberated by
the actions of animal life, we have the equivalent of that which has
been fixed by plants from the sun. As there is a revolution of
matter, so is there a revolution offeree within and around us.
In the liberation of actual force a complete analogy may be traced
between the animal system and a steam-engine. Both are media
for the conversion of latent into actual force. In the animal system,
combustible material is supplied under the form of the various kinds
of food, and oxygen is taken in by the process of respiration. From
the chemical energy due to the combination of these, force is lib-
erated in an active state ; and, besides manifesting itself as heat, and
in other ways peculiar to the animal system, is capable of perform-
ing mechanical work. The steam-engine is supplied with combus-
tible material under the form of coal, which differs from our food in
representing the result of the vegetative activity of a former instead
of the present epoch. Air is also supplied, and from the combina-
tion which occurs between its oxygen and the elements of the com-
bustible material, heat is produced, which in part is dissipated as
such, but in part is applied to the performance of mechanical work.
According to Helmholtz, the animal economy, in respect of its
capacity to turn force to account in the accomplishment of mechanical
work, is a more perfect instrument than the steam-engine. His
calculations lead him to conclude that whilst in the best steam-
engine only one-tenth of the force liberated by the combustion of its
fuel is realizable as mechanical work, the rest escaping as heat, the
human body is capable of turning one-fifth of the power of its food
into the equivalent of work. There is this, however, to be remarked,
that the fuel of a steam-engine is a far less expensive article than
the food of an animal being.
The animal body, then, may be regarded as holding an analogous
ON THE DYNAMIC RELATIONS OF FOOD. 23
position to a machine, in which a transmutation of chemical into
other forms of force is taking place. Food on the one hand, and
air on the other, are the factors concerned in the chemical action
that occurs. It is through the interplay of changes between food
and air that the manifestations of animal life, consisting of heat-
production, muscular contraction, nervous (including mental) action,
and nutritive or formative, secretory, and assimilative action arise.
The egesta, or substances dismissed from the system, are metamor-
phosed products of the ingesta, or substances entering the system.
The elements are the same, in nature and in quantity, in the two
cases, but their forms of combination, and, with them, their force
accompaniment, are different. The force employed in building up
the organic compounds belonging to food is again evolved as they
descend by oxidation into more simple combinations, and in the
force evolved we have the representative of the active manifestations
of animal life. If the products discharged from the system were
fully oxidized principles, the force developed in the body would
equal that contained in a latent condition in the food. Such, how-
ever, is not completely the case, a certain amount of latent force
remaining, as has already been remarked, in some of the egesta.
The position, therefore, may be formulated thus : The latent or
potential force of ingesta equals the force developed in the body plus
the force escaping with the egesta. In other words, the unexpended
force in the egesta and the force disengaged by the operations of
life, and manifested under the various forms of vital activity, equal
the force contained in the ingesta.
AVhat is required in food is matter that is susceptible of under- \
going change in the system under the influence of the presence of I
oxygen. Life implies change, and the manifestations of life are due
to the reaction of food, with the derivatives from it, and air upon
each other. While in the inorganic kingdom a tendency to a state
of rest prevails while the closest affinities tend to become satisfied,
and so establish equilibrium, in a manifestly living body rest is im-
pnssible. It is true, living organisms of certain kinds may exist in
a state of rest, but then there is a suspension of vital manifestations.
The state constitutes that which falls under the denomination of
" dormant vitality." Animal organisms may exist in it, and the
seed of a plant naturally remains for awhile in it. Molecular rest,
and, with it, an absence of any show of vital activity prevail. Con-
24 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS, ETC.
currently, however, with the manifestations of vital activity molec-
ular change change in a particular or prescribed direction occurs.
Organic compounds become resolved by the agency of oxygen into
more simple combinations, as carbonic acid, water, and urea, and
cease to be any longer of service. To maintain a continuance of
vital activity fresh organic material is required ; hence the demand
for food. But food and the other material factor of life oxygen
do not constitute all that is needed. It is further necessary that the
two should be brought within the sphere of influence of living
matter, in order that the changes may be made to pursue the par-
ticular line of direction resulting in the phenomena of life.
ON THE ORIGINATION OF FOOD.
OUR food is in the first instance derived from the vegetable king-
dom. Dumas at one time said, "L'animal s'assimile done ou detruit
des matieres organiques toutes faites; il n'en cree done pas." But,
as he afterwards admitted, this is not the case. The animal, it is
true, is constantly consuming or destroying organic substances, and
is incapable of forming them from the inorganic principles, but sup-
plied with organic matter, organic compounds of various kinds are
constructed.
Mulder's discoveries in 1838 led up to the doctrine that the albu-
minous compounds of plants and animals agree in composition and
properties, whence it was inferred that the animal simply took the
compound produced by the plant and made it a component part of
its own bod^. Liebig was the first to maintain that animals pos-
sessed the power of forming one kind of organic compound out of
another. A warm controversy was at one time carried on upon this
point, turning particularly upon the formation of fat. While, on
the one hand, it was held by Liebig that, in the animal system, fat
could be formed from sugar, Dumas and Boussingault maintained,
on the other, that whatever fat was found in an aninal being was
derived through its food from without. From the researches ini-
tiated by this dispute it became incontestably established that Liebig
was right, and the French chemists were ultimately compelled, even
on the evidence of the results obtained by themselves, to abandon
the doctrine they had advanced.
A moment's consideration will further suffice to show that one
kind of albuminous compound is capable of being-constructed from
others. In the young mammal subsisting solely on milk, it is to the
casein that we must look for the source of fibrin and albumen ;
and in the animal feeder, secreting milk, the casein produced is de-
rived from the fibrin and albumen. Gelatin, moreover, has no ex-
26 ORIGINATION OF FOOD.
istence in vegetable food. At the present day we may waive the
discussion of this matter, it being now established that none of these
nitrogenous principles enter the system under the form in which they
occur in food. They are all converted, during the performance of
digestion, into a certain principle (albuminose), which is the princi-
ple that is absorbed, and that is subsequently transformed by the
assimilative power of the animal into the various compounds met
with.
The position, then, is this, that animals are not simply consumers
of organic compounds, but are capable of exerting a constructive
action as well. They must, however, be supplied with organic mat-
ter previously formed, and thus the capacity that really exists is that
of transforming one organic compound into another. All organic
matter has its primary source in the vegetable kingdom, from which
kingdom, it follows, all our food must directly or indirectly be de-
rived. The vegetable feeder goes directly for its food to the vege-
table kingdom. The animal feeder is equally dependent upon the
products of the vegetable kingdom for its pabulum. But it obtains
it only at secondhand, so to speak, or in an indirect manner, its food
consisting of the flesh of animals which have themselves been nour-
ished upon vegetable products.
Now, it is only under exposure to the action of the sun's rays that
plants will grow, and hence it is to the influence of these rays that
we must refer the production of food in the first instance, and the
primary source of all life upon our earth.
It has already been shown how the energy emitted from the sun,
under the forms of heat and light, is capable, through the medium
of the plant, of disengaging oxygen from its combination with car-
bon and hydrogen in carbonic acid and water, and leading to the
formation of re-oxidizable compounds ; and how the energy evolved
from the re-oxidation of these compounds, whether by combustion
or within the animal system, represents or forms the equivalent of
that employed in effecting their construction.
What an immeasurable amount of force to be, and to have been,
emitted from the solar centre ! It is true that it must possess a store
of heat altogether unrealizable by comparison with anything cogniza-
ble around us ; for it has been shown by recent investigations with
the spectroscope that iron and other metals, which cannot by any
known method of heat application be converted into the gaseous
INFLUENCE OF THE SOLAR FORCE. 27
state upon our earth, exist in that state around the sun. It is true,
also, that the sun is a body of almost inconceivable magnitude. To
give the simile of Helmholtz, 1 " Its diameter is so great that if you-
suppose the earth to be put into the centre of the sun, the sun itself
being like a hollow sphere, and the moon going about the earth,
there would be a space of more than 200,000 miles around the orbit
of the moon lying all interior to the surface of the sun. 77 But when
we come to consider that in that small pencil of rays which has im-
pinged upon our earth at a distance of nearly 95,000,000 miles from
the sun, that, under the view now held by philosophers, has been
contained all the energy or source of power which has been fixed by
plants, and much besides that has escaped being so utilized, we can-
not help being struck by the immensity of the store of power accu-
mulated in the sun. Geology teaches us that at an early epoch in
the history of our globe this solar influence must have manifested
itself to a much stronger degree than it does even at the present time.
The vast coal-beds forming a portion of the earth's crust have origi-
nated in vegetable growth. During the carboniferous era, which
comprises the period of this coal-formation, the atmosphere was
probably laden with carbonic acid and humidity to a much greater
extent than at the present day. But it is to the solar energy that
we -must look as the source of the luxuriant vegetation which evi-
dently flourished at that time, and which must have existed in the
Arctic regions as well as in the lower latitudes, since coal-deposits are
there found.
It has been already stated that it is only under the influence of
the force contained in the sun's rays that organic compounds are
built up by the agency of the plant; and it is found to be the green
parts only of plants those where chlorophyll exists that effect the
decomposition of carbonic acid and water fixing the carbon and
hydrogen and liberating the oxygen. This operation, it is the dis-
tinctive function of the plant to perform, and it fails to be carried on
when the influence of light is absent and unless chlorophyll is pres-
ent. Under these conditions absence of light and chlorophyll
oxygen is absorbed and carbonic acid liberated instead, just as occurs
in the animal. I have been informed that it is known to florists, as
1 "Lectures on the Conservation of Energy," Medical Times and Gazette,
vol. i, p. 415, 1864.
28 ORIGINATION OF FOOD.
the result of practical observation, that in the case of the variegated-
leaved geranium, a slip that may happen to be possessed of white
leaves only will not grow alone like other slips. The absence of
chlorophyll explains the non-capacity to effect the changes necessary
for growth.
The solar beam is composed of rays possessing different properties
and different degrees of refrangibility, and the question has been
raised what part of the solar spectrum exerts greatest power over
vegetable growth? The colored rays produced by passing a pencil
of light through a prism are arranged in the following order :
Violet, Yellow,
Indigo, Orange,
Blue, Ked.
Green,
The greatest illuminating power of the spectrum, is in the brightest
yellow rays, whilst the greatest heating power is in rays below the
red, and therefore less refrangible than any of the colored rays ;
while the greatest chemical power power of effecting chemical
change is in the rays at the other extremity of the spectrum, namely,
the violet, and still more the invisible rays just above.
Draper, from experiments conducted in 1843, states that on
causing plants to effect the decomposition of carbonic acid in the
prismatic spectrum, he found the yellow rays by far the most effec-
tive. The relative power of the various colored rays he asserts to
have been' as follows :
Yellow, Blue,
Green, Indigo,
Orange, Violet.
Ked,
In opposition to the conclusion arrived at by Draper, it is affirmed
by others that it is to the blue and violet rays that must be referred
the maximum power of effecting the decomposition of carbonic acid
through the medium of the plant. Helmholtz 1 says: "The obser-
vations upon vegetable life have shown that plants can grow only
1 "Lectures on the Conservation of Energy," Medical Times and Gazette,
vol. i, 1864, p. 473.
ACTION OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 29
under the influence of solar light, and that as long as solar light, and
principally the more refrangible parts of solar light, the blue and
violet rays, fall upon the green parts of plants, the plants take in
carbonic acid and exhale oxygen." He further remarks that in ex-
erting this influence these rays are completely absorbed ; for it can
be shown that solar light which has passed through green leaves in
full development is no longer capable of exerting any chemical in-
fluence.
I have spoken of light as a factor in the construction of organic
compounds by the plant. The elements of which these organic
compounds consist are drawn from the inorganic kingdom, and
chiefly, as Liebig pointed out, from carbonic acid, water, and am-
monia principles which all exist to a greater or less extent in the
atmosphere, and from the atmosphere are to a large extent, if not
entirely, derived. In the case of the low vegetable organisms which
become developed in moist situations as a green layer on the barren
surface of rocks and stones, the elements required for their growth
must have been derived solely from the atmosphere. In the case of
the higher organisms, however, the elements of growth are drawn
from the soil as well as the atmosphere. Humus, which forms the
constituent of the soil which supplies these elements, consists of the
decaying remains of organic products. But it is not as organic
matter that humus serves as food to the plant ; that is, it is not the
organic matter itself that is utilized. It is, on the other hand, as a
source of carbonic acid and ammonia, principles resulting from its
decomposition, that it owes its position in relation to the alimenta-
tion of plants.
The stages passed through in the history of vegetable life leading
to the provision of a fitting supply of food for animal existence may
be thus represented : Beginning, let us say, with a barren surface of
rock, which may have been freshly exposed to the atmosphere from
some subterranean, volcanic, or other agency, the germs of low vege-
table organisms settling upon it, extract from the atmosphere their
elements of growth. Passing through their term of life they die,
and fresh ones spring up and similarly live and die. So the process
goes on, higher and higher forms making their appearance. The
decaying remains of this primitive growth incrust what was a barren
surface with a layer of earth or mould, in which ultimately the
highest plants find a suitable position for taking root and growing.
30 ORIGINATION OF FOOD.
Thus clothed with vegetation, a fit locality is provided for the sup-
port of animal life, animal beings finding in the vegetable products
now existing the necessary material for their subsistence.
It may be mentioned here that there is one class of vegetable
organisms the Fungi which seems to occupy an exceptional posi-
tion, and to resemble animals in being dependent upon organic prod-
ucts for their growth. It is possible, however, that the seeming
appropriation of organic matter may be more apparent than real,
and that the dependence upon organic matter may arise from a
specially large and constant supply of carbonic acid and ammonia
being required as a condition of growth. Still, it must be said that
this class of vegetable organisms is not dependent for growth upon
light like the others, has no green surfaces for decomposing carbonic
acid, and, in fact, instead of absorbing carbonic acid and setting free
oxygen, does as is the case with animals, precisely the reverse.
These are strong arguments in favor of growth from an appropri-
ation of organic compounds ; but there is this to be remarked, that
the growth in question occurs only where decay is going on, and
there is nothing, at all events, to show that any other than organic
compounds in a state of decomposition can be made use of.
The chief elements of the various organic compounds built up by
the agency of vegetable life are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen,
sulphur, and phosphorus ; and the following may be regarded as the
sources from which they are derived.
In the above enumeration carbon is mentioned first as being the
element which occurs by far the most extensively in organic nature.
Large as is the quantity of carbon entering into the composition of
organic substances, the main, if not the entire source from which it
is derived is the carbonic acid in the atmosphere. According, how-
ever, to Saussure, the amount of carbonic acid contained in air is not,
as a mean, more that one part, by volume, in two thousand ; but
then it must be remembered that it is constantly being generated,
not only as a product of animal life, but from various processes
carried on around us.
Now, it appears that the leaves and other green parts of plants
are continually absorbing this carbonic acid, and, with the aid of
light, effecting its decomposition, the oxygen being exhaled and the
carbon detained and applied to the production of organic substances.
Whilst it is only by the leaves and green surfaces that carbonic acid
ACTION OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 31
is decomposed and oxygen liberated, it is probable that its absorp-
tion is not limited to those parts, but that some enters through the
roots, this being derived from the. process of decomposition going on
in the organic matter of the soil, and from the carbonic acid carried
down from the atmosphere with the rain.
Striking as it may seem, yet there are sufficient grounds for be-
lieving that the vast store of carbon contained in forests, of whatever
extent we may encounter, has been derived in the manner above
mentioned. Geological investigations render it almost certain that
at one time the atmosphere was far richer in carbonic acid than it is
now, and that vegetation also was proportionately more luxuriant.
The absorption of carbonic acid and exhalation of oxygen which
take place in plants under the influence of light constitutes, then, a
process of alimentation. The reverse process the absorption of
oxygen and exhalation of carbonic acid a process which forms one
of the principal phenomena of animal life occurs also to some ex-
tent in plants, and stands out unconcealed during the night, when
from the absence of light there is no decomposition of carbonic acid
and liberation of oxygen going on. It also occurs as the result of
certain operations of plant life, as, for instance, during germina-
tion, flowering, and fruiting.
Hydrogen and oxygen are supplied to an unlimited extent to
plants under the form of water. In the production of the carbo-
hydrate group of organic compounds; that is, compounds such as
starch, sugar, dextrin, gum, cellulose, &c., in which carbon is united
with hydrogen and oxygen in the proportion to form w r ater, it is
possible that water is directly assimilated, although this is by no
means an ascertained fact. In a large number of other compounds,
however, it is evident from their composition that for water to serve
for their production its elements must undergo separation. The
oleaginous compounds, for instance, chiefly consist of carbon and
hydrogen. The amount of oxygen present is very much less than
that required to form water with their hydrogen. For this element
to be appropriated a deoxidation must occur, and it is believed that
some of the oxygen exhaled by the plant under the influence of light
has its source, not only in carbonic acid, but likewise in water.
Although plants are freely surrounded with nitrogen this ele-
ment forming the large constituent it does of the atmosphere, yet it
is not from the atmosphere that the nitrogen of organic matter is
32 ORIGINATION OF FOOD.
derived. The researches of Saussure and Boussingau.lt have demon-
strated that plants are incapable of appropriating the free nitrogen
of the atmosphere and elaborating it into organic matter. Liebig's
view, and it is one which is by common consent indorsed, is that the
nitrogen of organic matter is derived from ammonia. This able
chemist was the first to show that ammonia is a constant constituent
of the atmosphere. It is true that the quantity in which it is
present is so small that it cannot be recognized except by abstraction
from a large volume of air. It may be removed and its quantity
determined (" On the Estimation of Ammonia in Atmospheric Air/ 7
by Horace T. Brown, " Proceedings of the Royal Society," vol.
xviii, p. 286) by passing a given volume of air through water
slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid. It is also susceptible of
recognition in rain-water, where it exists under the form of carbo-
nate. Ammonia, like carbonic acid, forms a product of the decom-
position of organic matter. The nitrogen of organic matter, indeed,
is returned to the inorganic kingdom under the form of ammonia.
Thus in humus we have a source of ammonia which, doubtless, com-
bines with some of the carbonic acid also generated, and in this state
is in great part dissipated into the atmosphere. The great volatility
of the product would lead to this result. Diffused through the at-
mosphere it would "be abstracted by rain and snow, and in this way
carried back to the earth, to be brought in contact with the roots of
plants, through which its absorption is supposed to be effected. Ac-
cording to Liebig, ammonia enters the vegetable organism in com-
bination with carbonic or sulphuric acid, while, according to Mulder,
the combination is with the acids he describes as existing in humus.
Nitrogen forms an element which is of the highest importance to
vegetable as well as to animal life. It is not only necessary that it
should enter into the constitution of vegetable substances so that
animals may obtain a supply of it with their food, but it forms an
indispensable element in relation to the molecular changes of the
plant as well as of the animal. Wherever living changes are carried
on nitrogenized matter is present. The proclivity of this to change
forms one of its most characteristic qualities, and the changes it
undergoes induce changes of a definite kind in other matter which
per se has a tendency to remain at rest. Thus, in nitrogenized mat-
ter we have, as it were, the requisite starting-point for the various
changes which result in the phenomena of life.
FORMATION OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. 33
The four elements which have been referred to, viz., carbon, hydro-
gen, oxygen, and nitrogen, form by far the chief constituents of or-
ganic compounds, but sulphur and phosphorus are also present, to a
small extent, bound up with the other elements in certain organic
principles. Sulphur, for example, is met with in casein, and both
sulphur and phosphorus in fibrin and albumen. The probable
source of these elements is sulphates and phosphates, the acids of the
salts undergoing deoxidation through the medium of the operations
carried on in the plant, in the same manner as occurs in the case of
carbonic acid.
As yet I have been referring merely to the source of the elements
entering into the constitution of the^organic compounds produced
by plants, and upon this point it may be considered that our infor-
mation is pretty definite. The precise mode, however, in which
these elements are combined or elaborated into the infinite variety
of organic compounds existing is quite another matter, and one
which (it must be conceded) belongs as yet only to the domain of
hypothesis. The point has been the subject of many laborious re-
searches, conducted by some of the most distinguished observers,
but, in spite of these attempts to elucidate it, we have at present
little or nothing beyond conjecture to deal with. It may be fairly
surmised, however, that the production of the higher compounds is
effected step by step, or by a series of transition stages, and not by a
direct or immediate union of the elements entering into their com-
position. Whatever the exact changes that ensue, there can be no
doubt that they proceed in a definite and precise order. In organic
nature we know that change induces change, and the change first
set in motion in the act of growth may be regarded as starting the
changes which produce the various organic compounds met with.
Bodies in contact with changing matter are within the sphere of
influence of a metabolic or metamorphosing force, and to the opera-
tion of this force is to be ascribed much that occurs as the result of
living action.
It is the formation of organic compounds which constitutes the
special province of the plant to effect in relation to the production
of food. Food, however, to fulfil the requirements of animal life,
must contain certain mineral or inorganic as well as organic prin-
ciples a supply of the former being quite as indispensable as a
supply of the latter. But we need not concern ourselves about a
3
34 ORIGINATION OF FOOD.
separate supply of mineral matter. The productions of nature wisely
contain in combination all that is wanted. It happens that, besides
being furnished with carbonic acid, water, and ammonia, for the
formation of organic compounds, plants require for their growth a
supply of saline principles. These they draw from the surrounding
soil, and a portion of the advantage accruing to vegetable growth
from the employment of manure is owing to the mineral matter it
contains, and which is thereby given to the soil.
In appropriating mineral matter as an element of nutrition, the
plant exercises a selective action. It is found, for instance, that some
of the saline compounds belonging to the soil, and not others, are
present, that they are present in different proportions as regards each
other, and to a different extent in different parts of the plant. Min-
eral matter holds, in fact, a definite relation to the component parts
of a plant, and probably enters into some sort of combination with
the organic constituents.
Thus, in vegetable products we find not only the organic, but like-
wise the inorganic matter we require ; and, in taking up and apply-
ing mineral matter as it does to its own purposes of growth as well
as forming organic compounds, the vegetable organism contributes
in a complete manner towards the supply of what is wanted for ani-
mal nutrition.
A reciprocal relation, however, it must be observed, in reality
exists between what is supplied and what is wanted. We are as
much adapted to the appropriation of the food supplied to us as our
food is adapted to our wants. Were we not so adapted existence
would be impossible for us. In nature all things are mutually
adapted to each other.
In what has been said about the production of food by the vege-
table kingdom for animal subsistence, it is seen that animals and
plants stand in direct antagonism to each other, as regards the re-
sults of the main operations of life. Plants draw their food from
the inorganic kingdom, and produce organic compounds. Animals
find their food in these organic compounds, and, in applying them
to the purposes of life, reconvert them into inorganic principles.
In the appropriation of inorganic matter, as food, plants absorb car-
bonic acid, and set free oxygen. Animals, in their consumption of
organic matter, absorb oxygen and give out carbonic acid. Thus,
animal life and vegetable life stand in complemental relation to
RESULTS OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE LIFE. 35
each other, and it is in accordance with the requirements for the
persistence of living nature upon the surface of our planet that it
should be so. If the operations of animal and vegetable life pro-
ceeded in one and the same direction only, the effect would be a
gradual alteration of the chemical arrangement of matter, until a
state of things was arrived at unfit for the further continuance of
life. Under the existing order of things animals and plants in such
a manner neutralize each other's effects upon surrounding matter
that they balance each other's operations, and thereby maintain a
state of uniformity.
THE
CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS OF FOOD.
OF the various elements known to exist in nature only a limited
number enter into the constitution of living bodies. The following is a
list of those found as constituents of the human body. The first four,
namely, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, exist in far larger
quantity than any of the others. As for those which occur towards
the end of the list, they are present only in exceedingly minute
quantity, if, indeed, they are invariably present. It is more than
doubtful if they are to be regarded as essential constituents.
Carbon,
Hydrogen,
Oxygen,
Nitrogen,
Sulphur,
Phosphorus,
Chlorine,
Sodium,
Potassium,
Calcium,
Magnesium,
Iron,
Fluorine,
Silicon,
Manganese,
Aluminium,
Copper.
The food being the source from which the elements forming the
constituents of the body are derived, it follows that food must con-
tain all the elements which are there met with. No article can, as
food, satisfy the requirements of life that fails to comply with this
condition.
ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES:
CLASSIFICATIONS, CHEMICAL RELATIONS, DIGESTION,
ASSIMILATION, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL USES.
ALTHOUGH it is necessary that our food should contain the ele-
ments that have been enumerated and contain them in such pro-
portion as to furnish the requisite amount of each to the system
yet it is not with these elements as such that, from an alimentary
point of view, we have to deal. It is only in a state of combination
that the elements are of any service to us as food ; and, as has been
already mentioned, the combination must have been formed by the
agency of a living organism the combination must, in other words,
constitute an organic product.
Xow, taking the different organic products which nature affords
us as food, we find that they may, by analysis, be resolved into a
variety of definite compounds. These constitute what are known as
"alimentary principles," in contradistinction to "alimentary sub-
stances," or the articles of food as supplied to us by nature.
In a scientific consideration of food it is necessary to speak first
of the alimentary principles. It is only, indeed, by looking at it
through its constituent principles that we are in a position to dis-
cuss its physiological bearings, and I will begin by pointing out the
most convenient division and classification to be adopted.
Popularly, the ingesta are looked upon as consisting of food and
drink, the one supplying us with solid, the other with liquid, matter.
Superficially, this appears a natural and convenient mode of primary
grouping, but in a physiological point of view it is completely worth-
less. " Food " and " drink " constitute terms referring only to the
particular state in which an article for consumption may happen to
38 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
exist viz., whether it is in a solid or a liquid form. What is drunk,
for instance, and this holds good particularly in the case of milk,
may be rich in food or solid matter, and in the food we consume
there is invariably a large proportion of liquid matter.
Physiologically, then, the separation of the ingesta into " food "
and " drink " is unsuitable. The two material factors of life are
food and air ; and food may be considered as comprising that which
contributes to the growth and nutrition of the body, and, by oxida-
tion, to force-production. Regarded in this comprehensive light,
food embraces both solid and liquid matter ; and the primary natural
division is into organic and inorganic portions that is, combinations
of elements producible only through the agency of life ; and chemi-
cal combinations drawn simply from the mineral kingdom and in-
corporated with the others.
The inorganic portion of food consists of water and various saline
principles. The organic portion may be subdivided into compounds
of which nitrogen forms a constituent, and compounds from which
it is absent ; in other words, into nitrogenized and non-nitrogenized
compounds. The non-nitrogenized alimentary principles are com-
posed of the three elements carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, vari-
ously united together, whilst the nitrogenized likewise contain these
three elements, but, in addition, nitrogen ; and, for the most part,
sulphur, or sulphur and phosphorus as well.
Liebig, regarding the nitrogenized and non-nitrogenized principles
as contributing to quite distinct purposes in the animal economy, re-
ferred to them as forming the basis of a physiological classification.
The former he looked upon as destined for appropriation towards
the growth and maintenance of the components of the body, and
therefore he called them " plastic elements of nutrition." The latter
he regarded as simply designed for undergoing oxidation, and, in
this way, for serving as a source of heat. These he termed " ele-
ments of respiration ;" but the expression, it must be said, does not
properly convey what is meant, and Dr. R. Dundas Thomson sug-
gested that the term " calorifiant " should be employed instead.
" Calorifacient," however, is a more appropriate word, and by gen-
eral consent has been adopted.
It stands to reason that for the growth and repair of the various
textures of the body, as these have nitrogen forming an essential
ingredient of their constitution, nitrogenized compounds must be
CLASSIFICATION OF FOOD. 39
supplied ; but, from what is now known, it must also be said that
these compounds are likewise susceptible of application to heat pro-
duction. They are truly, indeed, " histogenetic," or tissue-forming
materials, but, by the separation of urea (which is known to occur
in their metamorphosis in the animal system), a hydro-carbonaceous
compound is left, which may be appropriated to heat production. It
may be asserted, in fact, that there is sufficient to show that the ni-
trogenized principles in reality subserve both purposes in the animal
economy.
In fat, again, we have a non-nitrogenous principle, and one belong-
ing, therefore, to the calorifacient group. There is every reason,
however, to believe that fat is essential to tissue-development. It
seems to .be intrinsically mixed up with nitrogenized matter in the
animal textures. Certainly, it may be said to be directly applied
towards the formation of adipose tissue. Fat, therefore, takes rank
as a nutrient no less than as a calorifacient principle.
Hence, Liebig's definition is not to be accepted in a rigid sense.
Although nitrogenized principles constitute true "elements of nutri-
tion/' yet it neither follows nor appears likely that they are limited to
this purpose. Fats are undoubtedly important calorifacient princi-
ples, and cannot per se supply what is required for tissue-develop-
ment; they, nevertheless, take part in the process. According to our
current views, which will be discussed more fully further on, fats are
also concerned, in a manner not previously suspected, in muscular
force-production. Taking all these considerations into account,
Liebig's classification loses the scientific force it was originally sup-
posed to possess. The subdivision of the organic portion of food,
however, into nitrogenized and non-nitrogenized groups is still prac-
tically and physiologically convenient.
Prout proposed a classification which arranged food in four groups
of principles, viz.: (1) the aqueous, (2) the saccharine, (3) the olea-
ginous, and (4) the albuminous.
This classification, it will be seen, fails to include saline matter,
which, as already said, forms an element indispensable to nutrition.
The saccharine and oleaginous groups comprise non-nitrogenized
principles, while the albuminous comprehends the nitrogenized.
The classification that will be adopted in this treatise is one which
involves no expression of physiological destination, but is based on
40 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
the chemical nature of the principles. It is first assumed that food
falls naturally into
Organic, and
Inorganic, divisions.
Next, that the organic is subdivisible into-
Nitrogenous, and
Non-nitrogenous ;
and further that the non-nitrogenous is naturally and conveniently
again subdivisible into
Fats and
Carbohydrates:
the former consisting of carbon and hydrogen in combination with
only a small amount of oxygen ; the latter of carbon with oxygen
and hydrogen always in such relation to each other as to be in the
exact proportion to form water. To this latter group belong such
principles as starch, sugar, gum, &c.
It must be observed that there are a few principles which do not
strictly fall within either of the preceding groups. Such, for in-
stance, as alcohol, the vegetable acids, and pectin or vegetable jelly.
Alcohol occupies an intermediate place between the fats and carbo-
hydrates, whilst the others are even more oxidized compounds than
the carbohydrates in other words, contain a larger amount of
oxygen than is required for the conversion of their hydrogen into
w^ater. These principles are hardly of sufficient importance, in an
alimentary point of view, to call for their consideration under a dis-
tinct head, and they will therefore be spoken of in connection with
the carbohydrates.
Having said thus much upon the classification of the alimentary
principles, I shall next speak of them in relation to their respective
physiological bearings, taking the groups in the following order :
1. Nitrogenous principles.
2. Hydrocarbons or Fats.
3. Carbohydrates.
4. Inorganic materials.
THE
NITROGENOUS ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
NITROGEN enters largely into the composition of the animal body.
It therefore requires to be freely supplied from without. Although
living in an atmosphere about four-fifths of which consist of nitro-
gen, yet it is not from this source (though the question was formerly
entertained) that our supply of nitrogen is drawn. Nitrogen, to be
available for us, must be supplied in a state of combination. It is
not, indeed, with nitrogen in the form of an element that we have
anything to do in the question of alimentation, but only with com-
pounds containing it, and such compounds, it may be said (as re-
gards animal alimentation), that have been produced under the
influence of life that is, compounds which answer to the name of
" organic."
Organic nitrogenous matter, then, and not nitrogen, is what we
require to have supplied to us, and what alone we have to deal with
physiologically. Such nitrogenous matter must, therefore, constitute
an essential ingredient of our food, and we find that it there exists
under various chemical forms.
Chemists recognize several well-defined compounds amongst the
nitrogenous matter found in different articles of food. Besides these,
there may be some nitrogenous matter which is still susceptible of
being used, but which has not yet been specialized, and which in an
analysis would fall among the extractives. This, however, cannot
be sufficient in amount to be of much significance.
If we look at the nitrogenized alimentary principles which have
been made known, some are characterized by yielding protein when
subjected to the action of an alkali and heat, whilst from others no
protein is similarly to be procured. The former comprise the albu-
minous group, and are often referred to as the protein compounds ;
the latter constitute the gelatinous principles.
42 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
When the discovery of protein was first of all made by Mulder, the
substance was regarded as forming the base or radical of the albu-
minous principles. It contains the four elements carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen, and nitrogen ; and each of the albuminous principles was
regarded as simply resulting from the combination of the supposed
base with different quantities of sulphur and phosphorus, or sulphur
only. It must be stated, however, that there is nothing to show
that protein really exists in the compounds from which it is to be
obtained. It can be regarded only as a product of the chemical
process to which it is necessary to subject the compounds to obtain
it. Looked at in this light, it constitutes a chemical and not a
physiological principle. It, therefore, has no direct physiological
bearing, but it nevertheless serves to link together certain important
physiological compounds.
The albuminous or protein compounds comprise such as albumen,
fibrin, and casein, with some others, which form modifications of
these.
Albumen may be looked upon as the most important representa-
tive of the protein group. It consists of the four elements carbon,
oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, with the addition of some sulphur
and phosphorus. As it is met with in animal productions, it is in
such intimate union with fatty, alkaline, and earthy matter, that it
is with some difficulty separable from them. It varies to some
extent in its behavior, as it is obtained from different sources. The
albumen of the blood, for instance, does not agree in all respects
with the albumen of the white of egg. One of the most striking
properties of albumen is its coagulability upon the application of
heat. It, therefore, exists under two states, viz., soluble and coag-
ulated albumen.
Albumen may be regarded as the pabulum in the blood from
which the different animal tissues are evolved. That it can afford
per se the nitrogenous matter required for nutrition is proved by its
being the principle in the egg from which are developed the nitro-
genous tissues of the chick.
Fibrin is characterized by its property of undergoing spontaneous
coagulation. It is composed of the same elements as albumen, but
contains a larger proportionate amount of sulphur, and also a rather
larger quantity of oxygen. The fibrin of muscular tissue is not
NITROGENOUS COMPOUNDS. 43
identical with the fibrin of blood. It will be referred to under the
head of syntonin.
Casein forms the protein compound of milk. It is distinguisha-
ble from fibrin by not undergoing spontaneous coagulation, and from
albumen by not being coagulable by heat, and by being thrown down
by organic acids which do not precipitate albumen. Besides the
four elements carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen it contains
sulphur, but no phosphorus. It is remarkable for the large quantity
of phosphate of lime which it is capable of holding bound up with
it, and the tenacity with which it retains it. There is, it should be
stated, a little uncertainty regarding the chemical constitution of
casein. By some it is regarded, not as a simple, but as a compound
body a body composed (in reality) of a combination of two or more
others.
Besides these well-known protein compounds there are modifica-
tions of them which have been particularized by chemists, and the
following may be referred to as connected with the subject of food.
Vitellin is the name given to the modified form of albumen which
exists in the yolk of the egg. There are certain points in which
this substance comports itself differently with reagents from ordinary
albumen.
Globulin is the albuminoid matter existing in the fluid contents
of the blood-corpuscle. It is there intimately associated with, but,
nevertheless, quite distinct from, the coloring matter. The same
principle is also found in the crystalline lens of the eye. Different
opinions have been expressed regarding the true position it holds.
Lecanu looked upon it as identical with albumen ; Simon with casein;
while Lehmann remarks that he would be disposed to place it by the
side of vitellin, if the elementary analysis were not opposed to that
view.
Syntonin, or muscle-fibrin, was first recognized as a distinct sub-
stance from blood-fibrin by Liebig. Among the properties in which
it differs from blood-fibrin one of the most striking is its ready
solubility in a weak solution of hydrochloric acid. Over blood-
fibrin a watery solution of hydrochloric acid has no solvent power.
It causes it only to swell up.
The protein compounds have as yet been referred to only as they
occur in animal productions. But vegetable productions also con-
tain compounds which, in the language of Liebig, are not only simi-
44 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
lar to, but absolutely identical with, the albumen, fibrin, and casein
of the animal kingdom.
Vegetable albumen is contained in wheat and the other seeds of the
cerealia. The juices of most vegetables, such as turnips, carrots,
cauliflower, cabbage, &c., yield more or less precipitate with heat by
virtue of its presence. It is also found in considerable abundance
in association with vegetable casein in the oily seeds, such as almonds,
nuts, &c.
Vegetable fibrin, like albumen, is also found in the cereal seeds.
It remains behind when flour is washed with a stream of water for
the extraction of gluten. The albumen, starch, &c., are carried away
with the water, and a tenacious mass is left, which is known as crude
gluten. It is not this which constitutes vegetable fibrin, but vege-
table fibrin forms a portion of it. By means of boiling alcohol the
crude material obtained as above is resolved into two portions. The
one which is dissolved consists of gluten and casein, whilst that which
remains is vegetable fibrin. Vegetable fibrin also exists in the juice
of the grape and most vegetables.
Vegetable casein can be obtained from peas, beans, and other legu-
minous seeds, and is sometimes specially denominated legumin. It
also exists, with albumen, in the almond and suchlike oily seeds.
The gelatinous principles constitute nitrogenous compounds, but do
not yield protein like the compounds that have just been referred to.
They comprise gelatin and chondrin, and are obtainable only from
animal products : gelatin from bone and other structures containing
fibrous tissue, and chondrin from cartilage. The most striking
property they possess is that of their aqueous solution gelatinizing
upon cooling. It is gelatin which forms the basis of soups. Besides
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, as constituent elements, a
small amount of sulphur appears also to be present. They contain
no phosphorus.
The question has been raised, and largely discussed, as to whether
gelatin and chondrin exist in the tissues, or are formed in the pro-
cess of obtaining them, viz., the prolonged boiling of the tissue in
water. On looking at the chemical properties of gelatin, we notice
that it forms an insoluble compound with tannic acid. Now, it is
well known that a structure which yields gelatin, on being soaked in
a solution of tannic acid, gives rise to the formation of the compound
mentioned. It is this, indeed, which forms the basis of leather, a
DIGESTION OF THE NITROGENOUS PRINCIPLES. 45
fact which is strongly in favor of gelatin really existing as a constit-
uent of the animal body.
It has been stated that the gelatinous principles which have fallen
under consideration are to be obtained only from animal products.
No nitrogenous compound of the kind is met with in vegetable ma-
terials. The jelly yielded by fruits and some other vegetable sub-
stances is quite a different article. It consists only of the three ele-
ments carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and is known chemically as
pectin and pectic acid.
All the nitrogenous principles must undergo digestion before they
can enter the system. Digestion, in fact, is simply a process which
has for its object to fit substances for absorption into the system ;
and the nitrogenous principles are in a state to resist absorption, cer-
tainly to any material extent, until they have been liquefied and
transformed by the agency of digestion.
Beyond being mechanically comminuted or reduced to a more or
less finely divided state in the mouth, our nitrogenous food under-
goes no change until it reaches the stomach. In this organ it is
brought into contact with a secretion, the gastric juice, which has the
effect of dissolving and transforming it into a principle which pos-
sesses the important property of being highly diffusible, and thereby
readily transmissible from the alimentary canal into the bloodves-
sels. With all the nitrogenous alimentary principles the result is
the same. They each, under the influence of the gastric juice, lose
their characteristic properties and become converted into the highly
soluble and diffusible product referred to.
Mialhe was the first to recognize this product of the digestion of
the nitrogenous principles, and gave it the name of albuminose.
Peptone is the name which has since been applied to it by Lehmann.
Mialhe held that the substance obtained by the digestion of the pro-
tein bodies was identical with that obtained from the gelatinous
principle's. This would bring the latter into precisely the same po-
sition with regard to nutrition as the former. Although our knowl-
edge about the precise extent of capacity of gelatin as an article of
nutrition cannot be looked upon as complete, yet the information
before us justifies the inference that it does not possess the same
capabilities as an albuminoid substance. If such be true, the prod-
46 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
nets of digestion of the two cannot be completely identical, however
much they may resemble each other in their general properties.
It has been stated that, by the action of the stomach, the various
principles composing our nitrogenous food lose their characteristic
properties, and become converted into a substance which has received
the designation of peptone from one, and album inose from another.
Fibrin is dissolved, and is not susceptible of again solidifying. Al-
bumen in a fluid form is not precipitated, as has been asserted, and
then redissolved, but simply transformed. Albumen in the solid or
coagulated state is dissolved, and fails to be again coagulable.
Casein is first rendered solid, or curdled, and then redissolved. It
is now no longer susceptible of being thrown down. Gelatin is
liquefied, and cannot again be made to gelatinize.
No matter from what principle a digested product or peptone has
been obtained, the following are the characters which are found to
belong to it. It is soluble to the highest degree in water, and it
signifies nothing whether the liquid is in the acid, neutral, or alka-
line state. It is not precipitable from its aqueous solution by heat.
It is soluble in dilute alcohol, but absolute alcohol precipitates it.
It is an uncrystallizable substance, devoid of odor and almost of
taste. In a physiological point of view its most important property
is the high degree of diffusibility it enjoys. It is designed for re-
moval from the alimentary canal by absorption, and, by possessing
the property referred to, a physically favorable disposition exists for
the accomplishment of what is wanted.
The nitrogenous alimentary principles, then, on reaching the stom-
ach, are fitted for absorption by undergoing transformation into a
highly soluble and diffusible substance. The change, we know, is
wrought by the secretion of the stomach, although the precise modus
operandi cannot be explained. There are two indispensable ingredi-
ents of the gastric juice, viz., pepsin (a neutral nitrogenized princi-
ple) and an acid. Pepsin is a secretory product, peculiar to, and
therefore obtainable only from, the stomach. About the acid there
is nothing peculiar, and different views have been held regarding the
kind of acid that is naturally present. With the combination of
pepsin and acid a liquid is obtained which dissolves nitrogenous
matter in the same manner out of as within the stomach. Accord-
ing to Lehmann, it is only hydrochloric and lactic acids and these,
the same authority affirms, give the acidity to the natural secretion
LIBRARY
COLLEGE OF
AGRICULTURE
Btrkley.
OF THE NITROGENOUS PRINCIPLES. 47
which yield an energetic digestive fluid with pepsin ; but, accord-
ing to my own experiments on artificial digestion, other acids, such
as the phosphoric, sulphuric, citric, and so on, will equally answer
the purpose.
From the above statements it follows that the solution of nitro-
genous food in the stomach is effected by the action of a liquid
which owes its virtue to the presence of a couple of principles
pepsin and an acid. The action of this liquid is favored by the
elevated temperature belonging to the body, and also by the move-
ment to which the contents of the stomach are subjected by the ac-
tion of the muscular fibres with which the walls of the organ are
provided. As it is reduced to a fluid state the food is forced on into
the upper bowel. Chyme is what this product of gastric digestion
is called. Besides nitrogenous matter in a dissolved state, it con-
tains a portion suspended in a finely divided form which has not
yet undergone solution, and likewise, in the same state, those con-
stituents of the food which resist the solvent action of the stomach.
The nitrogenous matter which has escaped from the stomach in
an undissolved state is submitted to a further digestion in the intes-
tine. This may be shown by direct experimental observation. And
it is not by a continued action of the gastric juice which passes on
with the food in its course, but by an action exerted by the secre-
tions poured into the intestine itself. It has been stated that the pres-
ence of an acid forms an indispensable factor in gastric digestion.
The chyme as it passes on from the stomach is strongly acid. It con-
tains nitrogenous matter which has not yet undergone solution, and
also gastric juice whose power (it may be inferred) has not become
exhausted. So far, we have conditions which suffice for a continu-
ance of the process carried on in the stomach. It happens, however,
that on reaching the small intestine the chyme encounters alkaline
secretions. The pancreatic juice is, to a marked extent, alkaline,
and so is also the intestinal juice. The bile likewise contains a
quantity of alkali in feeble combination, and easily taken by the
gastric juice acid. Thus it happens that the chyme becomes more
or less neutralized as the small intestine is being traversed. As the
result of observation, in fact, I have noticed that by the time the
lower part of the ileum is reached the intestinal contents may be
found to present a neutral or even alkaline reaction. In this way,
through contact with the secretions poured into the intestine, the
48 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
energy of the unexhausted gastric juice contained in the chyme is
destroyed, and whatever solution of nitrogenous food now occurs
must be due to another agency.
Let us, therefore, inquire into the effect which the various secre-
tions, as they become incorporated with the chyme, are capable of
producing.
First, as regards the intestinal juice. This fluid, it is evident,
possesses some solvent influence upon nitrogenous matter. Bidder
and Schmidt ascertained by experiment that meat and coagulated
albumen contained in a muslin bag undergo, on being placed in the
empty small intestine, in which the bile and pancreatic juice are
prevented by a ligature from descending, in from four to six hours'
time, a considerable amount of digestion. In an experiment per-
formed by myself, in which the hind legs of a frog that had been
separated from the body, were introduced into the empty small in-
testine, secured by a ligature from the descent of secretions from
above, I found, after the lapse of six hours, the legs partially di-
gested a portion of the skin, for example, having been dissolved
away, the muscles underneath it separated, and some of the bones,
to a slight extent, exposed.
Next, as regards the pancreatic juice. Besides its other offices in
the animal economy, this liquid acts upon and dissolves nitrogenous
matters, as appears from the following considerations.
In 1836, Purkinje and Pappenheim asserted that the pancreas
contained a principle capable of exerting a digestive action upon
the nitrogenized elements of food. This statement attracted little
attention, and soon dropped out of notice. More recently Lucien
Corvisart, of Paris, having reopened the subject, proved, by a series
of experiments, that the pancreas, as one of its functions, supple-
ments the action of the stomach, and, after a copious meal, contrib-
utes to digest those nitrogenous matters which have escaped the
stomachic digestion. As far as the result is concerned, the two
kinds of digestion, he states, coincide, each leading to the produc-
tion of albuminose. While acidity, however, is a necessary condi-
tion to digestion in the case of the gastric juice, the pancreatic secre-
tion, it is affirmed, possesses the power of acting equally well, what-
ever the existing reaction whether acid, neutral, or alkaline.
In support of his doctrine, Corvisart has adduced three sets of
experimental results.
ACTION OF PANCREATIC JUICE. 49
First. If the pancreas of an animal be taken when its active
principle is at its maximum of quantity and quality, that is, from
the fourth to the seventh hour after digestion has begun, and it be
tln-n finely cut up and infused for an hour in twice its volume of
water at a temperature of 20 Cent. (68 Fahr.), and the infusion
be at once experimented with, it will be found, he asserts, to possess
a power of dissolving the nitrogenized alimentary principles, and
converting them into albuminose; and this, with no evidence of pu-
trefaction being perceptible, provided the experiment be stopped at
the end of four or five hours, in which time, under a temperature of
about 100 Fahr., the pancreatic principle will have effected all that
it is capable of doing.
Secondly. The pancreatic juice obtained during life from the duct
of the gland is found to be capable of acting, he affirms, as a power-
ful solvent on the nitrogenized alimentary principles, when the
requisite precautions are taken in conducting the experiment: the
juice, that is to say, must be obtained from the fourth to the seventh
hour after the ingestion of food, at which time it is charged to its
maximum degree with the pancreatic principle; and must also be
experimented with immediately after its collection. It dissolves,
Corvisart says, fibrin more quickly and more largely than albumen.
The, heat being maintained between 42 and 45 Cent. (108 and
113 Fahr.), a specimen of pancreatic juice of ordinary energy dis-
solves, it is stated, if the mixture be agitated every quarter of an
hour, all that it is capable of taking up of fibrin in two or three
hours at the most, and of solid albumen in four or five hours; the
experiment, up to this time, being attended with no evidence of
ordinary decomposition, while, at a subsequent period, ordinary de-
composition is found to set in.
Thirdly. Azotized substances introduced into the duodenum when
pancreatic juice is flowing into it are found to be dissolved, notwith-
standing the gastric juice and bile are precluded from entering by
applying a ligature to the pylorus and bile-duct.
It is necessary to state that the evidence derivable from the last
experiments must not be taken for more than it is really worth,,
viewed in relation to pancreatic juice per se. The bile and the
gastric juice may, it is true, have been prevented entering the duo-
denum, and thereby precluded from contributing to the effect, but it
4
50 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
is impossible to exclude from operation the secretions of Brunner's
and the other glands of the duodenum.
My own experiments with the pancreatic juice at first inclined
me to think that the effects producible on nitrogenous matter through
the agency of the pancreas were rather like those which result from
putrefaction than from true digestion.
On re-performing the experiments, however, I obtained results
which certainly appeared to indicate that some digestive action had
been at work. For example, upon operating with the pancreatic
infusion, taken conformably with the instructions of Corvisart, I
found that frogs 7 hind legs (which, according to my experience, con-
stitute one of the most, if not the most, sensitive and distinct tests
of digestive action) were, upon some occasions, softened, so that the
flesh broke down under very slight pressure, without any evidence of
ordinary putrefaction being apparent. The effect, however, was not
to be compared with what is observed with artificial gastric juice, and
ordinary decomposition is quickly prone to occur, which is not the
case in experiments with gastric juice.
Whatever the power actually enjoyed by the pancreatic juice in
this direction, the chief point of interest to us as regards the subject
of food is not whether this or that secretion, poured into the intes-
tine, will dispose of nitrogenous matter, but whether nitrogenous
matter really undergoes digestion in the intestine; and, thus framed,
it will be presently seen that the question admits of being answered
in a very positive manner.
The bile forms another secretion, which becomes incorporated with
the alimentary matter after its exit from the stomach. There is
nothing, however, to show that this fluid possesses any solvent power
over the nitrogenized principles of food.
Remarks have been made upon the action of the secretions taken
individually, but as regards the subject of food, the point of great-
est interest to us, as has been already said, is what occurs within the
intestine when all the secretions are allowed to enter. Experiment
shows that there is a very powerful solvent action exerted, and, as I
can state from personal investigation, a few hours suffice for nitro-
genous matter, introduced directly into the upper part of the small
intestine, to be completely digested. With reference, therefore, to
the digestion of nitrogenous matter, the intestine may undoubtedly
.be regarded as performing a part supplementary to that of the
PRODUCTION OF ALBUMINOSE. 51
stomach. Besides its other functions, it serves to complete the di-
gestion of whatever nitrogenous alimentary matter may have escaped
the digestive action of the stomach, and it may be remarked that
the same result namely, the production of albuminose or peptone
occurs as when the solution has been effected in the stomach.
Reviewing the stages that are passed through preliminary to the
appropriation of nitrogenous matter within the system, we have seen
that, through the agency of the stomach and of the intestine, it un-
dergoes conversion into a principle which, from its diffusible nature,
is readily susceptible of absorption, and it is in this form, viz., as
albuminose, that the various nitrogenous alimentary principles reach
the circulation.
The conversion, of the nitrogenous alimentary matters into albu-
minose is necessary, it has further to be remarked, not only as a
process preparatory to absorption, but also as fitting them for subse-
quent application to their proper destination. It cannot absolutely
be affirmed that no absorption whatever occurs without previous
conversion into albuminose; but this much is certain, that the amount
so absorbed must be very trifling, and it can be shown that if they
directly reach the circulation in any quantity they visibly pass off
without being applied to the purposes of the economy.
Bernard was the first to demonstrate that the albumen of egg,
reaching the circulation without having previously undergone diges-
tion, quickly passes from the system into the urine. If introduced
directly into one of the bloodvessels, or even if injected into the sub-
cutaneous tissue, it rapidly betrays its presence in the urine. This
I can attest from my own experience. Both after injection into a
vein and into the subcutaneous tissue the albumen of egg, as I have
often seen, is soon recognizable in the urine.
It has also been observed that a meal consisting largely of eggs,
particularly if taken after prolonged fasting, has been followed by
the appearance of albumen in the urine. Here, apparently, it has
happened that some albumen has reached the circulation without
having undergone the usual conversion ; and, as when experimentally
injected, has been thence discharged with the urine. Hence it may
be concluded, not only that egg-albumen and blood-albumen differ
strikingly from each other in a physiological point of view, but that
egg-albumen, as such, is not fitted for entering the circulation.
The conversion of 'albumen into albuminose, therefore, not onlv
52 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
bears on the facility of absorption, but on the adaptability for subse-
quent application in the system. The process of metamorphosis, in
fact, is required, not only with a view to adaptability for absorption,
but to subsequent fitness for utilization in the system.
Casein and gelatin I have found 1 comport themselves in the same
manner as albumen, namely, pass off from the system with the
urine when directly introduced into the circulation. The injection
of three ounces of milk into a vein was observed in an experiment
to be followed by the appearance of casein in the urine. The injec-
tion of 100 grains of isinglass, dissolved in two and a half ounces of
water, also so charged the urine with gelatin as to give rise to the
formation of a firm, solid jelly on cooling.
Thrown oif as they thus are from the system, albumen, casein,
and gelatin are evidently not adapted for direct introduction into the
circulation. Fibrin, on account of its solidity, cannot be similarly
experimented with. Digestion, in its case also, is an indispensable
condition to its introduction into the circulation. In respect, in-
deed, of all these principles, it may be said that their metamorphosis
in the digestive system is needed as a preliminary step to their capa-
bility of appropriation in the body, and their application to the pur-
poses of life.
We have followed the nitrogenous alimentary principles to the
stage of albuminose. The precise nature of what next ensues is not
yet known. There can be little or no doubt as to the progress from
albuminose to the albumen of the blood, but as to what next occurs
we have no data to show. With the ultimate products that are
formed we are acquainted, but the steps of metamorphosis are as yet
beyond our knowledge. The chain we have hitherto followed now
wants one or more links, which we have as yet no means of dis-
covering. As regards the seat of metamorphosis we have also no
information of a precise nature to deal with, but we may, neverthe-
less, hazard the surmise that the liver is the viscus in which albu-
minose, like other nutritive matters absorbed from the alimentary
canal, mainly, if not entirely, undergoes metamorphosis. The va-
rious nitrogenous principles of the body must be primarily derived
1 " Gulstonian Lectures (1862) on Assimilation and the Influence of its Defects
on the Urine," Lancet, vol. i,' p. 574, 1863.
USES OF NITROGENOUS MATTER. 58
from it ; but, whether by direct transformation into them, or by-
passing through the stage of albumen, we have not the means of
deciding. That albumen is susceptible of metamorphosis, however,
into the other principles, we know, from its forming in the egg the
pabulum whence the various nitrogenous principles of the young
bird take their origin.
Instead of wandering farther into the domain of conjecture as to
the subject of metamorphosis, let us now turn our attention to the
purposes fulfilled by the nitrogenous principles as alimentary matter.
First in importance is the supply of material for the development
primarily, and for the renovation secondarily, of the tissues.
Wherever vital operations are going on, there nitrogenous matter
is present, forming, so to speak, the spring of vital action. Although
non-nitrogenous matter contributes in certain ways towards the
maintenance of life, yet it is nitrogenous matter which starts and
keeps in motion the molecular changes which result in the phe-
nomena of life. Nitrogenous matter, it may be said, forms the basis,
without which no life manifests itself. Life is coincident with
molecular change. In non-nitrogenous matter the elements of the
molecule are not, of themselves, prone to change ; whereas in the
molecule of nitrogenous matter there exist a greater complexity of
grouping among the elements, and these cohere so loosely, or are so
feebly combined, as to have a constant tendency to alter or to re-
group themselves into simpler combinations. By this change in
the nitrogenous, change is induced in the contiguous non-nitrogenous
molecule, and, occurring as the whole does in a definite or prescribed
order, the phenomena of life are produced. Nitrogenous matter, in
this way forming the instrument of living action, is incessantly
being disintegrated. Becoming thereby effete and useless, a fresh
supply is needed to replace that which has fulfilled its office. The
primary object of nitrogenous alimentary matter may thereupon be
said to be the development and renovation of the living tissues.
We have seen that nitrogenous matter forms an essential part of
living structures. It holds the same position in the case of the
ftecretions. These owe the active properties with which they are
endowed, chiefly, if not entirely, to a nitrogenous constituent. This
is drawn from the blood by the glands just as it is drawn by the
51 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
tissues ; and on passing from the blood it is modified or converted,
by the agency of the gland, into the special principle encountered.
Nitrogenous matter is thus as essential to the constitution of the
active secretions as it is to the tissues ; and, as the amount of the
secretions required is in relation to the general vital activity, a cor-
responding demand for nitrogenous matter is created.
I now come to treat of nitrogenous matter in relation to force-
production.
The dependence of muscular and nervous action upon oxidation
of the respective tissues is one of the many doctrines which have
emanated from the inventive intellect of Liebig. According to the
view propounded, nitrogenous matter alone constitutes the source of
muscular and nervous power. The tissues being consumed in the
exercise of their functional activity or the manifestation of their
dynamic properties, fresh nitrogenous matter is alleged to be needed
to replace that which has served for the production of power. Thus
viewed, nitrogenous matter has been regarded as not only applied to
nutrition and to the formation of the nitrogenous constituents of the
active secretions, but also to the restitution of the loss incurred by
the production of power. What wonder, then, if with all these
purposes to fulfil, the nutritive value of food should have been
measured, as it latterly has been, by the amount of nitrogenous
matter it contains ?
Liebig's doctrine was at once accepted, and until recently has
been looked upon as expressing a scientific truth. Like many other
of its author's views, its plausibility was such that no one ventured
to question its soundness. Gradually, however, experimental in-
quiry began to invalidate it, and the reactionary move has advanced
till Traube has been led to express himself in directly opposite terms
regarding the source of muscular and nervous power. According to
this authority, for instance, the organized or nitrogenous part of a
muscle is not destroyed or consumed in its action. The resulting
force is affirmed to be due, instead, to the oxidation of non-nitroge-
nous matter the muscle merely serving as a medium for the conver-
sion of the generated force into motor power. The point has at-
tracted much attention of late, and researches of an elaborate nature
have been conducted with regard to it. Let us see the position in
which these researches have placed it.
NITROGENOUS MATTER AND MUSCULAR ACTION. 55
The argument representing the question to be solved may be thus
expressed : Does the force evolved by muscular action proceed from
destruction of muscular tissue? If so, nitrogenous matter would be
needed to replace the loss incurred, and the result would be equiva-
lent to nitrogenous matter through the medium of muscle being
applied to the production of motor power. Now, if muscular action
is coincident with the destruction of muscular tissue, there must, as
a product of the destruction, be a nitrogen-containing principle
eliminated. The elements of the compounds that have served their
purpose in the economy do not accumulate, but are discharged from
the system under certain known forms of combination. The nitro-
gen, therefore, belonging to a consumed nitrogenous structure should
be recognizable in the effete matters thrown off from the body.
Nay, more : as the force developed by muscular action cannot arise
spontaneously as it can be produced only by transmutation from
another force the destruction of muscular tissue (which through
the chemical action involved supplies the force), should be in pro-
portion to the amount of muscular work performed, and the nitrogen
contained in the excreta in proportion also to the amount of muscu-
lar tissue destroyed.
Now, in proceeding to measure the extent of tissue metamorphosis
by, the nitrogen eliminated, it is necessary, in the first instance, to
be sure of our data regarding the channels through which nitrogen
finds its exit from the body it is necessary, that is to say, to ascer-
tain whether nitrogen escapes with the breath and perspiration, as
was at one time asserted, as well as by the alimentary canal and the
kidneys. We have no accessible means, it must be stated, of deter-
mining in a direct way whether nitrogen passes off by the lungs and
skin. Our conclusions have to be based upon comparing the nitro-
gen ingested with that encountered in the urine and alvine evacu-
ations. Formerly, it was said that a deficiency in the latter existed,
and it was put down to loss by pulmonary and cutaneous elimina-
tion. Barral, for instance, only detected half the nitrogen of the
food in the urine and faeces, and thence inferred that the remainder
was discharged with the breath and perspiration. In opposition to
this, however, several trustworthy observers (amongst whom may
be named Voit, Ranke, Haughton, and Parkes), aided by the im-
proved methods of analysis introduced by modern experience, have
recovered within a very close approach all the nitrogen of the food
56 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
from the urinary and intestinal excreta. Dr. Parkes's observations
are especially worthy of reliance, and he confidently asserts that it
may be looked upon as established, that an amount of nitrogen is
discharged by the kidney and intestine equivalent to that which
enters with the food. Admitting this to be the case, we have only
to look to the products that escape from these two channels for the
information that is wanted about the discharged nitrogen in relation
to the question before us.
Next comes the determination of the relation respectively held by
the urinary and intestinal nitrogen to the point under consideration.
It has long been known that the chief portion of the escaping
nitrogen is to be met with in the urine. Lehmann, for instance,
found, whilst subsisting on a purely animal diet (eggs), that a daily
average of 30.3 grammes (467 grains) of nitrogen entered his system,
and that a daily average of 24.4 grammes (376 grains) was dis-
charged by the urine. Here, therefore, it was ascertained that an
amount equal to five-sixths of the ingested nitrogen escaped by the
kidneys.
But more recent and precise evidence has been afforded by a
series of very carefully conducted observations made upon two sol-
diers by Dr. Parkes. 1 The observations extended over sixteen
consecutive days, and the results not only bear on the ingestion and
egestion of nitrogen generally, but likewise show that the great bulk
of outgoing nitrogen is to be met with in the urine. The men were
both of almost precisely the same weight at the end of the time as
at the beginning, so that the ingoing and the outgoing matter must
have been closely balanced. They were subjected to varying con-
ditions of rest and exercise, but consumed exactly the same allow-
ance of food every day. The nitrogen in the food taken during the
sixteen days amounted to 313.76 grammes; and from the urine of
one of the men (distinguished as S.) there were recovered 303.660
grammes, and from that of the other (distinguished as B.) 307.257
grammes. Thus the amount of nitrogen discharged from the kid-
neys was, in the case of S., only about ten grammes, and in that of
B., six grammes less than that admitted with the food. The alvine
evacuations were collected and analyzed only upon three occasions.
Taking the mean of the results then obtained as representing the
1 Proceedings of the Royal Society, June 20th, 1867.
MUSCULAR ACTION AND ELIMINATION OF NITROGEN. 57
daily average, and calculating from this for the sixteen days, the
quantity of nitrogen discharged from the bowels amounted in S. to
25.8 grammes, and in B. to 17.2 grammes, thus somewhat exceeding
the difference between the ingested nitrogen and that excreted in the
urine, or giving, in other words, rather more nitrogen discharged
than nitrogen ingested.
The nitrogen discharged from the bowels may be said to have
been found to form, upon an average, from about one-eighth to one-
twelfth or one-thirteenth of the total nitrogen voided. Owing its
origin, as it does, to the nitrogen belonging to the undigested food
on the one hand, and that contained in the unabsorbed intestinal se-
cretions on the other, it is constantly liable to incidental variation.
There is this, also, to be remarked, that the nature of its source ex-
cludes it from possessing any relation to the question under consid-
eration. We have, therefore, only the urinary excretion to look to
as forming the channel through which the exit of nitrogen, resulting
from the metamorphosis of nitrogenous matter in the system, takes
place ; and observation has shown that in the human subject it .is
mainly under the shape of urea that the escape occurs.
What, now, is the state of the urine in relation to rest and exer-
cise? If muscular disintegration forms the source of muscular
work, the quantity of urinary nitrogen ought to increase in propor-
tion to the amount of muscular work performed.
Lrhmann, imbued with Liebig's views, as his writings show,
speaks of there being an actual increase in the elimination of urea
in proportion to muscular exercise, and yet he gives it as the result
of observation upon himself that, while under ordinary circum-
stances he passed about 32 grammes (493 grains) of urea in the
twenty-four hours, the quantity passed after severe bodily exercise
was upon one occasion 36 grammes (555 grains), and upon another
37.4 grammes (577 grains) only this insignificant disparity to cor-
respond with the difference in the amount of muscular work per-
formed.
Voit experimented upon a dog, and determined the amount of
urea voided during rest and the performance of mechanical work,
in association with abstinence and a regulated diet of meat. The
work imposed upon the dog was running in a treadmill. The re-
sults, both during abstinence and feeding, exhibited no material ex-
cess in the urea voided during work over that voided during rest.
58 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
Dr. E. Smith, also, in his observations on the elimination of car-
bonic acid and urea during rest and exercise, found, in the case of
the prisoners at Cold bath Fields, that, in the absence of food, the
labor of the tread wheel did not, to any material extent, increase the
nitrogen discharged under the form of urea. Like others have
done, he noticed a distinct relation between the urea discharged and
the food ingested. At the same time he regarded and this was
several years ago, when our knowledge stood in a very different po-
sition from what it does now the relation between the urea and
muscular work as far less established then than it had been held to
be for some time before.
The theory that muscular work is dependent on, and proportioned
to, the destruction of muscular tissue by oxidation, received its de-
cisive blow from the now celebrated observations of Drs. Fick and
Wislicenus, professors of physiology and chemistry respectively at
Zurich. 1 These experimentalists subjected themselves to a measur-
able amount of work by ascending a mountain of an ascertained
height. They argued that if the work performed be due to destruc-
tion of muscular tissue seeing that the nitrogenous product of de-
struction is discharged in great part, if not entirely, with the urine
the collection of the urine, and the determination of its nitroge-
nous contents ought to show the amount of nitrogenous matter de-
stroyed. Again, as the mechanical work to be performed must be
represented by an equivalent of chemical action to produce it, the
destruction of nitrogenous matter, as measured by the nitrogen ap-
pearing in the urine, ought to accord with the amount of work per-
formed. To simplify the experiment, the food consumed by the ex-
perimentalists consisted solely of non-nitrogenous matter; so that
the nitrogen appearing in the urine might be derived exclusively
from that belonging to the system.
Drs. Fick and Wislicenus chose for ascent the Faulhorn, near the
lake of Brienz, in the Bernese Oberland, a steep mountain of about
2000 metres (6561 feet) above the level of the lake, and furnished
with hotel accommodation on the summit, enabling them to rest
overnight and make the descent next day.
On the 30th of August, between 10 minutes past 5 in the morn-
ing and 20 minutes past 1 in the afternoon, the ascent was made.
1 "On the Origin of Muscular Power," by Drs. Fick and Wislicenus,- Philo-
sophical Magazine (Supplement), vol. xxxi, 1866.
FICK AND WISLICENUS 'S EXPERIMENTS. 59
From the noon of the 29th no nitrogenous food had been eaten by
the experimenters, their diet consisting solely of starch and fat (taken
in the form of small cakes), and sugar as solid matter; and tea,
beer, and wine as drink. After ascending the mountain, Drs. Fick
and Wislicenus rested, and took no other kind of food till 7 in the
evening, when they partook of a plentiful repast of meat and its
usual accompaniments.
They began to collect their urine for examination from 6 P.M. of
the 29th that is, six hours after the commencement of their non-
nitrogenous diet. The urine secreted from this time till ten minutes
past 5 A.M. of the 30th, when the ascent began, was called the " be-
fore-work " urine. The urine secreted during the ascent was called
the "work" urine; and that from 1.20P.M. to 7 P.M. (from the
completion of the ascent to the cessation of the non-nitrogenous diet),
the "after-work" urine. Finally, the urine secreted during the
night spent on the Faulhorn up to half-past 5 A.M. was also col-
lected, and denominated "night" urine.
Each specimen was measured, and both the quantity of urea and
the absolute amount of nitrogen contained in it determined. For
the object before us it will suffice to confine our attention to the ni-
trogen ; and the quantity of this element secreted per hour (calcu-
lated from the amount contained in the respective specimens and the
time passed in secretion), stood thus, for the several periods :
Quantity of Nitrogen excreted per hour.
Fick. Wislicenus.
Grammes. Grammes.
Before work, 0.03 0.61
During work, 0.41 39
After work, 0.40 040
Night, 0.45 0.51
A glance at these figures shows the agreement that existed in the
two cases. The result proved that, whilst the nitrogenous excretion
was related to the food ingested, it was not so to muscular action.
Less nitrogen, it is noticeable, was voided during the "work" and
" after-work " than during the " before-work " period, and this was
plainly attributable to the absence of nitrogenous food from the
diet. During the night, after the meal of mixed food, there was an
increase, greater in Wislicenus's than in Fick's case ; but the one
60 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
meal did not bring the amount of nitrogen up to the point at which
it stood shortly after the commencement of their abstinence from
nitrogenous food.
The conclusion, then, that in the first place may be drawn from
this experiment is that muscular work is not accompanied by the
increased elimination of nitrogen that might be looked for if it re-
sulted from the oxidation of muscle. But let us inquire whether
the disintegation of nitrogenous matter which actually occurred dur-
ing the " work " and " after-work " periods, as measured by the
nitrogen excreted, would account for the generation of an amount of
force equivalent to that expended in the work performed.
Knowing that the nitrogenous matter of muscle contains say, in
round numbers 15 per cent, of nitrogen, it is easy to calculate to
how much muscular tissue the excreted nitrogen was equivalent;
and taking the muscular tissue thus represented, an approximate, if
not an absolute, estimate can be given of the amount of mechanical
work which its oxidation would be capable of performing.
The height of the ascended mountain, likewise, being known, the
amount of muscular force actually employed in raising the weight
of the body to the summit can also be definitely expressed.
We have, therefore, these data supplied :
1st. From the nitrogen excreted the amount of nitrogenous mat-
ter oxidized :
2d. The amount of force that this oxidation would generate;
and
3d. The expenditure of force required to raise the bodies of the
experimenters to the height they reached.
Now, if the work performed were due to the oxidation of muscle,
the second factor ought to equal the third ; that is, the force produ-
cible from the muscle oxidized ought to be equivalent to the force
that was expended. The results of the calculation, however, show,
as will be presently seen, that the force expended considerably ex-
ceeded the amount derivable from the nitrogenous matter consumed.
Nor is this all. Besides the force expended in simply raising the
body-weights of the two men to the elevation reached, there would
also be occurring, during the performance of the work, an expendi-
ture of muscular power in keeping up the circulation, in respiratory
action, and the other life-processes. The calculations on these points
have been carefully worked out by Fick and Wislicenus ; and though
MUSCULAR WORK AND MUSCLE OXIDATION. 61
the data for the process are scarcely precise enough to warrant our
regarding the results as scientifically exact, still they may be ad-
mitted as affording a basis for a safe general conclusion to be drawn.
We are also told that wherever a doubt existed about the data,
figures were taken as favorable as was allowable to the old hypoth-
esis, which referred the source of power to muscular oxidation.
In giving the conclusion furnished, it is not necessary to intro-
duce the details of the calculation. It will suffice to say that sum-
marily stated the result of the calculation showed that the measured
work performed during the ascent exceeded by about one-half in
Fick's case, and more than three- fourths in that of Wislicenus, the
amount which it would be theoretically possible to realize from the
amount of nitrogenous matter consumed.
It has been shown by Professor Frankland 1 that the results of
Fick and Wislicenus in reality afford stronger evidence than they
have contended for. Fick and Wislicenus were obliged to estimate
the force-value of the nitrogenous matter, shown by the nitrogen in
the urine to have been destroyed in the system, from the amount of
force known to be producible by the oxidation of its elements, be-
cause the actual determination for the compound itself had not been
made. Professor Frankland, however, has since experimentally as-
certained with the calorimeter the amount of energy or force under
the form of heat evolved during the oxidation of a given quantity of
nitrogenous matter as the oxidation occurs within the living system,
where, it must be remembered, on account of the nitrogen carrying
off the elements that are associated with it in urea, some carbon and
hydrogen escape being consumed. Frankland's results give as the
actual amount of energy producible from the nitrogenous matter
consumed in the bodies of the experimentalists about half the quan-
tity they had reckoned in their calculations. Thus, the results tell
so much the more in Fick and Wislicenus's favor. Frankland con-
siders, taking all points into consideration, that scarcely a fifth of
the actual energy required for the accomplishment of the work per-
formed in the ascent of the mountain could have been obtained from
the amount of muscle (nitrogenous matter) that was consumed. As-
suming, therefore, the foregoing conclusions to be entitled to credence,
1 " On the Origin of Muscular Power," Lond. Philos. Magazine, vol. xxxii,
1866.
62 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
the doctrine which ascribes muscular action to oxidation of muscular
tissue becomes utterly untenable.
Dr. Parkes has conducted, in a most careful manner, a series of
investigations on the influence of rest and exercise, under different
diets, upon the effete products of the system, and, more particularly,
to test the accuracy of the results arrived at by Fick and Wislicenus.
He says, " Although these results [Fick and Wislicenus's] are sup-
ported by the previous experiments of Dr. Speck, who has shown
that, if the ingress of nitrogen be restricted, bodily exercise causes no
or a very slight increase in the elimination of nitrogen by the urine,
it appeared desirable to carefully repeat the experiments, not only
because the question is one of great importance, but because objections
might be, and, indeed, have been, reasonably made to the experi-
ments of Professors Fick and Wislicenus, on the ground that no
sufficient basis of comparison between periods of rest and exercise
was given, that the periods were altogether too short, and that no
attention was paid to the possible exit of nitrogen by the intestines."
Dr. Parkes's experiments were conducted upon perfectly healthy
soldiers, men who, when steady and trustworthy, as were the sol-
diers made use of, form, as Dr. Parkes observes, highly suitable
subjects for experiments of the kind, their regularity in diet and oc-
cupation, and their habits of obedience, affording a special guarantee
for the precision with which they will carry out the instructions
given. There can, indeed, be little or no doubt, from the harmony
observable all through, that the results furnish as exact and reliable
information as can be hoped to be obtained.
The total nitrogen contained in the urine was determined, as well
as the urea; and by -this step more conclusive evidence is supplied
than by the simple determination of urea, as had only been done in
the experiments of Fick and Wislicenus and others: obviously so,
because it might be said that nitrogen escaped (as is really to some
extent the case) in other forms than that of urea.
The experiments consisted of two series, and extended, in each
case, over several successive days. In the first series' a comparison
is instituted of the products of excretion during rest and exercise
under a non-nitrogenous diet. In the second 2 the same comparison
1 Proceedings of the "Royal Society, Jan. 1867, vol. xv, No. 89.
2 Id. vol. xvi, No. 94.
DR. PARKES'S EXPERIMENTS ON ELIMINATION OF NITROGEN. 63
is made under a fixed diet, containing an ordinary admixture of ni-
trogenous and non-nitrogenous food.
In drawing conclusions regarding the destruction of muscle from
the nitrogen eliminated, it is, of course, of the first importance that
that the whole of the voided nitrogen should be presented to our
notice. Dr. Parkes is convinced, from his experiments, that no
nitrogen escapes either by the breath or perspiration, but that it is
all to be found in the excreta from the kidneys and bowels. The
nitrogen discharged by the bowels forms a comparatively small and
varying proportion, and being derived from the undigested food and
the unabsorbed digestive secretions, has no bearing in reference to
the point before us. There remains, therefore, only the urinary
nitrogen to consider as a measure of the tissue-metamorphosis occur-
ring in the system. Thus prefaced, let us now see what light is
thrown upon the matter under consideration by Dr. Parkes's experi-
ments. For the sake of simplicity notice will only be taken of the
total urinary nitrogen voided, as this gives in a more reliable man-
ner than the urea the information that is wanted.
The men forming the subjects of the first series of experiments
are distinguished as S.'and T. T. was a much smaller man than S.
(S. weighing 150 and T. 112 Ibs.), and it will be observed that he,
throughout, passed a less amount of urinary nitrogen. He did not
consume quite so much food; and as it was found that he discharged
rather more nitrogen from the intestine, it may be assumed that he
did not so fully digest and absorb what he ingested.
For six days the men were kept upon an ordinary mixed diet,
and pursued their customary occupation. The urine was collected
and examined during four out of the six days, and the following is
the mean amount of the total nitrogen passed per diem :
Mean urinary nitrogen
per diem.
Mixed diet, with customary occupation, .
During the following two days the diet was restricted to non-
nitrogenous food, consisting of arrowroot, sugar, and butter. The
only nitrogen ingested and this may be regarded as too insignifi-
cant to require being taken into account was in the tea the men
were allowed to drink, it being thought desirable not to deprive
them of this beverage. Throughout the two days they remained as
64 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
much at rest as was practicable ; they were allowed to get up, but
not to leave the room.
Mean urinary nitrogen
per diem.
Non-nitrogenous diet, with rest, . . - { ' J' 176
ra mes '
The men were now put back, for four days, upon a mixed diet,
with customary occupation, just as at the beginning of the experi-
ment.
Mean urinary nitrogen
per diem.
Mixed diet with customary occupation, { ^ 12.988 grammes.
( I. 11.095 u
Next, they were restricted again for two days to the same non-
nitrogenous food as before, but this time it was accompanied with
active walking exercise. During the first day the distance walked
was 23} , and during the second 32} miles. The diet, it is stated,
satisfied hunger, and there was no sinking or craving for other kinds
of food.
Mean urinary nitrogen
per diem.
Non-nitrogenous diet, with active exer- f S. 8.971 grammes.
ei*e, ........ \ T. 8.034
To complete the experiment four more days were passed under
observation with the ordinary mixed diet, accompanied by ordinary
exercise. Rather more nitrogenous food was taken during these
four days succeeding the two days' active exercise than during the
four days succeeding the two days 7 rest, the men feeling more hun-
gry after the " work " period than after the period of " rest." The
mean for T., it is mentioned, is for three days instead of four, one
analysis having failed.
Mean urinary nitrogen
per diem.
Mixed diet with customary occupation, . f ^ J^l grammes.
From this series of results we find that there was no material
variatioh in the amount of urinary nitrogen discharged during the
two days when a distance of 56J miles was walked, as compared
with the two days spent in as complete. a state of rest as possible,
on both occasions restriction to non-nitrogenous food being enjoined.
Comparing both these periods, however, with those in which nitro-
DR. PARKES'S EXPERIMENTS ON ELIMINATION OF NITROGEN. 65
genous food was taken, we recognize a marked exemplification of the
well-established fact that diet, on the other hand, exerts a striking
influence over the amount of nitrogen eliminated with the urine.
During each of the non-nitrogenous diet-periods the quantity of
nitrogen eliminated was considerably less than during the others ; it
is also noticeable that the influence of the non-nitrogenous food was
extended into the subsequent ordinary diet-periods, less nitrogen
being voided during these than at the commencement of the experi-
ment, before any restriction from nitrogenous food had been imposed.
This point, however, will be further alluded to hereafter.
In the second series of experiments the amount of nitrogen elimi-
nated was determined under the conditions of rest and exercise, com-
bined with a mixed diet. One of the two men, S., was the same who
had been made use of in the former experiment; the other, B., was
a fresh man, weighing 140 Ibs., and therefore nearer in size to S., who
weighed 150 Ibs., than T., of the former experiment, who weighed
112 Ibs. During the sixteen days over which the observations ex-
tended each man took precisely the same allowance of food in the
twenty-four hours the. food consisting of weighed quantities of
meat, bread, potatoes, and the other constituents of an ordinary
mixed diet. For the first four days the men pursued their custom-
ary employment. The next two days were passed in rest. Then
followed four days of ordinary employment ; after this, two days of
active exercise ; and finally, four days again of ordinary employment.
The amount of nitrogen eliminated by the kidneys during the several
periods is shown in the following table :
Ordinary employment (mean of four days), .
Rest (mean of two days),
Ordinary employment (mean of four days), .
Active exercise walking on level ground, 24 miles
the first day, and 35 the second (mean of two
days),
Ordinary employment (mean of four days), .
Urinary nitrogen
per diem.
S. 17.857 grammes.
B. 18.502
S. 19.137
B. 19.471
S. 17.612
B. 18485
S. 19.646
B. 19.959
S. 21.054
B. 20.092
In these results it will be seen there is nothing to sanction the
doctrine that the source of muscular power resides in the destruction
6
66 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
of muscular tissue. In two persons subsisting on an identical and
unvarying daily diet, and subjected to varying conditions of muscu-
lar exertion, we find nearly the same quantity of nitrogen elimina-
ted during two days' hard walking as during two days of rest. It
is curious, and also, it must be owned, does not appear explicable,
that during the periods of both rest and active exercise the daily
amount of nitrogen eliminated was in excess of that eliminated
during the first two periods of ordinary employment, the figures at
the same time for the associated periods respectively agreeing very
closely with each other. In the third period of ordinary employ-
ment that is, after the two days of walking exercise the nitrogen
voided was greater in quantity than at any other time. Such excess,
however, did not amount to anything particularly marked.
Comparing in detail the nitrogen eliminated during the correspond-
ing portions of the two-day periods those of rest and active exer-
cise Dr. Parkes observes, with respect to the results furnished, "On
the first day of exercise, the nitrogen in each man fell below the cor-
responding day of rest by 1.626 and 1.131 grammes. In the next
twelve hours, which were almost entirely occupied in exercise [this
period extending from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M.], the diminution was still
greater, being 2.498 and 1.225 grammes, which would be equivalent
to 5 and 2J grammes for twenty-four hours. In the last twelve
hours [8 P.M. to 8 A.M.] of rest after work, the elimination increased
greatly, so that 5.142 and 3.331 grammes more were excreted than
in the corresponding rest period." Seeking to reconcile his results
in relation to muscular action, Dr. Parkes observes : " It appears to
me that we can only express the facts by saying that a muscle during
action appropriates more nitrogen than it gives off, and during rest
gives off more than it appropriates."
But must we, I would suggest, look only to the muscles for the
source of the variation in the amount of nitrogen discharged in these
experiments ? The results, in the first place, conclusively showed
that the nitrogen eliminated forms no measure of muscular work
performed, and hence it may be inferred as a corollary that muscular
work is not a result of muscular destruction. But, taking the vari-
ation in the voided nitrogen that was observable, independently of
that occasioned by diet, why should we seek its source exclusively
in the muscles?
On looking at the several daily amounts discharged, I remark the
DR. PARKES'S EXPERIMENTS ON ELIMINATION OF NITROGEN. 67
existence of instances in which considerable variation occurs within
the periods themselves. Thus, during the first day of the first
period, when the men were engaged in ordinary employment, B. dis-
charged" 20.4 17 grammes of nitrogen, and during the third day only
17.090, a difference approaching to 3J grammes. Again, during the
last period, which was also spent in ordinary employment (it will be
remembered the daily diet was the same throughout the experiment),
the urinary nitrogen voided by both men stood as follows :
s. B.
First day, . . 21.25 grammes. . . 20.25 grammes.
Second day, . . 19.942 " . . 19.273 "
Third day, . . 23.488 " . . 19.248 "
Fourth day, . . 19.536 " . . 21.597 "
On the third day, it thus appears, S. discharged nearly four
grammes of nitrogen in excess of that on the fourth, and about 3 J in
excess of that on the second. No corresponding fluctuation, it will
be remarked, was observable in the case of B. Here, then, are
marked variations in the elimination of nitrogen without a variation
of muscular action.
In a more recently performed experiment 1 Dr. Parkes's results
show, with a fixed daily ingress of nitrogen, a variation in the daily
exit .amounting in the extreme to seven and a half grammes.
Now, we know that the nitrogen of the urine is derivable from
the metamorphosis of the nitrogenous ingesta within the system. It
is true the food taken was every day the same throughout the ex-
periment that has been forming the subject of consideration, but it
does not follow that the rate of metamorphosis was every day simi-
larly identical. Doubtless, like other processes of life, it is influ-
enced by various internal conditions. We know also, as the result
of observation in the case of starvation, that, notwithstanding an
absence of ingoing nitrogen, an elimination of this element still con-
tinues, and that the nitrogen eliminated is drawn from the nitroge-
nous principles of the body, belonging alike to the solids and fluids.
There is a general waste or loss occurring, and the only difference
noticeable is that the loss goes on with different degrees of rapidity
in the different parts of the system. In the muscles it certainly
occurs somewhat more rapidly than elsewhere, but this is all. With
1 Proc. Koy. Soc., March, 1871.
68 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
these considerations before us it appears to me that we are taking an
unjustifiably narrow view in looking only to the muscles to account
for the variation in question in the voided nitrogen. Exercise can-
not fail to influence the processes going on in the system generally,
as well as in the muscles, and, in accounting for the results observed,
instead of limiting ourselves, with Dr. Parkes, to the assertion that
" we can only express the fact by saying that a muscle during action
appropriates more nitrogen than it gives off, and during rest gives
off more than it appropriates," I think what we ought rather to
say is, that during exercise the system appropriates more nitrogen
than it gives off, and during rest gives off more than it appropriates.
Voit, however, disputes the reality of exercise producing any in-
fluence over the elimination of nitrogen, and has taken exception to
some of Dr. Parkes's experiments, on the ground, more particularly,
that the daily ingress of nitrogen could not be kept sufficiently stable.
This has elicited from Dr. Parkes a further series, the results of
which are recorded in the " Proceedings of the Royal Society " for
March, 1871. In these it appeared that there was no change in-
duced, either at the time or afterwards, by a moderate amount of ad-
ditional exercise under a mixed regulated diet ; but, under a non-
nitrogenous diet, the increase in the nitrogen on the following clay to
the performance of a hard day's march was exceedingly striking.
The non-nitrogenous diet was continued through five successive days.
During the first three it was associated with the ordinary work of a
soldier ; on the fourth, with a march of thirty-two miles, carrying a
weight of 43 \ Ibs. ; and on the fifth with rest. As the ordinary re-
sult of abstinence from nitrogenous food, the eliminated urinary ni-
trogen underwent a steady decrease during the first four days ; on the
fifth, however, it showed a marked ascent, the amount being then in
considerable excess of that discharged on the first.
In the "New York Medical Journal" for October, 1870, Dr.
Austin Flint, Jr., records the result of the examination of the urine
secreted during the performance of, perhaps, an unprecedented
amount of muscular work within the space of time occupied. A
Mr. Weston, set. 32, of medium height, and weighing ordinarily
122 Ibs. without his clothes, celebrated as a pedestrian of the United
States, undertook to perform the astonishing feat of walking one
hundred miles in twenty-two consecutive hours. The feat, it ap-
pears, was accomplished within the time namely, in twenty-one
WESTON'S WALKING FEAT AND ELIMINATION OF NITROGEN. 69
hours and thirty-nine minutes. The food consumed during the
period was taken in small quantities at short intervals, and con-
sisted of between one and two bottles of beef essence, two bottles of
oatmeal gruel, and sixteen to twenty raw eggs, with water. He
drank a little lemonade and took water very frequently, but only in
quantity sufficient to rinse his mouth. While walking the last ten
miles he took, it is further stated, two or three mouthfuls of charn-
pagne, amounting to about three fluid ounces, and about two and a
half fluid ounces of brandy in ten-drop doses. The head and face
were sponged freely at short intervals, and the food and drink were
taken mainly on the walk, which was conducted within a covered
inclosure.
The urine passed during and at the completion of the walk meas-
ured 73 J fluid ounces, and presented the specific gravity of 1011.
According to Dr. Flint's analysis it contained 424f grains of urea.
Now, 500 grains form about the average daily quantity of urea dis-
charged under an ordinary mixed diet; and as the diet during the
performance of the pedestrian feat was rich, as the account shows it
to have been, in nitrogenous matter, the quantity of urea, apart from
any other consideration, was even less than might have been ex-
pected. And yet, on the strength of a comparison with another
examination of the urine conducted three months later, when only
191 grains of urea are stated to have been discharged in the absence
of exposure to muscular exertion, Dr. Flint argues that muscular ex-
ercise notably increases the elimination of urea. To take a solitary
result of so exceptional a kind as the discharge of 191 grains of urea
in the twenty-four hours, and use it as a ground of comparison for
reasoning upon, as Dr. Flint has done, is surely to violate all rules
of sound induction, and it is to be hoped that we shall not find the
observation quoted by writers as bearing out what Dr. Flint has
contended for.
During November, 1870, Mr. Weston undertook another pedes-
trian feat, and this time a very elaborate examination was made of
the ingesta and egesta, and of various conditions of the body, by
Dr. Flint and a staff of associates. The results- are recorded in detail
in the " New York Medical Journal" for June, 1871. The feat
proposed was to w r alk 400 miles in five consecutive days, and upon
one of the days 112 miles were to be walked in twenty-four con- 1
secutive hours. Mr. Weston commenced the undertaking on the
70
ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
21st of November. The examination of the ingesta, egesta, &c.,
had been conducted for five days before; it was also carried on
during the five days of the walk, and continued for five days after-
wards. Thus, the results for three periods before, during, and
after the walk were obtained. The subjoined tabular representa-
tion will give a summary view of the leading points noted. The
walk was undertaken over a measured track marked out in the form
of a parallelogram, within a large covered space namely, the Em-
pire Skating Rink in New York. It appears that Mr. Weston failed
this time to accomplish the feat he had attempted ; distance walked
during the five days amounting to 31 7 J miles, and the greatest dis-
tance on any one day to 92 miles.
DR. FLINT'S observations on the effects of the five-day pedestrian feat
performed by MR. WESTON.
Weight of
body (uude).
Before the walk.
Ibs.
First day, . .
120.5
Second, . .
121.25
Third, . . .
120.
Fourth, . .
118.5
Fifth, . . .
119.2
During the walk.
First day, . .
116.5
Second, . .
11625
"Dhird, . . .
115.
Fourth, . .
114.
Fifth, . . .
115.75
After the walk.
First day, . .
118.
Second, . .
120.25
Third, . . .
120.25
Fourth, . ..
123.5
JPifth, . . .
120.75,
Tem-
perature.
Fahr.
99 7
98.4
980
99.1
99.5
95.3
94.8
96.6
96.6
97.9
986
98.4
99.3
98.8
97.5
Pulse.
75
73
71
78
93
93
109
68
80
76
73
70
78
76
Miles
talked.
15
5
5
15
1
80
48
92
57
40.5
2
2
2
o
Nitrogen
in ingesta.
Grains.
361.22
288.35
272.27
335:01
440.43
151.55
265.92
22861
144.70
383.04
385 65
499.10
394.83
641.71
283.35
Excess or
Nitrogen deficiency in
in t-gesta. nitrogen egested.
Grains.
Grains.
323.26 37.96
301.18 -f 12.83
330.36 + 58.09
300.57 34.44
320.06 120 37
357 10 -f 205.55
370.64 -f 104.72
397.58 + 168.97
348.53 -f 203 83
332.77 50.27
29570 8995
358.81 140.29
409 87 + 15.04
382.89 258.82
418.49 -h 135.14
Dr. Flint still holds to his former opinion, and looks upon the
above results as showing, to use his own words, that " excessive and
prolonged muscular exertion increases enormously the excretion of
nitrogen, and that the excess of nitrogen discharged is due to an
increased die-assimilation of the muscular substance/ 7
Let us accept Dr. Flint's estimates of the ingoing and outgoing
nitrogen. It is true, during the first four days of the walking pe-
71
riod the exit of nitrogen was in considerable excess of the entrance ;
but why should this be referred specially and exclusively to muscu-
lar disintegration ? There was during these four days a progressive
decline in the weight of the body, the loss reaching a little over
5 Ibs. From the account given, considerably less solid food was
taken then, than before and after. There existed a state of marked
disturbance of the bodily functions, as shown by the depression of
temperature and elevation of pulse ; but little sleep was obtained ;
and on the third day, when an attempt was made to walk the 112
miles in twenty-four consecutive hours, drowsiness, it is stated, pre-
vailed to such an extent that it was found impossible to make the
necessary time to accomplish what had been intended. On the fourth
day Mr. Weston actually broke down for a time altogether, becom-
ing dizzy, staggering, and at last failing to be able to see sufficiently
to turn the corners of the track.
Xow, apart from the fact that a marked deviation from the physi-
ological state existed when the results, upon which the conclusions
are based, were yielded, is there anything in the results to show that
in reality we have more to deal with than simply a consumption of
nitrogenous material within the system beyond the supply for the
time from without? Taking the figures throughout, there is not
much more to be seen than a difference occasioned by a falling off in
the amount of nitrogen ingested during the first four days of the
walk ; and it is well known that when the ingesta do not furnish
what is wanted for meeting the expenditure going on (as during in-
anition), the resources of the body are drawn upon, and the nitroge-
nous matter existing in the various parts both solids and fluids
wastes or yields itself up as well as the rest. On the fifth day, after
a prolonged sleep, which appears to have restored the flagging pow-
ers, the previous relation was reversed. The food ingested afforded
more than enough to meet the requirements. There was a gain of
If Ib. in body-weight, and, according to the figures, the nitrogen
discharged fell short by 50.27 grains of that which entered, notwith-
standing a walk of forty miles and a half was performed.
The distance walked during the five days amounted to 31 7| miles,
and the excess of nitrogen eliminated during the time, over that in-
gested, appears to have been 633 grains. Presuming, for sake of
argument, this to have represented the nitrogen of muscle disin-
tegrated in the accomplishment of the work performed, we have be-
72 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
fore us the data for ascertaining how far the force producible in this
way would correspond with the expenditure that must have occurred.
According to Mulder's analysis, albuminous matter contains 15.5
per cent, of nitrogen. Reckoning from this proportion, 633 grains
of nitrogen will correspond with 4083 grains of dry albumen, and
the composition of the nitrogenous matter of muscle is closely anal-
ogous. Now, the force producible from the oxidation of albumi-
nous matter has been experimentally ascertained by Frankland; and,
as it occurs within the body, the oxidation of 4083 grains of dry
albumen would give rise to the evolution of an amount of power
equal to lifting 1540 tons one foot high.
Here we have one side of the question the amount of work ob-
tainable from the nitrogenous matter presumed to have undergone
disintegration as muscular tissue and so far the information in our
possession may be regarded as sufficiently authentic to enable us to
frame a reliable conclusion. As regards the work accomplished, we
may assume, with Professor Haughton, that the force expended in
walking or progressing on level ground is equal to that required to
lift one-twentieth of the weight of the body through the distance
traversed. The distance walked amounted to 317J miles, and if we
take the weight of the body and clothing at, say, 120 Ibs., this will
give the performance of an amount of work equal to lifting 4490
tons one foot high, or about two-thirds more work than the oxida-
tion of the nitrogenous matter representing the 633 grains of nitro-
gen could accomplish. And, in this calculation, only the external
work has been taken into consideration. There is, in reality, also a
considerable amount of internal work constantly being performed
viz., that employed in keeping up the circulation, in respiration, and
in various other essential actions of life.
I have entered thus minutely into the question of the elimination
of nitrogen in relation to muscular work because it bears in so
forcible and direct a manner upon the question immediately before
us viz., the uses to which the nitrogenous alimentary principles are
applied in the system. Briefly represented, the position of the niat-
ter may be said to be this :
Many years ago it was asserted by Liebig that muscular action
involved the destruction of muscular tissue. The plausibility of the
doctrine, and the readiness with which the views of its author were
then received, must be considered as having led to its being at once
RSUM ON NITROGENOUS FOOD AND MUSCULAR ACTION. 73
generally accepted as though it formed a scientific truth, although,
in reality, only constituting a speculative proposition, unsupported
by anything of the nature of proof. It was further argued that, if
muscular action involved the destruction of muscular tissue, the ex-
cretion of the nitrogenous product of destruction urea ought to
be in proportion to the amount of muscular work performed. This
seemed to follow as a necessary sequence, and the one being accepted,
the other was taken for granted also. Thus, notwithstanding the
absence of anything in the shape of proof, we find physiologists rea-
soning and writing as though the doctrine had been actually proven.
If the theory of Liebig were true, we should have to look upon
nitrogenous alimentary matter as forming, through the medium of
muscular tissue, the source, and the only source, of muscular power.
The renewal of muscular tissue for subsequent oxidation in its turn,
and evolution of muscular force, would thus constitute one of the
functions of nitrogenous alimentary matter; and, on its supply would,
accordingly, depend our capacity for the performance of muscular
work.
It is only lately that the doctrine has been submitted to the test
of experiment, and with what result the foregoing account of the
researches of various observers has shown. Even Liebig 1 has now
come to assert that muscular action is not attended by the produc-
tion of urea. He admits that the question as to the source of mus-
cular power has been complicated by an inference which has proved
erroneous, and for which he acknowledges himself as responsible
the inference, namely, that muscular work is represented by the
metamorphosis of muscular tissue, and the formation of urea as a
final product. While admitting this much, however, Liebig still
looks to changes in the nitrogenous constituents of muscle as the
source of muscular power. He assumes the presence in muscle of
nitrogenous substances in a much higher state of tension than syn-
tonin and albumen, and to these he refers the performance of mus-
cular work, taking shelter under the proposition that it is due to the
liberation of the tension thus presumed to have been accumulated in
them during their formation.
The application of food to the genesis of muscular power will form
1 Proceedings of the Koyal Bavarian Academy of Sciences, 1869. Pharma-
ceutical Journal, 1870.
74 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
the subject of further consideration hereafter, when we reach the head
of non-nitrogenous matter. Suffice it here to reiterate that muscular
action is not to be considered as the result of muscle-destruction, as
was formerly supposed, and hence, that nitrogenous matter is not
applied through muscle in the manner hitherto maintained to the
development of muscular force. Thus much, from the evidence
before us, may be said, but, at the same time, common experience
seems to show that a plentiful supply of nitrogenous matter in the
food tends to increase the capacity for the performance of muscular
work. If, however, it does so in any other way than by supplying
material for nutrition and the secretions, and so contributing to the
production of a fully nourished and vigorous state of the system, we
have no data before us to indicate how.
Let me next draw attention to the application of nitrogenous
matter to force-production by the direct utilization of the carbon and
hydrogen it contains. Liebig's doctrine, which, until recently, has
formed the accepted one on this point, was that nitrogenous food, to
be turned to account for force-production, must pass through the
condition of Jiving tissue. This brings us back to the discussion
that has preceded, with the addition that our nitrogenous food must
perform work as tissue to enable it to be susceptible of application to
force, or say heat-production. Thus, in his work on "Animal
Chemistry," at page 60, Liebig says, "The flesh and blood con-
sumed as food yield their carbon for the support of the respiratory
process, whilst the nitrogen appears as uric acid, ammonia, or urea.
But, previously to these final changes, the dead flesh and blood be-
come converted into living flesh and blood, and it is, strictly speak-
ing, the carbon of the compounds formed in the metamorphosis of
living tissues that serves for the production of animal heat." Again,
at page 77, we find " Man when confined to animal food respires
like the carnivora at the expense of the matter produced by the
metamorphosis of organized tissues ; and just as the lion, tiger, and
hyena, in the cages of a menagerie, are compelled to accelerate the
waste of their organized tissues by incessant motion, in order to fur-
nish the matter necessary for respiration, so the savage, for the very
same object, is forced to make the most laborious exertions and go
through a vast amount of muscular exercise. He is compelled to
consume force merely in order to supply matter for respiration."
NITROGENOUS FOOD AND HE AT -PRODUCTION. 75
Once more, in speaking of the derivation of urea from the metamor-
phosis of nitrogenous matter, he says, at page 144 : " There can be
no greater contradiction with regard to the nutritive process than
to suppose that the nitrogen of the food can pass into the urine as
urea, without having previously become part of an organized tissue."
Liebig's idea, then, upon this point is very precise. He considers
that nitrogenous matter may contribute towards heat-production,
but that it must first pass into the condition of tissue before it can
do so, and that it is in the wear and tear of tissue that occurs the
splitting up of the compound, so as to lead to the production of urea
for excretion on the one hand, and the liberation of carbon and hy-
drogen for oxidation on the other.
The facts which have been already adduced suffice to refute this
doctrine. Indeed, it may be considered as now abundantly proved
that food does not require to become organized tissue before it can
be rendered available for force-production. But Liebig, himself, in
language not less precise than that which he at first employed, has
recently 1 given utterance to words which directly contradict his
original view, inasmuch as he now asserts that muscular work and
the production of urea bear no immediate relation to each other, and
that among the products formed as the result of muscular action,
urea certainly does not even constitute one.
If the elimination of urea, as has been shown, is not related, as
was formerly supposed, to muscular action, it is, on the other hand,
in a very direct manner influenced by the food ingested. As far
back as 1854, Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, in opposition to the views
then prevailing, showed by the results obtained in their observations
on the feeding of cattle, that the nitrogen in the urine is related to
that in the food, and not to the muscular work ; and, since then, the
concurrent testimony of numerous observers, as has been already
pointed out, may be held as completely establishing this position.
Lehmann's well-known experiments upon himself strikingly illus-
trate the extent to which this influence is manifested. The results
he obtained were as follows :
While living on a purely animal diet, namely, almost exclusively
on eggs, Lehmann passed 53.2 grammes (820 grains) of urea in the
twenty-four hours as the mean of twelve observations.
1 Proceedings of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences, 1869.
76 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
Upon a mixed diet the urea amounted to 32.5 grammes (501
grains), as the mean of fifteen observations.
Upon a vegetable diet the urea given as the mean of twelve ob-
servations was 22.5 grammes (347 grains).
And, lastly, upon a purely non-nitrogenous diet (fat, milk-sugar,
and starch), he voided, as the mean of three observations, only 15.4
grammes (237 grains) of urea.
It is thus seen that upon an animal diet, which is the richest in
nitrogenous matter, the voided urea more than doubled that elimi-
nated upon a vegetable diet, while the amount of urea voided upon
a mixture of the two kinds of food held an intermediate position.
When no nitrogenous matter was ingested the urea was at its mini-
mum. What was then passed would be derived from the metamor-
phosis of the nitrogenous matter belonging to the blood and the
other constituents of the system.
Some experiments of Schmidt show, also, in accordance with the
results obtained by Lehmann, that the amount of urea passed is re-
lated to the quantity of food ingested, the nature of it remaining the
same. Schmidt found that a cat excreted the following relative
amounts of urea to body-weight under the consumption of different
amounts of meat :
J'aily amount of Daily amount of urea excreted
meat eaten. per kilogramme body-weight.
44.188 grammes. . . . |. 2.958 grammes,
46.154 " ..... 3.050
75.938 5.152 "
108.755 " 7.663 "
From these results it may be computed that a cat, living on a
flesh diet, discharges by the kidneys on an average 6.8 parts of urea
for every hundred parts of meat consumed.
The great bulk of the nitrogen belonging to the food ingested
thus passes out of the system in the form of urea. If all escaped in
this way the quantity of urea discharged would amount to (say) 7.88
per cent, of the weight of the meat ; the nitrogen contained in 100
parts of flesh corresponding with that contained in 7.88 parts of
urea. There were, then, 6.8 parts of urea produced instead of the
7.88 parts, which may be spoken of as representing the actual
equivalent, as far as contained nitrogen is concerned, of 100 parts
of flesh.
METAMORPHOSIS OF NITROGENOUS FOOD. 77
Lehmann, from his observations on himself, asserts that as much
as five-sixths of the nitrogen of the ingested food were found in his
urine under the form of urea. For example, while living upon a
purely animal diet, consisting of thirty-two eggs daily, he ingested
about 30.16 grammes of nitrogen, and, in the urea voided, dis-
charged about 25 grammes of nitrogen.
The discharge of urea being thus proportioned to the amount of
the nitrogenous matter ingested, it follows that nitrogenous matter
must undergo metamorphosis of such a nature within the system as
to lead to the production of urea. Further, it may be said that this
metamorphosis must take place rapidly, as it is found that the effect
upon the excretion of urea quickly follows an alteration in the food
ingested. Lehmann, for example, again drawing from his observa-
tions on himself, noticed, in the morning after he had lived exclu-
sively on animal food, that his urine was so rich in urea as to throw
down a copious precipitate of the nitrate, on the addition of nitric
acid. In Dr. Parkes's observations, also, upon the two soldiers S.
and T. before referred to, the alterations in the food ingested speedily
influenced the amount of urea escaping. These men were, first of
all, kept for four days upon a regulated mixed diet; next for two
days upon a non-nitrogenous diet; then, again, for four days upon
a mixed diet ; afterwards for two days on a non-nitrogenous diet ;
and, lastly, for four days on a mixed diet. S., during the first four
days, on the mixed diet, passed 35 grammes of urea as the daily
mean. During the first day of the non-nitrogenous diet he passed
20, and during the second, 13.52 grammes. Resuming the mixed
diet, he passed, on the first day, 20.67 grammes of urea; on the
second, 25.68 grammes ; on the third, 26.29 ; and on the fourth,
29.67. Changing, again, to the non-nitrogenous diet, he passed on
the first-day 19.12, and on the second, 15.00 grammes of urea. On
the next four days, the diet being a mixed one, he passed during the
first day, 20.8 ; the second, 26.36 ; the third, 28.32 ; and the fourth,
30.10 grammes of urea. With T. (a much smaller man than S.)
the mean, for the first four days of mixed food, was 25.92 grammes
of voided urea. During the next two days, upon non-nitrogenous
food, he passed, on the first day, 17.3; and on the second, 12.65
grammes. On the following four days, upon a diet of mixed food,
he voided 14.40 grammes the first day ; 23.00 the second ; 25.20 the
78 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
third ; and 22.99 the fourth. During the next two days, resuming
the n on -nitrogenous diet, he voided 16.00 the first day, and 13.20
grammes the second. With the return to a mixed diet during the
following four days the urea stood at 23.00 on the first ; 24.36 on
the second; 24.57 on the third ; and 21.36 grammes on the fourth.
Although conducted for settling another point, it will be seen that
these observations very clearly and consistently throughout show that
the production and elimination of urea are speedily affected by the
ingestion of nitrogenous matter.
With the view of obtaining more precise information regarding
the time required for the metamorphosis of nitrogenous matter to
occur and lead to an increased elimination of urea, Mr. Mahomed,
whilst formerly assisting me in my laboratory, carried out, with
laudable zeal and self-denial, two series of experiments upon him-
self, the particulars of which I will introduce here. It may be men-
tioned that he was 22 years of age, 6 feet in height, and list. lllb.
in weight.
The method of procedure had recourse to was to diminish the
elimination of urea by limiting in one experiment, and withholding
in the other, the introduction of nitrogenous matter, and then note
within what space of time the ingestion of nitrogenous matter showed
its effects upon the urine.
The first experiment was commenced on April 16th, 1871. Mr.
Mahomed had been previously living upon an ordinary mixed diet,
and took his dinner of mixed food, as usual, at 1.30 P.M. From
this time he restricted himself to rice, arrowroot, butter, sugar, and
tea. Rice was allowed, that he might not suffer too much privation,
and as being one of the least nitrogenous of the natural food prod-
ucts. The diet was continued throughout the 17th, and at 8 A.M on
the 18th, four eggs purposely to supply nitrogenous matter were
eaten. This was the only deviation from the diet of the preceding
day, so that an opportunity was given for the urea to be again at a
low point on the following morning, when a meal consisting mainly
of meat was taken. Subjoined is a representation of the results ob-
tained, arranged in a tabular form :
METAMORPHOSIS OF NITROGENOUS FOOD.
79
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80 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
On looking at the above results, it appears that under the re-
stricted diet the urea pretty steadily decreased in amount from 21
to 9.05 grains per hour. The ingestion of four eggs caused an as-
cent, within the four succeeding hours, to 13.82 grains, and having
thus immediately risen, the rate of elimination only underwent a lit-
tle further increase through the remainder of the day. The urea
having again descended to 10.62 grains per hour by the following
morning, the ingestion of a meal in which steak was eaten plentifully,
led to a rise for the next four hours to 21.16 grains per hour, and,
with the repetition of the nitrogenous food, the elimination of urea
continued to increase throughout the day.
During the performance of the experiment the accustomed mental
and bodily work was undertaken. Mr. Mahomed did not notice
that the 2J days' dietetic restriction produced any other sensation
than an increase of the appetite and a slight feeling of faintness the
last morning before breakfast. The urine, before the experiment,
had been frequently noticed to be loaded with lithates. During the
period of restricted diet it was perfectly clear, and the table shows
that the quantity was considerably larger than whilst animal food
was being consumed. It is a noteworthy fact, indeed, and one which
gives increased weight to the results, that the augmented elimination
of urea was associated with a fall in the amount of urine, for, had
the quantity of urine been increased instead, it might have beep
questioned whether the alterations in the urea might not have been
simply due to more being carried off as a consequence of the greater
urinary flow.
In the second experiment a complete restriction (excepting the in-
significant amount of nitrogenous matter contained in the tea) from
nitrogenous food was practiced for two days, and then the diet sud-
denly changed to one rich in nitrogenous matter. To begin the ex-
periment, an observation was made for one day upon ordinary food.
The following table shows the results obtained :
METAMORPHOSIS OF NITROGENOUS FOOD.
81
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82 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
It will be seen that the above results harmonize with those ob-
tained in the first experiment, and show that the ingestion of nitro-
genous matter is followed by a speedy metamorphosis and production
of urea. Under the two days 7 restriction to non-nitrogenous food
the urea fell from a range of 21 to 25 grains per hour to 8.87 grains
per hour. Nitrogenous food was now taken, and the form of egg
and milk beaten together was selected, that, on account of its fluidity,
absorption might be rapid. Half an hour later an ordinary break-
fast with cold meat was eaten. During the three hours succeeding
the first ingestion of nitrogenous matter the urea secreted amounted
to 12.43 grains per hour against 8.87 grains per hour, the mean
amount given for the eight hours previously. During the next three
hours it stood at 14.13 grains per hour, and afterwards showed a
steady increase throughout the day. It is true between 8.87 and
12.43 grains per hour there is not the difference that was noticeable
on the morning of April 19th, in the first experiment; but I think
it may be fairly assumed that evidence is afforded of the production
and elimination of urea within the three hours from the nitrogenous
matter ingested at the commencement of the time. Throughout the
day the urea was less in quantity than during the corresponding
period in the first experiment, which may be due to the more com-
plete restriction having led to a greater exhaustion of nitrogenous
matter, and thereby, owing to the greater demand for the require-
ments of the system, a less surplus having existed for metamorphosis
into urea and the complemental hydrocarbonaceous portion.
For supplying solid food during the restriction the arrowroot was
made into biscuits with butter, sugar, and water. Mr. Mahomed
remarked, on rising on the morning of the 7th, that he felt depressed,
and experienced a general want of tone. Before the meal in the
middle of the day he felt very hungry and thirsty, but these sensa-
tions disappeared after partaking of a basin of arrowroot, two of his
arrowroot biscuits, and a cup of tea. He walked afterwards between
five and six miles without any distress. Between the 5th and the
8th he lost one pound in weight. The urine, it may be observed, as
in the first experiment, underwent a marked diminution in quantity
with the return to nitrogenous food. It is a noteworthy point that
between noon and midnight of the second day's restriction the urine
presented an alkaline reaction. The same feeling of weakness was
METAMORPHOSIS OP NITROGENOUS FOOD. 83
experienced upon rising on the morning of the 8th as on that of the
preceding day.
Although it has been clearly ascertained that a more or less large
proportion of the nitrogenous matter ingested undergoes metamorpho-
sis attended with the production of urea, yet, as to the precise seat of
metamorphosis, our information at presents warrants, it must be said,
little more than a surmise being formed. According to the old doc-
trine of muscular action, the chief portion was thought to be pro-
duced in the muscles; but even Liebig now argues (abstractedly
from the doctrine in question) that the absence of urea as a constitu-
ent of muscular tissue may be taken as affording presumptive evi-
dence of its production occurring elsewhere. While absent from
flesh, or, if present, only so to a barely appreciable extent, it is, ac-
cording to Meissner and others, to be detected in mammals in con-
siderable quantity in the substance of the liver; and, in birds, where
uric acid holds the position of urea, this has been similarly found in
the liver. Other considerations have been also advanced in support
of the liver forming the seat of metamorphosis of nitrogenous mat-
ter attended with the production of urea, but the point is one which
requires to be further investigated.
Having brought the subject before us to this point, the next ques-
tion for consideration is, what purpose is subserved by the metamor-
phosis of nitrogenous matter that has been shown to occur.
It has been hitherto the custom to look upon the nitrogenous mat-
ter which undergoes this transformation as holding the position of
superfluous alimentary material "luxus consumption," as it has
been styled. Thus, Lehmann writes : " In the present state of our
knowledge we may say that urea is formed in the blood, and that it
is produced from materials which have become effete the detritus
of the tissues as well as from unserviceable and superfluous nitro-
genous substances in the blood." As albumen fails under natural
circumstances to pass off as such from the system, it was thought that,
when introduced in excess of the requirements of nutrition, it under-
went a retrograde metamorphosis of such a nature as would admit of
the escape of its elements. It is perfectly true that the process which
occurs does constitute a retrograde metamorphosis ; but the question
84 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
presents itself whether it is simply designed as a means of exit of
surplus matter, or whether it is not preparatory to some useful pur-
pose being fulfilled by a part of the nitrogenous compound.
The fundamental fifct to be dealt with is, that nitrogenous matter
undergoes a metamorphosis in the system attended with the produc-
tion of urea. Now, let us look at the chemical constitution of these
bodies, and see what this transformation implies. The percentage
composition and chemical formulae are at our disposal to appeal to,
but the former is the most suitable for our purpose ; for although the
atomic constitution of urea has been agreed upon, yet, as regards the
albuminous molecule, it cannot be considered that we know with any
degree of certainty the exact number of atoms of the different ele-
ments belonging to it, much less the precise mode in which these
atoms are grouped. The formula, therefore, that can be given for
it is only hypothetical. The percentage composition, however, has
been ascertained with sufficient precision to serve as a trustworthy
basis for the calculation about to be made, and the deduction to be
drawn from it.
Let us take, for our calculation, Mulder's analysis of albumen,
which is as follows :
Carbon, 53 5
Hydrogen, . . . . . . . . . 7.0
Nitrogen,. ... . . . . . . . 15.5
Oxygen, 22.0
Sulphur, 16
Phosphorus, . . . . . . . . .04
100.0
On looking at these figures, it will be seen that the nitrogen
belonging to albumen amounts to 15.5 parts in 100. Now, let us
suppose, as is not very far from being actually the case, that the
whole of the nitrogen of the ingoing albumen escapes from the sys-
tem under the form of urea. In thus escaping as urea the nitrogen
carries with it a certain portion of the other constituent elements of
albumen, and by ascertaining of what this portion consists we shall
see what remains behind to be disposed of in another way.
To obtain the information required we must first be in possession
of a knowledge of the relative proportion in which the elements
METAMORPHOSIS OF NITROGENOUS FOOD. 85
exist in urea. This is supplied by its percentage composition, which
stands as follows :
Carbon, 20.000
Hydrogen, 6.6K6
Nitrogen, 46.667
Oxygen, 26.667
100.000
Now, to give to 15.5 parts of nitrogen (the quantity of nitrogen
existing in one hundred parts of albumen) the due proportion of the
other elements required to form urea, we shall have to supply 6.64
parts of carbon, 2.21 of hydrogen, and 8.85 of oxygen. In other
w r ords, the 15.5 parts of nitrogen contained in 100 of albumen, in
escaping as urea, will carry with it 6.64 parts of carbon, 2.21 of
hydrogen, and 8.85 of oxygen leaving a residuary portion consist-
ing of 46.86 parts of carbon, 4.79 of hydrogen, and 13.15 of oxygen,
besides the sulphur and phosphorus for utilization and exit in another
way. Thus, 33.20 per cent, (or, as nearly as possible, one-third) of
the albumen will be turned into urea, and 66.80 per cent, (or, as
nearly as possible, two-thirds) of complemental matter will be left.
Urea must be regarded as constituting the unutilizable portion
of frhe albuminous principle. Whether it is formed as a primary
product of the splitting up of albumen that is, whether the ele-
ments at once group themselves from the albuminous compound into
the combination representing it or whether it forms the final
product of a series of changes, cannot be stated. From comparing
the egesta with the ingesta we know that it is produced. But what
constitute the actual steps of metamorphosis within the system re-
mains for physiological chemistry to disclose.
It may be remarked incidentally that, taking urea as an effete
product of the metamorphosis of albuminous matter within the sys-
tem, and looking at its composition under a certain point of view,
we discern a relation to other products of the decomposition of ni-
trogenous matter that does not suggest itself on looking at its com-
position as ordinarily represented. Carbonic acid, ammonia, and
water are the final products into which all nitrogenous matter of an
organic nature is constantly tending to resolve itself. Now, the
formula for urea is C 2 H 4 N 2 O 2 [CH 4 N 2 0], which is equivalent to two
86 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
atoms of carbonate of ammonia minus two atoms of water (2NH 3 ,
CO 2 2HO = C 2 N 2 H 4 O 2 ) [(H 4 N) 2 C0 3 2H 2 = CH 4 N 2 0]. Its
composition is, therefore, not exactly that of carbonate of ammonia,
but we have only to add the elements of water to get the formula for
carbonic acid and ammonia two of the products into which, as we
have seen, nitrogenous matter tends by ordinary decomposition to
resolve itself. It may further be remarked that not only does the
above-indicated relation exist as to composition, but urea and car-
bonate of ammonia are mutually convertible, with the greatest facility,
the one into the other. Urea, indeed, is very prone, under the in-
fluence of the action of heat, acids, alkalies, and decomposing organic
matter, to pass into carbonate of ammonia, and, conversely, it has
been somewhat recently discovered that carbonate of ammonia, when
subjected to a high temperature in a closed receptacle, is transformed
into urea. It is, to say the least, a notable and significant fact that
the above-mentioned relation should exist between carbonic acid and
ammonia final products of the ordinary decomposition of nitrogen-
ous matter and urea, a product designed for excretion arising from
the metamorphosis of nitrogenous matter within the living system.
It is not difficult to see why the unutilizable portion of nitrogenous
alimentary matter should pass off under the form of urea, and not of
carbonate of ammonia. It would scarcely be compatible with life
that a powerful irritant like carbonate of ammonia should be pro-
duced to any extent within the animal system, while urea presents
itself as a neutral body, quite destitute of irritating properties, and,
therefore, an eligible compound as a product of metamorphosis for
excretion.
The residual portion of an albuminous compound, after the sepa-
ration of the nitrogen with the necessary quantities of the other ele-
ments to form urea, amounts, as has already been shown, to 66.80
per cent, of the whole. This consists of 46.86 parts of carbon, 4.79
of hydrogen, and 13.15 of oxygen, with small quantities of sulphur
and phosphorus, which, in reference to the point now about to be
discussed, viz., the application of this portion to force-production,
may be left out of the question. It will be seen that we have here
to deal with a considerable surplus of carbon and hydrogen, which
represents latent force.
The 13.15 parts of oxygen will appropriate 1.64 parts of the hydro-
FORCE VALUE OF NITROGENOUS FOOD. 87
gen to exhaust its oxidizing capacity in combination as water. Reck-
oning this amount of hydrogen, then, as appropriated by the oxygen
present, we shall have 3.15 parts of hydrogen and 46.86 parts of
carbon in a free state for undergoing oxidation.
It thus appears, if we take away the nitrogen and the elements it
carries off as urea, and also abstract from the hydrogen the amount
which the residual oxygen would oxidize, that from 100 parts of
albumen there remain 46.86 parts of carbon and 3.15 parts of hydro-
gen free to undergo chemical combination with oxygen supplied from
without. These quantities of carbon and hydrogen will require, for
their conversion into carbonic acid and water, 150 parts of oxygen,
and this is tantamount to saying, according to the calculation given,
that one hundred parts of albumen will be capable of consuming
this quantity of oxygen in undergoing oxidation. As the force pro-
duced is in proportion to the amount of chemical action, we may
measure the value of different articles for force-production by the
amount of oxygen they will relatively consume in undergoing com-
plete oxidation. Regarded in this light, albumen stands in the fol-
lowing position in relation to grape-sugar (anhydrous C 12 H 12 O 12
[C G H 12 6 ]), starch, and fat,
Amount of oxygen appro-
priated in oxidizing 100 parts
as consumed within the body.
Grape-sugar (anhydrous), 106
Starch, 120
Albumen, 150
Fat, 293
Thus, as a force-producing agent, if we are right in taking capacity
for oxidation as a measure, albumen has about half the value of fat,
and a greater value than both sugar and starch.
It is true Liebig contends 1 for the existence of some hidden
source of power in nitrogenous compounds. Arguing from the fact
that alcohol in combustion gives off more heat than its correspond-
ing amount of sugar, although a certain amount of heat has been
evolved in the act of fermentation or conversion of the sugar into
alcohol, he urges that force may be held stored up in the nitrogenous
molecule, and liberated when the elements of the molecule are split
asunder, and that thus more force may manifest itself than that de-
rivable from chemical action.
1 Pharmaceutical Journal, September 3d, 1870.
88 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
Professor Frankland, 1 however, has experimentally determined the
actual amount of force evolved during the breaking up by oxidation
of various organic products (vide table below) ; and unless nitrogen-
ous matter is capable of liberating force under oxidation within the
system in a manner different from that occurring outside it, there is
no alternative but to look to chemical action as the source of the
force produced.
Frankland's process consisted in deflagrating the substance with a
mixture of chlorate of potash and manganic peroxide in an apparatus
specially devised for such experiments, and called a calorimeter. The
heat evolved w r as measured by ascertaining the elevation of tempera-
ture occurring in a known quantity of surrounding water. The re-
sults were brought to uniformity by being reduced into units of heat,
the unit constituting the amount of heat required to raise the tem-
perature of one gramme (15.432 grains) of water one degree Centi-
grade (1.8 Fahrenheit).
Subjoined are Professor Frankland's results for grape-sugar, starch,
albumen, and fat. The ratio of the figures does not differ much from
the ratio of those representing the amount of oxygen consumed in
oxidation.
Units of heat evolved by oxidation
of one gramme (15.432 grains) as
consumed within the body.
Grape-sugar (commercial), . . . . . 3277
Starch (arrowroot), . . ... . .3912
Albumen (purified), . . . . . . . 4263
Fat (beef fat), . . . . . 9069
In the case of sugar, starch, and fat, it has been taken that the
heat evolved under oxidation in the calorimeter represents the heat
given off when consumed within the body, there being every reason
to conclude that the ultimate products are, in both instances, the
same. With regard to albumen, however, it is known that complete
oxidation is not undergone within the system. The nitrogen, in
escaping as urea, carries off some of the combustible portion of the
compound unconsumed. " The actual energy, " remarks Professor
Frankland, "developed by the combustion of muscle in oxygen
represents more than the amount of actual energy produced by its
oxidation within the body, because, when muscle burns in oxygen,
1 Philosophical Magazine, vol. xxxii, 1866.
FORCE VALUE OF NITROGENOUS FOOD. 89
its carbon is converted into carbonic acid, and its hydrogen into
water, the nitrogen being to a great extent evolved in the elementary
state ; whereas when muscle is most completely consumed in the body
the products are carbonic acid, water, and urea a substance which
still retains a considerable amount of potential energy." The data
for determining the force value of albumen, as consumed within the
body, were furnished by experimentally ascertaining the amount of
heat evolved in the oxidation of urea, and knowing that almost
exactly one-third of the weight of dry albumen is yielded as urea.
Thence is supplied the deduction that has to be made from the full
combustion-value of albumen to give the result required.
It appears that about one-seventh of the potential (latent) energy
capacity for force-production belonging to nitrogenous matter is
carried off by urea, and thereby escapes in an unexpended state when
nitrogenous matter is consumed within the body.
Albumen has been selected for illustration, but what has been
said for albumen applies also to the other nitrogenous alimentary
principles, with the requisite variations for the slight difference in
elementary composition that exists.
I have looked at the matter which has just formed the subject of
consideration by the lighj; of percentage composition, because, as I
have already remarked, it supplies us with authentic data for our
calculation, and because it cannot be said that we know with cer-
tainty the formulae for the nitrogenous alimentary principles. But
still we are not precluded from surveying the change under the
light of the formulas; and, if we do not know the precise number of
atoms of each element entering into the composition of the protein
molecule, or the exact manner in which they are grouped, we do
know that, in the formula given, a correct relative proportion is ex-
pressed. Now, taking the generally received formula for protein,
and showing what is left on the removal of the nitrogen under the
form of urea, the surplus carbon and hydrogen available for force-
production is brought very conspicuously into view. Thus, Mul-
der's formula for protein is C 36 H 25 N 4 O 10 .H-2HO. Abstract from this
2 atoms of urea, viz. r C 4 H 8 N 4 O 41 and 8 atoms of water, H 8 O 8 , and
we get an available residue of 32 atoms of carbon and 11 of hydro-
gen, according to the old notation, or 16. of carbon and 11 of hy-
90 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
drogen according to the new, thus C 18 H 25 N 4 5 H-H 2 (2CH 4 N 2 0-f
4H 2 0)=C 16 H U .
From the relation already shown to exist between urea discharged
and nitrogenous food ingested, it is not to be inferred that the
nitrogenous matter which constitutes an integral part of the blood and
other parts of the system is not also susceptible of metamorphosis
of being similarly split up into urea for excretion and into carbon
and hydrogen for force-production. After prolonged abstinence urea
is still discoverable to some extent in the urine, and Lehmann found
the same at the end of three days 7 subsistence upon a strictly
non-nitrogenous diet. It may, therefore, be concluded that the
nitrogenous matter belonging to the system may be utilized for
force-production after the same manner as has been set forth for the
nitrogenous matter of food.
Seeing that nitrogenous matter is broken up 1st, into a nitro-
genous portion urea which is eliminated as useless, and, 2d, a
hydrocarbonaceous residue which represents capacity for force-pro-
duction, the question next confronts us, whether this hydrocarbona-
ceous residue, instead of being oxidized and applied at the moment
of its production, presents itself under a form (that of fat, for ex-
ample) for retention in the system, and for application as necessity
may demand.
Without any actual proof being available, there has long been a
prevailing disposition to infer that fat may be formed as a product
of the metamorphosis of protein compounds within the animal
economy. All attempts, it is true, have heretofore failed to produce
fat by chemical means from protein compounds ; but there is noth-
ing, in a chemical point of view, to render the possibility of such
production unlikely. Indeed, Liebig has argued, on chemical
grounds, in favor of its occurrence. There are these considerations,
also, bearing on the question :
It is well known that, under certain conditions, the organ's and
tissues of the animal body are prone to undergo deviation from the
natural state, and to become the seat of a deposit of fat in place of
the natural histological element, such deviation constituting what is
termed " fatty degeneration." Now, this change is susceptible of
two explanations it may be due to a deposition of fat during the
NITROGENOUS MATTER AS A SOURCE OF FAT. 91
performance of the nutritive process, in lieu of the material that has
been removed ; or, on the other hand, may proceed from a chemical
transformation a downward metamorphosis of the nitrogenous
stib.stance the nitrogen disappearing under the form of an ammo-
niacal salt, urea, or some other simple combination, and a fatty
compound being left to occupy the site.
Virchow, who has closely studied the process of fatty degenera-
tion, and whose opinion is entitled to weight on the subject, is
strongly in favor of the latter hypothesis, viz., that the fat accumu-
lated is a product of the metamorphosis of the nitrogenous portion of
the affected tissue.
Attempts have been made to find whether the transformation of
nitrogenous matter into fat could be demonstrated by experiment.
Excised animal structures were introduced into the peritoneal cavity
of birds, and allowed to remain for some time, and were then ex-
amined in relation to the amount of fat discoverable. At first it was
thought that evidence was afforded of a fatty metamorphosis of ni-
trogenous matter occurring, but on further investigation the evidence
was found to be inconclusive.
Thus much it may be considered may be said that what is ob-
served in the mode of the occurrence of fatty degeneration is strongly
suggestive of the doctrine that fat is producible by the metamorphosis
of nitrogenous matter in the living economy, although nothing abso-
lutely demonstrative can be adduced in support of it.
In the production of adipocere it has also been contended that
evidence is afforded in favor of the origin of fat from nitrogenous
matter. Adipocere is a peculiar substance, somewhat spermaceti-like,
into which the animal solids are sometimes found to be converted
when exposed in a humid situation to putrefaction. Fourcroy first
described it in 1789, in a communication to the Royal Academy of
Sciences of Paris, having noticed its existence in certain bodies
which had been interred in one of the Parisian cemeteries. The
bodies appeared shrunk and flattened, and the soft solids, instead of
having undergone the ordinary putrefactive change, were found to be
converted into a brittle, cheesy matter, which softened and felt
greasy when rubbed between the fingers. This material has since
been recognized by other observers in dead bodies, and likewise in
refuse-heaps of animal matter. It is also said to be obtainable by
immersing flesh in a stream of water. It has been regarded as a
92 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
product of the metamorphosis of nitrogenous matter ; but, on the
other hand, some chemists of authority as Gay-Lussac, Chevreul,
and Berzelius, have contended that it simply represents the fat which
has originally existed in the animal substance, the nitrogenous mat-
ter having undergone putrefaction and been removed. Here, again,
therefore, it forms a debatable point whether the fat encountered is a
product of the metamorphosis of nitrogenous matter.
It must, in fact, be said, with regard to the evidence as to the
production of fat as a result of the splitting up of nitrogenous matter,
that we have nothing of the nature of proof to deal with, but that it
is highly probable that such production takes place, not, perhaps, as
an immediate result, but as the last link in a chain of metamorphoses
passed through by the hydrocarbonaceous portion which stands in
complemental relation to the urea.
Before bringing this subject to a close, it may be stated that
Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, 1 in a series of experiments on the feeding
of animals, and the subsequent determination of the respective in-
crease occurring in the component matters of the body, have adduced,
if not actual proof, at least strong evidence in favor of fat being
formed from the nitrogenous portion of food. They first of all show
that, for various reasons, the pig is the most appropriate animal for
yielding information upon the point in question, and hence its selec-
tion as the subject of their experiments. Their results, they say,
demonstrate that when pigs are fed on good ordinary food for periods
of not less than eight or ten weeks, the amounts of total increase and
of fat stored up are so great in proportion both to the original weight
of the animal and the food ingested that the data given may be safely
relied on for furnishing a means of estimating from what constituent
or constituents of the food the fat of the animal has been derived.
In their experiments, the increase in body-weight ranged between
51.3 and 68.9 per cent, when the feeding was conducted eight weeks,
and between 85.4 and 106.8 per cent, when conducted ten weeks.
From 59.9 to 79 per cent, of this total increase was reckoned to con-
sist of fat. From the nature of the food the proportion of the
stored-up fat that could possibly have been derived from the ready
formed fat ingested, even supposing the whole of what was supplied
1 " On the Sources of Fat of the Animal Body," Philosoph. Mag., vol. xxxii,
1860.
NITROGENOUS MATTER AS A SOURCE OF FAT. 93
had been assimilated, was so small as to leave no doubt that a very
large proportion must have originated from some other source. Ac-
cording to the figures given, the proportion of fat which must have
so originated ranged from about two-thirds to eight-ninths of the
total amount stored up.
Thus, then, it was shown that fat must have been formed from
the food ingested. The next question for solution was whether the
fat produced originated from the nitrogenous or non-nitrogenous
elements of the food, or from both.
That fat must have been produced from the non-nitrogenous
matters the carbohydrates was easily susceptible of proof, for in
some of the experiments the nature of the food was such that the
carbon contained in the fat that was formod amounted to more than
could have been derived from the nitrogenous matter ingested.
As regards the origin of fat from nitrogenous matter, the question
is not to be disposed of in so simple a manner ; but Messrs. Lawes
and Gilbert conclude that such may be looked upon as shown by
the following train of reasoning to occur. In their experiments
they purposely varied the relative proportion of the nitrogenous
and non-nitrogenous parts of the food given to the several pigs. In
some they were in the proportion existing in what may be considered
the staple fattening food of the animal. In others the proportion of
nitrogenous matter was raised considerably in excess of this standard.
Now, from the results obtained, it appeared that there was no ma-
terial difference in the amount of fat produced ; although, if fat
were capable of originating only from the carbohydrates, it would
be reasonable to expect that, on diminishing their supply, as in
replacing a portion of them by nitrogenous matters in other words,
by increasing the proportionate amount of nitrogenous matter in the
food the amount of fat developed would have been less. Looking
at the evidence furnished, it seems only rational to infer that, under
the diminution in the proportion of the carbohydrates, the nitro-
genous matter, through the hydrocarbonaceous portion which remains
after the separation of urea, took their place in supplying material
for fat production, and thus led to there being no falling off observ-
able in the quantity of fat produced.
The precise position held by the gelatinous principles as alimen-
tary matter, must be considered, in spite of the numerous inveeti-
94 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
gations that have been specially conducted on the subject, as in-
volved in some degree of uncertainty. These principles, while
forming highly nitrogenized compounds, stand apart from the al-
buminous in not yielding protein. Hence they are classed as the
non-protein compounds. Whilst the albuminous or protein com-
pounds exist in both animal and vegetable kinds of food, these, the
non-protein, are encountered only in substances derived from the
animal kingdom. They consist of gelatin and chondrin the former
obtainable from bones, ligaments, tendons, skin, mucous and serous
membranes in fact, wherever fibrous tissue exists ; and the latter
from cartilage.
By subjecting these tissues to the action of boiling water, the
respective principles are obtained ; but whether they have been
formed during the process, or existed pre-formed in the tissues, has
been a disputed point, although the weight of evidence is in favor
of the latter view. The chief characteristic, which they possess in
common, is the property belonging to the hot aqueous solution of
solidifying into a jelly on cooling. To some extent, in elementary
composition, and also in some minor chemical points, these prin-
ciples differ from each other.
With reference to the alimentary power of gelatinous matter, the
great point of uncertainty is as to whether it is applicable to histogen-
etic or to tissue-forming purposes. It may be concluded that gelat-
inous matter is producible from albuminous substances, because the
food of the herbivorous animal is entirely devoid of anything of the
nature of gelatin ; and because, while gelatinous matter is obtain-
able in abundance from the body of the chick, none can be procured
from the original constituents of the egg. The protein compounds,
therefore, appear to be evidently capable of becoming the source of
gelatinous matter ; but the point to be determined is, how far gelat-
inous matter is capable of contributing to the production of the
nitrogenous compounds met with in the body. It has been con-
tended that it certainly is unsusceptible of application towards the
formation of muscle and the other tissues having as their basis an
albuminous compound ; and it is doubtful if it is even capable of
contributing to the formation of the tissues, such as skin, bone,
tendon, &c., whose basis consists of gelatinous matter, and which
are hence styled the gelatinous tissues.
The fact of its not being recognizable in the blood, while the
ALIMENTARY VALUE OF THE GELATINOUS PRINCIPLES. 95
blood constitutes the source from which all the tissues draw their
nutrient supply, has been adduced as an argument against its having
any histogenetic capacity. But this, in reality, tells for nothing,
because, under any circumstances, it is not to be expected that the
gelatin should be recognizable in the blood, as it is converted by
digestion into albuminose before its absorption occurs.
The nutritive value of gelatin was made the subject of special in-
quiry, several years back, by a committee appointed by the French
Academy of Sciences, to ascertain if bones could be turned to ac-
count for yielding an article of food for human consumption. The
results arrived at by this committee, which passes under the designa-
tion of the gelatin commission, have attained a widely-spread noto-
riety. Among the conclusions drawn up by Magendie in the name
of the commission, it is stated that by no known method of pro-
cedure could there be extracted from bones an aliment which either
alone or mixed with other substances could be substituted for meat.
It was found that dogs fed solely on raw bones and water for three
months continued in perfect health, and maintained their original
weight. Fed on the same kind of bones which had been previously
subjected to the change induced by boiling with water, the dogs died
at the end of two months with all the signs of inanition. The gen-
eral issue of the inquiry was to throw doubt upon the nutritive ca-
pacity of gelatin as an individual organic principle. Before accept-
ing such a conclusion, however, it is necessary that we should take
a more comprehensive survey of the matter, and look to the weight
to be attached to investigations conducted upon the nutritive value
of an isolated organic principle, and in doing so it is found that in
no case will it supply what is requisite for supporting life. Neither
this nor that chemical principle will suffice. There must be a com-
bination of principles furnished; such, indeed, as exists in the ob-
jects of nature around us, which we instinctively consume as food.
In opposition to the inference to which the conclusions arrived at
by the gelatin commission pointed, Bischoff and Voit, from their
researches on nutrition, are of opinion that gelatin possesses real
nutritive value ; that to some extent it forms a substitute for other
plastic matter, and that, therefore, by its admixture with the food,
the quantity of the other nitrogenous matter may, without disadvan-
tage, be diminished.
If uncertainty prevails as to the precise capacity of gelatin as an
96 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
agent of nutrition, there can be no doubt that it behaves like a pro-
tein compound in relation to force-production. It has been ascer-
tained that the elimination of urea is augmented by the copious inges-
tion of gelatin, just as happens in the case of the protein com-
pounds. It is evident, therefore, that the same kind of splitting up
occurs in the two cases ; and, with the separation of urea from the
gelatin molecule, a residue of available carbon and hydrogen will be
left, in accordance with what has been before explained, for applica-
tion towards force-production. There is this further analogy between
these compounds, as regards the phenomena of metamorphosis, that
leucin is yielded by both under the influence of boiling with a solu-
tion of potash.
THE
XON-NITROGENOUS ALIMENTARY
PRINCIPLES.
WHILE nitrogenous matter may be regarded as forming the essen-
tial basis of structures possessing active or living properties, the non-
nitrogenous principles may be looked upon as supplying the source
of power. The one may be spoken of as holding the position of
the instrument of action, while the other supplies the motive power.
Nitrogenous alimentary matter may, it is true, by oxidation con-
tribute to the generation of the moving force, but, as has been ex-
plained, in fulfilling this office there is evidence before us to show
that it is split up into two distinct portions, one containing the nitro-
gen which is eliminated as useless, and a residuary non-nitrogenous
portion which is retained and utilized in force-production. It is true
also, as will be shown hereafter, that non-nitrogenous matter may
be applied to tissue formation, but it is probable that, in doing so, it
is simply for the purpose of being stored up for subsequent appro-
priation to force-production, according as circumstances may require..
The non-nitrogenous alimentary principles comprise
1st. The hydrocarbons or fats;
2d. The carbohydrates, starch, sugar, &c. and
3d. Principles such as alcohol and the vegetable acids, which
do not strictly fall within either of the preceding
groups.
Hydrocarbons or Fats. These principles, constitute compounds
consisting of carbon and hydrogen, combined with only a small pro-
portion of oxygen. Represented in round numbers, the following
7
y ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
may be given as the percentage composition of the chief fatty princi-
ples :
Carbon, .... ... 79
Hydrogen., . . . . . .11
Oxygen, 10
100
The formula answering to the above composition that has been
assigned consists of C 10 H 9 O [C 10 H 18 0].
This, it will be seen, might be considered as representing a pure
hydrocarbon, in which every tenth atom of hydrogen is replaced by
an atom of oxygen.
Fats are supplied to us in both animal and vegetable articles of
food. Chemically, they consist of a principle possessing acid prop-
erties a fatty acid in combination with a radical. When acted
oipon by alkalies, and also by contact with bodies of the nature of
ferments, and by decomposing animal substances, the fatty acid is
separated, and a sweet principle known as glycerin make its appear-
ance. Glycerin, however, it would seem, has not pre-existed in the
fat. It is found that the united weight of the glycerin and fatty
acid produced exceeds that of the fat originally employed. The ele-
ments of water are appropriated, and glycerin is thereupon formed
by an addition to the hypothetical radical in combination with the
fatty acid in the neutral fat.
There are three compounds stearin, margarin, and olein which
make up the great bulk of the fatty matter met with.
Stearin is the most solid fat of the three. It exists largely in
mutton suet, and gives rise to the firmness by which this kind of fat
is characterized. Requiring a temperature of about 145 Fahren-
heit to melt it, at ordinary temperatures it is always solid. It occurs
lo a larger or smaller extent in most animal fats s ; but still there are
some in which it has not been recognized. It is never found in vege-
table fat.
Margarin holds an intermediate place between stearin and olein as
regards consistence. It is the chief component of most animal fats,
and occurs also in nearly all vegetable fats.
Olein is always met with in a fluid state unless the temperature is
very low. It occurs in both vegetable and animal fats, but vegetable
fats .are richer in it than animal.
FATS. 99
The digestion of fat takes place in the small intestine. It traverses
the mouth without undergoing any change beyond that induced by
the mechanical action of mastication.
In the stomach the nitrogenous matter which may be incorporated
with and invest the fatty, as occurs in the natural alimentary prod-
uct, is dissolved, and the latter set free. Passing from the stomach,
it is prepared for absorption in the small intestine by emulsification
or reduction to a minute state of subdivision. As regards animal
and vegetable fats, it appears that the former are easier of digestion
and absorption than the latter.
The emulsification of fat is effected by the pancreatic juice, and
probably also by the secretion of Brunner's glands. The bile has
no influence over neutral fats, L e., fats in the state in which we con-
sume them ; but, according to Dr. Marcet, it possesses the power of
emulsifying the fatty acids, and he says there is some liberation of
fatty acid effected while the fat is contained in the stomach. The
process of emulsification is one of a purely physical nature. The
fat is separated into very minute globules, just as it exists in milk,
and in this state it is taken up by the special absorbing organs -of
the small intestine, viz., the villi.
It was noticed by Bernard that when fat is delayed for some
hours, in contact with pancreatic juice, an acidification of it, or
chemical conversion into fatty acid and glycerin is found to have
taken place. The delay, however, in the intestine is not long enough
for this chemical change to occur as a physiological phenomenon.
Bernard thought originally that it did that the digestion of fat
was attended with acidification but fat contained in the lacteals,
the absorbed fat, that is to say has been found to be in precisely
the same chemical condition as that contained in the intestine. It
is thus evident that digestion and absorption of fat do not involve
its chemical change.
The villi, those little projecting bodies, limited in situation to the
small intestine, are the organs through the agency of which the fat
is absorbed. While absorption is going on they are to be seen in a
densely white state, from the quantity of fatty particles with which
they are charged. It is not precisely understood how the fatty mat-
ter passes from the intestine and reaches their centre. From what
is to be seen on microscopic examination, conducted immediately
after death, it would seem that it is by cell-agency that the fatty
100 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
matter is picked out from the intestinal contents. During fasting
the epithelial cells investing the villi are' club-shaped and devoid of
fat-globules. During absorption, on the other hand, they are
charged with fat-globules, and many are found of a spheroidal in-
stead of a columnar form. The process of absorption may be thus
far likened to that of secretion. As the secreting cells of the glands
separate from the blood the particular materials required for each
individual secretion, so these cells of the villi pick out or separate
from the chyme or intestinal contents the fatty matter which is sub-
sequently found in the lacteals. A branch of the lacteal system ex-
isting in the centre of the villus receives the product of absorption.
Thus much is certain what remains to be made clear is the manner
in which the transmission to the lacteal is effected. By the lacteal
system the absorbed fat is conducted to and poured into the circu-
lation. Mixing with the alkaline blood the fat becomes saponified
and dissolved, and in this state it is mostly met with in the circula-
tion. Should a rapid entrance, however, have been effected, as hap-
pens for a while after the ingestion of food rich in fatty matter, free
fat exists in the blood; and a specimen withdrawn under these cir-
cumstances, and afterwards allowed to remain at rest presents, after
a short time, a distinct cream-like layer upon the surface.
Having pointed out how the fat belonging to the food reaches the
circulation, we have next to consider the purposes to which it is ap-
plied in the system.
I will first speak of it as contributing to the construction of one
of the anatomical elements of the body. The adipose tissue consists
of nucleated vesicles filled with fatty matter. These vesicles are
closely packed together and surrounded by capillary bloodvessels.
The fat contained in them is evidently drawn, as in nutrition gener-
ally, from the blood circulating around, and, when so separated, a
tissue is formed which is turned to account for mechanical, physical,
and chemico-physiological purposes.
For instance, it fills up interstices between muscles, bones, ves-
sels, and the other anatomical structures, and by its accumulation
under the skin, it gives a regular and rounded form to the outer
surface of the body.
As a bad conductor of heat, the layer of adipose tissue beneath
the skin contributes towards retaining the animal warmth. This
USES OF FAT.' j : */>\ '. IX! 1
function it most conspicuously fulfils in the aquatic warm-blooded
animals, such as the seal, porpoise, whale, &c., in which a coat of
hair would prove of no service from the nature of the circumstances
that exist. The very great thickness of the subcutaneous layer of
adipose tissue met with in these animals is evidently designed to
meet the demand occasioned by the unsuitableness, in this particular
instance, of the ordinary provision.
Accumulated within the vesicles and susceptible of reabsorption
into the blood, it forms a store of force-producing material to.be
drawn upon as circumstances may require. Hence it is that life is
sustained longer in a fat animal, under abstinence from food and
with a supply of water, than in a thin one.
In vol. xi of the " Transactions of the Linnean Society," an ac-
count is given by Mr. Mantel 1, a Fellow of the Society, under the
form of a letter to the secretary, of an instance of extraordinary pro-
longation of life in a fat animal under absence of food. So extraor-
dinary, indeed, is the account, that I should scarcely feel disposed to
allude to it here did not the source from which it is derived entitle
it to credit. It appears that on the 14th of December, 1810, a pig
was buried in its sty by the fall of part of the chalk cliff under Dover
Castle. On the 23d of May 160 days afterwards Mr. Mantell
was told by some workmen employed in removing the fallen chalk
that they had heard the whining of the pig, and although he had
great doubt of the fact, he urged them to proceed in clearing away
the chalk from the sty, and was soon afterwards surprised to see the
pig extricated from its confinement alive. At the time of the acci-
dent the pig was in a fat condition, and supposed to have weighed
about 160 Ibs. When extricated it presented an extremely emaciated
appearance, and weighed no more than 40 Ibs. The sty consisted of
a cave about six feet square, dug in the rock, and boarded in front.
There was neither food nor water in it, it was asserted, when the fall
of the cliff took place. The door and other wood in front of the sty
was much nibbled, and the sides of the cave looked very smooth, as
though the animal had been constantly licking them to obtain the
moisture exuding through the rock.
In the hibernating animal, a great accumulation of fat takes place
during the autumn, which is favored by the oily nature of the nuts,
seeds, etc., then obtainable as food. At the end of the winter sleep,
the animal is reduced to a comparatively emaciated condition. The
10'J ALIJViENlARY PRINCIPLES.
fat accumulated may be looked upon as designed to form an inter-
nal store for consumption when the supply from without is sus-
pended.
In an emaciated animal, the fat-vesicles, under the microscope,
betray the process of absorption that has been going on. They are
shrunken in appearance, and the fatty contents of the vesicle, reced-
ing from the envelope, leave a space which is filled with watery
fluid.
Besides forming the basis of a tissue fulfilling the functions re-
ferred to, fatty matter occurs in intimate incorporation with the ni-
trogenous elements of most, if not all, of the various anatomical
structures. Lehmann remarks that no animal cell or fibre can be
formed without the co-operation of fat, and insists strongly on the
fat constituting an active agent in exciting the metamorphosis of ni-
trogenous matter. Lehmann, however, wrote under the influence of
the formerly prevailing notion that the manifestation of vital energy,
as under muscular and nervous action, was due to a destructive
metamorphosis of the nitrogenous constituents of the tissues. This,
as has already been pointed out, stands opposed to the results of
modern research ; and instead of (as suggested by Lehmann) the fatty
matter operating by inducing a metamorphosis of the nitrogenous, it
may now be considered that, in undergoing oxidation, it constitutes,
itself, the source of the power manifested. But this is a point that
will be more particularly adverted to hereafter.
Lehmann has also asserted that fat assists the action of the diges-
tive fluid. He goes as far as to say that he has ascertained that a
certain, though small amount, of fat is indispensable to the metamor-
phosis and solution of nitrogenous articles of food during the process
of gastric digestion. I do not think that experiment is found to bear
out this statement of Lehmann ; at all events I have seen nothing
from my own experiments on artificial digestion to warrant the belief
that the action of the gastric juice is even influenced, much less de-
termined by, the presence of fat.
We now come to the consideration of fat with reference to the
functions fulfilled by its oxidation within the system, and here we
have to deal with functions associated with its final destination. It
is the fatty matter existing in the blood that may be looked upon as
being thus applied, and when this fails to be adequately replenished
FAT AS A HEAT-PRODUCING AGENT. 103
by a supply from the food, then absorption occurs from the store
which the adipose tissue of the body represents.
Under Liebig's classification fat is held to be a so-called " element
of respiration/' or, to speak more correctly, a calorifacient or heat-
producing agent. An exalted temperature is required for a high
manifestation of vitality, and amongst the higher members of the
animal kingdom, in which the processes of life are carried on with
much greater activity than amongst the lower, provision is made
for the generation of heat within the body. Notwithstanding ex-
posure to great external cold, so long as a healthy condition pre-
vails, a certain uniform temperature is maintained; and for this end
the oxidation of combustible material is constantly going on. Hence
arises a demand for food capable of undergoing the process of oxida-
tion. Licbig holds the non-nitrogenous alimentary principles to be
specially devoted to this purpose. That they do contribute to it
there can be no doubt; but it will be for us presently to consider
whether they do not also contribute to the production of other mani-
festations of energy besides heat.
The capacity of a material for heat-production depends upon the
amount of unoxidized carbon and hydrogen it contains ; and of all
alimentary materials the fats hold the highest place in this respect.
While in starchy, saccharine, and suchlike matters, a sufficient
amount of oxygen exists in the compound to oxidize all the hydro-
gen present, leaving only the carbon in an oxidizable condition, in
the fats not only is the carbon but also the chief portion of the
hydrogen in an unoxidized state.
To illustrate the difference existing, it may be stated that starch
contains, in round numbers, 45 per cent, of carbon and 6 per cent,
of hydrogen, making 51 per cent, of carbon and hydrogen together.
The remainder consists of oxygen amounting to as much as 49 per
cent, of the whole. Sugar and gum likewise in round numbers
contain 43 per cent, of carbon and 6 per cent, of hydrogen, making
49 per cent, of carbon and hydrogen together, and leaving 51 per
cent, to be made up by oxygen. Fat, on the other hand, contains
about 90 per cent, of carbon and hydrogen 79 per cent, of carbon,
and 11 per cent, of hydrogen. Only 10 per cent., therefore, remains
to consist of oxygen.
The respective values of these compounds, as regards capacity for
oxidation, may also be displayed by reference to their chemical for-
104 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
mulse. The formula for starch, for instance, consists of C 12 H 10 O 10
[C 6 H 10 5 ], and in all the other allied compounds the hydrogen and
oxygen exist similarly in the proportion to form water. Fat may
be represented by the formula C 10 H 9 O [C 10 H 18 0]. Here only one
atom of hydrogen has its combining equivalent of oxygen contained
in the compound. The remaining eight atoms as well as the car-
bon, are in a free state for oxidation.
The amount of oxygen consumed in oxidizing a given quantity
of an alimentary principle will necessarily vary with the amount
of surplus or uncombined carbon and hydrogen it contains. Hence
the relative value of these principles as heat-producing agents (it
being upon the amount of chemical action that the quantity of heat
produced depends) may be further represented through the medium
of the oxygen for which there is a capacity of appropriating ; and,
looked at in this light, fat, starch, and sugar hold the following posi-
tions with regard to each other. The figures show the amount of
oxygen required to oxidize fully 100 parts :
Fat, 293
Starch, 120
Sugar (C 12 H 12 12 ) [C 6 H 12 O 6 ], 106
According to what is here shown, a given quantity of fat will have
the power of appropriating about 2.4 times as much oxygen as the
same quantity of starch ; or, stated in other words, will develop about
2.4 times as much heat in the process of oxidation, and hence has
about 2.4 times as much value as a heat-producing agent.
The conclusions which have up to this point been set forth are
based on calculation. But the actual value in respect of capacity for
heat-production has been determined experimentally by means of
the calorimeter, and the following are the figures obtained by Pro-
fessor Frankland. It will be seen that they accord with the conclu-
sions otherwise arrived at :
Actual heat, expressed in units [the unit representing the heat required to
raise 1 gramme (15.432 grains) of water 1 Cent, or 1.8 Falir.~], de-
veloped by 1 gramme when burnt in oxygen.
Heat units.
Beef fat, 9069
Starch (arrowroot), 3912
Cane (lump) sugar, 3848
Commercial grape-sugar, 3277
OXIDIZABLE CAPACITY OF FAT. 105
Such is equivalent to saying that 1 Ib. of beef fat by oxidation
will generate heat sufficient to raise the temperature of 9069 Ibs.
(about 4 tons weight) of water by 1.8 Fahr. (1 Cent.); that the
oxidation of the same quantity of arrowroot will similarly raise the
temperature of only 3912 Ibs. of water; cane-sugar, 3348 Ibs.; and
commercial grape-sugar, 3277 Ibs.
Looking at this difference. in the relative value of fatty, starchy,
and saccharine matters as heat-producers, we see the wisdom of the
instinctive consumption of food abounding in fatty matter by the
inhabitants of the Arctic regions. The Esquimaux and other dwellers
in the frigid zone devour with avidity the fat of whales, seals, (fee.,
and find in this the most efficient kind of combustible material. In
the tropics, on the other hand, the food consumed by the native in-
habitants consists mainly of farinaceous and succulent vegetable
matter. On account of the elevated temperature of the surrounding
air less heat is required to be produced within the body, and a less
efficient combustible material is able to supply what is needed for the
maintenance of the ordinary temperature.
I now arrive at the appropriate place for discussing the question
of the application of fat to the production of muscular and nervous
force,, and what 1 have to say upon the point will apply, not to fat
merely, but to other forms of non-nitrogenous alimentary matter.
Until of late years Liebig's doctrines have been very generally re-
ceived. These, as is well known, assign to non-nitrogenous matters,
in respect of their cAem/co-physiological office, the part simply of
heat-producers. Believing that muscular and nervous action in-
volved a destruction of the respective tissues, and that in this de-
struction was to be sought the development of the power manifested,
he held the nitrogenous elementary matters to constitute the primary
source of the power, these being the principles out of which the
tissues are in the first instance formed and subsequently renewed.
Under such a view the nitrogenous matters eliminated as products
of disintegration should vary according to the amount of work per-
formed, and this was at one time believed to be the case. Even as
recently as 1865, Dr. Lyon Playfair (on "The Food of Man in Re-
lation to his useful Work ") comes forward in support of Liebig's
doctrine, and still argues on the assumption that the work is ex-
pressed by the elimination of urea. " The normal function," he says,
106 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
" of nutrition is to build up plastic food into tissues, to be transformed
by internal and external dynamical work into carbonic acid, water,
and urea." He elsewhere asserts that he considers Liebig as amply
justified in viewing the non-nitrogenous portions of food as mere
heat-givers ; and, with reference to the oxidation of fat forming the
source of muscular action, the conception, he says, "can only have
arisen from the false analogy of the animal body to a steam-engine.
But incessant transformation of the acting parts of the animal ma-
chine forms the condition for its action, while in the case of the steam-
engine it is the transformation of fuel external to the machine which
causes it to move." Dr. Playfair even goes as far as to reproduce
and indorse Liebig's representation of the wild beast in confinement
being obliged to consume its tissues by incessantly pacing backwards
and forwards in its den, in order that the opportunity may be af-
forded for its food, which abounds in nitrogenous matter, to be turned
to account.
Dr. Playfair, however, in these utterances, must be regarded as
writing behind the time. It has been amply shown (vide p. 54, et
seq.) that the elimination of urea, or, to speak more generally, nitro-
gen, does not bear the relation which it was formerly supposed to do,
to muscular work ; and, as a corollary, it may be taken that muscu-
lar action is not the result of, and is not to be measured by, muscular
destruction. If not, then, to an oxidation or consumption of muscu-
lar tissue, to what is the energy manifested to be ascribed ? The
known laws about force lead us to look to chemical action of some
kind as the source of the manifestation in question.
An examination of the outgoings from the system may, there-
fore, be rationally appealed to for information regarding the nature
of the materials that are consumed in the production of the energy
that is manifested. Now, if urea is not a measure of muscular work,
it is noticeable that carbonic acid is ; and it is upon this fact that is
founded the doctrine of the present day, which refers the source of
muscular power to the oxidation of non-nitrogenous matter. So
thorough has been the modification of views upon this point, that
Traube, as mentioned at a former page, has gone as far as directly
to invert the doctrine of Liebig. While Liebig considered that
mechanical work could only be produced from the oxidation of
nitrogenous matter, Traube has asserted that, in such work, non-
nitrogenous substances exclusively are consumed, and that the meta-
FAT IN RELATION TO MUSCULAR FORCE -PRODUCTION. 107
morphosis of the organized nitrogenous part of a muscle is neither
involved in, nor increased by, its action.
It has, for some time past, been generally believed that the elim-
ination of carbonic acid is increased by muscular work. Thus, Leh-
mann says bodily exercise increases the exhalation of carbonic acid
in the same manner as a state of rest diminishes it. Vierordt, he
states, convinced himself that the absolute 'as well as the relative
quantity of carbonic acid was increased after moderate exercise, and
tliis result, he says, is in perfect conformity with the experiments of
Scharling. H. Hoffmann, he continues, found that the sum of the
products of exhalation of the skin and lungs was much more consid-
erable after prolonged motion than after prolonged rest ; and every
one, he further says, who has instituted experiments on the respira-
tion of animals, must be aware that they exhale far more carbonic
acid when they are lively and active than during a state of repose.
The older observations upon this point, however, were attended
with some lack of uniformity in the results, and it has been reserved
for more recent inquiry, with improved means and modes of investi-
gation, to put the matter in a thoroughly satisfactory position, and
to show that the exhalation of carbonic acid holds a direct relation
to the amount of work performed.
Dr. Edward Smith, in the " Philosophical Transactions" for 1859,
has given the results of an extensive series of experiments upon the
elimination of carbonic acid under various conditions. They were
mostly practiced upon himself, and carried out with zealous self-
denial. A mask was closely fitted to the face, and a tube passing off
from it conducted the expired air to an apparatus in which the car-
bonic acid was abstracted and absorbed by means of potash, and
afterwards estimated by weighing. The amounts of carbonic acid
exhaled by Dr. Smith, under varying conditions of exertion, stood
as follows:
Carbonic acid
exhaled per minute
in grains.
During sleep, ......... 4.99
Lying down and almost asleep (average of three observa-
tions), 5.91
Walking at the rate of 2 miles per hour, .... 18.10
Walking at the rate of 3 miles per hour, .... 25.83
Working at the treadmill, ascending at the rate of 28.65
feet per minute (average of three observations), . . 44.97
108 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
Dr. Smith's results are drawn from the carbonic acid exhaled
during limited periods of time. Pettenkofer, assisted by Voit, has
instituted experiments whereby the observation extended through a
period consisting of many hours. An air-tight chamber, sufficiently
large to enable a man to live, move about, and sleep in, was provided.
To this was adapted an arrangement for maintaining an ingress and
egress of air, and for diverting a definite proportion of the latter for
the purpose of analysis, in order that the amount of carbonic acid
escaping might be determined. In this chamber, upon one occasion,
July 31st, 1866, 1 a watchmaker remained for twenty-four hours,
passing a day of rest ; that is, he occupied himself only so far as not
to feel dull, reading newspapers and a novel, and repairing and
cleaning a watch, which he had taken with him into the chamber.
He went to bed at 8 P.M., and slept until 5 A.M., when he was aroused
by some one on the outside. Three days later the same man entered
the chamber, and passed a day of work ; the work consisting of turn-
ing a wheel with a weight attached to it. Rest and meals were taken
at the periods usual with workmen, and work was stopped at 5.30 P.M.
The food taken was exactly the same as on the day of rest ; but 600
grammes more water, which had been allowed ad libitum on both
days, were consumed. The quantities of carbonic acid and urea
eliminated are shown by the subjoined figures :
Day of Rest.
Carbonic acid. Urea.
6 A.M. to 6 P.M., . . 532.9 grammes, . . 21.7 grammes.
6 P.M. to 6 A.M., . . 378.6 " . . 15.5 "
Total, . . 911.5 " . . 37.2 "
Day of Work.
Carbonic acid. Urea.
6 A.M to 6 P.M., . . 884.6 grammes, . . 20.1 grammes.
6 P.M. to 6 A.M., . . 399.6 " . . 169 "
Total, . . 1184.2 . . 37.0 "
It will be noticed from the above results that no effect was pro-
duced upon the elimination of urea. The food consumed was, as
1 Medical Times and Gazette, vol. ii, 1866, p. 680.
I FAT IN RELATION TO MUSCULAR FORCE -PRODUCTION. 109
mentioned, similar on the two clays, and, in accordance with this
fact, there was a close agreement in the respective amounts of urea
voided. The carbonic acid discharged during the actual period of
work greatly exceeded that discharged during the corresponding
period of rest. During the two night-periods when similar condi-
tions prevailed, no material difference in the amount of carbonic acid
was perceptible. The quantities, of course, represented the exhala-
tion from both the lungs and the cutaneous surface.
It is impossible by experiment to ascertain anything about the
oxidation of hydrogen and production of water in relation to mus-
cular work. It having been shown, however, that work is asso-
ciated with an oxidation of carbon, it may be assumed that it is
similarly associated with, and producible from, an oxidation of hy-
drogen.
To this point, then, are we brought by the progress of experi-
mental research. The facts connected with the elimination of nitro-
gen show that muscular work is not to be referred as taught by
Liebig, and till lately generally believed to an oxidation of the
nitrogenous basis of muscular tissue; and if this holds good for mus-
cular it may be assumed also to do so for nervous tissue. The rela-
tion, on the other hand, which has been shown to exist between the
elimination of carbonic acid and the performance of work entitles us
to consider that to the oxidation of hydrocarbonaceous matter may
be referred the* production of power.
Just as matter is indestructible and cannot be created, so, it is now
understood is, force. Force may be transmuted from one form into
another from chemical energy into heat, mechanical power, and so
on; but this, it is considered, is all that occurs; and what holds good
for the world around us is considered also to apply within the living
organism. Physiologists refer the chief source of heat to the oxida-
tion of carbon and hydrogen, and to the same source is now ascribed
the production of mechanical power. The energy set free by chemi-
cal action manifests itself under the form of mechanical work. The
following simile has been suggested by Fick and Wislicenus : !
"A bundle of muscle-fibres is a kind of machine, consisting of
albuminous material, just as a steam-engine is made of steel, iron,
brass, &c. Now, as in the steam-engine coal is burnt in order to
1 " On the Origin of Muscular Power," Philosophical Mag , vol. xxxi, p. 501.
110 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
produce force, so in the muscular machine fats, or hydrates of car-
bon, are burnt for the same purpose. And, in the same manner as
the constructive material of the steam-engine (iron, &c.) is worn
away and oxidized, the constructive material of the muscle is worn
away, and this wearing away is the source of the nitrogenous con-
stituents of the urine. This theory explains why, during muscular
exertion, the excretion of the nitrogenous constituents of the urine
is little or not at all increased, while that of carbonic acid is enor-
mously augmented; for, in a steam-engine moderately fired, and
ready for use, the oxidation of iron, &c., would go on tolerably
equably, and would not be much increased by the more rapid firing
necessary for working, but much more coal would be burnt when it
was at work than when it was standing idle."
Looking, then, at the evidence adduced, the result of modern re-
search goes to show that the non-nitrogenous alimentary principles
are applied not only to the production of heat, but likewise of other
forms of force. It may be considered that nitrogenous matter which
constitutes the basis of the various organs and textures forms the
instrument of action, whilst the oxidation of non-nitrogenous matter
supplies the motive power.
Fick and Wislicenus, in their celebrated mountain ascent, ascer-
tained that severe labor might be performed for awhile without the
use of nitrogenous food. As a result of their experience they re-
mark, " We can assert from our own experience in the ascent of the
Faulhoru, that, in spite of the amount of work, and the abstinence for
thirty-one hours from albuminous food, we neither of us felt in the
least exhausted. This could hardly have been the case," they pro-
ceed to say, " if our muscular force had not been sustained by the
non-nitrogenous food of which we partook."
The two soldiers, in one of Dr. Parkes's experiments, 1 who were
subjected to a couple of days' pretty severe walking exercise on a
non-nitrogenous diet, were questioned as to how they felt in perform-
ing it. The distance traversed amounted to 23| miles on the first
day, and 32f miles on the second, on level ground. The diet satis-
fied hunger. There was no sinking nor craving for other kinds of
food, but it was monotonous, and neither man wished to continue it.
The first day's walking was borne pretty well. On the second day,
1 Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. xv, p. 346, 1867.
ACTUAL FORCE-VALUE OF FAT, ETC. Ill
both men accomplished the first twenty miles well, but felt very
much fatigued during the last thirteen. They could have both
marched on the following day, had it been necessary. One man
would give no opinion as to the amount of fatigue experienced in
comparison with walking on other occasions, as he had no fair basis,
he said, to go by. The other, however, was decidedly of opinion
that he sustained much more fatigue than when walking upon other
food.
In a previous part of this work (vide p. T4 et seq.\ it has been fully
pointed out how, without coinciding with the doctrine formerly en-
tertained, the nitrogenous alimentary principles are, like the non-
nitrogenous, rendered applicable to force-production. Instead of
passing into the state of tissue, and thence by oxidation giving rise
to the evolution of force, they undergo (probably by the action of
the liver) a splitting up into urea for the one part, which carries off
the nitrogen as an unavailable element, and into a slightly oxygen-
ated hydrocarbonaceous residue for the other, which may be looked
upon as applicable in the same way as primarily ingested non-
nitrogenous matter to force-production.
That energy capable of resulting in the performance of mechani-
cal work is produced in the animal system by the oxidation of car-
bonaceous matter may be considered as an established fact. Whether,
however, this energy arises from the occurrence of oxidation in the
blood as it is circulating through the capillary vessels of the muscle,
or whether from the oxidation of hydrocarbonaceous matter exist-
ing in the muscular tissue, is a point which it is not easy to see the
way to settle; but the latter proposition, it may be said, appears the
more probable of the two.
As is the case with reference to heat, the amount of mechanical
energy producible is in proportion to the amount of chemical action
occurring. A given amount of an organic compound, for example,
will, as is well-known, by oxidation give rise to the generation of a
definite and ascertainable amount of heat. In the same manner,
when the energy self free is manifested under the form of mechanical
power instead of heat, a fixed amount of work is capable of being
performed. The energy produced may present itself under the form
of a certain amount of heat, or on the other hand, may lead to the
accomplishment of a certain amount of work; not only so, but heat
and mechanical power are known to be mutually convertible, and a
112 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
definite expression can be given of their relative value in represen-
tative equivalents.
According to the English system, work is measured by pounds or
tons lifted a foot, and the measurement is expressed as foot-pounds
or foot-tons.
Now, Mr. Joule, of Manchester, has ascertained, and his conclu-
sions are very generally acquiesced in, that the amount of energy
which under the form of heat will raise the temperature of a pound
of water 1 Fahr. will, if manifested as mechanical force, raise 772
Ibs. a foot high, or what, of course, amounts to the same, 1 Ib. 772
feet high. Thus the dynamic equivalent of 1 Fahr. of heat is said
to be 772 foot-pounds. Adopting the Centigrade scale of thermal
measurement, the mechanical equivalent of 1 (1.8 Fahr.) will be
1389 foot-pounds; that is, the energy which, as calorific power, will
raise the temperature of a pound of water 1 Cent. (1.8 Fahr.) will
be capable, as motive power, of raising a pound weight 1389 feet
high.
Under the Continental system the mechanical equivalent of heat
is expressed in kilogrammetres a kilogrammetre constituting one
kilogramme (2.2046 Ibs. avoirdupois) raised to the height of a
metre (3.2808 feet). Thus represented, and following Mr. Joule's
formula, 1 Cent, of heat may be said to be equivalent to 423 J kilo-
grammetres, which means that the heat which will raise the tempe-
rature of a kilogramme of water 1 Cent, will be equivalent to the
mechanical power required to raise a kilogramme weight 423J
metres high.
Applying this to the utilization of food the value of the various
principles as mechanical power-producers will correspond with their
value as heat-producers. As heat-production is related to the
amount of chemical action ensuing, so likewise is mechanical power-
production. Such alimentary principle as will by oxidation give
rise to the greatest amount of heat will have the greatest capacity
for the production of working power.
At p. 104 the calorific value of fat, starch, cafce-sugar, and grape-
sugar is to be found according to the actual determinations of Pro-
fessor Frankland. Looked at in relation to the performance of
work, and taking Mr. Joule's estimate of the mechanical equivalent
of heat as the basis of calculation, the capacity of these articles will
stand thus :
ACTUAL FORCE-VALUE OF FAT, ETC. 113
Amount of mechanical ivorlc obtainable from the oxidation of one gramme
(15.432 grains}.
In kilogrammetres.
(Frankland.) In foot-pounds. 1
(kilogrammes lifted a metre.) (pounds lifted a foot.)
Beef fat, ....... 3841 27,778
Starch (arrowroot), 1657 11,983
Lump sugar, 1418 10,254
Grape ....... 1388 10,038
Nitrogenous matters, as has been previously explained, do not
undergo complete oxidation within the body, a portion of the com-
pound being separated and eliminated under the form of urea in an
unoxidized condition.
Taking lean beef, and viewing it as oxidized to the extent which
occurs in the animal system, one gramme (15.432 grains) in a dried
state will develop energy capable of raising 2047 kilogrammes a
metre high, or 14.803 Ibs. a foot high.
Such is the modern way of regarding food in reference to its appli-
cation to force- production.
1 Kilogrammetres are convertible into foot-pounds by multiplying by 7.232 :
one kilogrammetre being equal to 7.232 foot-pounds.
THE CAEBOHYDEATES.
THE Carbohydrates forming a second systematic group of non-
nitrogenous alimentary principles, are compounds in which the hy-
drogen and oxygen exist in the proportion to form water. Hence
these compounds have been designated hydrates of carbon or carbo-
hydrates. It must not, however, be inferred that the elements are
in reality grouped as the name would imply. There is no ground
for such a conclusion. All that can be said is that the respective
quantities of the elements are such as would form water. But from
this it does not follow that they exist in combination as water, to be
then linked as such to the carbon. Comprised in the group of com-
pounds we have
Starch,
Cane-sugar,
Grape-sugar,
Lactin (sugar of milk),
Inosite (muscle-sugar),
Amyloid substance,
Gum,
Dextrin,
Cellulose,
Woody fibre,
Lactic acid,
Acetic acid.
Starch (C 12 H 10 O 10 ) [C 6 H 10 5 ]. Starch maybe regarded as the most
important alimentary principle of the group, on account of its enter-
ing so largely as it does into some of our staple articles of food. It
is met with only in vegetable products, and is found stored up in the
form of little granules, or solid particles, in many seeds, roots, stems,
and some fruits. Each granule is made up of a series of concentric
layers, the external being of a firmer or more indurated nature than
CARBOHYDRATES. 115
the rest. In cold water the granules remain unaltered, but when
subjected to the influence of boiling water they swell up, burst, and
form a mucilage which assumes a gelatinous nature on being allowed
to cool.
Starch constitutes a principle which, as long as it remains as such,
resists absorption from the alimentary canal. At least, all that can
be said is that a few particles, like finely divided particles of other
kinds, as of charcoal and sulphur, have been known to find their
way, in some manner or other, through the walls of the alimentary
canal into the bloodvessels. To serve, therefore, as an alimentary
article, it must undergo a preliminary metamorphosis to fit it for ab-
sorption, arid this is effected by the process of digestion.
The influence exerted upon starch in the digestive system leads to
its conversion, in the first instance, into dextrin, which has only a
very transitory existence, and then into sugar an agent which pos-
sesses the property of being easily susceptible of absorption. Thus
it is that starch is prepared by the digestive apparatus for under-
going absorption.
There are various secretions that are endowed \vith the power of
transforming starch into sugar. I will speak, in the first place, of
the action of the saliva in this respect.
\Vhen starch has been brought into the most favorable condition
for metamorphosis, as by subjection to the influence of boiling water,
it is very speedily converted into sugar upon being brought into con-
tact with human saliva. In the solid form, however, or whilst the
granules remain in an unruptured state, the transformation is much
less speedily effected. Now, it happens that our food is not long
delayed in the mouth, and that the starch, as we usually consume it,
is not in the most favorable condition for metamorphosis. It may,
therefore, be considered that during the accomplishment of the first
step of the digestive process, viz., the action which is exerted while
the food is in the mouth, little, if any, conversion of starch into sugar
takes place. Moreover, although the human saliva enjoys the property
above-mentioned, yet the saliva of many of the lower animals fails,
it has been found, to possess a similar capacity.
The transformative power of saliva is also checked by the presence
of an acid. Hence, when the stomach is reached, and the food
arrives in contact with its acid secretion, any change that might occur
from the prolonged admixture of starch and saliva is prevented. In
116 ALIMENTARY PKINCIPLES.
the ruminant animal, however, the food, after being a first time
swallowed, is retained for awhile in a simple receptacle, a favorable
condition being here presented for the exercise of the transformative
action of the saliva. The same likewise holds good in the case of the
crop of the bird.
It has been suggested by Dr. Bence Jones that the secretion of the
stomach, by virtue of the acid belonging to it, is capable of effecting
some conversion of starch into sugar. The amount of change, how-
ever, that can be thus exerted is probably not sufficient to warrant
our looking upon it as possessing any material extent of physiological
significance.
Passing from the stomach, the food reaches the small intestine
the part of the alimentary canal which may be regarded as forming
the main seat of the digestion of starch. The secretion both of the
pancreas and of the glands of the intestinal walls possesses the power
of acting energetically upon starch, and within the intestinal canal
there exist the most favorable conditions for the exercise of the trans-
formative power enjoyed by these fluids. The food, for instance,
has been reduced to a semifluid state before reaching the intestine,
where its admixture with the secretions in question takes place. The
two are then urged slowly along by the peristaltic movement of the
intestinal canal, and thus cannot fail to become thoroughly incorpor-
ated together. Subjected in this way to prolonged contact with each
other, and at the same time exposed to the equable and elevated
temperature which belongs to the locality, nothing could be more
favorable for the occurrence of the metamorphosis. As the transfor-
mation of the starch is accomplished, the resulting sugar is removed
by absorption, passing, simply by virtue of its diffusibility, into the
circulating current within the bloodvessels.
Microscopic examination shows that in this conversion of starch
into dextrin, in the first place, and afterwards into sugar, the gran-
ules become softened and gradually broken up. Individual lamellae
have been seen to become detached and subsequently to undergo dis-
integration isolated shreds having been brought into view with the
aid of the iodine test. The farther the starch is traced onwards in the
intestinal canal the smaller do the granules become, in consequence
of the gradually advancing disintegration and solution which they
undergo from the surface inwards.
The power of digesting starch is not by any means such as to
CARBOHYDRATES. 117
secure the digestion of all that enters the alimentary canal as food.
Starch-granules, especially when the starch has been ingested in the
raw .state, have been frequently shown to pass off from the alimen-
tary canal in considerable numbers with the evacuations, both in
man and in the lower animals.
Cane-sugar (C 12 H u O n ) [0 12 H 22 H ]. There are various kinds of
sugar, and this is the crystallizable variety, which is so extensively
employed as an article of food. It is produced only by the vegeta-
ble kingdom, and is contained in the juice of the stems, roots, and
other parts of various plants. It is present in a dissolved state in
these juices instead of existing in a solid form, as is the case with
starch.
The properties of solubility and diffusibility which cane-sugar
possesses dispense with the necessity of any aid to absorption being
afforded by the digestive process. All that is required is that it
should be either dissolved or that there should be liquid to dissolve
it, and its diffusibility will enable it, without any preparatory pro-
cess, to pass by absorption from the alimentary canal into the cur-
rent of fluid contained in the bloodvessels.
Although cane-sugar, however, requires no digestion to fit it for
absorption, it may be considered probable that it undergoes conver-
sion into grape-sugar, certainly in part, if not wholly, before leaving
the alimentary canal. If cane-sugar be introduced into one of the
vessels of the general circulation, it passes off from the system with-
out being utilized, and escapes, still in the form of cane-sugar, with
the urine. If, however, cane-sugar be introduced into the alimen-
tary canal beyond the capacity, say, for subsequent assimilation,
sugar similarly passes off with the urine, but now in the form of
grape-sugar instead of cane-sugar; and if this conversion is not
effected in the alimentary canal, the liver must be the organ in which
it occurs. Lehmann asserts that he has ascertained, as the result
of repeated experiments, that when rabbits are fed with beet-root,
Avliich contains cane-sugar, and not grape-sugar, grape-sugar is to be
found in the stomach and intestine, and no cane-sugar. Even when
large quantities of cane-sugar were dissolved in water and injected
into the stomach of rabbits, grape-sugar was the only kind of sugar
which he could detect in the stomach and intestine. Similar re-
sults, Lehmann adds, were obtained in numerous experiments of a
like nature, conducted by Von Becker, and it was only rarely that
118 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
cane-sugar could be traced as far as the middle of the small intes-
tine, even in those cases in which large quantities had been intro-
duced into the stomach of cats and rabbits. Since neither the saliva
nor the gastric juice, he continues, is able to effect an immediate
conversion of cane-sugar into grape-sugar, it only remains to be as-
sumed, as suggested by Von Becker, that the transformation is pro-
duced by the action of the substances in a state of change which are
always present in the alimentary canal.
There is nothing surprising in the convertibility, under these cir-
cumstances, of cane-sugar into grape-sugar, seeing with what facility
the change is effected by chemical and other agencies. Boiling, for
instance, with a little sulphuric acid, causes an immediate metamor-
phosis. Cane-sugar, in the form of syrup, maintained long near the
boiling-point, and without the aid of any chemical agent, undergoes
partial conversion into grape-sugar. In the case of beetroot, also, 1
have noticed, simply as the result of keeping, especially when re-
duced to a pulp and mixed with a decomposable liquid like saliva,
or even with water only, that grape-sugar has made its appearance.
Grape-sugar (C 12 H 12 O 12 +2HO) [C 6 H 12 6 ,H 2 0]. Grape-sugar is
met with extensively as a vegetable product in the juices of many
fruits and other parts of plants, and is also readily obtainable from
other carbohydrates by chemical means, and likewise by the meta-
morphosic influence of organic bodies in a state of change. It may,
perhaps, be set down as representing the lowest, in a chemico-physi-
ological point of view, of the neutral compounds of the carbohy-
drate group, as it constitutes that form into which they are all easily
convertible, and into which they appear to have a tendency to de-
scend. It may also be considered as having its elements in looser
combination, as it yields to oxidizing influences which the others re-
sist. Upon this depends the reaction which specially occurs with
this form of sugar when in contact with the oxide of copper and
some other metallic oxides, at a temperature of ebullition a reaction
which is turned to account for analytical purposes.
Grape-sugar may constitute a product arising in the animal
system from the transformation of another form of carbohydrate
amyloid substance to be presently referred to, which exists as a
deposit in the liver and some other structures of the body.
It is a substance which requires no preliminary process of diges-
tion to fit it for absorption, and it may be considered that the main
CARBOHYDRATES. 119
part of that which is received into the alimentary canal passes with-
out modification into the bloodvessels, by virtue of the physical
property of diifusibility which it enjoys.
Grape-sugar, however, is readily convertible, by organic bodies in
a state of change, into lactic acid, a principle in which the elements
are combined in precisely the same relative proportion as in anhy-
drous grape-sugar, one atom of sugar corresponding with two atoms
of the acid. Now, such bodies freely exist within the alimentary
canal, and probably occasion a transformation of some of the ingested
sugar into lactic acid through what is styled, in fact, the lactic-
acid fermentation. Lehmann comments upon the exceptionally acid
condition of the contents of the stomach, and likewise of the intes-
tine, after the introduction of sugar or starch in quantity into the
alimentary canal. In the case of some experiments of my own on
rabbits which had been fed exclusively on starch and sugar for a
few days previous to being killed, I was struck with the remarkably
acid state of the contents of the stomach. In some experiments, also,
upon rats which had been for some days kept upon sugar only, I
noticed a strongly sour smell on laying open the abdominal cavity
directly after death.
It is known that in some cases of dyspepsia there is an undue
presence of acid in the stomach. The secretion of the organ being
of an acid nature, the condition in question might be ascribable to
an inordinate discharge by the secreting structures, and such, it may
be considered, is not unfrequently the case. There are grounds,
however, for believing that the undue acidity is sometimes attribu-
table to a development of acid from the contents of the stomach.
When digestion is carried out in a natural way the tendency to
ordinary decomposition and fermentation is held in check, but when
the process is defectively performed changes of an ordinary nature
are allowed, to a greater or less extent, to proceed. Now, saccharine
material, in this way undergoing the lactic-acid fermentation, would
suffice to account for the unnatural condition in question ; and, in
accordance with the view expressed, it is noticeable that articles of
food impregnated with sugar are particularly apt to give rise to
acidity where a disposition to the derangement exists.
When saccharine matter is metamorphosed into lactic acid in the
manner above referred to, the latter (it may be assumed) becomes
absorbed, and subsequently undergoes, in the system, more or less
120 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
complete oxidation, in the manner that will be pointed out as occur-
ring with organic acids in general.
The sugar which is absorbed from the alimentary canal will be
subsequently traced on in the system when I have gone through the
list of carbohydrates. The fitting time will then have arrived for
speaking of the assimilation and destination of the group taken
altogether.
Lactin, or sugar of milk (C 12 H 12 O 12 ) [C 12 H 24 12 , or C 12 H 22 O n , H 2 0].
This variety of sugar constitutes an animal product, and its only
source is the milk of mammals. Very closely allied in its proper-
ties to grape-sugar, it appears to comport itself in precisely the same
manner as this principle in the alimentary canal. Nothing, there-
fore, requires to be further said about it.
Inostte, or muscle-sugar (C 12 H 12 O 12 + 4HO) [C 6 H 12 6 , 2H 2 0]. This
is another animal carbohydrate. It was not long since discovered
by Scherer amongst the constituents of the juice of flesh. According
to Lehmann it has hitherto been obtained only from the flesh of the
heart. With so limited a source it can have little or no significance
in an alimentary point of view. Unlike grape-sugar, it does not
reduce the cupro-potassic solution, nor does it undergo the vinous
fermentation with yeast, but in the presence of casein it becomes
transformed into lactic and butyric acids.
Amyloid substance (C 12 H 12 O 12 , or C 12 H 10 O 10 -f 2HO) [C 6 H 12 6 , or
C 6 H 10 5 , H 2 0]. This is also an animal product. It was discovered
by Bernard as the material yielding the sugar obtainable from the
liver, and was designated by him glycogen. Besides the liver, where
it may occur largely, some other structures yield it. It has a much
more extensive existence and distribution among the tissues in the
foetal state than afterwards. It is also discoverable in the placenta.
One of its most noteworthy characters is the striking facility and
rapidity with which it undergoes conversion into sugar under the
influence of a ferment operating under appropriate conditions. This
principle possesses an important bearing in relation to the assimila-
tion of sugar, as will appear from what is shortly to be mentioned.
Gum (C 12 H 11 O 11 ) [C 12 H 22 O n ]. Gum, like starch, extensively per-
vades the vegetable kingdom. It is met with in the juices of nearly
all plants, and occurs in its purest form as an exudation upon the
bark of certain trees. With water it produces a tasteless, ropy,
mucilaginous liquid possessing strongly adhesive properties, which
CARBOHYDRATES. 121
render it a useful article for various purposes. It is convertible into
sugar by boiling with dilute sulphuric acid.
Gum is, doubtless, susceptible of being utilized as an alimentary
principle, although nothing definite is known about what becomes of
it when introduced into the alimentary canal. Although soluble, it
is of very low divisibility , and, belonging to the class of colloids, is,
according to Graham, only two and a half times more dialyzable than
albumen.
Its properties, therefore, are such as to preclude its passage to any
great extent by absorption into the bloodvessels. We have no tangi-
ble evidence that, like starch, it undergoes conversion in the alimen-
tary canal into sugar. In the first place, none of the secretions are
found to possess the power of effecting the conversion, and, in the
next, no sugar is discoverable in the alimentary canal after gum has
been administered. I have experimented both upon rabbits and
dogs with reference to this point. In rabbits, to which nothing else
but gum in solution had been administered for a few days before
death, no sugar was subsequently discoverable in either the stomach
or intestine. After the administration of gum, also, in conjunction
with animal food, to a dog, no trace of sugar was to be detected in
the alimentary canal.
Lehmann, in one part of his " Physiological Chemistry," goes as
far as to say that gum remains unabsorbed. Further on he speaks
of its absorption as being extremely limited, if, indeed, it occurs at
all. There are considerations, however, which, I think, must be
held as indirectly showing that, under some form or other, its ele-
ments, to some, if not to a large extent, reach the circulation.
The first consideration is this. Amyloid substance, which has
been before referred to as forming a constituent of the liver, is evi-
dently derivable from the absorbed products of the food, and under
the absence of food it is noticeable that it entirely disappears from
the organ. Now, when substances like starch and sugar have been
exclusively administered, the liver is found to be charged with amy-
loid substance, and in a series of experiments which I some time ago
conducted I observed, after the exclusive administration of gum, a
similar existence of amyloid substance in the liver. It is true the
amount present was not very large, but, nevertheless, there was a
notable quantity to deal with.
The next consideration is that the carbohydrates, which are ab-
122 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
sorbable and convertible within the system into sugar, increase the
sugar eliminated with the urine in cases of diabetes. To a patient
suffering from this disease, and under very strict regimen and obser-
vation, gum was administered, and a distinct, although not a large,
augmentation in the eliminated sugar was noticeable.
Dextrin (C 12 H 10 O 10 ) [C 6 H 10 5 ]. Dextrin does not occur as a nat-
ural product, but constitutes an artificial gum, derivable from the
transformation of starch, with which, in composition, it is identical.
It is producible from starch by the action of heat, the mineral acids,
and the ferment diastase, which is developed during the process of
fermentation. It has been suggested that it behaves in the alimen-
tary canal like gum, but, being readily convertible, in the same
manner as starch, by some of the digestive secretions into sugar, it is
probable that, when it happens to be consumed, it is transformed
into sugar, and in that state absorbed.
Cellulose (C 12 H 10 O 10 ) [C 18 H 30 15 ]. This constitutes the basis of the
structure forming the walls of the cells, fibres, and vessels of plants.
It is presented in a nearly pure form in cotton, linen, and elder pith.
It offers strong resistance to solution, but yields, however, to the
more powerful chemical agents. It is convertible first into dextrin,
and then into sugar, by boiling with dilute sulphuric acid.
Closely allied to cellulose of the vegetable kingdom is a principle
which was discovered by C. Schmidt in the outer tunic of some of
the lower mollusca. It is known as animal cellulose, or tunicin
(C a H 10 O 10 ) [C 6 H 10 5 ], and possesses significance from furnishing an
instance in which a carbohydrate enters into the composition, if even
it does not form the basis, of an animal texture.
From the resistance offered by cellulose to solvents, it can scarcely
constitute an article of any decided alimentary value for the gener-
ality of animals. It seems, however, that in the case of the beaver
a special aptitude exists for digesting this principle.
Lignin, or woody fibre (C 12 H 10 O 10 ) [C 6 H 10 5 ]. Lignin forms the
pervading solid matter which is deposited within the vegetable fibre,
and gives to wood the property of hardness. It is of an exceedingly
insoluble nature, and it is only in exceptional instances that it can
do otherwise than escape the action of the digestive juices.
Lactic acid (C 6 H 6 O 6 ) [HC 3 H 5 3 ] and acetic acid (C 4 H 3 O 3 +HO)
[HC 2 H 3 2 ] also belong chemically to the group of carbohydrates ac-
cording to the old formula, but in a physiological point of view they
PASSAGE OF CARBOHYDRATES INTO THE SYSTEM. 123
probably stand in quite a distinct position. They will be subse-
quently considered in connection with the next group of substances,
which will be found to include other organic acids.
I now come to speak of the assimilation and utilization of the carbo-
hydrate*.
It has been stated that some conversion of saccharine matter into
lactic acid may occur within the alimentary canal. It can scarcely
be considered, however, that this transformation takes place to a suf-
ficient extent to be deserving of much consideration as regards the
question of utilization. It may be assumed that the lactic acid so
produced becomes absorbed, and is subsequently mainly disposed of
by undergoing oxidation within the system, as happens with the
organic acids in general.
It is as saccharine matter that the carbohydrates, in the ordinary
course, reach the circulation, and the saccharine matter thus derived
is conveyed by the portal system of vessels to the liver, where it can
be shown to be detained and subjected to metamorphosis a process
which may be regarded as forming its first step of assimilation.
That the saccharine matter is detained, as has been asserted, in
the liver, is attested by the fact that if it should reach the general
circulation it will immediately become recognizable in the urine.
Under natural circumstances, for instance, the urine, on being ex-
amined in the ordinary way, gives no reaction with the tests for
sugar, although, it is true, when large quantities are operated upon,
and evaporation and separation of the other ingredients effected,
sugar, to a minute extent, is found to exist. On introducing sugar,
however, into the general circulatory system, it is found to pass off
with the urine, and to be more or less strongly recognizable by the
ordinary mode of testing.
It used to be thought that sugar was capable of being oxidized on
being conveyed by the blood through the lungs. Liebig suggested
this view on theoretical grounds, and Bernard's experiments sup-
ported it. With regard to the theoretical proposition, it does not
appear to me to demand consideration, and Bernard's experiments I
have shown, in another place, 1 to have received a fallacious interpre-
1 " Researches on Sugar Formation in the Liver," Philosophical Transactions,
I860.
124 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
tation. There is no appreciably recognizable destruction of sugar,
in fact, anywhere effected within the circulatory system ; hence sugar
in any way reaching the general circulation will be carried in due
course to the kidney, and by virtue of its property of diffusibility
will escape with the urine.
Lehmann's experiments and my own are in accord upon this point.
Lehmann, for instance, states that, without including previous ex-
periments, he had recently injected grape-sugar into the jugular vein
of thirty-seven rabbits and dogs, and in no single instance was grape-
sugar absent from the urine. He further remarks that sugar passes
so quickly into the urine that it may frequently be detected five
minutes after its injection, and this even when only one-tenth of a
gramme (1J grain) has been injected.
If, then, sugar passes off in this way with the urine when intro-
duced into the general circulation, and sugar is not similarly to be
detected in the urine By ordinary examination under natural circum-
stances, it becomes evident that the sugar absorbed from the alimen-
tary canal must be stopped on its transit before reaching so far.
Such is what occurs when ordinary circumstances exist, but if
sugar be ingested in excessive quantity, and particularly after fast-
ing, when absorption is at the height of .its activity, sugar in notable
amount is to be recognized in the urine. It may be .here inferred
that its rapidity of entrance exceeds, for the time, the capacity of the
liver for detaining and assimilating it, and that thereby some passes
through the organ and reaches the general circulation. In illustra-
tion of what has been mentioned it may be stated that the urine has
been observed in man to have been rendered temporarily saccharine
by the ingestion of a considerable quantity of syrup the first thing
in the morning, before any food had been taken. Also, in my ex-
periments, where rabbits have been fed for a few days solely on starch
and sugar, and dogs have had administered to them a large quantity
of sugar with their animal food, sugar has been freely discoverable
in the urine.
Not only have we this evidence to denote that sugar is naturally
stopped on its passage through the liver, but the principle can be
identified, as I will proceed to show, into which, on being detained,
it is transformed.
I have already referred to amyloid substance as a material of the
carbohydrate group which has been discovered to exist in the liver.
ASSIMILATION OF SUGAR. 125
It is a principle which possesses diametrically opposite physical
properties to sugar, being a colloid, and therefore non-diffusible, in-
stead of a crystalloid and diffusible. By microchemical examina-
tion it can be shown to be lodged in the hepatic cells, within which
its non-diffusibility permits it to be retained for proceeding on, as it
may be assumed to do, in the train of assimilative metamorphoses.
Xow, one of the sources of this amyloid substance is evidently sac-
charine matter at least such, I think, will be conceded on casting
the eye through the following resume of experimental results that I
obtained, and published in the u Philosophical Transactions " for
1860. A very striking effect, it will be noticed, was produced
through the medium of food on the. condition of the liver, and it is
to the amount of amyloid substance that it was attributable.
In the first place, an observation conducted upon eleven dogs,
which had been restricted for some time to an amimal diet, gives the
state existing under an absence of the introduction of sugar with the
food. The dogs were carefully weighed, and also the livers, and
the figures furnished showed a relative weight of 1 to 30 the
weight of the livers, in other words, amounted only to one-thirtieth
of the body -weight.
A quantitative determination of the amyloid substance present
was made in seven out of the eleven instances, and the mean amount
given was 7.19 per cent.
To four other dogs animal food was given with an admixture of
sugar, the quantity of sugar administered amounting to about a
quarter of a pound daily. In these the results of weighing showed
a remarkably increased relative weight of liver, the proportion being
as 1 to 16 J of body- weight instead of as 1 to 30. The quantity of
amyloid substance present amounted, as a mean for the four livers,
to 14.5 per cent.
Five other dogs were kept for several days upon a purely vegetable
diet, the food consisting of barley-meal and potatoes, or, where this
was refused, of bread and potatoes. The weight of the livers was
here found to amount to as much as one-fifteenth of the body-weight
exactly double the relative weight under purely animal food. In
two of the instances no quantitative determination of the amyloid
substance was made, but from the rough examination conducted it
was evidently present in very large quantity. It was, in fact, these
identical livers that first suggested the idea which led me to prose-
126 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
cute my subsequent inquiry. The three other livers were subjected
to analysis, and the amyloid substance averaged the large amount of
17.23 per cent.
From these observations it appears that the ingestion of sugar
and starch produces an augmentation of the size of the liver, due to
an increase of the amyloid substance contained in it. The inference
naturally to be drawn is that absorbed saccharine matter, on reach-
ing the liver, is transformed by the assimilative action of the organ
into amyloid substance, which is stored up in its cells for subsequent
further change, preliminary to being appropriated to the purposes of
life. That the saccharine matter derived from the food becomes
thus transformed into amyloid substance is even more strongly ex-
emplified by the results obtained in the following experiments per-
formed upon rabbits.
A couple of full-grown rabbits were selected, which as closely as
possible resembled each other in size and condition. To the one,
starch and ^rape-sugar only were administered, and to the other,
no food at all.
The rabbit which had fasted was found to weigh 3 Ib. 1 oz., and
its liver If oz. The rabbit fed on starch and grape-sugar weighed
3 Ib. 4oz., and its liver 2f oz., or just double the weight of the
other. In the liver of the rabbit that had fasted there was practi-
cally no amyloid substance present, while the other contained 15.4
per cent.
Upon another occasion a couple of half-grown rabbits, also as
closely as possible resembling each other in size and condition, were
submitted to experiment. One was fed on starch and cane-sugar
(cane-sugar being used this time instead of grape as in the first ex-
periment), and the other, as before, was kept fasting. The latter
was found to weigh 1 Ib. 14 oz., and its liver 1 oz., with no amy-
loid substance present. The former weighed 1 Ib. 14| oz., and its
liver 2f oz., with amyloid substance present to the extent of 16.9
per cent. 1
Nothing could be more simple than the conditions here dealt with,
and nothing could more conclusively show that saccharine matter
1 Full details of the experiments upon this subject are to be found in the
author's work, " Researches on the Nature and Treatment of Diabetes," p. 89 et
seq.
DESTINATION OF THE CARBOHYDRATES. 127
conduces to the production of amyloid substance. But, as has been
seen, amyloid substance is also present in the liver when no saccha-
rine matter has been supplied from without, as, for instance, in the
case of an animal restricted to a purely animal diet. Under such
circumstances it is probably derived from the metamorphosis of the
complemental part to urea, which takes origin in the splitting up of
the nitrogenous molecule. It has been, for example, already shown
how the nitrogenous portion of food undergoes conversion into urea,
which is eliminated, and a residue of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen,
which is retained for utilization in the system. Now, there is evi-
dence producible which tends to show that the splitting up of the
nitrogenous molecule occurs in the liver, and nothing is more proba-
ble than that the utilizable non-nitrogenous portion passes on in the
same way as sugar into amyloid substance.
The view here enunciated receives support from the relation that
has been observed by Dr. Sydney Ringer to exist between the urea
and sugar eliminated in diabetes mellitus when either abstinence from
food or restriction to a purely animal diet is enjoined. Under such
circumstances it was noticed that the urea and sugar rose and fell to-
gether in almost exactly the same ratio. Now, in diabetes mellitus
it happens that there is a want of power to assimilate and make use
of the carbohydrate group of principles, which occasions their escape
unutilized with the urine ; and, if the complemental part to urea of
the nitrogenous molecule follows the same course in the system (and
it has been suggested that it is converted in the liver into amyloid
substance) as the carbohydrate, it is only natural to expect that
where the defect in question exists it should pass off from the system
in the same manner as a carbohydrate, and that thus, where there is
only nitrogenous matter as a source for the eliminated sugar, this
principle and urea the other representative of the nitrogenous mole-
cule should bear a relation in amount to each other.
To amyloid substance, then, it may be considered that the carbo-
hydrates can be followed. We now, however, reach a break in the
chain of metamorphosis, and have to step over some missing links.
But, if we cannot further trace the absorbed sugar in open view on-
wards, and point out the particular changes it next undergoes, still
we learn, in another way, that it leads on to the production of fat ;
and let us examine the grounds on which this statement is based.
A sharp controversy was carried on, some years back, between the
128 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
German and the French schools, upon the point as to whether ani-
mals possessed the power of forming fat. Liebig, on the one side,
partly upon experimental evidence, and partly by a train of reasoning,
contended that in the animal system the carbohydrates were convert-
ible into fat. Dumas and Boussingault, on the other hand, asserted,
that the food of animals contained preformed fat sufficient to account
for that met with in the body, and hence that there was no need for
a fat-forming capacity to exist.
This controversy instigated the performance of a number of exper-
iments which have resulted in proving of considerable service to sci-
ence, inasmuch as they have led to the matter in question being
placed in a definitely settled position.
Huberts experiments on bees are the first that can be said to have
afforded any substantial evidence bearing on the point. They go
towards showing that from sugar the animal can produce wax, which
is admitted to belong to the group of fats.
Grundlach subsequently repeated Huberts experiments, and ob-
tained confirmatory results. Both these experimentalists, however,
neglected to prove that the wax yielded during subsistence upon a
saccharine diet had not been drawn from a pre-existing store in the
body. of the animal. Dumas and Milne-Edwards 1 conjointly under-
took the performance of experiments to decide this point. They as-
signed to themselves the task of first of all determining the amount
of wax existing in the bees at the commencement of the experiment,
and then compared this with the wax formed into comb and that re-
maining in the animals at the conclusion of the experiment. They
started by restricting the animal to a diet of pure sugar, but failed in
obtaining a satisfactory development of comb. They, therefore,
abandoned experimenting with sugar, and substituted honey. Upon
this they succeeded in getting, from one swarm out of four on which
they experimented, a fair yield of wax. As the honey itself contains
a minute portion of wax, this also required to be looked to as one of
the items to be taken into account. It is not necessary to give here
the actual numerical results obtained. It will be sufficient to state
that the amount of wax formed and the fatty matter existing in the
animals at the conclusion of the experiment greatly exceeded the fat
ingested with the honey and that pre-existing in the bees, a result
1 " Annales de Chimie,' ; tome xiv, 1845, p. 400.
PRODUCTION OF FOIE GRAS. 129
which shows that a real production of wax took place. In the words
of the experimentalists, the production of wax may be, therefore,
said to constitute a true animal operation, and consequently the
opinion entertained by the older naturalists, and by some modern
chemists, among whom one of the experimentalists themselves (viz.,
Dumas) had previously found it necessary to range himself, must be
set aside.
In the production of ihefoie gras a further proof is afforded of the
formation of fatty matter within the animal system. The process of
fattening geese for obtaining this article of luxury is carried on so
extensively in Alsace as to form an important industrial employ-
ment in that locality. Strasbourg constitutes the headquarters of the
trade; and in Murray's "Handbook for Travellers on the Continent"
we are told that the cellars of nearly every house in the town form
the scene of foie gras production. Almost from time immemorial
the goose has been turned, in the manner under consideration, to
account. The Roman epicures, it is said, delighted in the enlarged
liver of the goose as a delicacy at the table. In our own time the
demand for the article is widely spread, and proportionately met.
The modus operandi for producing the fatty liver is described to
be this : The geese, in a lean state to start with, are placed singly in
wooden coops just large enough to admit them without allowing
them to turn round. There is an opening in front for the head to
project. Below stands a wooden trough, kept always full of water,
in which fragments of wood charcoal are immersed, and a little salt
introduced. Morning and evening, maize or Indian corn, previously
soaked in water, is crammed down the bird's throat to repletion.
During the day it "drinks and guzzles" in the water before it. In
about a month the breathing becomes difficult, and then it is known
to be necessary to kill the animal, otherwise death would occur spon-
taneously. The liver is now found to weigh from one to two pounds.
The goose itself is fit for food for the table. On being roasted as
much as from three to five pounds of fat, it is said, escape from it.
The fattening process is carried on in cellars, or places where but
little light is admitted, and the winter is the season selected. It is
not in every case that it is successful. Some of the geese employed
fail to turn out so as to allow the fattener's expectations to be realized.
Persoz, 1 a professor in the Faculty of Science of Strasbourg, and
1 Annales de Chimie, tome xiv, 1845, p. 408.
130 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
therefore located in the midst of the operation, applied the advan-
tage thus presented to account for investigating the question of the
production of fatty matter from the carbohydrates.
It is known that maize, the article employed in fattening the
geese, is charged to a greater extent with fatty matter than the gen-
erality of the cereal grains. Was this the secret of the phenomenon
of foie gras production ? Persoz undertook to determine whether
the fat contained in the food sufficed to account for the accumulation
of fat that occurred. Taking a number of geese, he killed one to
begin with, and ascertained the amount of fat existing in the body.
This served as the basis of comparison. The others were fed in the
way usually adopted by the fattener, and were killed between the
nineteenth and twenty-fourth days. Persoz remarks that in his
neighborhood expert fatteners assert that the process cannot be
eifected with profit if the goose is obliged to be killed before the
eighteenth day or after the twenty-fourth. In fact, after a certain
period the animal, it is stated, begins to lose instead of gain weight,
and this period is known by the dejections assuming a lactescent
character. An account was taken of the amount of food ingested,
and the fat contained in it was estimated and- found to be altogether
inadequate to explain the accumulation of fat which examination
showed had taken place in the fattened animal. Persoz's results
clearly convinced him that in the fattening process the goose forms
a true laboratory or manufactory of fat from the starch and sugar in
its food. The liver became five or six times larger than at the be-
ginning, but the deposit in the liver occurs only as a part of a general
process, fat being so accumulated as to cause the blood to assume a
lactescent character, and also being correspondingly distributed
through the various parts of the body. The blood, it was stated,
was found to have undergone a further modification, namely, as re-
gards its albuminous element, the serum failing to give the usual
precipitate of albumen with heat and nitric acid.
Boussingault 1 repeated Persoz's experiments, and obtained confir-
matory results. His investigations were conducted upon eleven
geese, five of which were examined in the lean state, and the remain-
ing six, after the process of fattening, which in his case was carried
on for a period of thirty-one days. Boussingault estimated the fat
1 Annales de Chimie, tome xiv, 1845, p. 461.
CONVERSION OF THE CARBOHYDRATES INTO FAT. 131
contained in the dejections as well as in the food of the animals.
This amounted to something considerable, and, therefore, correspond-
ingly increased the amount of fat that had to be reckoned as formed
within the system.
Boussingault likewise experimented in a similar manner and with
the same result on ducks. When fed with 140 grammes (about 5 oz.)
of maize per diem, a duck of rather over 2 J Ibs. weight gained, he
says, in fifteen days, 180 to 200 grammes (about 6J to 7 oz.) of fat.
He also tried if the same result could be obtained on substituting
rice, in which fatty matter is at a minimum, for maize. In the case
of two out of three ducks operated upon no marked increase of fat
was observable. In the third, however, an increase appears to have
occurred assuming, that is, that the bird was not in reality fatter at
the beginning of the experiment than it was estimated to be, which
may be regarded as an open point.
Other ducks were fed on the same quantity of rice, to which some
butter was added, and, Boussingault states, were rapidly raised to a
degree of fatness truly remarkable.
A duck which had been fed only on butter died at the end of three
weeks of starvation. Butter, it is said, exuded from all parts of the
body, and the feathers seemed as if they had been soaked in melted
butter.
It thus seems, from these observations on geese and ducks, that
conclusive evidence is afforded that the carbohydrate element of food
is susceptible of undergoing conversion into fat, but that, for this
result to ensue, it must not be administered without a due accom-
paniment of the other alimentary principles.
It may here be mentioned that the practice has prevailed, it ap-
pears, in some parts of this country, of fattening fowls for the Lon-
don market in a somewhat similar manner to the process resorted to
with the Strasburg geese. Although in this case fat is added to the
food, yet, doubtless, the modus operandi is the same. Mavor 1 says,
"They are put up in a dark place and crammed with a paste made
of barley-meal, mutton suet, and some treacle or coarse sugar mixed
with milk, and are found to be completely ripe in a fortnight. If
kept longer the fever that is induced by this continued state of re-
pletion renders them red and unsalable, and frequently kills them."
1 Agricultural Reports of Berkshire. By William Mavor, LL.D., 1813.
132 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
Boussingatilt 1 furthermore experimented upon pigs with reference to
the point under consideration. As in the case of his ducks fed with
rice, he found that pigs would not fatten on potatoes only, like on
food of a less exclusively farinaceous nature. After a time they
ceased to make progress in growth, and it was estimated that the
fatty matter already contained in the potatoes ingested sufficed to
account for whatever fatty accumulation occurred. When, however,
the pigs were fed on potatoes mixed with " wash " a refuse liquid
derived from the kitchen and dairy, and, therefore, containing nitro-
genous and fatty matter fattening was observed to ensue, and the
fat which accumulated was found greatly to exceed that introduced
from without with the food, from which it was evident that a forma-
tion of fat within the system must have occurred.
Liebig adduces, 2 as giving support to his own view, some observa-
tions of Boussingault on a milch cow, and expresses his astonishment
that Boussingault, with the results that were before him, should
oppose the opinion that the formation of fat occurs within the body.
It appears from these researches of Boussingault that a milch cow
fed on potatoes and chopped straw upon one occasion, and on potatoes
and hay upon another, gave out in the form of butter far more fatty
matter than was contained in the food ingested. Nay, it even ap-
pears, according to Liebig's calculation, that the cow's egesta con-
tained as much fatty matter (substances soluble in ether) as the in-
gesta,, and, therefore, the whole of the butter of the milk, amounting
in the latter observation to 6J Ibs. in six days, must be put down as
having been derived from an internal process of formation.
Dr. Lyon Playfair 3 has likewise made investigations of a similar
character, and with a like result. A cow subjected to observation
for several days, yielded about a pound, sometimes more, sometimes
less, of butter per diem in excess of the fatty matter contained in the
food.
Further, Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, from their extensive and
very searching investigations into the fattening of animals, have
abundantly confirmed Liebig's view. They say, with reference to
some experiments on the fattening of pigs, carried on for a period of
1 Op. citat., p. 419.
2 Animal Chemistry, 2d edition, p. 313.
3 Philosoph. Magazine, vol. xxiii, 1843, p. 287.
CONVERSION OF THE CARBOHYDRATES INTO FAT. 133
eight and ten weeks, 1 that "of the determined or estimated fat
stored up in the increase, the proportion which could possibly have
been derived from the ready-formed fat of the food, even supposing
the whole of that supplied had been assimilated, was so small as to
leave no doubt whatever that a very large proportion of the stored-
up flit must have been produced from other constituents than the
ready -formed fatty matter of the food."
In the communication from which this extract has been taken
they are discussing the question, not only as to whether a formation
of fat can be shown to occur in the animal system, but whether it
can be derived from both nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous matter ;
and the conclusions they arrive at from the evidence before them
they sum up as follows :
" 1st. That certainly a large proportion of the fat of the herbivora
fattened for human food must be derived from other substances than
fatty matter in the food.
" 2d. That when fattening animals are fed upon their most ap-
propriate food, much of their stored-up fat must be produced from
the carbohydrates it supplies.
" 3d. That nitrogenous substances may also serve as a source of
fat, more especially when it is in excess, and the supply of available
non-nitrogenous constituents is relatively defective."
In addition to this array of evidence, one more instance may be
referred to, which affords a crowning proof, if such were wanted, of
the truth of the view that has been advocated. MM, Lacaze-Du-
thiers et Riche 2 have shown that the fat which abounds in the larva
of the cynips, an animal which is developed in the interior of the
gallnut, cannot, from the composition of the nut, possibly be di-
rectly derived from its food. In the starchy matter, however, exist-
ing around, the animal is supplied with material for its formation.
Nothing further, then, may be considered to be required to show
that the carbohydrates conduce to the production of fat. From
what has been already stated, however, it will be remembered that
it is not when ingested alone that such production can take place.
The process requires the co-operation of nitrogenous in conjunction
with saline matter, and it is probably through the medium of the
1 Philosoph. Mag., vol. xxxii, 1866, p. 448.
2 Annales des Sciences Natur , 4rao serie, tome xi, p. 81.
134 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
change excited by the metamorphosis of the former that the result is
brought about. The researches that have been referred to have
shown that on a diet of potatoes and of rice alimentary articles
containing but a small amount of nitrogenized matter no accumu-
lation of fat is to be looked for. The combination of fat with the
carbohydrates, it has been seen, conduces to the accumulation of fat
in the body, but this may be due to the direct appropriation of the
fat ingested, and not to its having anything to do with promoting
the metamorphosis of the carbohydrates.
Liebig has suggested the following as a representation of the
chemical change that may occur. It can only be looked upon, how-
ever, as showing how, simply by the separation of carbonic acid and
oxygen from the formula of a carbohydrate, the formula for fat may
be left. There is no evidence that such is the actual manner in
which the change occurs. Suppose, he says, that from one atom of
starch (C 12 H 10 O 10 ) we take one atom of carbonic acid (CO 2 ) and seven
atoms of oxygen, we have in the residue one of the empirical
formulae for fat, viz., C n H 10 O.
Without professing to be able (at present, at least) to bring for-
ward anything in the shape of proof that the liver is the organ in
which the metamorphosis of sugar, finally or almost so, into fat
occurs, there are grounds for believing that such is the case, and
that the formation of amyloid substance constitutes the preliminary
step in the process. For some years past I have been engaged in
conducting researches upon this subject, and have a large mass of
evidence to deal with, but it has not yet assumed a shape sufficiently
definite to induce me to commit myself, at present, to any decided
expression of opinion regarding the manner in which the final result
is attained.
It now only remains for the ultimate use of the carbohydrates to
be spoken of. In leading on to fat-production, nothing further
need be said about their final application, the purposes subserved by
fat having been fully gone into at an earlier part of this work.
The question, however, confronts us, whether or not the carbohy-
drates contribute to force-production by undergoing direct oxidation
in the system. That they do so, we have nothing experimentally to
show ; and taking all that we know about them into account, my
own opinion is that they do not.
DOES DIRECT OXIDATION OF SUGAR OCCUR? 135
Saccharine matter, in which form the carbohydrates are mainly, if
not wholly, absorbed from the alimentary canal, is naturally de-
tained and metamorphosed by the liver, and, whenever, it happens,
no matter in what way, to reach the general circulation, it is imme-
diately drawn upon and eliminated from the system by the kidneys.
This appears to me to afford a strong argument against the oxida-
tion of saccharine matter occurring, at least to any significant extent,
within the circulatory system as one of the functional operations of
life.
Without any facts to support it, the older chemico-physiologists
believed that sugar was disposed of in this way. Mialhe, for in-
stance, suggested that under the influence of the alkali and oxygen
of the blood the sugar derived from the ingesta underwent oxidation,
and that diabetes mellitus a disease attended with the escape of
sugar with the urine was due to a defective oxidizing capacity, from
the blood being deficient of its normal amount of alkali.
Lehmann has refuted, by direct experiment, this theoretical alle-
gation, and has shown (as my own experiments corroborate) that
sugar, introduced either with an alkali or without one (for the result
is the same in the two cases), into the circulation, fails to undergo
the alleged oxidation, as is evidenced by its subsequent appearance
in tfre urine. Moreover, as regards non-oxidation from a deficient
amount of alkali in the blood being the cause of the escape of sugar
occurring in diabetes, this also rests only on hypothesis, for Leh-
mann has found that analytical examination gives no evidence of the
deficiency referred to in the amount of alkali belonging to the blood
in the disease.
Whatever the series of changes undergone whether oxidized after
passing through the stage of fat or through any other line of meta-
morphosis supposing complete oxidation to occur, it may be consid-
ered that the amount of force evolved will always be the same.
Looking, therefore, at these compounds as force-producers, we must
take them in their original state, and upon the amount of unoxidized
oxidizable elementary matter they contain will depend their value
in force-production. In all of them, there being just the quantity
of oxygen to represent the equivalent of the hydrogen in combina-
tion as water, their capacity for appropriating oxygen corresponds
only with the carbon that is present. In fatty compounds, on the
other hand, there exists a quantity of hydrogen, as well as carbon^.
136 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
free for oxidation ; and thus these latter are of a correspondingly
higher value as force-producers. Nitrogenous matter also, even al-
though disposed of as it is within the system, where a portion of its
oxidizable elementary matter escapes unconsumed under the form of
urea, possesses a higher capacity for appropriating oxygen.
For further particulars concerning the application of the carbo-
hydrates to force-production the reader is referred to the discussion
that has preceded under the heads of nitrogenous and fatty matters
(vide pp. 87, 104). It will suffice to reinsert here a tabular repre-
sentation of the relative value they possess :
Amount of oxygen re- Units of heat produced by oxida-
quired to oxidize 100 tion of 1 gramme (15.432 grs.) as
parts as oxidation oc- oxidation occurs within the body
curs within the body. (Frankland.)
Grape-sugar, .... 106 .... 3277
Starch, 120 .... 3912
Albumen, .... 150 .... 4263
Fat, 293 .... 9069
There are other ternary compounds consumed, which, if they do
not hold the significant position as alimentary articles held by the
principles already considered, are yet susceptible of oxidation within
the system, and will thus contribute in some degree to force-genera-
tion, heat being probably the form of force to which they give rise.
N In some of these compounds, such as in pectin and vegetable
acids, the oxygen is in excess of that required to form water with
the hydrogen.
Pectin forms the basis of vegetable jellies. It is met with in most
fruits and many vegetables, but does not exist to an extent sufficiently
large to be of much importance in an alimentary point of view.
Fremy's old formula for pectin was C 24 H 17 O 22 ; under the new nota-
tion it is now given as follows : C 32 H 40 28 , 4H 2 0.
Organic acids, such as citric acid (C 12 H 5 O U , 3HO) [H 3 C 6 H 5 7 ] ;
tartaric acid (C 8 H 4 O 10 , 2HO) [H 2 C 4 H 4 6 ] ; malic acid (C 8 H 4 O 8 ,2HO)
[H 2 C 4 H 4 5 ], and others of less extensive distribution, are met with
in various vegetable juices. Lactic acid (C 6 H 6 O 6 ) [HC 3 H 5 3 ] and
acetic acid (C 4 H 3 O 3 -f HO) [HC 2 H 3 2 ], although carbohydrates, ap-
pear to behave like the above-enumerated acids within the system.
Wohler asserts, with regard to these principles, that when they
are ingested in a free state they pass through the system and appear
unchanged i-n the urine ; whereas it is well known that when they
TERNARY PRINCIPLES NOT CARBOHYDRATES. 137
are introduced in combination with alkalies that is, as alkaline salts
they undergo oxidation, the alkali escaping with the urine in com-
bination with carbonic acid. Within thirteen minutes after taking
half an ounce of lactate of soda Lehmann found that his urine had
acquired an alkaline reaction from the presence of alkaline carbon-
ate. Lehmann also found, in experiments on dogs, that the injection
of lactate of soda into the jugular vein was followed in five, or at the
most twelve, minutes by an alkaline behavior of the urine, showing,
unlike what occurs with sugar, that the direct introduction into the
general circulatory system is attended with the same result as intro-
duction into the alimentary canal.
Alcohol (C 4 H 6 O 2 ) [C^HgO], looked at chemically, stands on the
other side of the carbohydrates, and may be regarded as holding a
position intermediate between the carbohydrates and the fats. From
its composition, which is given above, it is seen to be a less oxygen-
ated body than the carbohydrates, and more highly so than the fats.
There has been much discussion as regards the destination of alco-
hol in the animal economy. It was one of Liebig's propositions that
it is consumed by oxidation like any other non-nitrogenous alimen-
tary principle. " Alcohol," he says, " stands only second to fat as a
respiratory material." Liebig, however, adduced no physiological
evidence in support of his assertion, but based it as a generalization
on chemical considerations.
That alcohol should occupy the position thus defined seemed so
reasonable that Liebig's view originally met with general and un-
questioned acceptance. A reaction, however, was started by the dis-
covery of MM. Lallemand, Perrin, and Duroy, that alcohol passes
off from the body in an unchanged state after being ingested. It was
found in observations both upon man and the dog that when a mod-
erate quantity of alcohol had been administered, it was recognizable
in the pulmonary and cutaneous exhalations, and also in the urine
for some hours afterwards. Hence was supplied the ground for the
denial that alcohol constituted a food ; and in harmony therewith it
was further found that it remained untransformed in the system, so
as to be discoverable in the brain for a period, it is stated, of as many
as thirty-six hours after its ingestion.
Dr. Edward Smith repeated these experiments of Lallemand and
the others, and obtained similar results. The test that was employed
138 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
consisted of one part of bichromate of potash dissolved in three
hundred parts of strong, pure sulphuric acid. Chromic acid being
liberated by this admixture, a cherry-red colored liquid is produced.
This, in contact with alcohol, becomes changed to an emerald green
from the reduction of the chromic acid to the oxide of chromium that
ensues. Dr. Smith asserts that he has frequently detected alcohol in
the breath for four hours after 1J oz. had been taken. Lallemand
showed its presence in the exhalation from the skin by confining a
dog in a closed case through which a current of air was made to pass,
and subsequently traverse the test. Dr. Smith inclosed a man's arm
in an impermeable bag, and similarly, with a current of air passed
through, readily obtained an indication of the escape of alcohol.
If the alcohol ingested escape from the body in an unaltered state,
it cannot, of course, be looked upon as possessing any alimentary
value. Dr. E. Smith sides with the French observers, whose experi-
ments he has confirmed in taking this view. He considers that it
does not increase the production of heat in the body as a chemical
agent, but by the power it possesses of stimulating the activity of the
vital functions. In his experiments on respiration he found that in
every dose up to the usual one in taking spirits and water it increased,
but only, he says, to a moderate degree, the amount of carbonic acid
evolved, and this he ascribes to a similar cause.
Looking at the very large quantity of alcohol under the form of
various beverages that is consumed amongst us, and consumed under
the idea that it is an article capable of being turned to useful account
in the system, the question before us becomes one of extensive in-
terest and importance. Now, suppose it be conceded that evidence
has been adduced sufficiently decisive to show that alcohol, after
being ingested, escapes from the body through various channels ; this
would form all that it can be contended has been discovered. Neither
of the persons whose observations have been referred to has collected
the alcohol or done anything towards showing that what escapes is
equivalent to that which enters.
Dr. Anstie 1 directs attention to the experiment of M. Baudot, and
gives the results of a repetition with modifications of his own which
throw doubt upon the soundness of the opinion of M. Lallemand
and others. It is asserted that the chromic acid test is one of ex-
1 On Stimulants and Narcotics. Macmillan, 1864.
ALCOHOL. 139
treme delicacy, being affected by the presence of the minutest quan-
tity of alcohol, and that it is only when an excessive quantity of
alcohol has been administered that its escape is to be recognized by
any other means. It is also contended that, through the delicacy
of this test, the quantity escaping may easily be overrated that
although a reaction is distinctly obtainable with the test, in reality
only a fraction of that which enters is eliminated, and, if such be
the case, there is nothing to prevent us from regarding alcohol as
having an alimentary value.
Considering the diffusible property which alcohol possesses, it is
not inconsistent that a small portion should escape and yet that the
article should form a utilizable agent in the body. It certainly may
be reasonably considered that evidence of a stronger nature than
that which has been adduced should be brought forward before it
would be right to look upon alcohol as devoid of alimentary value.
Dr. Parkes, in conjunction with Count Wollowicz, has recently 1
prosecuted an inquiry into the action of alcohol on the human body,
and the question of elimination is touched upon as one of the points
of consideration. Although they confirm previous observers in rec-
ognizing it, after its administration, by means of the chromic acid
test, in the urine and the exhalation^ from the lungs and skin, and
further find it to a slight extent in the alvine dejections, yet their
observations were only of a qualitative nature, and did not enable
them, they say, to solve the difficult problem as to whether all the
alcohol passes off or whether some is detained and destroyed.
In a later communication on the action of claret wine 2 they state
that they obtained a marked reaction with the chromic acid test from
the condensed perspiration of the arm, when no alcoholic fluid had
been taken for twenty-six days previously. They are, therefore, led
to suggest that the perspiration may at times contain some non-alco-
holic substance capable of exerting the same reducing action, 'and
conclude that fresh experiments are necessary to determine the re-
liance to be placed on the test when applied to the condensed per-
spiration.
Communications have since been published in the " Proceedings
1 Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 120, May, 1870.
2 Ibid., No. 123, June, 1870.
140 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
of the Royal Society/' 1 giving the results of Dr. Dupr6's experiments.
Dr. Dupre agrees with Anstie and Thudichum in this country, and
Schulinus and Baudot abroad, in believing that the chief portion of
the alcohol ingested undergoes consumption in the body.
Dr. Dupre starts with the proposition that " obviously three re-
sults may follow the ingestion of alcohol. All the alcohol may be
oxidized, and none be eliminated, or a portion only may be oxidized,
and the rest be eliminated unaltered ; or, lastly, all may be elimi-
nated again unaltered. Assuming the last to be the case, it would
follow that if a certain quantity of alcohol be taken daily, the amount
eliminated would increase from day to "day, until at last the amount
eliminated daily would equal the daily consumption, be this five,
ten, or more days. If, on the other hand, all the alcohol consumed
is either oxidized or eliminated within twenty-four hours, no increase
in the daily elimination will take place, in consequence of the con-
tinuance of the alcohol diet."
"Assuming, for the sake of argument, that all the alcohol is elim-
inated, and that such elimination takes ten days, it would follow,"
aptly observes Dr. Dupre, " that if a certain quantity of alcohol be
taken daily, the amount eliminated would increase from day to day
until, from the tenth day onward, the quantity eliminated daily
would equal the daily consumption ; in other words, the quantities
which would be eliminated, if this theory were correct, might be
measured by ounces instead of by grains, and even the most ordinary
processes of analysis could not fail to yield considerable quantities of
alcohol."
Now, from the results obtained in two series of experiments con-
ducted upon himself, Dr. Dupre sums up as follows :
"The amount of alcohol eliminated per day does not increase
with the continuance of the alcohol diet ; therefore, all the alcohol
consumed daily must of necessity be disposed of daily, and as it cer-
tainly is not eliminated within that time, it must be destroyed in the
system.
" The elimination of alcohol following the ingestion of a dose, or
doses, of alcohol, ceases in from nine to twenty-four hours after the
last dose has been taken.
1 -'On the Elimination of Alcohol," by Dr. A. Dupre, Proc. Roy. Society,
No. 131, p. 107, 1872, and No. 133, p. 268, 1872.
ALCOHOL. 141
"The amount of alcohol eliminated, in both breath and urine, is a
minute fraction only of the amount of alcohol taken."
In agreement with what had been noticed by Dr. Parkes and
Count Wollowicz, Dr. Dupre" found, in the course of his experi-
ments, that after six weeks of total abstinence from alcohol, and
even in the case of a teetotaler, a substance was eliminated in the
urine, and perhaps also, it is stated, in the breath, which, though
apparently not alcohol, gave all the reactions ordinarily used for
the detection of traces of alcohol. " It passes over," Dr. Dupre
says, " with the first portions of the distillate ; it yields acetic acid
on oxidation, gives the emerald-green reaction with the bichromate
of potassium and strong sulphuric acid, yields iodoform, and its
aqueous solution has a lower specific gravity and a higher vapor
tension than pure water." Dr. Dupre further remarks that " the
presence of a substance in human urine, and the urine of various
animals, which yields iodoform, but is not alcohol, had already been
discovered by M. Lieben. The quantity present in urine is how-
ever, so small that the precise nature of this substance has not as yet
been determined."
From a review of the evidence as it at present stands, it may rea-
sonably be inferred that there is sufficient before us to justify the
conclusion that the main portion of the alcohol ingested becomes
destroyed within the system, and, if this be the case, it may be fairly
assumed that the destruction is attended with oxidation and a cor-
responding liberation of force, unless, indeed, it should undergo met-
amorphosis into a principle to be temporarily retained, but neverthe-
less ultimately applied to force-production. The subject appears to
me to be open to physiological as well as chemical investigation, and
probably some additional light may be hereafter thrown upon it by
an approach through the former channel.
THE
INORGANIC ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
ALTHOUGH it is to the play of changes taking place in organic
matter that the manifestations of life are to be traced, yet organic
matter alone, it has been found experimentally, will not suffice for
supplying all that is wanted for the occurrence of living action. In-
organic matter, under the form of water and certain saline principles,
constitutes an indispensable part of a living being, and hence must
enter into the composition of food.
Water, besides fulfilling many other subsidiary offices, is essential
for the occurrence of molecular change or mobility the essence of
the manifestations of life. In the absence of water a state of molec-
ular rest which means an absence of vital activity prevails. Water
does not in itself undergo any chemical alteration, and hence is not
susceptible of liberating force does not, in other words, constitute
a force-producing agent, but it contributes to chemical change by
supplying a necessary condition for its occurrence in other bodies.
Saline matter stands, if not to the full extent, nearly so, in the
same position as water as regards the non-possession in itself of
force-producing properties. Some of the saline matter of food, it
is true, may be susceptible of oxidation, and thereby give rise to the
liberation of force, but this, it may be considered, is not the particu-
lar office which saline matter is designed to fulfil. It forms a neces-
sary part of the organism, without, however, constituting the source
of the manifestation of power. It exists intimately incorporated with
the organic principles comprising the different component parts of
the fabric, and enters as an essential element into the constitution of
the secretions. It may be looked upon in the light of an integrant
portion of the structure of the machine, other agents being concerned
in supplying the moving power.
Mineral matter is thus required to be furnished for the growth
INORGANIC PRINCIPLES. 143
and nutrition of the constituent parts of the organism, and also
for the formation of the secretions. It is required by the plant
as well as by the animal, and hence we find in all natural organic
products a certain admixture of mineral matter. It hereby follows
that whether the food be derived from the animal or the vegetable
kingdom, there exists, entering into its constitution, a definite pro-
portion of mineral matter; and, just such as is required by the ani-
mal being has been drawn from the inorganic kingdom by the plant,
whereby, without going further than the organic substance itself, the
animal meets with the mineral matter that is needed.
Of the various saline principles necessary, the chief consist of com-
binations of lime, magnesia, potash, soda, and iron, with chlorine,
phosphoric acid, carbonic acid, and in smaller quantity, sulphuric
acid. Each has its share of importance, but lime and phosphoric
acid may be looked upon as occupying the highest position in this
respect. From no structural element of the body is phosphate of
lime, it would appear, absent, and its incorporation with the nitro-
genous constituent principles is so intimate that much difficulty is
experienced in effecting a complete separation without involving the
destruction of the compound. Casein is a nitrogenous principle
which is conspicuous for the tenacity with which it holds a large
quantity of phosphate of lime incorporated with it. From what is
observed, indeed, in the relations of the organic and mineral prin-
ciples to each other, it seems that in many instances an actual chemi-
cal union of the two exists.
On account of what has been mentioned, the chemist, in conduct-
ing an analysis for the determination of the mineral matter that is
present in an organic product, subjects it to a preliminary process of
incineration. After being thus treated, however, no knowledge is to
be derived of the precise state or mode of arrangement under which
the mineral matter originally existed. Even the mineral combina-
tions found may not identically correspond with those present in the
product, for in the process of incineration effects are produced which
lead to new compounds being formed. There is the reducing influ-
ence of carbon, for instance, in operation upon the sulphates. There
is also a production of carbonic acid from the oxidation of carbon-
aceous matter ; and the saline principles, under the elevated temper-
ature to which they are exposed, are likely to react to some extent
upon each other.
144 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
That the various kinds of saline matter must fulfil a specific office
in the economy of life may be looked upon as shown, if proof of it,
indeed, were wanted, by the special manner in which it is distributed.
Although so closely allied in their chemical properties, potash and
soda cannot be made to replace each other in the living system, and
the same is likewise noticeable in the case of lime and magnesia. In
the process of vegetable alimentation a qualitative and quantitative
selection is made by the organism from the soil around. Whilst in
some plants one kind of mineral matter may preponderate, in others
it may be another kind, and to such an extent may this preponder-
ance reach as to have led to plants being characterized as potash
plants, lime plants, siliceous plants, and so on. In the animal organ-
ism a like inequality of distribution is also observable. Thus, in
the blood and here the circumstances are of the most favorable
nature for an equal distribution of saline matter, if a special appro-
priating action were not in operation it is found that phosphates
and potash salts predominate in the corpuscles, and chlorides and
soda salts in the plasma around. Again, as regards the distribution
of potash and soda generally, it is noticeable that the former is the
alkali belonging particularly to the formed tissues, the latter to the
infiltrating fluids.
It is no mere indiscriminate diffusion of saline matter, therefore,
that has to be dealt with. Saline matter, on the contrary, is evidently
concerned as one of the factors of the formative operations carried on,
and no food can satisfy the requirements of life that does not contain
an appropriate amount of certain saline principles.
In the egg, and also in milk, we have articles provided by nature
for the special purpose of being employed in the construction and
subsequent maintenance of the animal organism. Milk is complete
in itself. In it exists, besides the organic principles, all the inorganic
matter, including both salines and water, that is needed. The egg,
taken as a whole, stands in a similar position, but it is not so with
regard to the contents exclusive of the shell. It is well known that
from the egg all the constituent parts of the young animal are formed
its skeleton as well as its various soft textures. Now, for the con-
struction of the skeleton an amount of earthy matter is required which
does not exist preformed in the soft contents of the egg, but has to
be drawn from the shell. During the process of incubation, with
the co-operation of the atmospheric air which permeates the shell, it
INORGANIC PRINCIPLES. 145
appears that the phosphorus present in the yolk gradually undergoes
oxidation and becomes converted into phosphoric acid. This acts
upon and dissolves the carbonate of lime belonging to the shell,
which thus as incubation proceeds becomes thinner and thinner. As
Liebig therefore remarks, if it be compared with milk, both the con-
tents and the shell must be reckoned to bring them into an analogous
position.
It has lately been urged by Liebig 1 that saline matter has failed
to receive its due consideration as a nutritive element of food. It is
perfectly true, as he has pointed out, that in the preparation of food
for human consumption the natural article is often considerably de-
preciated in nutritive value by the abstraction that may happen to
have occurred. Meat soaked or boiled in water loses more or less
of its soluble portion, and, included in this, are its nutritive salts.
Roasted meat, on this account, is of higher value than boiled. In
the process of salting a portion (about 15 per cent., Liebig says) of
the nutritive juice escapes into the brine. In the boiling of vegeta-
bles nutritive principles, and particularly the nutritive of salts, are
removed by the water. The separation that is effected in the dress-
ing of flour leaves this product in an inferior position to the grain
from which it is derived. Both the saline and nitrogenous matters
belonging to wheat are chiefly encountered in the outer or tegumen-
tary part of the grain, and are, therefore, more or less excluded from
white bread. It is a scientific fact, Liebig remarks, which Magendie
has proved by experiment, that a dog dies if fed on white bread,
while its health does not suffer at all if its food consist of brown
bread, or bread made of unbolted flour. Liebig also asserts his be-
lief that many millions more men could be daily fed in Germany if
it were only possible to persuade the population of the advantage
which bread made of unbolted flour has over that ordinarily eaten.
This doctrine, however, is hardly to be accepted in the precise
terms that Liebig has proposed it. It must certainly be conceded
that if our food consisted only of eggs, we should require, in order
to satisfy the requirements of nutrition, to place ourselves in the
same position as the developing chick, and consume the shell as well
as its contents. Again, if corn formed our staple food, as it may
happen to do in the case of the horse, &c., we should be obliged to
1 " On the Nutritive Value of different Sorts of Food," Lancet, vol. i, 1869.
10
146 ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
consume the whole of the grain to obtain all the nutritive principles
we require. It is a mixture of animal and vegetable food, however,
which forms our natural diet, and the diet which is actually em-
ployed by the great majority of mankind. Now, if we are supplied
with the nutritive salts through meat or the other articles consumed,
we can spare them without detriment from our bread. Nor need
there be waste involved in this proceeding. If our taste leads us to
prefer bread made from white flour, and thereby to reject the outer
part of the grain, it does not follow that in so doing we are commit-
ting an act of dietetic prodigality, for what we do not use ourselves
may be, and in reality is, turned to account in feeding animals that
are either kept to serve some useful purpose, or reared for consump-
tion as food ; and, in the latter case, the nutritive salts which we
originally rejected in separating the bran from flour may actually
reach us after all amongst the constituents of animal food.
ALIMENTAEY SUBSTANCES.
ALIMENTARY substances comprise products of the animal and
vegetable kingdoms in which the various alimentary principles are
combined.
It is to the consideration of these products that attention will now
be directed ; and first to be described will be those derived from the
animal kingdom.
ANIMAL ALIMENTAEY SUBSTANCES.
Animal food being identical in composition with the structures of
the body, requires neither addition nor subtraction to enable it to ad-
minister to the purposes of nutrition.
The chief characteristic of animal food is the large amount of ni-
trogenous matter it contains. This, it is true, adapts it for the con-
struction and maintenance of the body, but food is also required for
force-production, and provided a certain amount of nitrogenous matter
be supplied, the force-production is better derived from one or other
of the forms of non-nitrogenous matter. Such may be effected by
the presence of a certain quantity of fat with the nitrogenous matter,
and with a proper combination the adjustment may be made from
animal food alone, so as just to meet the requirements without incur-
ring waste on either side. Hence the advantage of the common
practice, which is doubtless due to something more than accident, of
eating some kinds of food rich in fatty matter, as bacon or pork, with
food such as chicken, rabbit, &c., which consists almost entirely of
nitrogenous matter.
Animal food is made up of
1. The various parts of animals;
2. Eggs; and
3. Milk with the products from it viz., cream, butter, and
cheese.
148 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Honey is also enumerated by Payen amongst the articles belong-
ing to animal food, but this substance is in reality a vegetable prod-
uct, having only been collected and stored up by the animal to
whose industry we owe it.
The food falling under the first head is popularly classified into
Meat,
Poultry,
Game,
Wild-fowl,
Fish, and
Shell-fish.
Like popular classifications in general, this will not bear close in-
spection ; still, for the description about to be undertaken, it forms,
upon the whole, the most convenient arrangement to follow.
MEAT.
The meats we ordinarily consume are all derived from vegetable
feeders. 1 They consist of
Beef,
Mutton,
. Veal,
Lamb,
Pork,
Bacon, and
Venison.
Rabbit and hare may be conveniently considered with game.
Turtle is employed for the preparation of soup. The flesh of a very
large number of other animals than those yielding the meats above
named is likewise eaten in various parts of the globe. A separate
section will be hereafter devoted to this subject.
The flesh, bones, internal or visceral organs, and even, as from
the pig, the blood of the slaughtered animal, are all turned to account
as food. They each require consideration. First, however, remarks
will be made on the influence of age, sex, size, season, mode of life,
nature of feeding, and mode of death, upon the flesh of animals.
1 The pig is, strictly speaking, an omnivorous animal, but reared for the pur-
pose of food, it ought to be a vegetable feeder ; offal, however, is often given to
it with other food.
MEAT. 149
The flesh of young animals is more tender than that of old, but
experience shows that it is more resistant to the digestive powers.
Veal and lamb, for instance, are found by the dyspeptic to tax the
stomach more than beef and mutton. The flesh of an aged animal,
as is well known, may be so tough as to render it almost refusable.
The tissues of young animals are more gelatinous, less stimulating,
and of less nutritive value than those of the adult and aged, which,
instead, contain a larger amount of fibrin and of the flavoring prin-
ciple, osmazome. The flesh of very young animals, indeed, contains
so little fibrin and osmazome as to be almost unpleasantly soft,
flabby, and insipid.
Animals of middle age afford the most digestible and best-flavored
beef. Beef of the larger breeds of oxen is in greatest perfection at
about seven years old ; that of the smaller breeds, a year or two
earlier. Cow-beef can scarcely be too young. Wether mutton is
best at four to five years old ; ewe mutton at about two years old.
Sex greatly influences the quality of the flesh, that of the female
being more delicate and finely grained (the hen pheasant is very
noticeably more tender and delicate eating than the male bird) than
that of the entire male, which, during the time that the genital
organs are in a state of functional activity, may be so coarse and
rank as to render it almost uneatable. The buck, bull, and ram
form examples. Castration deprives the meat of this strong flavor,
and improves it altogether for edible purposes. Spaying also im-
proves the edible qualities of the female animal. These operations,
therefore, particularly that of castration, are commonly performed
where the animals are destined to serve only as food. They are
even practiced in the case of the bird. The capon and poulard are
examples ; and it is well known that in this mutilated state the
animal becomes larger, fatter, and more tender than where the
sexual organs remain intact.
The flesh of an animal is generally coarse in proportion to its
size. The difference in this respect in the flesh of the larger arid
smaller quadrupeds is sufficiently striking. The remark is applica-
ble not only to different kinds of animals, but to different varieties
of the same species.
In season and out of season are common expressions as applied to
animals. Their meaning is well known, and they signify that there
is a season when an animal is in a better state for consumption as
150 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
food than at another. Meat is in general in highest season during
the first months of winter, that is, after the animal has been afforded
the advantage of an abundance of fresh summer food ; mutton and
beef are never actually out of season, but they are in better condition
and of better flavor during the months of November, December, and
January, than at other times. Pork is' absolutely out of season
during the summer months. Buck venison is in highest season
from the middle of June to the beginning of September, when the
rutting period commences. Doe venison is in season during the
winter. The season for young meats, as veal and lamb, is when a
sufficient time has elapsed after the breeding period for the animal
to have arrived at a state suitable for consumption as food. The
breeding period varies somewhat in different breeds, and thus a
supply of young meat may be secured for some length of time. By
exposure to certain conditions, also, the period of heat in a female
may be considerably advanced. In this way it is that lamb is pro-
curable as an article of luxury for the table of the wealthy as early
as December or even November. With sheep kept on a cold or
poor hill pasture the lambing season is retarded.
The mode of life exerts its influence on the flesh of animals. In
the wild state there is very much less fat present than in a well-fed
domesticated state. In the former case the meat also is higher in
color and richer in flavor and extractives.
Some kinds of food influence in a marked manner the character
of the meat. Feeding oxen upon oil-cake communicates a yellow
color to the fat. Oily foods also have a tendency to make soft fat.
Turnips give a flavor to mutton which is distinctly recognizable by
the epicure. The fragrant herbs belonging to different pastures
produce their influence upon the taste of the meat. The peculiar
flavor of mountain sheep is easily appreciable by all.
The art of feeding animals is directed to increasing the amount
of fat : they are fattened, in other words, for the table. If this fat-
tening process be carried only to a certain point, the alimentary
value of the meat is increased, but when carried to an extreme, as
we see it in some of the animals exhibited at the Christmas cattle
shows, the fat, as far as our requirements are concerned, is out of
proportion to the nitrogenous matter, and thus an actual waste is
incurred.
Violent exercise just previous to death gives increased tenderness
MEAT. 151
to the flesh, hence the greater tenderness which is well known to
belong to the flesh of the hunted animal.
In the process of slaughtering, the animal is drained as far as prac-
ticable of its blood. Either life is destroyed by the removal of blood,
or the blood is allowed to escape immediately after resort to some
other means of occasioning death. This loss of blood certainly in-
volves a, loss or waste of nutritive material. It would be thereby
to be condemned if it did not possess counterbalancing advantages.
Besides rendering the meat more pleasant to the eye, it enables it to
keep longer and improves the delicacy of its flavor. The Mosaic
law is very strict regarding the killing of animals for food, and the
regulations are such as to secure to the fullest extent the removal of
the blood. Jews, as a point of religion, will not eat the flesh of any
animal that has not been killed by a slaughterer of their own per-
suasion. They consider their meat superior to our own, and it is
even eaten in preference by some Christians.
It is usual to keep an animal for a short time without food before
being killed, and it is believed that the meat thereby keeps better.
It is obvious, however, that the fasting must not be prolonged suffi-
ciently to produce an unhealthy state.
To give additional whiteness to veal, which is looked upon as a
desirable quality for it to possess, it was formerly a common custom
to .bleed the animal pretty freely a day or two before being killed.
This practice appears now, however, to be almost if not entirely
abandoned. Whatever may formerly have been the case, it does not
appear that calves slaughtered for the London market are now ever
treated in this way.
It is well known that meat is greatly improved in tenderness by
being allowed to hang for some time after the animal is killed.
Whilst the fibres are set by rigor mortis, it is much harder than
before or afterwards ; and unless cooked before this state has super-
vened, which can but seldom be convenient, it should be allowed to
remain until it has passed off, if not longer.
With these general remarks I will now speak in detail of the va-
rious kinds of meat and the other alimentary products derived from
animals. The analyses given on the forthcoming pages, unless other-
wise stated, are taken from a table contained in Dr. Letheby's work
152 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
on Food. 1 It must be understood, however, that no fixed composi-
tion exists, and that the analyses furnished by other authorities may
show figures that somewhat differ. The relative amount of fat and
nitrogenous matter, for instance, varies considerably in samples of
meat obtained from different animals.
The following is Ranke's analysis of cooked meat, the composi-
tion of which necessarily differs from that of fresh meat on account
of the loss which occurs in cooking. For particulars regarding the
loss under different modes of cooking vide the section on the culinary
preparation of food.
Composition of cooked meat (roast), no dripping being lost. Soiled assumed
to be the same (JKanke).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 27.6
Fat, 1545
Saline matter, 2.95
Water, 54.00
100.00
Beef is of a firmer texture and more satisfying to the stomach than
mutton. Rightly or wrongly it is generally reputed as possessing
also higher strengthening properties.
Composition of lean beef.
Nitrogenous matter, .... 19.3
Fat, 3.6
Saline matter, . . . . . 5.1
Water, 72.0
1000
Composition of fat beef.
Nitrogenous matter, .... 14.8
Fat, . . . . . . . 29.8
Saline matter, ..... 4.4
Water, 51.0
100.0
Mutton appears to be a meat more easy of digestion than beef.
This is not appreciable by a healthy person because the digestive
power is in excess of what is required for the easy digestion of either
1 On Food. Longmans, 1870, p. 6.
MEAT. 153
when a proper amount only is consumed. In the dyspeptic, how-
ever, where a nice balance may exist between the digestive power
possessed and that required where, in other words, the digestive
power is only just sufficient for what is wanted, the usual experience
is that mutton taxes the stomach less than beef. There are many,
for instance, who find that whilst mutton can be eaten without ex-
citing discomfort, beef rests somewhat heavily upon the stomach if
it do not even actually disagree.
Idiosyncrasies, however, exist for meat as well as for other kinds
of food. Dr. Prout 1 records an instance of a person known to him
on whom mutton acted as a poison. " He could not," says Prout,
"eat mutton in any form. The peculiarity was supposed to be
owing to caprice, and the mutton was repeatedly disguised and given
unknown to the individual; but uniformly with the same result of
producing violent vomiting or diarrhoea, and from the severity of
the attacks, which were, in fact, those of a virulent poison, there can
be little doubt that if the use of mutton had been persisted in, it
would soon have destroyed the life of the individual.'"
Composition of lean mutton,
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .18.3
Fat, 4.9
Saline matter, . . . . .4.8
Water, 72
100.0
Composition of fat mutton.
Nitrogenous .matter, .... 12.4
Fat, 31.1
Saline matter, 35
Water, 53.0
100.0
Veal and Lamb. It has been already stated that these meats,
although more tender, are more resistant to digestive action. They
appear also to possess less strength-giving properties. It need
scarcely be said that there is a deeply rooted belief that for sustain-
ing the powers under great exertion these meats are not to be com-
1 On the Nature and Treatment of Stomach and Urinary Diseases, 3d ed., p. 30.
154 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
pared to beef and mutton. They are meats that it is desirable to
avoid, generally speaking, in cases of dyspepsia.
Composition of veal.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .16.5
Fat, 15.8
Saline matter, ..... 4.7
Water, 63.0
100.0
Pork is of all meats the most difficult to digest. It is rich and
trying to the stomach on account of the large quantity of fat it con-
tains. All fat meats contain a relatively smaller proportion of water
than lean on account of fat not being infiltrated with fluid to the
same extent as the other tissues.
Composition of fat pork.
Nitrogenous matter,
Fat,
. 9.8
. 48.9
Saline matter, ....
2.3
Water,
. 39.9
100.0
Bacon. Cured meats generally are less digestible than the same
meat in the fresh state. Bacon, however, occupies an exceptional
position in this respect Its fat, certainly, is less likely to disagree
with the stomach than the fat of pork. It contains but a small pro-
portion of water, and, therefore, weight for weight is an advantage-
ous kind of food. It should not lose more than 10 to 15 per cent,
in cooking (Letheby). Amongst the laboring classes it forms an
almost universal article of diet. Its popular use, like that also
of boiled pork, with lean meats, such as veal, chicken, and rabbit,
and also with other articles rich in nitrogenous matter, as eggs, beans,
and peas, is founded upon a rational principle, serving, as it does, to
establish a proper proportion in the supply of nitrogenous and carbo-
naceous material.
BONE, ETC. 155
Composition of dried bacon.
Nitrogenous matter, . 8.8
Fat, 73.3
Saline matter 2.9
Water, 15.0
100.0
Composition o/ green bacon,
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .7.1
Fat, 66.8
Saline matter, . 2.1
Water, 24.0
100.0
Venison partakes more of the character of game than of butchers'
meat. Its flesh is lean, dark-colored, and savory. It constitutes
one of the most digestible of meats, and would be, therefore, well
suited for the dyspeptic and convalescent, were it not for its rich and
savory character.
Bone. The relative amount of bone in animals varies according
to their condition. Taking the whole animal, 20 per cent, may be
allowed (Parkes). In lean animals it is in too large a relative pro-
portion viewed in reference to economy. In the various joints "it is
rarely less than 8 per cent. In the neck and brisket of beef it is
about 10 per cent., and in shins and legs of beef it amounts to one-
third, or even to half its total weight The most economical parts
are the round and thick flank, then the brisket and sticking piece,
and, lastly, the leg. In the case of mutton and pork, the leg is the
most profitable, and then the shoulder " (Letheby).
Bones contain a considerable amount of nutritive matter, both
nitrogenous and fatty. To extract it the bones should be broken up
into small fragments and boiled for many hours. Dr. E. Smith
says, 1 " When reporting to the Privy Council upon the dietary of
the Lancashire operatives, I had special analyses made of the nutri-
tive material which was extracted from bones, and the result showed
that bones were equal in nutriment to about one-third of their weight
of flesh in carbon, and one-seventh in nitrogen ; and at the relative
1 Report on Dietaries of Lunatics and Workhouses, p. 46.
156 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
prices of bones and flesh, the use of the former rendered the dietary
more economical." According to this statement, therefore, three
pounds of bones represent the equivalent of one pound of meat in
carbon ; and seven pounds, one pound of meat in nitrogen. Gelatin,
which forms the basis of soup, is the nitrogenous principle extracted
by boiling from bones.
Blood. The only animal from which the blood is saved and em-
ployed for dietetic purposes, is, as a rule, the pig, but sometimes
bullock's blood is also made use of. It is mixed with groats, fat,
and spice, and sold under the name of " black pudding."
Liver. The liver of the calf, lamb, and pig is largely consumed
as human food. It is generally fried, and, thus prepared, forms a
rich and savory dish. Its richness renders it an inappropriate food
for a delicate stomach.
Composition of calves 1 liver (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .20.10
Fat, 5.58
Carbohydrate (amyloid matter), . 0.45
Saline matter, ..... 1.54
Water, 72.33
100.00
Thefoiegras which is produced for the rich as an article of luxury
is obtained by subjecting the goose to a special process of feeding,
whereby the liver becomes enormously enlarged and loaded with fat.
Its highly fatty nature is shown by the following analysis :
Composition of foie gras (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter, .
Fat, . . . . .
Carbohydrate (amyloid matter)
Saline matter,
Water, ....
13.75
54.57
6.40
2.58
22.70
100.00
Kidney. The substance of the kidney is of a close, fleshy nature.
It can never be looked upon as otherwise than an article of difficult
digestibility, but as regards this quality a great deal depends upon
its mode of cooking. When lightly cooked it is soft, juicy, and
LIVER, KIDNEY, TRIPE, ETC. 157
agreeably sapid, but cooked for some time, and with the employment
of a high temperature, it undergoes considerable contraction, and
becomes hard, dry, comparatively tasteless, and exceedingly indiges-
tible. The amount of fatty matter present is small.
Composition of sheep's kidneys (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 17.250
Fatty matter, 2.125
Saline matter, .....
Non-azotized organic matter and loss,
Water, ......
100.000
Heart. The heart consists of fat and muscular tissue, like ordi-
nary meat. The muscular tissue, however, is of a much closer
texture, and this gives the greater hardness which is well known to
belong to it both in the cooked and uncooked state. On account of
this closeness of texture and hardness, it forms an indigestible article
of food.
Tripe. The tripe which is consumed as human food consists of
the paunch or first portion of the ruminant stomach of the ox. This
is the only instance of any part of the alimentary canal being applied
to our own use, excepting in the case of the pig, where the chitter-
lings are cleansed and eaten. The muscular fibres belonging to
tripe possess a different structure from those belonging to ordinary
meat, and yield more readily to digestion. Tripe, indeed, is an
easily digestible article of food, but the fat present renders it some-
what rich.
Composition of tripe.
Nitrogenous matter, .... 13.2
Fat, 16.4
Saline matter, ..... 2.4
Water, 68.0
100.0
Sweetbread embraces more than one organ. Stomach sweetbread
and throat sweetbread are spoken of. The former constitutes the
pancreas, the latter the thy m us. Sweetbread is easy of digestion,
and, when plainly cooked, forms a suitable food for the convalescent.
158 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
When richly dressed, as it is usually served up at company dinners,
it is neither suited for the dyspeptic nor invalid.
Lungs. Pig's lights are eaten *as a fry with the animal's liver. A
food is prepared, called " fagots," from bullock's and sheep's lights
mixed with bullock's liver.
Spleen. The milt of the bullock, sheep, and pig is sold for human
food. It is usually stuffed and roasted.
UNWHOLESOME MEAT. Meat cannot be subjected, like many
alimentary articles, to adulteration or falsification, but it may be in
an unwholesome state, and thereby unfit for food.
Good meat, according to Dr. Letheby, 1 has the following char-
acters :
" 1st. It is neither of a pale pink color nor of a deep purple tint,
for the former is a sign of disease, and the latter indicates that the
animal has not been slaughtered, but has died with the blood in it,
or has suffered from acute fever.
" 2d. It has a marbled appearance, from the ramifications of little
veins of fat among the muscles.
" 3d. It should be firm and elastic to the touch, and should scarcely
moisten the fingers, bad meat being wet, and sodden, and flabby,
with the fat looking like jelly or wet parchment.
" 4th. It should have little or no odor, and the odor should not be
disagreeable, for diseased meat has a sickly, cadaverous smell, and
sometimes a smell of physic. This is very discoverable w r hen the
meat is chopped up and drenched with warm water.
" 5th. It should not shrink or waste much in cooking.
" 6th. It should not run to water or become very wet on stand-
ing for a day or so, but should, on the contrary, be dry upon the
surface.
" 7th. When dried at a temperature of 212 or thereabouts, it
should not lose more than 70 to 74 per cent, of its weight, whereas
bad meat will often lose as much as 80 per cent."
To this it may be added, that there should be no sign of the pres-
ence of parasites. The fat also should neither be deficient nor exces-
sive.
To assist in judging of the freshness of meat, a clean knife may be
passed into it and applied to the nose on withdrawal. In this way
the condition of the centre may be ascertained.
1 Lectures on Food, 1870, p. 235.
UNWHOLESOME MEAT. 159
Unwholesomeness of meat may be due (1) to the condition of the
animal previous to death, or (2) to the effects of decomposition after-
wards. Remarks will be offered under each of these heads :
1. Unwholesomeness of meat arising from the condition of the ani-
mal previous to death.- The conditions productive of unwholesome
meat, under this head, are:
a. The existence of parasites.
b. Infectious diseases, and
c. Contamination by some drug or other noxious agent admin-
istered or consumed during life.
a. Meat infested with parasites is known with absolute certainty
to be liable to injuriously affect the consumer.
There is one form of parasite which is frequently met with, par-
ticularly in the flesh of the pig, here giving rise to what is known
as " measly pork." It constitutes the Oysticercus cellulosce, which
consists of a little animal possessing a tapeworm-like head with a
bladder-like tail, from which its name is derived. It lies in the
flesh surrounded by a cyst, which in the pig is about the size of a
hempseed, and thus is easily seen. It appears to be widely spread
amongst the pigs in Ireland, to the extent, it is stated, 1 of rendering
at least 3 per cent, and probably 5 per cent, measly. The cysticerci
of beef and veal are much smaller than those of pork, and require
close inspection to discover them.
Now, when meat thus infested is eaten in the raw or imperfectly
cooked state, it gives rise to the development of tapeworm in the
alimentary canal. The cystieerci unless they have been killed, as
they can be by the meat being well cooked throughout, change their
form when they reach the alimentary canal into that of tapeworms.
The cysticercus of pig's flesh becomes the Tcenia solium, and that of
beef and veal the Tcenia mediocanellata.
Far more serious effects are produced by meat infested with
another parasite the Trichina spiralis. This animal has been
known and described for some years, but it has only recently been
recognized as capable of exerting a mischievous action within the
1 Prof. Gamgee's communication in the Fifth Report of the Medical Officer
to the Privy Council, 1863.
160 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
system. It was formerly noticed that the animal was occasionally
come across, as it were accidentally, in the course of anatomical dis-
section, and it could not be learned that there was anything to betray
its existence in the individual during life. It was therefore looked
upon as a harmless parasite, and rather simply in the light of a dis-
secting-room curiosity than anything else. In 1860, however, cir-
cumstances occurred which led to the discovery that this animal was
not at all times the innocent or harmless guest that had been for-
merly supposed. Briefly stated the circumstances that brought this
to light were these :
A robust maidservant, a3t. 24, was admitted into the Dresden
Hospital, January 12th, 1860, under Prof. Zenker's care. She had
been ailing since Christmas, and confined to bed since New Year's
day. Her symptoms presented some resemblance to typhoid fever,
and, in the absence of other indications, were at first put down to
this malady. Soon, however, a new train of symptoms became de-
veloped. The whole muscular system became the seat of great pain,
which was much increased by the slightest movement. The pa-
tient was constantly moaning. The arms and legs were drawn up,
and could not be extended on account of the agony which the at-
tempt induced. Inflammation of the lungs now supervened, and
death occurred on the 27th. .A post-mortem examination revealed
the existence of vast numbers of Trichince in the muscles, in the
non-encysted state, and disclosed the cause of the patient's anoma-
lous symptoms and death. Inquiry was now set on foot, and it was
ascertained that, four days before the girl was first taken ill, two
pigs and an ox had been slaughtered at the house of her master.
Some smoked ham and sausage were fortunately obtained by Prof.
Zenker, which had been derived from one of the pigs that had been
killed, and an examination showed that the flesh was infested with
Trichince in an encysted state.
Since this case occurred others have been noticed, more particu-
larly in Germany, in which the effects of the Trichince were recog-
nized in their true light. In 1863 a catastrophe happened at Hel-
stadt, in Prussia, which aroused universal attention, and excited a
great deal of uneasiness both in this country and abroad. One
hundred and three persons, mostly men in the prime of life, sat
down to a festive dinner ordered at a hotel. Within a month
more than twenty it is stated, had died, and most of the others
UNWHOLESOME MEAT. 161
were suffering from the effects of the parasite. The result was
traced to some smoked sausages, which had been made from a pig
that had been noticed to be out of condition, and happened to be
slaughtered for food by mistake. The Trichince were discovered in
the muscles of those affected, and the sausages that remained, and
the meat from which they had been prepared, were found to be
.swarming with the parasite. After this, people ftaturally became
indisposed to eat German sausages, and inspectors were appointed
to examine the meat before being used.
The whole progress of the affection is now thoroughly known.
"When meat is eaten containing Trichina, if the heat employed in
cooking be not sufficient to destroy the life of the animal, symptoms
begin to show themselves in a few days' time. The first effect
noticeable is irritation of the alimentary canal, manifested under the
form of vomiting and diarrhrea. On reaching the stomach, the cap-
sule in which the parasite is contained becomes dissolved. Thus
liberated from its previously imprisoned condition, and finding in
the intestine a favorable locality for its growth, the animal increases
in size, and in two or three days attains three or four times its orig-
inal dimensions. It may now be discerned by the naked eye, look-
ing like a small piece of fine thread. The sexes are distinct, and the
female gives rise to a large progeny from three to five hundred, it
is said of little ones. These at once begin to migrate from the
alimentary canal. They straightway pierce the walls of the intes-
tine, pass through the peritoneal cavity, and spread themselves
throughout the body. Now it is that febrile symptoms become
established, and that they produce the terrible affection of the mus-
cular system which forms so striking a feature of the sufferer's com-
plaint. From the state induced the strongest person may be carried
off in the course of a few weeks' time. But should the patient sur-
vive the first effects of the parasite, a cyst is developed around it,
and this, in the course of time, becomes calcareous. Thus imprisoned
the animal seems to be perfectly harmless, and apparently may re-
main for years, without further betraying any evidence of its exist-
ence. It is only, indeed, on reaching the alimentary canal of another
animal that it occasions any further mischief, and then occurs a repe-
tition of what has been described.
Trichince have been discovered in the flesh of a variety of ani-
mals birds, and frogs, as well as mammals but the pig is the ani-
11
162 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
mal that is most frequently found to be infested. Whilst in a free
state within the muscle they may be scarcely susceptible, or even
unsusceptible, of detection without the aid of a microscope. When
first encysted, also, from the transparency of the cyst they are not
easily seen, but when calcification of the cyst has occurred, they are
readily recognizable, and appear as white specks, or like little nits,
lying amongst the muscular fibres. Within the cyst the minute
threadlike worm lies coiled up after a spiral fashion : hence the
qualifying adjunct (spiralis) applied to its generic name.
As a point of practical importance it may be stated that neither
salting, smoking, nor moderately heating, affords any security against
the development of the trichinous disease from infested meat. Ex-
posure, however, to the temperature of boiling water effectively kills
the animal, but it is obvious that the temperature must be raised
throughout every particle of the meat to insure that it is rendered
harmless.
Other parasites are encountered in the visceral organs of animals;
but the Cysticerci and Triehince are the only ones, as far as is known, of
a hurtful nature in an alimentary point of view, that infest their flesh.
b. There are various diseases of an acute infectious nature and
malignant type, such, particularly, as rinderpest, anthrax, and pleuro-
pneumonia, to which animals are subject. Can the meat of animals
that have been thus affected be eaten without producing injurious
consequences ? The idea of it is repulsive, and, strangely, the an-
swer to the question cannot be given in such a manner as our pre-
conceived notions would lead us to expect. The conflicting opinions
of various persons on this point show the amount of uncertainty
that exists with regard to it.
The diseases of live stock in relation to the public supply of meat
for alimentary purposes formed the subject of investigation by Pro-
fessor Gamgee for the Fifth Report of the Medical Officer to the
Privy Council, published in 1863. From the evidence before him
Professor Gamgee, unpleasant as it may sound, arrived at the conclu-
sion that as much as one-fifth of the common meat of the country
was then derived from animals killed in a state of disease. It is diffi-
cult to obtain complete and precise data on such a point, but whether
the estimate be correct or not, it may be taken as showing that a large
amount of diseased meat was consumed by the public. This, however,
UNWHOLESOME MEAT. 163
included all diseases, and it is positively known that some need not
be regarded as depriving the meat of wholesomeness as food.
Animals killed in the early stage of the simple inflammatory affec-
tions may be safely eaten, and also, of course, those killed by, or as
the result of, some accidental injury. But what is the evidence for
and against the deleteriousness of meat when a contagious poison has
existed in the system ?
On the one hand, it is stated as an authentic fact that during the
prevalence of the cattle plague or rinderpest in England in 1865,
large quantities of the meat of animals killed in all stages of the
disease were eaten without being followed by any ill effect. The
same absence of ill effect is also stated to have been observed after
the consumption of meat derived from animals affected with anthrax
and epidemic pleuro-pneumonia other virulent contagious diseases.
It is even asserted that when the steppe murrain was prevalent in
Bohemia some years ago, the carcasses of infected animals that had
been killed and buried by order of the government were dug up
and eaten by the poor without any injury being sustained.
On the other hand, instances have been placed on record where
the most-serious consequences have arisen from the employment of
meat of this kind. A marked case in point is cited by Mr. Simon
in his report to the Privy Council, above alluded to. 1 He adduces
it ,as conclusively showing that under some circumstances human
life may be endangered by the use of cooked meat derived from an
animal affected with anthrax, and states that the account of it was
communicated to him by Mr. Keith, Senior Surgeon to the Aberdeen
Royal Infirmary. Subjoined are the main particulars:
During the first week of November, 1840, a two-year-old heifer,,
at a farm in Aberdeenshire, was observed to be unwell, and was-
slaughtered by the ploughman, aided by a neighboring blacksmith..
A portion of the animal was salted down, and another appropriated
to immediate use. A boil of this beef, which appeared quite fresh,,
and about which there was nothing wrong to be seen, was cooked
next day in a pot of broth for the dinner of the family, which con-
sisted of eleven persons. Of the eleven, two did not partake of it,.
and these remained well, whilst the nine who did partake of it were
soon seized with such alarming symptoms of poisoning that a medical
1 Fifth Keport of the Medical Officer to the Privy Council, 1863, p. 28.
164 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
man was at once called in. Two died, and the others recovered.
On the 12th of November both the ploughman and the blacksmith
were admitted into the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary suffering from
phlegmonous erysipelas of the arm. The offal of the animal was
cast upon a dung-heap, to which two swine had access. They ate it
freely, and were both taken ill and died.
The data in this case stand quite complete, the ill effects having
been traced to the infected animal. More frequently it is only the
ill effects that are observed, without information being procurable
regarding the animal from which the meat was derived. For ex-
ample, instances have been from time to time noticed, and some few
have been placed on record, where a number of persons have suffered
from symptoms of irritant poisoning after partaking of meat that has
been purchased in a casual way meat, it may be, that has presented
no visible signs of unwholesomeness. Pork is known to be more
likely to produce such ill effects than other kinds of meat, but, per-
haps, something in this case may be due to the unwholesome food on
which the animals are often fed.
It has been suggested that the prevalence of boils and carbuncles
may be sometimes attributable to the unconscious consumption of meat
from diseased animals, and some statistics have been adduced in sup-
port of this view. The flesh of animals affected with a certain dis-
order is specifically stated to have the effect of producing carbuncles.
Dr. Christison asserts 1 that the solids and fluids of animals suffering
from a gangrenous carbuncular disorder denominated Milzbrand in
Germany, and analogous to the Pustule maligne of the French, are
rendered so poisonous that not only those who handle but those who
.eat the flesh are apt to suffer severely ; the affection thus produced in
man being sometimes ordinary inflammation of the alimentary canal,
but most commonly an eruption of one or more large carbuncles,
resembling those of the original disease of the animal. Dr. Living-
stone, in his " Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa,"
1857, p. 136, speaks of the occurrence of malignant carbuncle,
called Knatsi or Selonda, as a result of eating the flesh of diseased
animals.
Looking, therefore, at the evidence before us regarding the effects
of consuming meat derived from animals suffering from infectious
1 On Poisons, Edinburgh, 1845, p. 633.
UNWHOLESOME MEAT. 165
disease, it appears that diametrically opposite results have been ob-
served. It may be concluded that some kind of subtle poison
exists, and that this may become neutralized or destroyed by the
processes of cooking and digestion, but why such an event should
occur in some cases and not in others, is indeed difficult to under-
stand. Practically, however, seeing that serious consequences may
ensue, it is only right to look upon all such meat as unsafe and unfit
for human food.
c. Meat may be rendered unwholesome by contamination with
some drug or noxious agent administered or consumed during life.
Many examples of this have been known. The following is a
striking one bearing on contamination by a drug administered as a
remedial agent previous to slaughtering. It is quoted by Professor
Gamgee, and related by Dr. Kreutzer in the " Central Zeitung fur
die gesammte Veterinarmedizin fiir 1854." "Three hundred and
one persons partook of the flesh of an ox that had been treated
during life with the potassio-tartrate of antimony. Of these, 107
suffered from violent vomiting, purging, <fec. ; and mothers that were
suckling children noticed violent effects on their babies. One of
the affected persons died, and the cause of the attack was demon-
strated by chemical analysis of the flesh and of the contents of the
stomach and intestine of the person that succumbed. This person
had eaten only half a pound of the meat. Pigs, dogs, and cats that
partook of the meat also suffered. Some of the meat was given to
a magpie, and it died."
The flesh of cattle is sometimes rendered poisonous by the food
consumed, without the animals themselves being affected. For in-
stance, it is known that cattle fed in some of the districts of North
America cannot be eaten without giving rise to violent symptoms of
poisoning. The flesh of hares also which have fed upon the Rhodo-
dendron chrysanthemum is considered to be poisonous.
2. Unwholesomeness of meat arising from decomposition. Dr.
Christison says : L " The tendency of putrefaction to impart deleter-
ious qualities to animal matters originally wholesome has long been
known, and is quite unequivocal. To those who are not accustomed
to the use of tainted meat, the mere commencement of decay is suffi-
1 On Poisons, Edinburgh, 1845, p. 635.
166 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
cient to render meat insupportable and noxious. Game, only de-
cayed enough to please the palate of the epicure, has caused severe
cholera in persons not accustomed to eat it in that state." It can-
not be said, however, that even putrid meat is poisonous to all,
although it may prove so to many. The effect of habit would
appear to confer some sort of immunity, judging from the accounts
that are given of the state in which meat is eaten in some countries.
" The American Indians," says Wilkes, 1 " all prefer their meat
putrid, and frequently keep it until it smells so strong as to be dis-
gusting. Parts of the salmon they bury underground for two or
three months to putrefy, and the more it is decayed the greater
delicacy they consider it." Simmonds 2 also states, with reference to
the food of the Greenlanders, that " the head and fins of the seal are
preserved under the grass in summer, and in winter the whole seal
is frequently buried in the snow. The flesh, half frozen, half putrid,
in which state the Greenlanders term it mikiak, is eaten with the
keenest appetite." Rotten fish, we are also told, is used by the
Burmese, Siamese, and Chinese, as a sort of condiment without bad
effect.
Cooking doubtless neutralizes, to some extent, the effect of decom-
position; and the secretion of the stomach (gastric juice), with the
strongly antiseptic properties it possesses, will tend to prevent any
further advance of ordinary decomposition as soon as the food
reaches the stomach. Notwithstanding these salutary influences,
however, experience shows that the resisting power enjoyed by those
accustomed to our mode of life is not sufficient to allow meat tainted
with decomposition to be consumed without incurring a risk of more
or less severe gastro-intestinal derangement, if nothing more, being
set up.
In addition to meat being rendered unwholesome by ordinary
putrefaction, it sometimes becomes so from undergoing, during the
process of curing, another kind of decomposition. Meat rendered
noxious by this modified and peculiar form of decomposition may
present no marked external signs of being unwholesome, and thus
is produced a very serious source of danger. The change has been
especially found to occur in the sausages cured by drying and smok-
1 U. S. Exploring Expedition, vol. iv, p. 452.
2 Curiosities of Food, 1859, p. 32.
POULTRY, GAME, AND WILDFOWL. 167
ing in Germany, and many fatal results have been occasioned.
Bacon, cheese, and other kinds of animal food, have been also no-
ticed in a similar manner to become deleterious. The nature of
the poisonous principle is not precisely known, but it is generally
believed to consist of an acrid fatty acid. The symptoms produced
are those of severe gastro-intestinal irritation, followed by nervous
depression and collapse. Dr. Christison's work on "Poisons" con-
tains a collection of particulars bearing on this matter.
POULTRY, GAME, AND WILDFOWL.
Xext to mammals, birds are of the most importance to us in an
alimentary point of view. As far as is known, there is no bird, and
no part of any bird, nor any bird's egg, which may not be safely
used as food. It must be stated, however, that some birds are
rendered poisonous by the food which they have eaten. The pheas-
ant, for instance, which feeds on the buds of the Kalmia latifolia in
North America, is deemed poisonous during the winter and spring.
It is also well known that the American partridges sent over here
have been sometimes found to possess poisonous properties.
The flesh of birds differs from that of mammals in never being
marbled or having fat mixed with the muscular fibres.
Domesticated or tame birds, such as the common fowl, turkey,
guinea-fowl, duck, and goose, fall under the denomination of poultry.
Under the head of game a limited number of wild birds are included,
and particularly the pheasant, partridge, and grouse. Wildfowl
comprise untamed aquatic birds. There are many other edible birds,
including especially the smaller ones, which cannot be grouped under
either of these heads.
The flesh belonging to different birds presents considerable varia-
tion in some being white, and in others quite dark-colored. It
also varies in different parts of the same animal, that on the wings
and breast being whiter, drier, and of a more delicate taste than that
on the legs. On account of the legs being higher flavored they are
preferred by many. In the blackcock the layer of muscles forming
the outer part of the breast is of a dark-brown color, whilst the
deeper part is white. To a less extent a similar difference is also
observed in many other birds.
The fowl, turkey, and guinea-fowl amongst poultry, which form
168 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
white-fleshed birds, stand in a very different position from ducks and
geese. The flesh of the former is delicate-flavored, tender, and easy
of digestion. It also possesses less stimulating properties than ordi-
nary meat, and is thus well adapted for the delicate stomach of the
dyspeptic and invalid. The flesh of the latter, on the other hand,
is harder, richer, or stronger-tasted, and far more difficult of diges-
tion. It is, therefore, to be avoided where weakness of stomach
exists.
The fattening of poultry for the table forms in some parts of the
country an extensive branch of industry, and the improvement that
is effected in the quality, equally as regards tenderness and flavor as
size, of the bird is exceedingly striking. Exercise is unfavorable to
fatty deposit, and wild birds, unless it should happen that they keep
at rest, are not likely to become fat. Domesticated birds, also, that
are allowed to run about do not become fat to the same extent as
those confined at rest. The art of fattening consists in keeping the
animal at rest and supplying it with an abundance of an appropriate
fattening food, and it is subjected to this process for a few weeks
before it is required. It is found that the animal in a sexless state
grows to a larger size, fattens better, is more tender eating, and finer
flavored than one in which the sexual organs exist. Improvement
for the use of the table is thereby effected by castration and spaying.
For the proper effect it is necessary that the operation should be per-
formed at an early age. The capon and poulard are the result, and
their superior qualities are well known.
The flesh of game contains a smaller amount of fat than that of
poultry. It is regarded as possessing more strengthening properties.
It is also tender and easy of digestion. It possesses a marked but
delicate flavor which increases by keeping. The aromatic bitter taste,
for instance, of the grouse is more pronounced after the bird has been
hung a little time than when eaten in a fresh state. The flesh about
the back possesses this flavor in a higher degree than that elsewhere,
and hence this part is often selected as a bonne bouche by epicures.
Each kind of bird has its special flavor, and thus considerable variety
is presented. The flavor of the partridge and quail is exceedingly
delicate, and so also is that of the snipe and woodcock, but these
latter birds are richer. From the qualities possessed by it game is
tempting to the appetite of the invalid. Its easy digestibility renders
it further well suited for a weak stomach. It therefore forms a
FISH. 169
valuable article of food for the sick-room, and is often found to be
better borne than poultry or meat. It may, however, prove too
rich ; and to obviate this as far as possible, the bird should only be
kept sufficiently long to secure tenderness, and only the flesh on the
breast eaten.
JVildfowl requires strong digestive power to dispose of it. Its
flesh is close and firm. Its taste also is strong, and often of a fishy
nature a character which becomes more pronounced by keeping,
and thereby leads to the bird being best in a fresh state for eating.
The pigeon and many other birds are eaten which do not fall
under the head of either poultry, game, or wildfowl. The flesh is
usually tender in proportion to the smallness of the animal.
The flesh of the rabbit and hare more resembles that of poultry
and game than butcher's meat. It is characterized in each case by
the small quantity of fat it contains. That of the hare possesses to
a marked extent savory and stimulating properties, of which the
flesh of the rabbit is comparatively devoid. So far the rabbit would
form suitable food for a delicate stomach ; but, although tender, its
fibres are close, and it cannot be regarded as possessing the digesti-
bility belonging to many other kinds of animal food.
FISH.
Fish is an important article of nourishment. A very large num-
ber of different kinds of it, both fresh-water and salt-water, are
consumed, giving great variety to this kind of food. The amount
that must exist in the vast waters of the ocean may also be regarded
as rendering the supply inexhaustible. In some places it constitutes
by necessity the chief or sole sustenance of the people, who are hence
styled Ichthyophagi. The inhabitants of the most northern parts of
Europe, Asia, and America, where it is too cold for any of the
higher forms of vegetation to grow, are mainly dependent upon food
of which the chief portion consists of fish derived from the sea. In
Siberia, fish, after being dried, is ground into powder and formed
into a substance which is used instead of bread. Putrid fish, we are
told, is even the favorite and ordinary food of some tribes.
Although from time immemorial fish has formed an article of
food, more or less consumed by most people, yet many prejudices
used to exist with regard to it. The Egyptian priests were forbidden
170 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
to eat fish of any kind, under the idea that it increased the sexual
appetite, or that it was the cause of leprosy. For the latter reason
the people also were forbidden to eat fish not covered with scales.
In the writings of Moses 1 it is stated : " Whatsoever hath fins and
scales in the waters, in the seas, and the rivers, them shall ye eat ...
Whatsoever hath no fins or scales in the waters, that shall be f an
abomination unto you." Rightly or wrongly, English history says
that Henry I got a surfeit, and died from eating too heartily of
lampreys a food against which he had been often cautioned.
There does not appear to be any substantial foundation, however,
for the belief that formerly prevailed ; for the lamprey and the
sturgeon also another fish without scales are now extensively
eaten by some communities without any bad effects.
If present experience does not permit any basis of selection being
given, it does show that fish is not invariably free from poisonous
properties. It is especially in tropical climates where poisonous fish
are encountered. Some are poisonous at all times, others only at
certain seasons. Individuals of certain species may be poisonous,
whilst others of the same species, that are not to be distinguished
by any external characters, are free, it is stated, from deleterious
properties a circumstance which renders the eating of fish in such
countries not without danger. Some persons, it is also said, escape,
whilst others are injuriously affected. The symptoms produced 2 are
sometimes allied to those of cholera. Sometimes an eruption, often
resembling nettle-rash, is occasioned and, it may be, various ner-
vous disorders, as trembling or convulsive twitches of the limbs,
paralysis, and stupor.
It is not definitely known to what the deleterious effects of the
poisonous fish are to be ascribed. They have been variously referred
to the aliment on which the animals have fed, to their being in a
diseased state, to decomposition, and to idiosyncrasy on the part of
the person affected. A fish is said to justify suspicion "if it has
attained an unusually large size, or is destitute of the natural fishy
smell, or has black teeth, or if silver or an onion boiled along with
it becomes black ; but all these tests are unreliable."
As an article of nourishment fish does not possess the satisfying
1 Leviticus 11:9, 12.
2 Pereira on Food and Diet, 1843, p 284.
FISH. 171
and stimulating properties that belong to the flesh of quadrupeds
and birds. Still, the health and vigor of the inhabitants of fishing
towns, where fish may form the only kind of animal food consumed,
show that it is capable of contributing, in an effective manner, to
the maintenance of the body under active conditions of life. On
account of its being less satisfying than meat the appetite returns at
shorter intervals, and a larger quantity is required to be consumed.
Dr. Davy 1 says, "If we give our attention to classed people
classed as to the quality of food they principally subsist on we
shall find that the ichthyophagous class are especially strong, healthy,
and prolific. In no other class than in that of fishers do we see
larger families, handsomer women, or more robust and active men."
As a less stimulating article of food than meat, fish possesses
valuable properties in a therapeutic point of view, and is constantly
being advantageously employed when the powers are too weak for
the stronger kinds of animal food to be borne.
The flesh of some fish is white, and that of others more or less
red. The former is less stimulating and lighter to the stomach or
more easy of digestion than the latter.
Amongst the fish having white flesh are the whiting, haddock,
cod, sole, turbot, brill, plaice, flounder, &c. The flesh contains but
little fat, as the following analysis will show. The fat existing in
the animal is especially accumulated in the liver, and in the cod-
fish particularly, when in season, the liver is enormously gorged
with oil.
Composition of white fish.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .18.1
Fat, 2.9
Saline matter, 1.0
Water, 78.0
100.0
The flesh of the salmon particularly presents a strong contrast in
color to that of the fish above enumerated. It approaches meat in
redness, and is regarded as approaching it also more closely than
other fish in sustaining properties. Fatty matter is incorporated
i The Angler and his Friend, by John Davy, M.D., F.K.S. Lond., 1855, p.
114.
172 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
with the muscular fibres, and there is also a layer of superficial fat
beneath the skin. This is more abundant in the abdominal or
thinner than in the dorsal or thicker part of the animal hence the
richer flavor, and thereby the preference given to the former for
eating.
Composition of salmon.
Nitrogenous matter, .... 16.1
Eat, 5.5
Saline matter, ..... 1.4
Water, 77.0
100.0
The mackerel, eel, herring, sprat, and pilchard are other fish
characterized by the presence of fatty matter incorporated with the
flesh. Thus it is that these fish are richer and less suited to a deli-
cate stomach than the white fish. The eel especially is rich in fat,
as is shown by the following analysis from Letheby's table :
Composition of eels.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .9.9
Fat, 13.8
Saline matter, 1.3
Water, 75.0
100.0
Pay en's analysis gives a still considerably larger quantity of fat,
thus :
Composition of eels deprived of the non-edible portions (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . . . 13.00
Fatty matter, . . . . . .23.86
Mineral matter, ...... 0.77
Non-nitrogenous matter and loss, . . 0.30
Water, 62.07
100.00
Of all fish the whiting may be regarded as the most delicate,
tender, easy of digestion, and least likely to disagree with a weak
stomach. It is sometimes styled the chicken of the fish tribe. The
FISH. 173
haddock is somewhat closely allied, but has a firmer texture, and is
inferior in flavor and digestibility. The sole is a tender and diges-
tible fish. It also has a delicate flavor, and deservedly enjoys a
high reputation as an article of food for the invalid. The flounder
is light and easy of digestion, but insipid. In all cases where fish
is required for a weak stomach, either boiling or broiling should
constitute the process of cooking. Frying is objectionable on ac-
count of the fatty matter used rendering the fish rich and more in-
digestible.
The codfish is far from possessing the digestibility that is enjoyed
by most other white fish. It varies in quality a great deal, but some
of it is exceedingly hard, tough, stringy or woollen, and indigestible.
I believe it to be a more trying article of food to the stomach than is
generally credited. When reputed to be in good condition or in season,
the flesh, which is arranged in flakes, becomes opaque on boiling.
The juice between the flakes also undergoes alteration, and produces
a layer of white curdy matter, apparently consisting of coagulated
albumen. When out of season, this white curdy matter is absent,
and the flesh remains, after being boiled, semitransparent and bluish.
In this state it is evidently not so nourishing, but being more watery
and soft, I believe it is more easy of digestion. Indeed, some few
instances have fallen under my notice where eating what would be
called codfish in a state of high perfection that is, codfish in a
firm, flaky, and opaque state after being boiled has been followed
by an attack of indigestion.
Crimping increases the firmness of the flesh, and is often em-
ployed in the case of codfish. It must be effected whilst the mus-
cular fibres retain their vitality, or before rigor mortis has set in.
The fish when caught is struck on the head, and afterwards a number
of transverse incisions are made. It is then immersed in cold water,
which occasions a strong contraction of the muscular fibres, and
causes the flesh to assume a firmer state than would otherwise be the
case. It is considered that crimped cod is not only firmer, but keeps
longer, and has a better flavor than that which has not been crimped.
Rigidity or firmness of flesh being due to rigor mortis, which passes
off in the course of time, its existence in all fish affords a sign of
freshness.
The turbot for flavor is deservedly held in high estimation. It is
174 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
firmer and richer, but less digestible than other kinds of flat fish, as
the sole, flounder, and plaice.
Brill is also an excellent fish, but is inferior in flavor to the turbot,
for which it is sometimes substituted.
In both turbot and brill the skin, on boiling, swells and assumes
a gelatinous character. This is eaten as a choice part. Its appear-
ance would lead to the supposition of its being easily digestible, but,
whether on account of its rich flavor or not, it appears to be more
apt than the flesh to disagree with the stomach.
The sturgeon is a fish that is not much eaten in this country. Its
flesh is looked upon as presenting some resemblance in taste and
character to veal.
The quality of fish as an article of food is influenced by the act of
spawning, and presents considerable variation at different periods.
It is just previous to spawning that the animal is in its highest state
of perfection. Its condition altogether is then at its best point. The
animal is fatter than at any other period, and of a richer flavor for
eating. During the process of spawning its store of fatty matter
is drawn upon, and it becomes poor, thin, and watery or flabby. It
is now said to be " out of season," and requires time to arrive in con-
dition again. In fish like the cod, where the fatty matter accumu-
lates specially in the liver, this organ presents a most striking dif-
ference in volume and condition before and after spawning ; whilst
in such as the salmon, herring, &c., where the fat is dispersed
through the body, the same kind of change is noticeable here. As
the salmon enters the rivers from the sea, for the purpose of ascend-
ing them and depositing its spawn, it is in a plump condition, and
well provided with fat. On its return the contrast in its condition is
very great. It is now so exhausted and thin as to be looked upon
as unfit for food.
Young fish which have not arrived at an age for spawning do not
present any variation, but are always " in season."
After the operation of castration and spaying, it has been found
also that fish maintain a uniform condition. The operation has
never been practiced to any extent, but an account of it has been
given by Mr. Tull in the "Philosophical Transactions" for 1754.
The object of its original performance appears to have been to pre-
vent the excessive increase offish in some ponds where the numbers
did not permit any of them to grow to an advantageous size. Not
FISH. 175
only, it is stated, was the desired result attained, but the fish that
had undergone the operation grew much larger than their usual size,
were more fat, and remained always " in season."
The flavor of fish is much influenced by the nature of their food.
In general, sea fish are better that have been caught in deep water
off rocky headlands where the current is strong, than in estuaries
and bays where the water is shallow and the current weak. As re-
gards fresh-water fish, those which have been obtained from deep
lakes or ponds with clear water and a rocky or gravelly bottom are
far superior in flavor to those obtained from shallow water on a
muddy bottom. The earthy taste of the latter, indeed, may be so
strong as to render them also uneatable, but fish bred in such water
may be deprived of their unpleasant flavor by being kept for some
time, before being killed, in ponds of clear water with a gravelly
bottom.
With reference to the edible qualities of fish, Dr. Davy says 1
" As to individual species, whether of sea-fish or fresh-water, there
are notable differences and peculiarities, some depending on the
species, some on the qualitias of the feed. Of the first we have in-
stances almost without number, inasmuch as almost each kind has
some distinctive peculiarity. The delicate smelt has the odor of the
cucumber ; the grayling, of the thyme ; some of those of the scomber
family abound in blood, have a comparatively high temperature, and
dark-colored muscles ; others, as those of the Galidae, of which group
the whiting is one, have little blood, at least few red corpuscles, have
white muscles, and are delicately tasted ; some, as the common ray,
and most of the order of cartilaginous fish, have a muscular fibre of
much firmness and power of resistance, yielding and becoming tender
from keeping, and consequently, contrary to the general rule appli-
cable to fish, they should not be dressed fresh ; and other differences
might be pointed out one kind abounding in oil, as the pilchard,
herring, and the eel ; the eel especially, and so luscious in consequence
other kinds containing little or no oil, as the sole and ray.
" Of the influence of feed on the same kind of fish we have strik-
ing examples, both in many saltwater and freshwater species. Of
the former how different in quality is the herring caught off differ-
ent parts of the coast ; so, too, of the common haddock. What her-
1 The Angler and his Friend, by John Davy, M.D., F.R.S. Lond., 1855, p. 117.
176 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
ring is equal to that of Loch Fine ; what haddock equal to that of
the Bay of Dublin? Of freshwater fish, what a contrast there is
between the lake-trout and the brook-trout ! the one well fed, well
flavored, of the color of the salmon ; the other small, colorless, and
insipid. What a contrast between either of these and the trout of
bog-water ; the latter black, soft, ill-formed, and ill-tasted. What a
contrast, again, between the trout inhabiting a stream in a fertile
limestone district fed by springs, fluctuating little, and the indwellers
of the mountain stream of a primitive country, subject to great fluc-
tuations one day a raging torrent, in a brief space run out and all
but dried up. As with other animals, whether beast or bird, domes-
tic or wild, much, we know, as to their quality, depends on their
feed, its kind, and quantity, and so with fish. Of these the para-
doxical sturgeon may be mentioned as another and very striking
example ; by the Norwegians, we are informed by Block, it is even
designated after the fish on which, from its flavor, it is supposed to
have fed, as the mackerel-sturgeon, herring-sturgeon, &c.
" Other circumstances besides food, no doubt, have likewise an
effect all which anywise influence the health, such as climate, air,
water, &c. ^ nor amongst these should age be omitted. This last,
in the instance of fish, and of fish only, is little thought of at home ;
and it may be because, in our well-fished seas, rivers, and lakes, few
fish are allowed to reach a very advanced age ; but not so in the
tropical seas, where there is not the same activity practiced in the
capture of fish ; there it is not uncommon to be helped at table to an
old fish, and to have its hardness and toughness explained by one's
experienced host by reference to age."
The turbot is a fish which improves in flavor and tenderness by
keeping for a little time before being dressed. Trout and salmon
cannot be sent to table too soon after being caught. Eaten immedi-
ately after being killed, they possess a delicate sweet flavor, which
quickly disappears on keeping. It is thus impossible to have trout,
in particular, in the same state of perfection at a distance from the
streams where they are caught as on the spot itself.
What is called the roe of fish constitutes the reproductive secret-
ing organs, which attain a very large size, and render the animals
exceedingly prolific. The hard roc belongs to the female, and is
formed by the ovary. The soft roe or milt belongs to the male, and
SHELL-FISH. 177
is formed by the spermatic organ. Both are eaten. The parts belong-
ing to the male cod are used as a garnish to the fish when served.
Caviare is the hard roe of the sturgeon preserved by salting. It
is pretty extensively employed as a common food in Russia, but in
this country is consumed only as a relish at the table of the rich, the
mode of serving it being on dry toast.
Cod sounds represent the swimming-bladder of the animal. They
are dried and eaten separately. The swimming-bladder of the stur-
geon, in particular, also yields the well-known article, isinglass.
The processes of drying, salting, smoking, and pickling are em-
ployed for the preservation of fish. Each process considerably less-
ens the digestibility of the article, and fish so prepared are, there-
fore, unsuited for the dyspeptic and invalid.
SHELL-FISH.
Shell-fish are derived from both the crustacean and molluscous
tribes of animals. They yield a less nutritive kind of food than
that which has been already consider-ed, but must nevertheless be
looked upon as holding a position of considerable importance in an
alimentary point of view.
Shell-fish, taken altogether, are more indigestible and apt to upset
the stomach than other kinds of animal food. Whether from idio-
syncrasy on the part of the person affected, as is doubtless often the
case, or from noxious properties in the particular animals eaten, shell-
fish not unfrequently produce urgent symptoms of derangement.
Sometimes the symptoms are those of gastro-intestinal irritation, as,
for instance, nausea, vomiting, colic, cramps, and purging. Some-
times an eruptive disorder of the skin, and more particularly nettle-
rash, is induced. So strong, indeed, is the tendency in some for
such affection of the skin to be developed, that it is occasionally
found necessary to scrupulously exclude shell-fish from the diet. At
other times giddiness and other symptoms of disorder of the nervous
system, as paralysis, coma, and convulsions, have been noticed, and
instances of death have been known to occur.
The crustaceans commonly eaten consist of the lobster, crab, craw-
fish, shrimp, and prawn. They are all regarded as choice articles
food. The flesh belonging to them is white and firm.
12
178 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Composition of the edible portions of the lobster (Pay en).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . 19.170 12.140 21.892
Fatty matter, . . . . 1.170 1.444 8.234
Mineral matter, .... 1.823 1.749 1.998
Non-nitrogenous matter and loss, . 1.219 0.354 4.893
Water, 76.018 84.313 62.983
100.100 100.000
The lobster occupies a higher position in public estimation than
the crab. The flesh of the two is much alike, but the flavor is dif-
ferent, that of the lobster being the more delicate, and apparently
the least likely to disagree.
The female or hen lobster, as it is called, is in special request for
making sauce, for the sake of the spawn or eggs belonging to it.
These are attached beneath the tail, and consist of little round bodies.
They are black in their natural state, but become of a bright red on
boiling. They are pounded and mixed with the sauce, and thus
give it after boiling the desired red color, as well as some amount of
flavor. There is another part inside the animal which becomes of a
bright red color on boiling. This is called the coral. It consists of
the ovary, and is used for garnishing.
The flesh of the lobster is mainly found in the tail and claws.
That of the claws is more tender, delicate, and digestible than that
of the tail, which is firmer and closer.
The thorny lobster, or sea crawfish, is sometimes substituted for the
ordinary lobster. It eats much like it, but is, perhaps, rather in-
ferior in flavor and tenderness.
The flesh belonging to the claws of the crab is far less likely to dis-
agree with the stomach than the soft part contained within the shell.
This is rich, and somewhat of the consistence of brain-matter, a
name that is often popularly applied to it, but it consists of liver.
The branchiae, or gills, sometimes called a dead men's fingers,"
are, in the case of both the lobster and the crab, carefully avoided,
but there is no foundation for the notion that they possess any dele-
terious properties.
Although an agreeable article of food to many, the lobster and
crab are not fit, on account of their difficult digestibility, for the
SHELL-FISH. 179
stomach of the invalid and dyspeptic. They also disagree with some
persons possessing an ordinary amount of digestive power, produc-
ing a sense of weight in the epigastrium, nausea, and, it may be,
vomiting. A cutaneous eruption, and other urgent symptoms, have
occasionally been produced by these as well as other shell-fish.
Popular usages generally rest upon some substantial foundation,
and the almost universal employment of vinegar and pepper as an
adjunct to the kind of food under consideration has doubtless arisen
from the advantage shown by experience to accrue therefrom. In-
deed, the use of these condiments is almost looked upon as a matter
of course, and they will have the effect the one of stimulating an
increased flow of digestive secretion, and the other of furnishing a
certain amount of additional acid, and thereby augmenting the energy
of the natural secretion. Thus, increased power will be provided,
by the agency of these adjuncts, to meet the difficult digestibility of
the crustaceans in question.
The river or fresh-water crawfish is obtained from brooks and
streams in certain localities. It is an animal of quite moderate
dimensions. Its flesh is softer and more digestible than that of the
lobster. When eaten, it is rather as a relish than for the actual
amount of nourishment yielded. It enters as an ingredient into
Bisque soup, and is frequently used as a garnish more than anything
alse-
Shrimps and prawns are a favorite article of food with all classes
of society. Although they cannot be reputed as easy of digestion,
or adapted for a weak stomach, yet they are not so likely to disagree
as the lobster and crab.
Of the shell-fish belonging to the molluscous tribe consumed in
this country, some are bivalve, such as the oyster, mussel, scallop,
and cockle ; whilst others are univalve, as the periwinkle, whelk,,
and limpet.
Oysters have always held a high rank amongst the delicice gulo-
sorum. They are found on various parts of our coast, and are
caught by dredging, but instead of being consumed at once they are
transferred to oyster-beds in creeks along the shore for the purpose
of being " fattened." Here they quickly undergo a marked increase
in size, become more plump, and improve in flavor. Colchester is
the headquarters as a feeding-ground for the metropolis. Arrived'
in London, some of the salesmen keep them for a few days, and
180 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
place some oatmeal in the water with the view of still further im-
proving their whiteness and plumpness. The small "native" has
the greatest delicacy of taste, and possesses the highest market
value.
Oysters are a nutritious kind of food. Different opinions have
prevailed regarding their digestibility. Seeing, however, how often
they can be borne without inconvenience by a delicate stomach, it
may be concluded that they are not difficult to dispose of, and espe-
cially when it is considered that from the manner in which they are
usually eaten, viz., without being subjected to mastication, they are
rarely swallowed in as favorable a state for digestion as other kinds
of food. By many the whole animal is eaten, whilst those who are
dainty over them remove the outer fringed part or beard which
constitutes the gills. Of the remainder there is a soft and somewhat
hard portion. The former consists mainly of liver, which in this
animal is a very bulky organ. The latter is composed of the ad-
ductor muscle, which served to connect the two shells together. It
forms by far the most indigestible part of the oyster, and should be
carefully rejected where any weakness of stomach exists.
Oysters are more digestible in the raw than in the cooked state.
Cooking, whether by grilling, scalloping, or stewing, coagulates and
hardens them, and thereby renders them more difficult of solution
in the stomach.
Composition of oysters (Payen).
Mean of two series
of analyses.
Nitrogenous matter, 14.010
Fatty matter, 1.515
Saline mutter, 2695
jtfon-nitrogenous matter and loss, . . 1.395
Water, 80.385
100.000
Though generally wholesome, oysters have been sometimes known
to possess noxious properties, and to have given rise to symptoms
of poisoning. At the time of spawning they lose their good con-
dition, and are reckoned " out of season." It is in the month of
May that they cast their spawn, which the dredgers call the spat.
They are now in a poor and sickly state. During the months of
June and July they pick up, and in August regain their former
EGGS. 181
condition. There is an old saying, that an oyster is only good when
there is an " r " in the name of the month.
Mussels are consumed pretty largely, but they do not reach the
table of the higher classes in the same way as the oyster. They are
subjected to a preparatory process of cooking, usually by stewing in
their own liquor. There is a little tongue-like, hardish, dark-colored
mass belonging to them, which is generally picked out, under the
supposition that it is deleterious. No proof of this, however, exists,
as many persons consume the mussel whole without experiencing
any injurious consequences.
. Composition of mussels (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . . . .11.72
Fatty matter, 2.42
Saline matter, 2.73
Non-nitrogenous matter and loss, . . . 7.39
Water, 75.74
100.00
Of all shell-fish the most frequently found to exert deleterious
effects the mussel stands pre-eminent. It is well known to the
public that it is liable to act in this way. Sometimes all who par-
take of a prepared dish suffer, whilst at other times some may be
affected and others escape. Dr. Christison, in his work on " Poisons,"
refers to an instance which occurred at Leith in 1827, in which no
fewer than thirty people were severely affected and two persons
died. As in other cases, it has not been clearly ascertained to what
the poisonous effects are attributable.
Scallops, cockles, periwinkles, limpets, and whelks, are not of suffi-
cient importance as articles of food to require any further notice
here. They are principally sold in the streets, and eaten only by a
limited class of people.
EGGS.
Eggs necessarily contain all that is required for the construction
of the body, as the young animal is developed from it, but, as Liebig
has pointed out, the shell must be taken into account as well as its
contents. During the process of incubation, in fact, the earthy
matter of the shell becomes gradually dissolved and applied to the
182 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
purposes of growth. Phosphoric acid, formed by the gradual oxida-
tion of phosphorus, constitutes the solvent agent, and the shell is
found to become progressively thinner and thinner, until at last it is
no thicker than a sheet of letter paper.
Various eggs are eaten, including those of reptiles as, for in-
stance, the turtle as well as birds ; but it is especially the egg of
the fowl which is employed as a general article of food, and to this
the succeeding remarks are intended to refer.
The average weight of an egg is about two ounces avoirdupois,
and the quantity of dry solid matter contained in it amounts to
about 200 grains. It is composed of shell, white, and yolk, and in
100 parts about 10 consist of shell, 60 of white, and 30 of yolk.
Composition of the entire contents of the egg.
Nitrogenous matter, .... 14.0
Fatty matter, 10.5
Saline matter, . . . . .1.5
Water, 74.0
100.0
I
Composition of the white of egg.
Nitrogenous matter, .... 20.4
Fatty matter,
Saline matter, 1.6
Water, 78.0
100.0
Composition of the yolk of egg.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .16.0
Fatty matter, 30.7
Saline matter, . . . . . 1.3
Water, 52.0
100.0
The white of the egg, as shown by the above analysis, contains a
considerably larger proportion of water than the yolk. It con-
tains no fatty matter, but consists mainly of albumen in a dissolved
state, and inclosed within very thin-walled cells. It is this arrange-
ment which gives to the white of egg its ropy, gelatinous state.
EGGS. 183
Thoroughly shaking or beating it up with water breaks the cells and
removes the ropy state.
The yolk of the egg forms a kind of yellow emulsion. All the
fatty matter of the egg is accumulated in this portion of it, and it
here amounts to as much as 30 per cent. The fat is held in suspen-
sion or emulsified by the albuminous matter of the yolk, which con-
stitutes a slight modification of that of the white, and is called vitel-
lin. The yolk contains relatively a less proportion of nitrogenous
matter than the white. The proportion of solid matter, on account
of the fat, is considerably greater. An enveloping membrane or bag
surrounds the yolk, and keeps the fluid matter, of which it is com-
posed, together. Being lighter than the white, it floats to that por-
tion of the egg which is uppermost, but is kept in position between
the two extremities by two processes of inspissated albumen, called
chalazae, which pass and are attached one to either end of the egg.
The quality of eggs varies according to the food upon which the
fowl is kept. Certain articles of food communicate a distinct
flavor to the egg.
In an alimentary point of view, therefore, the white and yolk
differ markedly from each other, the one being mainly a simple so-
lution of albumen, the other a solution of a modified form of albu-
men associated with a considerable quantity of fat.
Beckoning the weight of an egg at two ounces, and that one-
tenth of this consists of shell, the contents will furnish the follow-
ing amounts of dry constiuents, the percentage composition given
above being taken as the basis of calculation :
Dry constituents of the contents of an egg.
Nitrogenous matter, .... 110 grains.
Fatty matter, 82 "
Saline matter, 11 "
Total solid matter, . . .203 grains.
Raw and lightly boiled eggs are easy of digestion. The hard-
boiled egg offers considerable resistance to gastric solution, and ex-
erts a constipating action on the bowels.
The egg changes by keeping, and certain devices are practiced to
preserve its freshness. The shell, being porous, allows of the evap-
oration of fluid, and air accumulates in its place at one of the ex-
184 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
tremities. Thus, an egg under exposure to the air loses weight
from day to day, and the diminution in density indicates the length
of time it has been kept. For example, a solution of salt in the
proportion of about 10 per cent. that is, one ounce of salt in ten
ounces of water will just allow a fresh egg to sink, whilst one
which has been kept several days will swim. Bad eggs become
sufficiently light to float even in pure water.
The air which finds its way through the pores of the shell into
the egg causes gradual decomposition, until ultimately a state of
putrescence is attained. With the view of excluding the air eggs
are sometimes placed and kept in lime-water. The shell is also
sometimes covered with a layer of wax and oil or some other kind
of fatty matter, and sometimes with gum. By packing in bran,
salt, or some such material, they keep longer than they otherwise
would do, but it must be remembered that eggs easily acquire a
taste from that which surrounds them. Immersed for some hours
in a solution of salt, some of the saline matter penetrates and tends
to preserve the egg under subsequent exposure to the air.
Fresh eggs are easily known by their translucency when held up
to the light. By keeping they become cloudy, and when decidedly
stale a distinct, dark, cloud-like appearance is discernible opposite
some portion of the shell. A little instrument is sold as an egg-
tester. It consists of a small square box, with a hole at the top to
receive the egg, and another at one side to look into. By an arrange-
ment of mirrors within, the state of the egg is seen when a strong
light is thrown upon it so as to be transmitted through. If the egg
be fresh the image seen in the mirror is almost transparent, whilst if
stale it is more or less dark.
Eggs are sometimes noticed to break spontaneously on being
boiled. This occurs when the egg is suddenly immersed in a largish
quantity of boiling water. The sudden expansion of the contents
produced by the heat causes the shell to give way. Immersed in a
small quantity of water only, the temperature is lowered sufficiently
to prevent any immediate extensive expansion, and then, with the
subsequent gradual elevation of the temperature, time is given for a
little fluid to be forced through the pores of the shell from the pres-
sure within, and, perhaps, for the shell itself to undergo some ex-
pansion. A stale egg is less likely to become broken in this way
MILK. 185
than a fresh one, on account of the air which has replaced the evap-
orated fluid admitting easily of compression.
MILK.
Milk, an article furnished and intended by nature as the sole food
for the young of a certain class of animals, necessarily contains, like
eggs, all the elements that are required for the growth and mainte-
nance of the body. Holding the position it does, it may be justly
regarded as the type of an alimentary substance.
Good milk is a homogeneous opaquely white or very faintly buff-
tinted liquid, which is entirely free from any viscidity, and under-
goes no change on being heated. It has a sweet taste, and a slightly
perceptible agreeable odor. Its reaction, although formerly de-
scribed as faintly acid, has been more recently ascertained to be
slightly alkaline, or else neutral, when in a natural state and at the
moment of removal. A little later an acid character becomes per-
ceptible, and is evidently due to the effect of change after removal.
Its density varies, but 1030 may be looked upon as about the
average in the case of cow's milk. Although appearing homoge-
neous to the naked eye, it in reality consists, as is shown by micro-
scopic examination, of a clear liquid holding in suspension a multi-
tude of little particles or globules, which constitute the cause of its
opacity. These globules are of a fatty nature, and, being lighter
than the surrounding liquid, gradually rise to the surface, and form
the cream which collects at the top of milk that is allowed to repose.
The ingredients of milk consist of
Nitrogenous matter,
Fatty matter,
Lactin, or sugar of milk,
Mineral matter, and
Water.
The nitrogenous matter is chiefly composed of casein, a principle
which, unlike albumen, is not coagulated by heat, but is coagulable
by acids, organic as well as mineral, and also by a neutral organic
substance obtainable from the stomach, viz., pepsin, which forms the
active principle of rennet. It is casein which constitutes curd and
the basis of cheese. It is thrown down, carrying with it in an en-
tangled state the suspended fatty globules, not only by the addition
186 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
of the agents mentioned, but as a result of the spontaneous change
which milk undergoes under exposure to air. The cause of this
spontaneous coagulation is the development of lactic acid by a fer-
mentative transformation of the lactin. As is well known, warmth
greatly favors this change, and it does so to such an extent that
during the hot weather of summer milk very quickly passes into a
coagulated or curdled state. Contact with the smallest quantity of
milk that has undergone the change also rapidly induces curdling
throughout the whole bulk. Hence arises the necessity, as has been
found by experience, of exercising the most scrupulous care in se-
curing the utmost cleanliness of the vessels used for the purpose of
storage. It may further be mentioned that at the commencement
of the change an amount of lactic acid may have been generated in-
sufficient to curdle the milk at the ordinary temperature, but suffi-
cient to do so at a greater heat, because the action of the acid is then
more energetic. This accounts for the circumstance frequently no-
ticed in household economy, that milk may be liquid, and apparently
fresh, at the ordinary temperature, and yet shall curdle upon being
boiled.
Besides casein, milk contains a little albumen, and a third nitro-
genous principle in small amount, which has been named lacto-
protein.
The fatty matter constitutes butter. Whilst existing in milk it is
suspended, as has been already mentioned, under the form of micro-
scopic globules. These globules appear to be surrounded by an en-
velope of casein or albuminoid matter, which becomes broken in the
process of churning for the production of butter, so allowing the
incorporation of the fatty matter to occur. It is seemingly on ac-
count of this envelope that ether fails to dissolve out the fat when
simply shaken up with milk ; for if a small quantity of an alkali,
as for instance potash, which may be presumed to dissolve the en-
velopes, be previously added, then ether immediately takes up the
fat, leaving a clear watery liquid, consisting of the casein, &c., lactin,
and salts.
Lactin forms one of the varieties of sugar, and remains dissolved
in the liquid from which both the curd and butter may have been
separated. It has a less sweet taste, and is less soluble in water
than ordinary sugar, is nearly insoluble in alcohol and ether, readily
crystallizes, and reduces the cupro-potassic solution like grape-sugar,
MILK. 187
but is not directly susceptible of alcoholic fermentation. Alone it
forms a stable compound, but in contact with decomposing nitrogen-
ous matter it undergoes conversion into lactic acid, which accounts
for the sourness that milk acquires on keeping.
The mineral matter and water comprise the inorganic principles
required for the purposes of life.
According to the analysis given in Dr. Letheby's table, cow's milk
contains 14 per cent, of solid matter, which is distributed as follows:
Composition of cow's milk.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . . 41
Fatty matter, 3.9
Lactin, ...... 5.2
Saline matter, . . .* . 0.8
Water, 86.0
100.0
One pint of milk of the above composition, reckoned at a sp. gr.
of 1030, which will give 9012 grains as its weight, will contain the
following amounts of the several solid constituents, represented in
grains and ounces :
Solid constituents in one pint of milk.
Grains. Ozs.
Nitrogenous matter, 369 0.843
Fatty matter, 351 0.802
Lactin, 468 1.069
Saline matter, 72 0.164
Total solid matter, 1.260 2.878
The proportion of the several constituents of milk varies in dif-
ferent animals, and also under different circumstances in the same
animal.
First, as regards the composition of the milk of different animals.
As it does not happen that a fixed or invariable composition exists,
it is not surprising that the analyses of different authorities should
be found to vary to some extent. They so far agree, however, as to
give marked distinctive features to the milk of certain animals. The
following table is furnished by Payen as affording a mean represen-
tation :
188
ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Mean composition of the milk of various animals (Pay en).
Nitrogenous matter and 1
insoluble salts, J
Butter, .
Lactin and soluble salts, .
Water, .
Woman.
Cow.
(foat.
Sheep.
Ass.
Mare.
3.35
4.55
4.50
8.00
1.70
1.62
8.34
370
4.10
6.50
1.40
0.20
3.77
5.35
5.80
4.50
6.40
8.75
89.54
86.40
85.60
82.00
90.50
89.33
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 1 100.00 100.00 1
The milk of the cow, according to the above analyses, the most
closely approximates to that of woman, but it is rather more highly
charged with each kind of solid constituent. Next follows the milk
of the goat, which, taken altogether, is again rather richer. That of
the sheep is characterized by its marked richness in nitrogenous mat-
ter and butter. The milk of the ass and mare presents a striking
difference from the rest. The peculiarity consists of the small amounts
of nitrogenous matter and butter, and the large amount of lactin or
sugar. The milk of the mare forms the higher representative of
this peculiarity of the two, and so large is the amount of sugar con-
tained in it that in Tartary it is fermented and converted into a spir-
ituous liquor, which is known by the name of koumiss. Asses' milk
is well known to form a most useful aliment for persons too delicate
in health to bear cow's milk. Its prominent characters as an article
of food are sweetness of taste and facility of digestion; and a glance
at its composition suffices to account for the possession of these quali-
ties. It is said to have the objection of being sometimes apt to
occasion diarrhoea.
I have selected and introduced Payen's analyses, but it must be
stated that somewhat different results are furnished by other analysts,
and particularly as regards woman's milk, in which the proportion
of sugar is given as considerably larger, and that of casein smaller,
thus bringing it in respect of these constituents closer to the milk of
the ass.
1 The correct additions here do not quite correspond with the figures given, a
deviation to the extent of 1.0 existing in the one case and 0.1 in the other. The
soluble salts, which in the above table are grouped with the lactin, are in Payen's
table put down at 1.06 per cent, for woman's milk. This is obviously an error,
and it may be concluded that 0.06 is meant. These figures have been taken
above and bring the addition correct.
MILK. 189
With reference to the casein, it is stated that the coagulum or curd
of woman's milk is "in general somewhat gelatinous, and not so
dense or solid as that of cow's milk, and, therefore, more easily di-
gested by the child's stomach" (Lehmann).
The quality of milk further varies in different breeds of animals.
The milk of the Alderney cow, for example, is well known for its
great richness in fat, and that of the breed of long-horns is reputed
to contain a larger proportion of casein than exists in the milk of
other cows. It is also a popular belief that dark-complexioned
women possess superior qualifications for nursing than fair-cornplex-
ioned women, and this view is supported by the results of a com-
parative analysis made by L'Heritier 1 of the milk of two nursing
mothers, aged twenty years, one of whom was dark and the other fair,
it having been found that the secretion of the brunette was richer in
each of the organic constituents than that of the blonde.
Besides these variations in the milk of individual animals, varia-
tions of a certain nature are noticeable in the milk of the same in-
dividual.
The fluid which is first secreted after parturition is in a very dif-
ferent condition from ordinary milk. It goes by the name of co/os-
trmtij and is of a somewhat viscid or stringy consistence, something
like soap and water, with a turbid and yellowish appearance, and a
strongly alkaline reaction. It contains more albumen than casein,
and hence undergoes coagulation on boiling. Examined microscopi-
cally, a number of large irregular bodies are seen, which consist of
conglomerations of small fat-globules held together by an amor-
phous, somewhat granular substance. These are called colostrum-cor-
puscles. The secretion of the cow remains in this state for several
days it may be, for a month after calving. Possessing during this
time a somewhat sickly odor and purgative properties, it must be re-
garded as in an unfit state for human food.
A marked difference exists in the quality of the milk as regards
the amount of cream which is obtained at the commencement and at
the end of milking. It has been ascertained by direct observation,
both on the Continent and in England, that the latter, especially
when intervals of some duration are allowed to elapse between the
periods of milking, contains more than double, and it may be, as
1 Traite de Chimie pathologique, Paris, 1842, p. 638.
190 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
much as four times, the amount of cream in a given quantity of milk.
This appears to be due to the fatty matter rising upwards whilst the
milk is contained within the gland, just as it is known to do after
removal. In this way the last removed portion, consisting of that
which occupied the highest position, will contain the largest amount
of fatty matter, and may consist, in fact, of a species of thin cream.
It is important that this should be known by those who obtain the
measure of milk they require in a separate vessel direct from the cow.
Of course, if a whole milking is received into one vessel, a uniform
admixture will occur and an average quality be yielded.
According to results obtained in a series of observations conducted
by Dr. Hassall, it appears that the afternoon milk of the cow is richer
both in cream and curd (butter and casein) than the morning.
Evidence is not wanting to show, as might be anticipated, that
the quality of the milk is influenced by the nature of the food. Our
knowledge is still imperfect regarding the precise effect exerted by
different alimentary articles on the amount of the respective constitu-
ent principles of milk ; but this much has been clearly ascertained,
that an insufficient diet quickly leads to its impoverishment in solid
material. It is nothing more than might be expected that to main-
tain the milk in good condition, a proper and sufficient diet must be
supplied ; and, in the case of the cow, no food can be considered
equal to that which is yielded by the fresh pasture of country fields,
the plants of which give a richness, sweetness, and agreeable aroma,
which cannot be supplied by any other mode of feeding.
That milk is susceptible of being in a marked degree influenced
by special ingesta is a fact with which most people are acquainted,
and many familiar illustrations of it can be adduced. It is known,
for instance, that the color may be modified by mixing saffron or
madder with the food ; the odor, by the consumption of plants belong-
ing to the cabbage and onion tribes ; and the taste, by the ingestion
of a bitter article such as wormwood. Milk also is known to acquire*
poisonous properties from the nature of the herbage in certain locali-
ties, without the animals themselves (cows, goats, &c.), being poisoned,
just as has been previously mentioned may happen in the case of
meat. This is noticed to occur abroad, and especially in Malta and
in some of the districts of North America. A further illustration of
the influence exerted by food is afforded by the fact that the milk
of meadow-fed cows, and likewise the cream which rises from it, is
UNWHOLESOME MILK. 191
liable to acquire a marked unpleasant flavor in the autumn from the
fallen and decayed leaves which may happen to be consumed by the
animal.
Suckling mothers have to practice self-denial in eating and drink-
ing for the sake of the ease and comfort of their infants. Experience
teaches them that by partaking of fruit and green vegetables, or any-
thing of a sour or acid nature, their milk is apt to acquire griping
and purging properties.
The medical practitioner is likewise well aware that medicinal
agents produce their effect upon the milk. Infants may be salivated,
purged, and narcotized by mercury, drastic purgatives, and opiates,
respectively administered to the mother. Sometimes, also, medicines
are purposely given to influence the child through the medium of the
milk instead of being administered directly to the infantile patient.
Lastly, it may be mentioned that violent exercise and certain
mental states are known to communicate pernicious properties to the
milk. An instance is quoted by Payen in which the milk of a
woman, the subject of nervous attacks, became, in less than two
hours after each paroxysm, mucilaginous like the white of egg.
Milk appears, also, sometimes to acquire specially deleterious
properties from a peculiar change taking place, attended with the
development of a low form of vegetable growth. Dr. Parkes ob-
serves 1 that " Professor Mosler has directed attention to the poison-
ous effects of ' blue milk/ that is to say, milk covered with a layer
of blue substance, which is, in fact, a fungus, either the Didium
lactis or Penicittium, which seems to have the power, under certain
conditions, of causing the appearance in the milk of an anilin-like
substance. The existence of this form of fungus was noted by Fuchs
as long ago as 1861. Milk of this kind gives rise to gastric irrita-
tion (first noted by Stein hof) ; and in four cases noted by Mosler,
it produced severe febrile gastritis.
"Milk which is not blue, but which contains large quantities of
Didium, appears from Hessling's observations to produce many dys-
peptic symptoms, and even cholera-like attacks, as well as possibly
to give rise to some aphthous affections of the mouth in children."
In a footnote it is stated that " blue milk is given by feeding cows
with some vegetable substances, as Myosotis palmtris, Polygonum
1 Practical Hygiene, 3d ed., p. 239.
192 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
aviculare and Fagopyrum, Mercurialis perennis, and other plants
(Hosier), but this is different from the blue color referred to
above." 1
There are certain products and modifications of milk, as cream,
skimmed milk, butter-milk, curds, whey, condensed milk, butter
and cheese, which will now require consideration.
Cream. Cream consists mainly of the fatty matter of milk,
which, by virtue of its lightness, rises to the surface, the milk being
allowed to repose for some time for the purpose. It contains some
of the watery liquid part of the milk which holds in solution the
other constituents. The composition of cream will necessarily varjr
a great deal according to its purity. The following is the compo-
sition given in Dr. Letheby's table :
Composition of cream.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .2.7
Fatty matter, . . . . ' . 26.7
Lactin, 28
Saline matter, 1.8
Water, . - 66.0
100.0
Devonshire or clotted cream differs from ordinary cream in being
of a solid consistence. The difference is produced by its being col-
lected from milk which has been previously heated just to the point
of simmering. A scum forms, and is associated with the fatty mat-
ter that subsequently rises.
Skimmed milk. Skimmed milk is the residue of milk from which
cream has been collected. It is simply milk deprived of a certain
amount of its fatty constituent. Being less rich than ordinary milk,
it sometimes forms a useful aliment for a weak stomach.
1 Although not strictly falling within the scope of this work, it may here be
mentioned that some recent outbreaks of typhoid fever have been very distinctly
traced to the milk consumed. It does not appear that the milk has originally
possessed noxious properties, but has acquired them by admixture with polluted
water before distribution to the consumer.
MILK. 193
Composition of skimmed milk.
Nitrogenous matter, .... 4.0
Fatty matter, 1.8
Lactin, ...... 5.4
Saline matter, 0.8
Water, 88.0
100.0
Butter-milk. When butter is prepared directly from milk a thin
residuary liquid is yielded, which is known by the name of butter-
milk. It contains a less amount of fatty matter than skimmed milk.
Mixed with other food it is by no means an insignificant article of
nourishment, containing, as it does, the nitrogenous matter, sugar,
saline matter, and a small portion of the- fatty matter of the milk.
It is extensively used by the peasantry in some localities, and when
not so employed is turned to account for feeding swine.
Composition of butter-milk.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .41
Fatty matter, 0.7
Lactin, 64
Saline matter, 08
Water, 88.0
100.0
Curd. The essential basis of curd is casein ; but, as this principle
undergoes coagulation during the transformation of milk into curds
and wkey, it entangles and carries with it the suspended milk-
globules. Curd, therefore, consists of the nitrogenous portion of milk
mixed with the chief part of its fatty element. It constitutes the
basis of cheese.
Whey. This forms the opalescent liquid left from the separation
of the curd ; it contains the lactin and salts of the milk, and likewise
retains a little casein and fatty matter. It is of some value, but not
much, in an alimentary point of view. It is frequently, however,
used to advantage in the sick-room as a drink in febrile and in-
flammatory diseases, and possesses sudorific and diuretic properties.
It is prepared by the addition of various agents to milk, and is
designated according to the agent employed, as, for instance, rennet
whey, white wine whey, cream of tartar whey, tamarind whey, alum
whey, &G.
13
194
ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Condensed milk. Milk is now to be obtained in a condensed and
preserved state. It is sold in hermetically sealed tins, and thus cir-
cumstanced may be kept ready for use whenever required for years.
It is found in a syrupy or semi-liquid state, miscible with water,
and will remain good for some days after the tin is opened. The
process of preservation, it appears, was first successfully carried out
in America, and there the " plain condensed milk/ 7 or milk simply
reduced from four volumes to one, and subjected to a process of
superheating, is sold as well as condensed milk to which cane-sugar
has been added to assist its preservation. In England there are
three kinds of condensed milk supplied to the public that of the
Anglo-Swiss Company, which is prepared at Cham, in Switzerland
(London office, 38 Leadenhall Street) ; that of the Aylesbury Com-
pany, which is prepared at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire (London
office, 96 Leadenhall Street) ; and that of Messrs. Crosse & Black-
well. Each contains, according to a report in " Food, Water, and
Air," for October, 1872, genuine condensed milk in a perfect state of
preservation, with the addition only of cane-sugar. 1 The following
are the results furnished in the " Report" alluded to of the respective
analyses of the three :
Condensed milk.
Anglo-Swiss.
Aylesbury.
Crosse & Blackwell's.
Casein,
. 18.52
17.20
16.30
Fatty matter, .
. 10.80
11.30
9.50
Sugar of milk, .
. 16.50
1200
17.54
Cane-sugar,
. 27.11
29.59
27.06
Ash, .
. 2.12
2.24
2.39
Phosphoric acid,
.649
.67
.708
Water,
. 24.30
27.00
2650
100.000
100.00
100.000
1 Amongst the correspondence contained in the Lancet for Nov. 2d and 9th,
1872, some remarks are to be found regarding the employment of condensed milk
as an article of food for infants brought up by hand. Whilst it is admitted that
infants take it readily on account of its sweetness, grow plump, and appear to
thrive remarkably well upon it, it is alleged that the appearance, which depends
simply upon an accumulation of fat, is delusive, and that they in reality possess
so little power that they become prostrated by diarrhoea and other affections, and
rapidly sink in a manner that is not observed under other modes of feeding. The
evidence at present adduced can only be looked upon as suggestive, but the mat-
ler is an important one and worthy the consideration of those whose field of ob-
servation affords them an opportunity of obtaining and furnishing trustworthy
information on the point.
MILK. 195
Liebiy's Food for Infants. This constitutes a food devised upon
chemical principles, to form an appropriate substitute for woman's
milk. The name of the originator has been sufficient to carry it
into extensive use in Germany, and it has also been made widely
known in England. It is composed of malt flour, wheat flour, cow's
milk, bicarbonate of potash, and water, in such proportions as to
give a representation of woman's milk as regards the relation of ni-
trogenous and non-nitrogenous principles. The following is described
as the easiest and most simple way of making the food.
Take half an ounce of wheat flour, half an ounce of malt flour,
and seven and a quarter grains of the crystallized bicarbonate of
potash, and after well mixing them add one ounce of water, and,
lastly, five ounces of cow's milk. Warm the mixture, continually
stirring, over a very slow fire till it becomes thick. Then remove
the vessel from the fire, stir again for five minutes, put it back on
the fire, take it off as soon as it gets thick, and, finally, let it boil
well. It is necessary that the food should form a thin and sweet
liquid previous to its final boiling. Before use it requires to be
strained through a muslin or fine hair sieve, to separate fragments of
husk that may be present.
To avoid the trouble of weighing, it is mentioned that as much
wheat flour as will lie on a tablespoon corresponds with an ounce,
and that a moderate tablespoonful of malt flour corresponds with
half an ounce.
It is malt made from barley that is to be used, and a common
coffee-mill answers the purpose of grinding it into flour, which is to
be cleaned from the husk by a coarse sieve.
The bicarbonate of potash is added to neutralize the acid reaction
of the two kinds of flour, and also to raise the amount of alkali in
the food to the equivalent of that in woman's milk.
The ferment contained in the malt leads, during the exposure to
the warmth employed in the process of preparation, to the conver-
sion of the starch of both the flours into dextrin and sugar, the
latter of which gives the sweet taste that is acquired. The newly
formed products, also, being soluble, accountvS for the mixture be-
coming thin, and it is a point contended for by Liebig that princi-
ples in this state tax the digestive and assimilative powers of the
infant much less than starch.
196 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
EXAMINATION OF MILK.
The quality of milk may be judged of by its specific gravity and
the amount of cream contained in it.
Specific, Gi^avity. The specific gravity is taken by weighing, or
more readily by means of an instrument known as the hydrometer.
The ordinary sp. gr. of good genuine cow's milk may be said to be
about 1030 at 60 Fahr. It varies, however, within a range usually
of two or three degrees over and about four degrees under, and is
more frequently under than over.
The addition of water lowers the sp. gr., and thus is afforded one
means of detecting this adulteration. An excess of cream also
lowers the sp. gr., on account of the lightness of the fatty matter, so
that caution is necessary in dealing with the evidence afforded by
the sp. gr. In a sample of milk examined by Dr. Hassall, contain-
ing 26 per cent, of cream (the usual quantity is from 5 to 10 per
cent.), the sp. gr. was found to be 1019, and in another, containing
80 per cent., as low even as 1008 ; and that this was due to the
cream was proved by the fact that the same samples, when skimmed,
showed a sp. gr. of 1027 and 1026 respectively. These form ex-
treme and exceptional cases, but it often occurs that milk which is
only fairly rich in cream will show a sp. gr. of 1026 or 1027 before
being skimmed, and 1030 or 1031 afterwards. It is better, there-
fore, to get rid of this modifying element, and to submit the milk,
after being skimmed, to examination, and if there be then a lower
sp. gr. than about 1027 or 1028 it may be fairly surmised that water
has been added.
Dr. Hassall even recommends that the influence of all the fatty
matter, and the casein as well, should be eliminated, ajid that the
whey should form the liquid submitted to examination, a few drops
of acetic acid being used to effect the separation. He gives the re-
sult of the examination of the whey derived from forty-two samples
of genuine milk, and, whilst considerable variation was noticeable
in the sp. gr. of the milk itself, only a slight variation was observed
in that of the whey, the limits of the range being 1025 and 1028.
MILK. 197
Effect produced on the sp. gr. of milk by dilution with water (Hassall).
Sp. gr.
Pure milk, 1030
Milk diluted with about 15 per cent, of water, . . . 1026
20 " " ... 1023
35 "" ... 1018
" 45 " " ... 1015
Skimmed milk, 1031
Skimmed milk diluted with 10 per cent, of water, . . 1027
" a 20 " " ... 1025
" " 30 " ... 1021
" " 40 it tt ... 1019
" " 50 " " ... 1016
Whey, 1029
Whey diluted with 10 per cent, of water, .... 1025
u 20 M " 1022
" 30 " " 1020
40 " " 1017
" " 50 " u ..... 1014
In an examination conducted in my own laboratory the following
are the specific gravities that were given by admixtures of definite
proportions of milk of a sp. gr. of 1030 and water
Milk. Water. Sp. gr. of specimen. a Sp. gr. of the whey.
100 -f . . . . 1030 .... 1027.4
95 + 5 . . . . 1027.5 .... 1025.8
90 -f 10 . . . . 1026 .... 1024
85 -{- 15 . . . . 1024 .... 1022.5
80 +' 20 . . . . 1022.4 .... 1020.6
75 + 25 . . . . 1021.4 .... 1019
70 + 30 . . . . 1019.6 .... 1017.8
65 -f 35 . . . . 1018.4 .... 1016
60 -f 40 . . . . 1017 .... 1014.6
55 + 45 . . . . 1015.2 .... 1013.3
50 + 50 . . . . 1014 .... 1012
40 + 60 . . . . 1011 .... 1009
The amount of cream is estimated by means of the lactometer and
the lactoscope.
Lactometer. This consists of a long glass tube or vessel gradu-
ated into 100 measures. The vessel is filled to at the top of the
graduated scale and placed aside for the cream to rise. The thick-
198 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
ness of the layer can then be read off in percentages. The amount
of cream varies considerably in different samples of genuine milk,
and no precise limits can be given. It may be said, however, that
if found below 5 per cent, a suspicion of adulteration with water
may be reasonably entertained. The average appears to be about 8
or 9 per cent., but it may amount to, and even considerably exceed,
20 per cent.
A popular notion is entertained that the addition of a small quan-
tity of warm water to milk increases the amount of cream yielded.
The notion, however, has been shown by observation to be entirely
erroneous. It evidently arose from the circumstance that the addi-
tion of water, by diminishing the sp. gr. of the milk, facilitates and
expedites the ascent, but ultimately the product is even less.
Lactoscope. A more scientific and exact way of estimating the
amount of fat in milk is by the use of an instrument called the lac-
toscope. This measures the degree of opacity of the liquid, and, as
the opacity of milk is due to the fatty matter, it affords an indica-
tion of the amount that is present. The lactoscope of Donne, the
original inventor of the instrument, consisted of an arrangement for
increasing or diminishing the thickness of the layer of milk placed
between two glass plates ; and according to the thickness required
to obscure the light of a candle, looked at through the apparatus, a
measure was furnished of the amount of fat, which could be read off
from an index adjusted for the purpose.
The lactoscope of Donne has been improved upon by Vogel,
whose very simple contrivance affords a ready means of determining
in a precise manner the amount of fatty matter suspended in any
given specimen of milk. The apparatus consists of a half-moon-
shaped trough, with two parallel sides formed of flat glass plates,
one-fifth of an inch distant from each other ; a glass cylinder on a
foot and with a spout, graduated to 100 c.c. ; and a small pipette,
graduated in c.c. divided into halves. In conducting the examina-
tion the measure is filled to 100 c.c. with water, and then a few c.c.,
say 3, of milk are dropped in from the graduated pipette. The
mixture is well shaken, and the trough afterwards filled with it. A
candle, is placed about three feet from the trough, and the flame
looked at through the diluted milk, the back of the observer being
directed towards the window of the room. If the candle-flame is
clearly seen, the mixture is to be returned to the measure, and more
MILK.
199
milk added to it from the pipette, and then to be tried again in the
trough. This is to be repeated, adding each time either one or half
a c.c., until the candle-flame becomes obscured. From the quantity
of 'milk required to be added to the 100 c.c. of water to produce
this effect, the amount of fatty matter can be calculated, the follow-
ing formula having been found, by comparing the results obtained
with those yielded by chemical analysis, to give the information re-
quired. Let 23.2 be divided by the number of cubic centimetres
of milk employed, and 0.23 be added, and the product will give the
percentage amount of fat. Suppose, for instance, 6 c.c. of milk to
have been required, then the fat will amount to 4.09 per cent.
Thus :
23.2
4- 0.23 = 4.09
6
The following table gives the results worked out, and will enable
the percentage of fat to be at once read off:
C.C. of milk
employed.
1
Percentage of fat
in the milk.
. 23.43
C.C. of milk
employed.
14
Percentage of fat
in the milk.
.88
1.5
2
. 1546
. 11.83
15
16
. .78
.68
2.5
. 9.51
17
. . .60
3
. 7.96
18
. .52
3.5
. 6.86
19
. .45
4
4 5
. 6.03
5 38
20
22
. .39
.28
5
5.5
. 4.87
4.45
24
26
. .19
.12
6
. 409
28
. .06
6.5
. 3.80
30
. .00
7
. 3.54
35
. 0.89
7.5
8
. 3.32
3.13
40
45
. 0.81
. 0.74
8.5
. 2.96
50
. 0.69
9
. 2.80
55
. 0.65
9.5
. 2.77
60
. 0.61
10
11
. 2.55
2.43
70
80
. 0.56
. 0.52
12
2.16
90
. 0.48
13
. 2.01
100
. 0.46
200 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
BUTTER.
Butter is the fatty portion of milk, and is obtained by the process
of churning, either cream or the milk itself being subjected to the
operation. The effect of churning is to cause the milk-globules to
run together or coalesce, and thus to become incorporated into a solid
mass. This is supposed to be brought about by the mechanical
rupture, in the first place, of the envelopes of the globules, the con-
tents of which are then permitted to become agglomerated ; and, it is
found by experience that the process is facilitated by being conducted
at a temperature of about 60 Fahr. When the butter is formed, it
is removed from the churn and well kneaded and washed with water,
to remove as much as possible of adhering casein and other ingredi-
ents of the milk, and the more completely this is effected the better
will the butter afterwards keep. More or less salt is added to pro-
mote still farther its power of keeping, and the quantity is regulated
by whether the butter is to be eaten fresh or to be preserved for
future consumption.
The pure fatty matter of butter is composed of a mixture of several
fatty principles. Six have been enumerated by Chevreul/viz. :
Margarin,
Olein (Butyrolein),
Caprylin,
Butyrin,
Caprin,
Caproin (Capronin).
These are neutral fats, and are resolvable into glycerin and mar-
garic, oleic, caprylic, butyric, capric, and caproic acids respectively :
the first two acids being of a fixed, and the last four of a volatile
nature. It is to the latter agents that the characteristic taste and
smell of butter are due, although they are present only in small
amount. According to Bromeis 98 per cent, of butter (the pure fat)
is composed of margarin and olein (68 per cent, of the former and 30
per cent, of the latter), and the remainder of the volatile fatty acid
compounds.
Such is the composition of the pure fatty matter of butter. Butter,
however, as it is obtained and furnished for consumption contains a
certain quantity of other matter, but the fat ought to amount to from
BUTTER. 201
86 to 92 per cent. Casein is present to the extent of from 3 to 5
per cent, only in good specimens. In a bad sample there may be
considerably more. Some of the watery portion of the milk is re-
tained, and with it the other constituents that are held in solution.
The water should not amount to more than from 5 to 10 per cent.,
but it is sometimes found in considerably larger quantity. The
practice of beating up the butter with water before being put into
the scales forms a process which tells in favor of the retail dealer. A
description of butter known as " Bosh " has been found to contain a
proportion of water amounting in some cases to more than a third
of the article (Hassall). Salt is present as an admixture in all butters.
In fresh butter the average amount ranges from 0.5 to 2 per cent.
In salt butter the quantity should not exceed 8 per cent.
Butter may be separated from the above-mentioned adventitious
ingredients by applying heat so as to melt it. The fatty matter
rises in a pure state to the surface, leaving a watery liquid contain-
ing the other principles present below. Its flavor, however, is much
deteriorated by the process, for the agreeable taste belonging to fresh
butter is in great part due to the natural accessory matter present.
It is true butter has a peculiar odor and flavor which are given to it
by its volatile fatty acid compounds, and these will be retained in
the melted article ; but there are, besides, sapid qualities belonging
to fresh butter which are due to other ingredients derived from the
milk which yielded it. It is well known that the taste of butter is
much influenced by the nature of the food upon which the cow is
kept, and that a delicate and agreeable aroma is given by some
pastures which is not afforded by others. A decidedly unpleasant
flavor (which, as previously mentioned, may be likewise perceptible
in the milk and cream) is also sometimes noticeable in the butter
made in the autumn, and not at other times of the year, arising from
the fallen and decayed leaves which the cow may happen to have
consumed with its food.
Fresh butter, especially in hot weather, is very prone to undergo
change, and in the course of a short time to become rancid. This
arises from the nitrogenous matter of the milk with which the butter
is impregnated acting as a ferment, and leading to the liberation of
the fatty acids. The more completely butter is deprived of this ad-
ventitious matter by washing, the better is it found afterwards to
keep ; and, if it be completely deprived of it by melting and agita-
202 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
tion with boiling water, it will bear preservation for a considerable
period, but the process involves a loss of the agreeable flavor which
belongs to the article in the fresh state. When butter has become
rancid it may also be rendered again eatable by melting it a'nd shak-
ing it repeatedly with boiling water for the purpose of removing the
free fatty acids ; and, if the melted butter be then poured into ice-
cold water, it is stated to assume the appearance of fresh butter.
The addition of salt to butter checks the decomposition of the casein
that may be present, and thence, also, the change of the butter itself.
It is upon this principle that salt is used as a preservative agent, and
sugar enjoys a similar capacity. Butter laid in syrup is said to keep
even better than salted butter. Exclusion from air affords another
means of preserving butter, and simply covering it with water, re-
newed every day, will suffice to keep it good for a week and upwards.
Instead of water, a weak solution of tartaric acid has been recom-
mended by Br<k>n, and, according to Payen, is far more efficacious.
Payen states that some butter upon which the process was tried with
a view of testing its efficacy, was found to have retained its freshness
at the end of two months under the existence of a temperature of
from 60 to 68 Fahr.
Butter is a form of fatty matter less likely than most others to
disagree with the stomach. This applies to butter in a perfectly
fresh or unchanged state ; when rancid, or when the fatty acids have
been liberated by exposure to heat, like all fatty matter in a similar
state, it is very apt to occasion gastric derangement.
CHEESE.
Cheese consists of the casein of milk with a varying admixture of
butter, according to the manner in which it has been prepared. The
casein is coagulated usually by the employment of rennet (an article
obtained from the fourth or digesting stomach of the calf), but some-
times by the agency of an acid. In being precipitated the casein
entangles and carries with it the suspended fat-globules (butter) of
the milk. After coagulation has been effected the curd is collected
and subjected to pressure in a mould, of the future form of the
cheese, to deprive it, as far as possible, of the liquid portion of the
milk, or whey. It is kept in the mould until it has acquired suffi-
cient consistence to hold together, and is then removed and exposed
on shelves in a cool and airy situation. Here it is kept for a con-
CHEESE. 203
siderable time for the process of ripening to occur. Salt is applied
to the surface, and frequent turning has to be performed. Changes
occur attended with the development of various volatile fatty acids,
and the clieese passes from a comparatively odorless and insipid state
to the condition well known to belong to the ripened article. The
larger the quantity of fatty matter, or butter, present, the larger is
the capacity for the production of the volatile fatty acids, and the
more strongly marked do the odor and flavor become. The casein,
however, appears also to undergo change, and to contribute to the
production of these characters. If circumstances exist which permit
the change still further to proceed, an advance to ordinary putrefac-
tion occurs, accompanied with the evolution of ammonia. In this
pronounced state of decay the taste and smell may be such as to be
actually offensive, and the article may acquire a highly irritating,
and even, as experience has shown, poisonous properties.
Various qualities of cheese are met with, and they are generally
known in commerce by the names of the localities producing them.
The quality depends upon the amount of fatty matter present in the
milk from which the cheese is made. In the richest cheeses, as Stil-
ton and Double Gloucester, cream is added to the milk. Cheshire
cheese is made from unskimmed milk; Single Gloucester, Chester,
and American, from milk with a little of the cream removed ; and
Dutch, Parmesan, Suffolk, and Somersetshire, from skimmed milk.
Cream cheese consists of the fresh curd which has been moderately
pressed. It is eaten without being allowed to ripen.
Fatty matter gives softness and richness to cheese, but, at the
same time, renders it more prone to change and decay on keeping.
It is the poor and close cheese, such as is made from skimmed milk,
as the Dutch, Parmesan, &c., which is found to keep the best. Par-
mesan, particularly, is characterized by its power of keeping ; and
after having been kept for some time it becomes of a hard and some-
what horny consistence, and requires grating to place it in a suitable
condition for consumption.
Composition of cheese (from Parkes). 1
Nitrogenous matter, .... 33.5
. Fatty matter, 24 3
Saline matter, 6.4
Water, 36.8
100.0
1 Practical Hygiene, 3d ed., p. 165.
204 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Composition of Cheddar cheese -(from Letheby).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 28.4
Fatty matter, 31.1
Saline matter, ..... 4.5
Water, 36.0
100.0
Composition of skim cheese (from Letheby).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 44.8
Fatty matter, 6.3
Saline matter, ..... 4.9
Water, 44.0
100.0
Composition of various kinds of cheese (Payen). 1
Neufchate
;1 Neufchatel
Koquefort.
Gruyere.
Dutch.
(fresh).
(matured).
Nitrogenous matter,
. 26.52
31.5
29.43
8.00
13.03
Fatty matter,
. 30.14
24.0
27.54
40.71
41.91
Saline matter,
. 5.07
3.0
0.51
3.63
Non-nitrogenous matter
\ 3.72
1.5
6.93
15.80
6.96
and loss,
J
Water, .
. 34.55
40.0
3610
36.58
34.47
100.00
100.0
100.00
100.00 2
100.00
Camembert.
Brie.
Chester.
Parmesan.
Nitrogenous matter,
.
. 18.90
18.48
25.99
44.08
21 05
25.73
26.34
15.95
Saline matter, .
. 4.71
5.61
4 16
5.72
Non-nitrogenous matter
and loss,
. 4.40
4.93
7.59
6.69
Water, .
. 51.94
45.25
35.92
27.56
100.00 3 100.00 100.00 100.00
On account of its richness in nitrogenous matter cheese constitutes
an article of considerable dietetic value. Amongst the poorer inhab-
itants of rural districts it enters as an important aliment into the
daily diet, serving to supply the nitrogen which is deficient in the
bread or other kind of vegetable food which is employed as the staple
article of subsistence. By the less indigent classes, where the meat
consumed suffices to supply the nitrogen required, cheese is rather
1 Substances Alimentaires, Paris, 1865, p. 197 et seq.
2 Total according to the figures given, 101.60.
3 Total according to the figures given, 101.00.
CHEESE. 205
employed as a condiment, or relish, than as a direct article of nourish-
ment, and for this purpose it is the more tasty kind of cheese that is
selected, of which only a small quantity is eaten, and this at the end
of the repast.
The digestibility of cheese varies much according to its nature.
The poorer and closer kinds of cheese, those which contain the largest
proportion of casein, require strong digestive power for their solu-
tion. The softer, stronger-tasted, and more friable kind of cheese,
however, is by no means similarly difficult of digestion, and it may,
indeed, taken in small quantity, aid the digestion of other food by
its stimulant action on the stomach. Toasted cheese, no matter of
what kind for in all, the consistence becomes close by toasting is
one of the most indigestible articles that can be eaten.
Cheese, especially the richer kinds, is very liable to form the seat
of growth of certain animal and vegetable organisms. The larvae,
or maggots, of a fly (Piophila casei), constituting what are known as
hoppers or jumpers, flourish upon it. Another animal frequently
met with is the cheese mite or Acarus domesticus. It exists in great
numbers, and is so small that its form is only distinctly to be per-
ceived by the microscope. The mould of cheese is composed of
minute vegetable organisms belonging to the tribe of fungi, blue
mould being formed by the Aspergillws glaucus, and red mould by
the $porendonema casei.
Cheese is also liable, as has been mentioned to occur likewise with
meat, to undergo a modified form of decay, attended with the de-
velopment of poisonous properties. Instances of cheese-poisoning
have been chiefly observed in Germany, but some cases have also
been recorded as having been met with in Cheshire. The symptoms
produced have very much resembled those arising from sausage-
poisoning, viz., gastro-intestinal irritation with great depression, and
have shown themselves within half an hour or a few hours after the
cheese has been eaten. According to Westrumb, poisonous cheese
presents no peculiarity in its appearance, taste, or smell; but Hiine-
feld says that it is yellowish and tough, with harder and darker
lumps interspersed, and that it has a disagreeable taste, reddens lit-
mus, and becomes flesh-red instead of yellow under the action of
nitric acid. 1
1 Christison on Poisons, 4th ed., p. 642.
ANIMAL FOOD SOMETIMES BUT NOT
ORDINARILY EATEN.
For the works corresponding with the reference numbers in the text, vide the
explanatory table at pp. 221-23.
THE information contained in the following pages has been
gathered from numerous sources, chiefly works on travels, and placed
together in a collected and systematic form. It shows that an almost
endless variety of animals are eaten in different parts of the globe,
and supplies what I have been able to learn has been said regarding
their edible qualities. In the case of some of them their consump-
tion occurs upon a sufficiently extensive scale to give them a position
of considerable importance in an alimentary point of view. In that
of others, however, the fact of their consumption cannot be looked
upon as anything beyond a point of a curiosity in dietetics. The
statements to be found are authenticated by references being furnished
to the works from which they have been taken. At the end of the
section (vide pp. 221-23) an explanatory table is given of the refer-
ence numbers employed. Whilst the numbers above the line repre-
sent the works referred to, the references to the volume and page are
made to follow in parentheses.
CANNIBALISM. There is reason to believe that the practice of
eating human flesh has not at all times been confined to the lowest
savages, but it is difficult to obtain much satisfactory information re-
specting it.
There is little doubt that our ancestors, the ancient inhabitants of
Britain, were guilty of eating human flesh, and St. Jerome specially
charges the Attacotti, a people of ancient Scotland, with preferring
the shepherd to his flock 61 (vol. 1, p. 688).
There have been numerous instances of cannibalism among people
suffering from starvation in sieges and from shipwreck, and the evi-
EXCEPTIONAL ANIMAL FOODS. 207
dence is tolerably strong that some men belonging to civilized races,
living in wild places, have occasionally decoyed persons to their dens
and eaten them. Andrew Wyntoun, in his rhyming chronicle, charges
a man who lived early in the fourteenth century with this crime 49
(vol. 2, p. 236).
Lindsay, of Pitscottie, also relates that a man and his wife and
family were all burnt on the east coast of Scotland for the crime of
eating children that they had stolen away 50 (p. 163). During the hor-
rors of the great French Revolution the heart of the Princess Lam-
balle was plucked out of her body by one of the mob, taken by him
to a restaurant, and there cooked and eaten 52 (vol. 2, p. 564).
Statements are given to the effect that there is something attrac-
tive in the taste of human flesh to those who have been addicted to
the revolting practice of cannibalism.
In the account mentioned by Lindsay, that has been just referred
to, it is stated that one of the daughters of the man, when going to
the place of execution, cried out, " Wherefore chide ye with me, as
if I had committed ane unworthy act ? Give me credence and trow
me, if ye had experience of eating men and women's flesh ye wokl
think it so delicious that ye wold never forbear it again" 51 (vol. 1,
p. 688).
In the present day the Polynesian islands are the chief home of
such cannibalism as still exists in the world. The Tannese say to
any one condemning their anthropophagous habits : " Pig's flesh is
very good for you, but this is the thing for us." They distribute
human flesh in little bits far and near among their friends as delicate
morsels. Cannibal connoisseurs, it is asserted, prefer a black man
to a white one, as the latter, they say, tastes salt 35 (p. 83).
Monkeys are eaten by the Chinese, 1 the natives of Ceylon, 3 the
Indians, the negroes and whites in Trinidad, 3 the Dyaks of Borneo, 3
the Africans of the Gold Coast, 3 the aborigines of the Amazon 2
(p. 485), and the Indians of Spanish Guiana. 4 The flesh is said to
be palatable. 5
The Kalong, or edible roussette (a species of bat), is abundant in
Java, and valued as food by the natives. The flesh is white, deli-
cate and tender, but generally imbued with a smell of musk. 4
The Lion is sometimes eaten in Africa, but its flesh is not good 6
(p. 304).
208 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
The Canadian Lynx is eaten by the Indians, and its flesh is said
to be white, tender, and to resemble that of the American hare. 4
Wolves are forbidden among the African Arabs, but are not un-
frequently eaten by sick persons 7 (p. 51). The mountaineers of the
American Sahara eat the small prairie wolf (Cants latransf (p. 80).
The Hudson's Bay Skunk is eaten by the Indians, who esteem its
flesh a great dainty. 4
The Otter is eaten by Laplanders and Esquimaux, but its flesh
has a fishy taste. 5
Cats are eaten by the Chinese 9 (vol. 3, p. 761), and in the island
of Savu are preferred to sheep and goats 9 (vol. 3, p. 688). 5000
cats are said to have been eaten in Paris during the late siege 10 (p.
299). According to the same authority, the cat is downright good
eating. A young one, well cooked, is better than hare or rabbit.
It tastes something like the American gray squirrel, but is even
tenderer and sweeter 10 (p. 219).
Although cats, like wolves and dogs, are forbidden among the
African Arabs, they are not unfrequently eaten by sick persons 7
(P- 52).
Dogs are eaten by the Chinese, 1 4 9 the New Zealanders 11 (vol. 2,
p. 17), the South Sea Islanders, 9 and some African tribes. 9 1200
dogs, it is stated, were eaten in Paris during the late siege, 10 and the
flesh fetched from two to three francs per pound 38 (Feb. 11, 1871).
According to Pliny, puppies were regarded as a great delicacy by
the Roman gourmands. Young dogs, like cats, are not to be eaten
by the African Arabs, but they are not unfrequently given to sick
persons. 7
Wild dogs are eaten by the natives of Australia 12 (vol. 2, p. 250),
but in New Zealand 11 and the South Sea Islands 9 (vol. 2, p. 196) the
dogs are specially fed and fattened, and European dogs are consid-
ered unpalatable. 11 Captain Cook looked upon a South Sea dog as
little inferior to an English lamb 9 (vol. 2, p. 196). Fattened dog's
flesh is a favorite food of the Warori, an African tribe 13 (vol. 2, p.
273).
The Bear supplies food to several nations of Europe, and its
hams are considered excellent. 5 Two bears were eaten in Paris
during the siege, 10 and the flesh was supposed to taste like pig 14
(Feb. 1, 1871). The Indian tribes of the interior of Oregon eat
bears 15 (vol. 4, p. 452). The Polar bear is stated by Sir John Ross
EXCEPTIONAL ANIMAL FOODS. 209
to be particularly unwholesome, although the Esquimaux feed upon
it, and apparently without inconvenience. 5
The Hedgehog is considered a princely dish in Barbary, and is
eaten in Spain. 5 It is frequently eaten by the sick among the Afri-
can Arabs 7 (p. 52).
Kangaroos are eaten by the aborigines of Australia 12 (vol. 2, p.
250) 1G (p. 67), and their flesh is considered excellent. 4 Soup made
from the tail is reputed to be far superior to ox-tail soup. 4 It is im-
ported into England with the Australian meat in sealed tins. Three
kangaroos were eaten in Paris during the siege. 10 The Wombat is
eaten by the natives of Australia, 12 and its flesh is said to be prefer-
able to that of all the other animals of Australia. 4 Wallabies are
eaten by the natives of Australia. 5
The Opossum is eaten in America, 5 Australia, 16 12 5 and the Indian
islands. Young ones are reared for the table, and the flesh is white
and well tasted. 5
The Bandicoot is eaten by the aborigines of Australia 16 and by the
lowest caste of Hindoos. 4
The Seal is all in all to the Greenlander and Esquimaux. 4 It is
eaten by Kamtschatkadales, 4 the inhabitants of the coast of Labrador 17
(vol. 1, p. 4), Vancouver's Island 18 (p. 485), &c. Its flesh is coarse
and oily; nevertheless, it was formerly served up at feasts in England,
together with the porpoise. 5 The liver, when fried, is esteemed by
sailors as an agreeable dish. 4 A seal eaten during the siege of Paris
was said to taste like lamb 14 (Feb. 1, 1871).
The Walrus is eaten by the Esquimaux 19 (p. 485), and highly ap-
preciated by Arctic explorers 20 (vol. 2, p. 15).
The Whale is eaten largely by the natives of Western Australia,
New Zealand, 3 the poorer sort of Japanese 21 (vol. 4, p. 35), the rude
littoral tribes of Northern Asia and America, 3 the natives of Van-
couver's Island 18 (p. 53, 61), and the Esquimaux. 3 Blubber is used
as food in Vancouver's Island, 18 and by the Esquimaux 22 (vol. 1, p.
243).
The blubber and flesh of the Narwhal, or sea unicorn, is consid-
ered a great delicacy by the Greenlander. 4
The flesh of the Porpoise was formerly considered a delicacy, and
receipts for dressing it are to be found in old cookery books. The
Greenlander esteems the flesh a great dainty, and quaffs the oil as
the most delicious of draughts. 4
14
210 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
The Manatee, sea cow, or woman fish, a native of the seas of the
West Indies and South America, is said to be excellent eating. 4 Dr.
Vogel found the flesh very well flavored, and the fat like pork 14
(vol. 1). Payen states that the flesh is whitish and good to eat, and
that the animal's milk has an agreeable flavor. 37
The Indian Dugong is considered good eating. 4
Mice and Rats are eaten in Asia, Africa, 5 Australia 12 (vol. 2, p.
250), and New Zealand 11 (vol. 2, p. 17), and considered delicate
morsels. The taste of rats is pronounced to be somewhat like that
of birds 10 (p. 219). The Chinese eat them, 1 and to the Esquimaux
epicures the mouse is a real bonne bouche. 3 Rats and mice were
eaten in Paris during the siege. 10
The Porcupine is reckoned delicious food in America and India,
and resembles sucking pig. 5 The Dutch and the Hottentots are fond
of it, 3 and it is sold in the markets in Rome. 5
The Agouti, a native of the West Indies, Guiana, and Brazil, at
the first settling in the West India Islands were exceedingly numer-
ous, and constituted a great part of the food of the Indians. The
flesh is white and tender, and much esteemed by the natives when
well cooked. 4
The Squirrel is eaten by the natives of Australia 12 (vol. 2, p. 250),
the North American Indians 23 (vol. 2, p. 250), and is a favorite dish
in Sweden and Norway. 5 The flesh is tender, and it is sometimes
eaten by the lower classes in England, 5 and in the United States.
It is said to make excellent pies.
The flesh of the Bison is the support of many Indian tribes ; it
nearly resembles ox-beef, but is said to be of finer flavor and easier
digestion. The hump is baked, and eaten as a great delicacy. 5
The flesh of the Buffalo is eaten by the North American Indians 24
(p. 122), the Sumatrans 25 (p. 56), and the islanders of Savu 9 (vol. 3,
p. 688). Catlin calculates that about 250,000 North American
Indians subsist almost exclusively on this animal through every part
of the year 26 (vol. 1, p. 122). The beef is tough, dark-colored, and
occasionally of a musky flavor. The chine is esteemed good, and is
eaten by the common Italians. 5
The Camel is eaten with relish in Africa, and its milk is believed
to neutralize the injurious qualities of the date 6 (p. 308). The flesh
is alleged to produce serious derangement of the stomach among the
Arabs 27 (vol. 1, p. 76, note). A camel eaten during the siege of
EXCEPTIONAL ANIMAL FOODS. 211
Paris is said to have tasted like veal 14 (Feb. 1, 1871). CameFs
hump, which is spoken of as furnishing in the desert a savory dish,
is to be procured in a preserved state at some of the dried provision
establishments at the west end of London.
Captain Ross considered the flesh of the Musk Ox excellent and
free from any particular musky flavor, though the skin has a strong
smell. 5 When lean, however, some complain of the flesh as smelling
strong. 4
The Reindeer is eaten in Siberia 28 (p. 75), and is the favorite food
of the Esquimaux 19 (p. 485).
The sinewy parts of stags are highly prized by the wealthy
Chinese 29 (p. 551).
The flesh of the Horse is eaten largely by various nations. The
Indian horsemen of the Pampas live entirely on the flesh of their
mares, and eat neither bread, fruit, nor vegetables 31 (p. 120). Horse-
flesh is eaten by the Jakuts of Northern Siberia 28 (p. 23), the Tartars,
and natives of South America, 5 and by the islanders of Savu 9 (vol. 3,
p. 688). Mr. Bicknell, in his paper on " The Horse as Food for
Man" 30 (vol. 16, p. 349), mentions fifteen European states besides
France where horseflesh is eaten. The Icelanders have practiced
hippophagy since the eighth century. The Russians have always
eaten horses, and in Denmark the people returned to the custom of
their forefathers in 1807. Wurtemburg was the first of the German
States to adopt the practice, and commenced it in 1841. Bavaria,
Baden, Hanover, Bohemia, Saxony, Austria, and Prussia followed in
subsequent years.
A Berlin newspaper states that there are at the present time
(1863) "seven markets for horseflesh in that city, in which, during
the first ten months of 1862, there were 750 horses slaughtered. No
horse is allowed to be slaughtered and sold without the certificate of
a veterinary surgeon" 32 (1863, p. 142).
Hippophagy was first advocated in France in 1786 by GSraud,
the distinguished physician.
A meeting was held in 1864 at the Acclimatization Garden in
Paris for the purpose of promoting the greater consumption of horse-
flesh as an article of food 32 (1864, p. 472), and a grand hippophagic
banquet was celebrated with great 6clat at the Grand Hotel, Paris,
at the commencement of 1865, under the patronage of the French
Humane and Acclimatization Societies 32 (1865, p. 176).
212 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
In 1866 the first horse-butcher's shop was opened in Paris 30 (vol.
16, p. 349).
A correspondent of the "Medical Times and Gazette" (Sept. 26,
1867) stated, "In passing along the quays on my way to the Mar-
seilles Railway Station, I was struck by the number of stalls bearing
the title 'Boucherie Hippophagique/ 'Boucherie de Viande de
Cheval/ at La Villette, Paris. The attendants were very civil, and
told me that they usually sold at the rate of two horses a day. Some
of the customers assured me that the meat was better than beef."
Sixty-five thousand horses, it is asserted, were eaten in Paris
during the siege, and the flesh was facetiously called " siege venison."
Mr. Bicknell says: "I believe the only European countries where
horses are not used for food with the open sanction of the law are
Holland, Portugal, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Italy, and the United
Kingdom. Concerning the four first I have no information, but in
Spain horses killed in bull fights were eaten till quite recently, and
during the Peninsular War the Spaniards commonly were hippopha-
gists. The southern Italians also in several districts preserve strips
of the meat by drying them in the sun."
On the 6th February, 1868, a memorable "Banquet Hippopha-
gique" was given at the Langham Hotel, under the auspices of Mr.
Bicknell. The menu began with
" Le consomme de cheval a PA, B, C,"
and after comprising in appropriate order a full list of choice-sound-
ing dishes, derived from various parts of the horse, or prepared with
" huile hippophagique," ended with
"BUFFET."
"Collared horse-head. Baron of horse. Boiled withers."
Notwithstanding this example, horseflesh must still be spoken of as
constituting in England only canine food.
According to Pliny, the Romans at one time ate the Ass. The
wild ass is still in much esteem among the Persians, who consider it
as equal to venison. 5 One thousand donkeys and two thousand
mules are reported to have been eaten in Paris during the siege. 10
The flesh of the latter is delicious, and far superior to beef; roast
mule is, in fact, an exquisite dish 32 (p. 140). Ass's flesh forms the
basis of the renowned sausages of Bologna 37 (p. 36).
EXCEPTIONAL ANIMAL FOODS. 213
At a banquet given by an Academician, having MM. Yelpeau,
Tardieu, Latour, and other notabilities as guests, the "bifticks"
and "filets" prepared from the flesh of an old she ass were unan-
imously pronounced, it is stated, to be more tender, succulent, and
delicate than similar plats prepared, for comparison, from the horse 32
(1865, April 8).
The Collared Pecari, or Tajacu (Dicotyles torquatus), an inhabi-
tant of South America, is considered good eating and its flesh greatly
resembles pork. Dicotyles labiatus is also hunted by the natives of
South America for food, 4 but the aborigines of the Amazon, who eat
Dicotyles torquatus, will not touch Dicotyles labiatus 2 (p. 485).
The Elephant is eaten in Abyssinia and other parts of Africa, also
in Sumatra. 5 Some steaks that were cut off Chunee, the elephant
that was shot at Exeter Change, on being cooked were declared to
be " pleasant meat." 5 The three elephants that were eaten in Paris
during the siege were pronounced a great success. The liver was
considered finer than that of any goose or duck 14 (Feb. 1, 1871).
Dr. Livingstone writes, " We had the foot cooked for breakfast next
morning, and found it delicious. It is a whitish mass, slightly gelat-
inous and sweet, like marrow. A long march, to prevent bilious-
ness, is a wise precaution after a meal of elephant's foot. Elephant's
trunk and tongue are also good, and after long simmering much
resemble the hump of a buffalo and the tongue of an ox, but all the
other meat is tough, and from its peculiar flavor only to be eaten by
a hungry man" 34 (p. 169).
The Rhinoceros is eaten in Abyssinia, and by some of the Dutch
settlers in the Cape Colony, and is in high esteem 3 (p. 92).
The Tapir. The American Indian compares the flesh of the
tapir to beef. 5
The flesh of the Hippopotamus supplies a substantial meal to the
African, and when young is delicate, but when old is coarse, fat, and
strong, being inferior to beef. 5 The young meat is much esteemed
by the Hottentots and natives of Abyssinia. 4 Dr. Livingstone
writes, " The hippopotamus hunters form a separate people, called
Akombwi or Mapodzo, and rarely the women, it is said, never
intermarry with any other tribe. The reason for their keeping aloof
from certain of the natives on the Zambesi is obvious enough, some
having as great an abhorrence of hippopotamus meat as Mohamme-
dans have of swine's flesh ' 734 (p. 39). The hippopotamus that was
214 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
killed and partly burnt in the fire at the Crystal Palace a few years
back was eaten by Dr. Crisp and some of his friends, who reported
that the flavor of the flesh was excellent, and its color whiter than
any veal 14 (vol. 1, p. 240).
The Earth-hog (Orycteropus Capensis), a native of the Cape of
Good Hope. Although its food (ants) gives its flesh a strong taste
of formic acid, it is relished both by the Hottentots and Europeans.
The hind quarter is especially esteemed when cured as ham. 4
The Armadillo is eaten in South America, and its flesh is fat and
excellent. 5 The hunters roast it in its shell. 4
Sloths are eaten by the natives of Australia 12 (vol. 2, p. 250).
The entrails of animals are consumed by the aborigines of Aus-
tralia 16 (p. 67), and the Hottentots consider them to be most exquisite
eating 35 (pp. 47, 200). Dr. Livingstone writes, " It is curious that
this is the part that wild animals always begin with, and that it is
also the first choice of our men" 34 (p. 194).
The Zulus are so fond of carrion, or decomposed flesh with worms
in it, that, according to a letter of Bishop Colenso, published in the
" Times/' they use their word (ubomi) representing it as a synonym
for their highest notion of happiness 36 (Oct. 1872, p. 424).
The Cuckoo is not an uncommon dish on the Continent, and the
Arabs consider it a great delicacy. 5
Parrots and Cockatoos are eaten by the natives of Australia 12 (vol.
2, p. 250), and the flesh of the parrot, when young, is delicate and
largely eaten in Brazil. 5 Toucans are eaten by the aborigines of the
Amazon 2 (p. 485), and in Brazil. 4
The Ostrich affords an abundant banquet to many savage nations
of Africa, where it is sometimes kept in a tame state for breeding. 5
Dr. Livingstone writes that the flesh is white and coarse. When in
good condition it in some degree resembles that of a turkey 40 (p. 156),
but the flesh is only good when young, for when it is fullgrown the
bird is very fat. 4 Three ostriches were eaten in Paris during the
siege. 10 .
The Spotted Crake, or speckled water-hen, is highly esteemed in
France for the flavor of its flesh, and few birds can match it in au-
tumn as a rich morsel for the table. 4
The Crane was eaten by the Romans (Horace, Epod. ii), and it is
mentioned in England as being served up as a sumptuous dish at
EXCEPTIONAL ANIMAL FOODS. 215
splendid entertainments as early as the Norman Conquest, and as
late as the reign of Henry VIII. At the Inthronization Feast of
George Nevil, Archbishop of York, 6 Edward IV, there were 204
cranes, 204 bitterns, and 400 heronshaws 41 (vol. 2, p. 171).
The Bustard is good eating, and much esteemed in some places. 4
The Albatross is eaten by the aborigines of New Zealand 9 (vol. 3,
p. 447) ; its eggs are considered excellent. 4
The Cormorant. The Manx, like the Scotch, make a rich soup
out of the blood of this bird 42 (vol. 2, p. 220).
The flesh of the Gull is indifferent eating, but it is often brought
to market in Roman Catholic countries during Lent. 4 The eggs of
the Xema ridibunda are well flavored, and the young birds were at
one time in high repute in this country at the tables of the wealthy. 4
The Peafowl is occasionally eaten, and its flesh is reputed to be
good, but the beauty of the peacock's plumage renders it too valu-
able a bird to form an ordinary article of food. In olden times the
peacock occupied its place at the table as one of the dishes in the
second course at every great feast.
The Pelican is eaten by the natives of Australia 12 (vol. 2, p. 251).
Penguins are eaten by the aborigines of New Zealand 9 (vol. 3, p.
447).
Swans were eaten by the ancients, and often appeared of old at
great banquets in England. They are eaten by the natives' of Aus-
tralia 12 (vol. 2, p. 251), and the flesh of the cygnet, which is said to
have a flavor resembling both the goose and the hare, is still consid-
ered a delicacy in Europe. 4
Birds' Nests of a special kind are an article of food much prized
in China, on account of the nutritive properties which they are sup-
posed to possess. They are of a gelatinous nature, and chiefly used
for making soup. They are furnished by several species of swallow,
and are found in the caverns on the seashore of the Eastern Archi-
pelago. It has been ascertained that they in great part consist of a
peculiar mucus which this bird secretes and discharges from its
mouth in great abundance. The nests adhere to the rock, and are
collected after the young are fledged, with the help of ladders or
ropes. The cleansing of the nests for the markets is a long and
tedious process, and a number of persons are employed at Canton in
conducting the operation 37 (p. 162). The prepared article, which
216 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
has the appearance of dried gelatinous-looking fragments, is to be
purchased in some of the London shops.
Lizards are eaten by the Chinese 9 (vol. 3, p. 761), the Bushmen 3
(p. 38), and the natives of Australia 12 (vol. 2, p. 250). The Iguana
inhabits South America and the West Indies, where it is esteemed a
delicate food, 4 although it has been usually considered unwholesome 39
(vol. 9, p. 724). AmblyrhynchuSj a genus of lizard resembling the
iguana, found in the Galapagos Islands, is esteemed by the natives
a delicate kind of food. 4
The crested Basilisk, which is upwards of three feet in length, is
eaten by the inhabitants of Amboyna and the islands of the Indian
Archipelago. Its flesh is as white and delicate as that of a chicken. 4
Snakes are eaten by the Chinese, 1 the natives of Australia 12 (vol.
2, p. 250), and by those of many other countries, but the flesh is
reckoned unwholesome, and liable to occasion leprosy 3 (p. 197). A
nutritious broth for invalids is made, in some places, from the flesh
of the poisonous viper 33 (vol. 9, p. 724).
Land Tortoises are eaten by the natives of the Amazon 2 (p. 485),
of India, 4 of South Africa, 40 and by the North American Indians, 43
(part 1, p. 65). Payen considers the flesh of the tortoise a whole-
some food, 37 and Dr. Livingstone found it a very agreeable dish 40 (p.
135).
The flesh of the Marine Turtle is largely eaten and highly esteemed
where the animal is captured, besides yielding in this country the
choicest of soups.
The Fresh-water Turtle abounds in the marshes of Provence, on
the shores of the Rhone, and in Sardinia, 37 and is eaten by the in-
habitants, as it is by the natives of Australia 12 (vol. 2, p. 250). The
flesh of the Trionyx Ferox is considered very delicate food, and on
the coasts of North America it is angled for with a hook and line
baited with small fish. 4
The Crocodile is eaten and relished by the natives of parts of
Africa 5 (p. 379) and Australia. 3 Dr. Livingstone writes : " To us
the idea of tasting the musky-scented, fishy-looking flesh carried the
idea of cannibalism." 34 (p. 452). The eggs are dug out of the ground
,and devoured by the natives. Dr. Livingstone says of them, " In
.taste they resemble hen's eggs, with perhaps a smack of custard, and
EXCEPTIONAL ANIMAL FOODS. 217
would be as highly relished by whites as by blacks were it not for
their unsavory origin in men-eaters 34 (p. 443).
Frogs are eaten by the Chinese 9 (vol. 3, p. 761), the natives of
Australia 12 (vol. 2, p. 250), and many other countries. The Rana
esculenta is highly prized in France for its hind legs, which form the
part eaten, and these may be seen sometimes skewered together in
the windows of some of the provision establishments in Paris. The
Rana taurina, or bull frog, is a native of North America, and is
thought by the Americans to rival turtle 39 (vol. 9, p. 724). This
large eatable frog has been recently introduced into France by the
Societe" d' Acclimatization. 37 A large frog called Matlametlo is eaten
by the South Africans, which, when cooked, looks like a chicken 40
(p. 42).
The Toad is eaten by the negroes 5 (p. 439), and a species called
Rana bombina is eaten in some places as a fish 39 (vol. 9).
The Axolotl of Mexico is esteemed an agreeable article of food,
dressed like stewed eels. 4
The Mud Eel (Lepidosiren) is eaten by the natives of the river
Gambia. It has a rich, oily flavor, and when fried tastes like an eel. 4
A species of Scarus, or parrot-fish, was highly esteemed by the
Roman epicures, and the Greeks still consider it to be a fish of ex-
quisite flavor. 4
Sharks are eaten by the Gold Coast negroes 3 (pp. 120, 224) and
the natives of New Zealand 11 (vol. 2, p. 43), but not by the natives
of Western Australia. 3 The natives of the Polynesian Islands feast
on them in a raw state, and gorge themselves so as to occasion vom-
iting. 3
Dr. Hector writes as follows of edible sharks : " The Maoris are
large consumers of sharks, or mango, as they term them, of various
species, but chiefly the Smooth-hound (Mustellus antarcticus), Dog-
fish of two species (Scyllium laticeps and Acanthias vidgaris), and the
Tope (Galeus canis). All of these may be seen at certain seasons at
any Maori settlement by the seaside, hanging on poles to dry in
thousands, and rendering the neighborhood extremely unpleasant.
The species most valued is, however, the smooth-hound, which is
the only shark that is properly edible, as it lives on shell-fish and
crabs, and has the same clean-feeding habits as the skate. In the
Hebrides and north of Scotland the flesh of this harmless little shark
218 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
is considered to be a great delicacy, but I have never heard of its
being eaten by the white settlers in the colony 7745 (p. 120). The
fins of sharks are highly prized by the wealthy Chinese 29 (p. 551).
Spiders are eaten by the Bushmen, and by the inhabitants of New
Caledonia 3 (p. 315).
Several species of Beetles are eaten by women of different nations,
in the belief that they will cause them to grow fat and become pro-
lific in childbearing.
The Blaps sulcata is eaten, cooked with butter, by the Egyptian
women, 4 who also eat the Scarabceus sacer to make themselves
become prolific 48 (vol. 3, p. 129). The women of Arabia and Turkey
eat a species of tenebrio fried in butter, to make themselves plump 48
(vol. 3).
Grasshoppers are eaten by the Bushmen 3 (p. 38).
Locusts are eaten in great quantities, both fresh and salted 39 (vol.
9, p. 727). They have a strongly vegetable taste, the flavor varying
with the plants on which they feed. Dr. Livingstone considered
them palatable when roasted 40 (p. 42). They are eaten by the Per-
sians, Egyptians, and Arabians, 48 the Bushmen, 3 and North American
Indians 43 (part 1, p. 65), and by many others. Diodorus Siculus
and Ludolphus both refer to a race of people in .^Ethiopia supporting
themselves upon locusts. 48 Ludolphus remarks : " For it is a very
sweet and wholesome sort of dyet, by means of which a certain Por-
tuguez garrison in India, that was ready to yield for want of provi-
sion, held out till it was relieved another way. 77 Madden states in
his Travels : " The Arabs make a sort of bread of locusts. They
dry them and grind them to powder, then mix this powder with
water, forming them into round cakes, which serve for bread. 77
White Ants are eaten by the natives of Australia 12 (vol 2, p. 250),
and by those on the banks of the Zonga, where they are highly ap-
preciated 34 (p. 465).
Bees are eaten by various peoples 48 (vol. 3), and the Moors in West
Barbary esteem the honeycomb, with young bees in it, as delicious ;
but by one witness it has been spoken of as insipid to his palate, and
as having sometimes given him heartburn 39 (vol. 9, p. 727).
Moths of several varieties are eaten by the natives of Australia 12
(vol. 2, p. 250) ; one species, called Bugong, is said to be more prized
by the Australians than any other sort of food. The bodies of these
EXCEPTIONAL ANIMAL FOODS. 219
insects, it is stated, are large, and contain a quantity of oil ; they are
sought after as a luscious and fattening food 12 (48).
The Cicada, an insect of the homopterous group, was eaten by the
Greeks, 4 and Pinto mentions a people who used Flies as an article of
food. 48
The Larvce of Ants are eaten by the Bushmen 3 (p. 38). Scopoli
speaks of the larvae of the Musca putris as a dainty. 48 ^Elian men-
tions the circumstance of an Indian king treating some of his Gre-
cian guests with the larvae of an insect instead of food. 48 The larvse
of the Cerambyx heros is believed to be the Cossus of the ancients,
by whom it was considered a great dainty. 4
Caterpillars were eaten by the ancient Romans, and are in high
estimation among the natives of South Africa 48 40 (p. 42).
Grubs of all kinds are eaten by the natives of Australia 12 (16, p.
67), and the Chrysalis of the Silkworm is eaten by the Chinese. 48
The Cuttle Fish is used as food in some parts of Europe; 4 and a
bivalve allied to the oyster, called Anomia ephippium, which is found
on the coasts of the Mediterranean, is considered not inferior to the
common oyster. 37
The Vineyard Snail (Helix pomatia) is used as food in many
parts of Europe during Lent. 4 It is reared and fattened with great
care in some cantons of Switzerland as an article of luxury, and ex-
ported in a pickled state. Many other snails are eaten by the poor,
and none are known to be hurtful 39 (vol. 9, p, 727). The common
garden snail (Helix aspersa) is used in some parts as a cure for dis-
eases of the chest. 4 Snails on the Continent, and even slugs in China,
have a reputation for delicacy of eating and nutritive power. 46
The common Sea Urchin, or sea egg (Echinus sphcera), is much
sought after as food in some parts of Europe during the latter part
of summer, at which time it is almost filled with eggs. 4 It is also
eaten by the inhabitants of Otaheite 9 (vol. 2, p. 154).
Holothurice (sea cucumbers) are eaten largely by the Chinese, 1 the
natives of the Indian Archipelago, 4 the Australian 4 and the South
Sea Islands 47 (vol. 2, p. 568). They are also taken on the coast of
Naples and eaten by the poorer inhabitants. 4
Earth-eating may be appropriately referred to here, as some kinds
220 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
of earth used as food in certain localities have been found to consist
in part of the remains of minute animal organisms.
Humboldt, on his return from the Rio Negro, saw a tribe of Ot-
tomacs who lived principally during the rainy season upon a fat,
unctuous clay which they found in their district 54 (pp. 143-4). This
appears to have consisted of a red, earthy matter (hydrous silicate of
alumina) called bole. It is also eaten by the Japanese after being
made into thin cakes called tanaampo, which are exposed for sale,
and bought by the women to give themselves slenderness of form. 4
Ehrenberg found that this earth consisted for the most part of the
remains of microscopic animals and plants which had been deposited
from fresh water.
A kind of earth known as bread-mealy which consists, for the most
part, of the empty shells of minute infusorial animalcules, is still
largely eaten in Northern Europe ; and a similar substance, called
mountain-meal, has been used in Northern Germany in times of
famine as a means of staying hunger. The Wanyamwezi, a tribe
living in Central Africa, eat clay in the intervals between meals, and
prefer the clay of ant-hills 13 (vol. 2, p. 28). The colored inhabitants
of Sierra Leone also devour the red earth of which the ant-hills are
composed 55 (vol. 19, p. 72). Johnston asserts that the African earth
did not injure the negroes, but that when they were carried as slaves
to the West India Islands they were found to suifer in their health
from the clay they there used as a substitute 56 (vol. 2, p. 201).
It has been found that much of the clay eaten by many of the in-
habitants of the torrid zone is mere dirt, and has no alimentary
value. The Agmara Indians eat a whitish clay, which is rather
gritty, and has been shown by careful analysis to be destitute of any
organic matter which might afford nutriment 14 (vol. 1, p. 370).
One of the earliest notices of the practice of dirt-eating is given by
Sir Samuel Argoll, with respect to Virginia, in 1613. "In this
journie," he says, " I likewise found a myne, of which I have sent
a triall into England ; and likewise a strange kind of earth, the
virtue whereof I know not, but the Indians eate it for Physicke,
alleaging that it cureth the sicknesse and paine of the belly/' 57 In
Guinea the negroes eat a yellowish earth called cavuac. In the
West Indies a white clay like tobacco pipe-clay is eaten, and this
the eaters prefer to spirits or tobacco 58 (vol. 7, p. 550). In 1751 a
TABLE OF REFERENCES. 221
species of red earth, or yellowish tufa, is reported to have been still
secretly sold in the markets of Martinique. 56
So widely spread is the depraved appetite for dirt-eating, or
" geophagie," that it is alleged to be one of the chief endemic dis-
orders of all tropical America. The victims of the practice never
appear to be able to free themselves from the habit. Children, it
is said, acquire it almost from the breast, and " women, as they lie
in bed sleepless and restless, will pull out pieces of mud from the
adjoining walls of their room to gratify their strange appetite, or
will soothe a squalling brat by tempting it with a lump of the same
material." 59 Officers who have Indian or half-breed children in their
employ as servants sometimes have to use wire masks to keep them
from putting the clay into their mouths. 59 A negro addicted to this
propensity is considered to be irrevocably lost for any useful pur-
pose, and seldom lives long 58 (vol. 7, p. 550). It is impossible to
keep the victim from obtaining the injurious substance. Children
who commence the practice early frequently decline and die in two
or three years, and dropsy usually appears to be the prominent
cause of dissolution. In other cases they may live to middle age,
but sooner or later dysentery supervenes, and proves fatal. Dr.
Gait speaks of having himself seen a Mestize soldier sinking from
dysentery with a lump of clay stuffed in his sunken cheeks half an
hour before his death. 59
EXPLANATORY TABLE OF THE REFERENCE NUMBERS CONTAINED IN
THE FOREGOING SECTION ON EXCEPTIONAL ANIMAL FOODS.
1 Bowring (Sir John), The Population of China. (Statistical Society's Jour-
nal, vol. 20, pp. 41-53.)
2 Wallace (A. K.), Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro.
London, 1843.
3 Simmonds (P. L.), The Curiosities of Food; or, the Dainties and Delicacies
of different Nations obtained from the Animal Kingdom. London, 1859.
4 Baird (W.), Cyclopaedia of the Natural Sciences London, 1858.
5 Webster (T.), An Encyclopaedia of Domestic Economy. London, 1844.
9 Daumas (General), The Horses of the Sahara and the Manners of the Desert.
Translated by James Hutton. London, 1863.
7 Lyon (G. F.), A Narrative of Travels in North Africa in 1818-20. London,
1821.
8 Burton (R. F.), The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to
California. London, 1861.
9 Cook's (Captain) First Voyuge. (Hawkesworth's Voyages. 3 vols. London,
1773.)
222 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
10 Sheppard (N.), Shut-up in Paris. London, 1871.
11 Dieflenbach (E.) } Travels in New Zealand. 2 vols. London, 1843.
12 Eyre (E. J.), Journal of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia in
1840-41. 2 vols. London, 1845.
13 Burton (E. F.), The Lake Regions of Central Africa: a Picture of Explora-
tion. 2 vols. London, 1860.
14 Pood Journal. London.
15 Wilkes (C.), Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-42.
5 vols. London, 1845.
16 Dawson (E.), Present State of Australia. 1830.
17 Hind (H. Y.), Explorations in the Interior of the Labrador Peninsula.
2 vols. London, 1863.
18 Sproat (G. M.), Scenes and Studies of Savage Life. London, 1868.
19 Lubbock (Sir John), Prehistoric Times, as Illustrated by Ancient Remains,
and the Manners and Customs of Modern Savages. London, 1869.
20 Kane (E. K.), Arctic Explorations: the Second Grinnell Expedition in
Search of Sir John Franklin, 1853-55. 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1856.
21 Thuriberg (C. P.), Travels in Europe, Africa, and Asia, 1700-79. 4 vols.
London, 1795.
22 Richardson (Sir John), Arctic Searching Expedition.
23 Schoolcraft (H. E.), Historical and Statistical Information respecting the
History, Condition, and Prospects of Indian Tribes of the United States.
3 vols. Philadelphia, 1851-53.
24 Sullivan (E.), Eambles and Scrambles in North and South America. Lon-
don, 1852.
25 Marsden (W.), The History of Sumatra. London.
26 Catlin (G.), Letters on North American Indians. 2 vols. 1842.
27 Tennent (Sir Emerson), Ceylon : an Account of the Island, Physical, His-
torical, and Topographical. 2 vols. London, 1859.
28 Wrangell (F. von), Narrative of an Expedition to the Polar Sea in 1820-23.
Edited by Lieut. -Col. Edward Sabine. London, 1844.
29 Barrow (Sir John), Travels in China. London, 1806.
30 Journal of the Society of Arts. London.
31 Head (Sir F. B.), Journeys Across the Pampas, 1828.
32 Medical Times and Gazette. London.
33 Sarcey (F.), Paris During the Siege. London, 1871.
34 Livingstone (Dr.), Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tribu-
taries, 1858-64. . London, 1865.
35 Kolben (P.), Present State of the Cape of Good Hope. London, 1731.
36 Quarterly Review. London.
37 Payen (A.), Precis Theorique et Pratique des Substances Alimentaires.
Paris, 1865.
38 The Lancet. London.
39 Encyclopedia Britannica. Seventh Edition. 21 vols. Edinburgh, 1842.
40 Livingstone (Dr.), Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa.
London, 1857.
41 Archaeologia. Published by the Society of Antiquaries. London.
42 Teignmouth (Lord), Sketches of the Coasts and Islands of Scotland and the
Isle of Man. 2 vols. London, 1836.
TABLE OF REFERENCES. 223
43 Loskiel (G. H.), History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the
Indians in North America. 3 parts. London, 1794.
44 Simpson (Sir George), Narrative of a Journey Round the World during the
Years 1841 and 1842. 2 vols. London, 1847.
45 Fishes of New Zealand : Notes on the Edible Fishes. By James Hector,
Geological Survey Department. Wellington, 1872.
46 Letheby (Dr.) on Food: Cantor Lectures. London, 1870.
47 Scherzer (K.) f Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe in the Aus-
trian Frigate " Novara " in 1857-59. 3 vols. London, 1861-63.
48 Transactions of the Entomological Society. London.
49 Andrew of Wyntown. The Orygynal Cronykil of Scotland. With Notes
by David Macpherson. 2 vols. London, 1795
50 Robert Lindsay of Pitsoottie. The Chronicles of Scotland. Edited by J. G.
Dalyell. Edinburgh, 1814.
61 Chambers (R.), The Book of Days. 2 vols. Edinburgh.
52 Chambers 'a Encyclopedia. 10 vols. London, 1868.
53 Turner (Rev. George), Nineteen Years in Polynesia. London, 1861.
64 Humboldt (Alexander von), Views of Nature. Translated by E. C. Otte and
H. G. Bohn. London, 1850.
55 Journal of the Statistical Society. London.
66 Johnston (J. F. W.), Chemistry of Common Life. Revised by G. H. Lewes.
2 vols. London, 1859.
57 Argoll (Sir Samuel), Touching his Voyage to Virginia, 1613. (Purchas his
Pilgrimes, vol. 4, p. 1765.)
58 Encyclopaedia Metropolitan*. 25 vols. London, 1845.
69 Gait (Dr.), Medical Notes of the Upper Amazon. Published in the " Amer-
ican Journal of the Medical Sciences," and quoted in the " Lancet,"
Dec. 14, 1872.
VEGETABLE ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
ALTHOUGH vegetable substances differ so much physically, and
in some respects, also, chemically, from the components of animal
beings, they are susceptible of conversion into these components,
and, alone, contain all that is absolutely requisite for the support of
animal life. A more complex elaborating system, however, is re-
quired to fit them for appropriation than is the case with animal
substances, and accordingly it is found that the digestive organs of
the herbivora are developed upon a larger and higher scale than
those of the caimivora.
The vegetable products that form even common articles of food
are exceedingly varied and numerous. To attempt to arrange them
under any strict classification would only lead to embarrassment, and
often involve practical inconvenience. It will be sufficient for the
purposes of description to distribute them into the following general
groups :
Farinaceous seeds ;
Oleaginous seeds ;
Tubers and roots ;
Herbaceous articles ;
Saccharine and
Farinaceous preparations.
FAKINACEOUS SEEDS.
These rank first in importance amongst vegetable alimentary prod-
ucts. They are alike plentifully yielded, of easy digestion, and
of high nutritive value. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that
the farinaceous seeds form the largest and the most widely consumed
portion of our vegetable food. Of the farinaceous seeds, those, as
wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice, maize or Indian corn, &c., derived
from the Cerealia a tribe of grasses, take the first place as articles of
CEREAL GRAINS. 225
food ; and next follow those derived from the Legummosof, or pulse
tribe, as, for instance, peas, beans, and lentils. Some other farinace-
ous seeds will be mentioned as employed, but they are of far less
significance in an alimentary point of view.
THE CERE ALIA.
The various cereal grains agree in their general composition, but
differences exist in the relative amounts of the constituent principles,
which give them different degrees of alimentary value.
The principles enumerated are
1. Nitrogenous compounds,, consisting of glutin, albumen, casein,
and fibrin, with an active principle, chiefly encountered in the cor-
tical part of the grain, which, like diastase, possesses the power of
converting starch into sugar. The material known as gluten, as
will be more particularly mentioned further on, comprises a mixture
of glutin, casein, and fibrin.
2. Non-nitrogenous substances, as starch, dextrin,, sugar, and
cellulose.
3. Fatty matter, including a volatile oil, which constitutes the
source of the odorous quality possessed by the grain.
4. Mineral substances, comprising phosphates of lime and mag-
nesia, salts of potash and soda, and silica.
The following table represents the relative amounts of the con-
stituent principles contained in various kinds of grain in a dry state,
according to the analyses of Payen : l
Composition of various cereal grains in a dry state 2 (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter,
Starch,
Dextrin, &c. , ^
Cellulose,.
Fatty matter, .
Mineral matter,
100. 100. 100. 100. 100.
1 Substances Alimentaires, Paris, 1865, p. 265.
8 In an ordinary state gram contains from 11 to 18 per cent, of water.
3 Deviation from the correct total of + 2.0. Possibly an error in the amount
of the starch.
15-
Hard wheat
( Venezuela.)
22.75
Hard wheat
(Africa.)
19.50
Hard wheat
(Taganrog.)
20.00
Semi-hard
wheat
(Brie.)
15.25
White or
soft wheat
(Tuzelle.)
12.65-
. 58.62
65.07
63.80
70.05
76.51
, 9.50
7.60
8.00
7.10
6.05
. 3. 50
3.00
3.10
300
2.80-
. 261
2.12
2.25
1.95
1.87
. 3_02
2.71
2.85
2.75
212"'
226
ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Nitrogenous matter,
Starch,
Dextrin, &c., .
Cellulose,
Fatty matter, .
Mineral matter,
Rye.
12.50
Barley.
12.96
Oats.
14.39
Maize.
12.50
Rice.
7.55
64.65
66.43
60.59
67.55
88.65
14.90
10.00
9.25
4.00
1.00
3.10
4 75
7.06
590
1.10
2.25
2.76
5.50
8.80
0.80
2.60
3.10
3.25 1
1.25
0.90
100.
100.
100.
100.
100.
It will be seen from the preceding table that different kinds of
wheat differ considerably in composition, and particularly so in the
amount of nitrogenous matter and starch they contain, the two
standing in an inverse ratio to each other. But more will be said
regarding this further on. Oats are rich in nitrogenous matter, fat,
and salts. Maize contains a fair amount of nitrogenous matter, but
is poor in salts. It further stands out from all the rest by virtue of
the large amount of fatty matter present. Barley occupies a mean
position with reference to all the constituents. Rice is characterized
by richness in starch, and poorness in nitrogenous matter, fatty mat-
ter, and salts. The knowledge thus supplied is of considerable
value in relation to the employment of the several kinds of grain
as articles of food.
WHEAT.
Wheat may be said to form the most useful article of vegetable
food, and hence it is one of the most extensively and widely culti-
vated of the cereal grains.
As supplied for use, wheat consists of the grain deprived of the
husk with which it was originally invested. Each grain is com-
posed of a hard, colored, tegumentary portion, and a central, easily
pulverizable, white substance, which yields the product constituting
flour.
The tegumentary portion consists, externally, of an exceedingly
.hard layer, which is of a dense, ligneous nature, and so coherent
<that it presents itself under the form of scales when wheat is sub-
jected to the ordinary process of grinding. This constitutes the
greater bulk of bran, and is of a perfectly indigestible nature, and,
.therefore, useless as an article of nutrition. Moreover, it acts, to
1 Deviation from the correct total of -j- 0.04.
WHEAT. 227
some extent, as an irritant to the alimentary canal, and thus, whilst
of service, retained with the flour, in cases where constipation exists,
it should be avoided in irritable states of the bowel, and also by
those who work hard, for with these it is liable to hurry the food
too quickly through the alimentary tract, and occasion waste by
promoting its escape without undergoing digestion and absorption.
Further in, the cortex is softer and more friable. This part goes
with the pollard obtained in the process of dressing flour. It forms
the portion of the grain which is the richest in nitrogenous matter,
fat, and salts. It possesses, therefore, a high alimentary value.
Amongst the nitrogenous matter in this situation, a peculiar, soluble,
active principle is contained, called cerealin, which resembles dias-
tase in being endowed with the power of converting starch into
sugar.
Cerealin has been represented as leading, by a metamorphosing
influence exerted during the occurrence of fermentation, to the de-
velopment of the dark color and marked taste belonging to brown
bread ; and it is said that if the bread be made in such a way that
the cerealin is not aiforded the opportunity of exerting this action,
the product, although derived from the external as well as the cen-
tral part of the grain, has neither the high color nor the strong taste
of ordinary brown bread.
The central white substance of the grain is chiefly composed or
starch ; but nitrogenous, fatty, and saline matters are all present,
also, to some extent. The nitrogenous matter consists of several
principles. There is albumen, mucin or casein, fibrin, and glutin.
What is called gluten the ductile, tenacious, raw material left when
flour is kneaded with water, and afterwards washed to remove the
starch does not represent a simple or pure nitrogenous principle.
It is called crude gluten, and is resolvable into Liebig's vegetable
fibrin, mucin, and glutin. The albumen of the flour is not present
in it. This latter principle, being soluble in water, is carried away
with the starch in the process of washing.
It has been said that the external part of the grain is richer than
the central in nitrogenous matter. This remark, however, is not to
be taken as applying to gluten. Gluten, indeed, preponderates in
the central farinaceous part, the nitrogenous matter of the exterior
being principally composed of vegetable fibrin.
It is to gluten and this exists to a special extent in wheat that
228 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
wheaten flour owes its aptitude for being made into bread. This
substance, by virtue of its tenacity, and its susceptibility of solidifi-
cation by heat, is capable of entangling gas generated or incorporated
amongst it, and then becoming fixed in such a manner as to furnish
a light, spongy, or porous article, like well-made bread.
As regards sugar as a constituent of wheaten flour, Pay en remarks
that, whilst some authorities have affirmed that it is present, others
have declared that they have been unable to discover it. On both
sides, he says, truth exists, and that it depends on the harvesting,
grinding, and keeping of the wheat and flour, whether sugar is
present or not. It arises from the action of the diastase-like prin-
ciple contained in the grain on the starch and dextrin ; and accordr
ing as the circumstances are favorable or unfavorable for the change,
so will be the analytical result obtained.
There are several kinds of wheat met with in commerce, and the
table given at p. 225 shows that a considerable difference may exist
in the chemical composition of the article. The difference depends
upon the variety of the plant that has yielded the grain, and also
upon the climate and soil where it has grown. What is called hard
wheat is the richest in gluten. It is produced in the warm countries
of the south, and upon the most fertile soils. The grain is charac-
terized by a horny, semitransparent appearance, and hardness through-
out. It is drier, keeps better, and gives a larger amount of product
in the mill, but a less white flour, than other kinds of wheat. It is
this form of wheat that is employed for making macaroni, vermicelli,
and suchlike preparations. White or soft wheat presents a more
farinaceous condition. It is more easily ground, and yields a whiter
and finer flour. With less gluten, it contains a larger proportion of
starch, and, therefore, forms the most suitable kind of wheat for the
extraction of this latter principle as an article for domestic use. It
is the intermediate, or semi-hard wheat, which is the best for the use
of the baker. In Payen's table the nitrogenous matter in dried wheat
ranges, it may be seen, from 12 to 22, and the starch from 58 to 76
per cent.
Wheat is but very rarely used in the entire state as an article of
food. It forms, however,, a constituent of what is called frumenty,
which consists of wheat grains boiled in milk. For ordinary alimen-
tary purposes it is subjected to grinding, and usually afterwards
separated into flour, pollard, and bran, the flour being appropriated
WHEATEN FLOUR. 229
to our own use, and the other products employed as food for the
lower animals.
Meal is the simple product of grinding, and, therefore, contains all
the elements of the grain. It is from this that brown bread is made.
If not used in this way (and, as is well known, it is only exception-
ally that it is) it is submitted by the miller to bolting, sifting, or
dressing, to separate the flour from the coarser particles forming
pollard and sharps ; and these, again, from the coarsest of all form-
ing bran. Flour, also, is produced or " dressed " of different degrees
of fineness, to meet the demand of the consumer. The finer the
flour is dressed, the whiter the bread that it produces. In fine flour,
however, there is an exclusion of everything except the strictly fari-
naceous central part of the grain ; and as this contains the least
amount of nitrogenous matter, the eye is gratified at the sacrifice of
this material. A coarser flour, although yielding a bread less white,
contains a larger proportion of nitrogenous matter, and thus is better
adapted to meet our requirements ;.for, even under all circumstances,
the farinaceous element is out of proportion to the nitrogenous,
looked at in relation to the demand existing in the case of each for
the purposes of life. Processes have been proposed for converting
more of the grain into flour than by the ordinary plan of grinding.
They are referred to in connection with the subject of bread at
p. 231.
Medium wheat usually yields from 72 to 80 per cent, of good
flour (Payen), and from about 5 to 10 per cent, of bran. The miller
sometimes tries to increase the yield of flour by grinding with the
stones set closely, but it is at the expense of the quality of the flour,
for the starch granule becomes thereby bruised and damaged, and is
found to be deteriorated for the purpose of bread-making. Bakers
prefer a flour which feels a little harsh between the finger and thumb,
instead of soft and smooth.
Composition of flour.
From Lethehy's table
of analyses. Payen.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . 10.8 . . . 14.45
Carbohydrates, . . . . 70.5 . . . 68.48
Fatty matter, . . . 2.0 . . .1.25
Mineral matter, .... 1.7 ... 1.60
Water, 15.0 . . . 14.22
100. 100.
230 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
The amount of gluten in wh eaten flour, according to Dr. Letheby,
ranges from 8 to 15 per cent., the average being about 11.
Cones, or cones flour, is the name applied to the flour of a particu-
lar species of wheat, called "revet" It is used by bakers for dust-
ing the dough and the boards upon which the loaves are made, to
facilitate the manipulation by preventing adhesion. It appears, from
the analyses of Dr. Hassall, to be extensively adulterated with the
flour of rice and other cereals, and sometimes even not to contain a
particle of wheaten flour. Thus adulterated, it can be sold at a
lower price than ordinary flour, and it is not surprising, therefore,
that, besides being used for the purpose named, it frequently finds its
way into the constitution of the loaf, while it affords an opportunity
of adulterating without appearing upon the face of it to do so.
Flour is one of the most useful alimentary materials at our dis-
posal, and is turned to account in a variety of ways. It is not con-
sumed in the raw state. Puddings, pastry, cakes, bread, biscuits,
and other variously named articles of less note, are made from it.
Bread and biscuits, about which more will be said further on, are
both nutritive and digestible. Cakes, besides flour, contain butter,
eggs, sugar, and sometimes other adjuncts. They are rich, and apt
to upset the stomach. Pastry, on account of the effect of the oven
on the fatty matters present, is also apt to give rise to stomach de-
rangement. Puddings (flour puddings only are here spoken of) are
not objectionable in the same way, but are, nevertheless, trying to
the digestive powers. Being of a more or less close consistence,
they offer considerable resistance to the penetration and action of
the gastric juice, and thus may engage the stomach for some time in
the process of digestion, and give rise during the while to the sensa-
tion which is well known to be occasioned by an indigestible sub-
stance, and which is described as a sense of weight or heaviness at
the stomach.
Baked Flour. Flour after exposure to heat is more digestible
than when in the raw state. The starch-granules become ruptured,
and a portion of the starch transformed into dextrin. The albumen
is acted upon, and converted into the coagulated form. It is hence
advantageous that flour should be consumed (as it only is) after hav-
ing been subjected in some way or other to the influence of heat.
It is sometimes prepared for use by simply putting it into a basin,
introducing it into an oven, and baking. Another process, acting
BREAD. 231
in a similar way, is to place it in a basin, tie it over with a cloth,
and immerse it in a saucepan of water kept boiling for some time.
The water does not penetrate, but, from the effect of the heat, the
flour collects into a hard, solid mass, which requires to be scraped or
grated for use. Thus prepared, it is often employed as an article of
food for infants.
Bread. Of all articles of vegetable food, bread must be consid-
ered as the most important to us. It constitutes a product of art,
and amongst all civilized people the process of manufacture is known
and put into practice, evidently on account of the favorable state in
which the elements of food are placed for undergoing digestion. It
is only from some kinds of grain that bread can be made, and no
bread is equal to that prepared from wheaten grain. The amount
of gluten present, for which this kind of grain is distinguished, gives
it the property required for yielding a light and spongy form of
bread, and it is to this lightness or sponginess that bread owes its
easy digestibility ; for, according to its porosity, so is the facility
with which it is penetrated and acted upon by the secretion of the
stomach.
The first requisite towards the manufacture of bread is that the
grain should be reduced to a pulverized condition. By the ordinary
process it is ground in a whole state and converted into meal. This
may be used for making bread as is the case in what we call
" brown bread " but, as a rule, the flour is separated, and this only
employed. Other processes have been proposed, with the view of
obtaining a larger yield of flour. To some extent the plan has been
adopted of decorticating the grain, and then reducing the remainder
into flour. By such a method some of the inner layers of the tegu-
mentary portion are retained with the farinaceous substance of the
centre. There is also " whole-wheat flour " to be obtained. The
bran, after separation, is ground, and then mixed with the flour, for
it does not answer to attempt to thoroughly reduce the whole to-
gether. It seems that the starch-granules ought not to be broken
up, and that by too much crushing or friction they become damaged,
thereby leading to a bad flour for bread-making purposes being pro-
duced. When too closely ground, bakers speak of the flour as
"killed," from its virtue being found to be partially destroyed.
The avowed object of deviating from the old-fashioned plan is to
give the flour, and consequently the bread made from it, a higher
232 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
nutritive value, the outside part of the grain being that which, as
previously stated, is richest in nitrogenous, fatty, and mineral mat-
ters. Liebig expatiates strongly particularly on account of the
loss of phosphates upon the ill-judged custom of preferring white
bread. It is true, if bread were our sole article of sustenance, the
rejection of the principles contained in the outer part of the grain
would be a serious error in dietetics ; but if other food be taken
which furnishes a free supply of them, as is actually the case with a
mixed diet, there is nothing to condemn as erroneous. It must not
be considered, because we do not consume the bran and pollard of
the meal ourselves, that their constituents are thereby wasted or lost
to us. Employed, as such articles are, as food for other animals, we
may, in reality, although indirectly, get their elements in association
with other matter. Looked at in this way, it being granted that
animal food is taken, we are at liberty, if our inclination so dispose
us, without incurring any charge of wastefulness, to select one part
of the grain for ourselves, and allow the other to pass to the lower
animals. Whether the result of habit or not, it must certainly be
owned that, with the generality of persons, bread made from ordi-
nary flour is more pleasing to the eye and agreeable to the palate
than bread made from the whole constituents of the grain.
Bread is a firm and porous substance, which is easy of mastica-
tion, and which, whilst preserving a certain amount of moisture, is
not wet or clammy. To convert flour or meal into a substance of
this kind constitutes the art of bread-making. A paste or dough
is made by manipulation, either by kneading with the hands or by
machinery, with the requisite quantity of water. Porosity is given
by intimate incorporation with carbonic acid gas either generated
within, as by fermentation, or the use of one or other form of "baking
powder;" or supplied from without, as by Dr. Dauglish's process.
The gluten present, by virtue of its tenacity, holds the vesicles of gas
and allows a spongy mass to be formed. Whilst in this state, solidi-
fication is effected by the aid of heat applied in the process of baking,
and thus is formed a permanently vesiculated or porous article.
Such, in a few words, constitutes the rationale of the process of
bread-making.
When the carbonic acid gas is generated by fermentation, the
product is called " leavened bread," but there is no material diifer-
ence between bread formed in this way and that produced by the
BREAD. 233
other processes. Various kinds of ferment are employed, as, for in-
stance, brewer's yeast or barm ; German yeast ; baker's or patent
yeast, which is prepared from an infusion of malt and hops set into
fermentation by a little brewer's or German yeast, and added to
some boiled and mashed potatoes mixed with flour, to feed the
growth of the ferment and increase the product; or leaven, which is
old dough in a state of fermentation. In each case, the active agent
of the ferment that is, the growing vegetable cells forming the
yeast fungus, or Torula cerevisice effects the conversion of sugar
into alcohol and carbonic acid gas. This takes place at the expense
of the sugar contained in, and derived from, the starch of the flour,
but in baker's yeast the potato introduced furnishes additional ma-
terial for the growth of the Torula. Used in this way, the potato is
not to be looked upon in the light of an adulterant.
The usual practice in making bread by fermentation is to mix a
certain quantity of the flour with the ferment, some salt, and luke-
warm water. These are kneaded into a stiff paste or dough, which
is placed aside in a warm situation for an hour or two. The mass
gradually swells up, from the evolution of carbonic acid gas, or, as
the baker terms it, the sponge rises. When the sponge is in active
fermentation it is thoroughly kneaded with the remainder of the
flour, salt, and water, and again set aside for a few hours in a warm
situation. Fermentation extends throughout the whole, and at the
proper moment the dough is made into loaves and introduced into
the oven. Herein constitutes one of the chief points in the baker's
art. Unless fermentation has been allowed to proceed far enough,
a heavy loaf is the result ; and if allowed to proceed too far, an ob-
jectionable quality is given to the bread by the commencement of
another, viz., the acid fermentation. Time also must not be allowed
for the dough to sink before being made into loaves and baked.
Under the influence of the heat of the oven an expansion of the
entangled vesicles of gas ensues, and occasions a considerable further
rising of the dough ; and, with the subsequent setting of the sub-
stance of the loaf a permanently vesiculated mass is formed.
A special aroma or flavor is communicated to the bread by the
different kinds of ferment. The best-flavored bread, I am informed
by an experienced "West-end baker, is made with the employment of
brewer's yeast.
Instead of by fermentation, vesiculation may be effected by car-
234 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
bonic acid gas disengaged by incorporating carbonate of soda or am-
monia with the dough, and adding muriatic, tartaric, or phosphoric
acid. " Baking powders " act in this way, and consist for the most
part of tartaric acid and carbonate of soda as their basis. The em-
ployment of this process involves no loss of any portion of the flour,
but it does not produce an agreeably tasted bread, and has not been
therefore found to supersede the old process of fermentation.
Another plan for vesiculating bread has been recently introduced,
and is known as Dr. Dauglish's process, the product being called
"aerated bread. " The flour is introduced into a strong air-tight
iron receiver, and afterwards mixed by mechanical means with water
impregnated with carbonic acid gas under a high pressure. Through
an opening below, which can be unclosed when the operation of mix-
ing is complete, the dough is forced out by the pressure existing
within, and with a suitable contrivance may be received and con-
veyed under the form of loaves to the oven without being touched
by the hands. Vesiculation is produced by the expansion of the
carbonic acid gas with which the dough is throughout intimately
incorporated : such expansion occurring with the removal of the
pressure ; and, still further, from exposure to the heat of the oven.
This process, it will be seen, involves the employment only of the
three essential ingredients of bread, flour, water, and carbonic acid
gas ; but, as with other kinds of bread, some salt is also added.
Nothing occurs to produce a change of any portion of the flour, ex-
cept such as is induced by the action of the heat in baking. The
product represents the purest form of bread, if simplicity of compo-
sition is to be taken as a criterion. As regards taste, however, it
possesses, without there being anything objectionable, a distinct
character of its own, and there is an absence of the agreeable flavor
belonging to good bread of the fermented kind. It may be remarked
that it keeps sweet and good much longer than fermented bread.
In the manufacture of bread a certain amount of salt is generally
added. It improves the flavor, and gives greater whiteness and
firmness to the article.
Alum, also, if it is not now, owing to the stringency of a recent
Act of Parliament, was formerly frequently employed; but this
constitutes an imposition, for the object of its use is to cause bread
made from bad or deteriorated flour to resemble that made from
good. It affords no advantage in the case of good flour, but enables
BREAD. 235
bread to be made from flour that could not otherwise be used. It
checks, it is said, an excess of fermentation, to which there is a
tendency with bad flour ; augments the whiteness of the product ;
and, by strengthening that is, giving increased consistence or tenac-
ity to the* gluten, favors the production of a light and firm loaf.
Such are described as the effects of alum on bread ; but the question
may be asked : Is such bread to be considered as wholesome ? In
the first place, alum, or whatever it may be changed into, or what-
ever the combination formed with the flour under the agency of the
heat employed in baking, is not a natural article for ingestion. Its
properties are not such as to be likely to occasion any immediate or
strong effect, and it cannot be said that a deleterious action is to be
brought home to it in a precise or definite manner, but it is believed
to be capable of producing dyspepsia and constipation. " Whatever
doubts," says Pereira, 1 " may be entertained regarding the ill effects
of alum on the healthy stomach, none can exist as to its injurious
influence in cases of dyspepsia." It is possible where ill effects have
been assigned to alum, that they may have been sometimes due to
the bad quality of the flour, which the alum has been used to dis-
guise.
Lime-water, it is asserted, substituted for a portion of the water
used in making the dough, may be employed with advantage in-
stead of alum, for improving the product from an inferior quality of
flour.
The amount of bread produced from a given quantity of flour
varies with the amount of water present. " Bread," says Dr.
Letheby, 2 " should not contain more than 36 to 38 per cent, of
water, and the other constituents, excepting salt, should be the same
as of good flour.
" In practice, 100 Ibs. of flour will make from 133 to 137 Ibs. of
bread, a good average being 136 ; so that a sack of flour of 280 Ibs.
should yield ninety-five four-pound [quartern] loaves. The art of
the baker, however, is to increase this quantity, and he does it by
hardening the gluten through the agency of a little alum, or by
means of a gummy mixture of boiled rice, three or four pounds of
which will, when boiled for two or three hours in as many gallons
1 Treatise on Food and Diet, 1843, p. 311.
2 Lectures on Food, 1870, p. 13.
236 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
of water, make a sack of flour yield 100 four-pound loaves. But
the bread is dropsical, and gets soft and sodden at the base, where it
stands."
An evaporation of water occurs, and causes bread to lose weight
on keeping. The loss proceeds most actively whilst ho't from the
oven, and the baker sometimes endeavors to check it by throwing
sacks, or something of the kind, over the loaves, but the crust
thereby suffers in crispness.
Composition of bread (Letheby's table).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . . 8.1
Carbohydrates, 51.0
Fat, matter, 1.6
Mineral matter, 2.3
Water, 37.0
100.
New bread is selected by many in preference to stale. It is, how-
ever, much less digestible, and, where weakness of stomach exists, is
apt to excite derangement. It is its lightness or porosity which
gives to bread its property of easy digestibility, and with stale bread
its firmness and friability allow this porosity to be maintained dur-
ing reduction by mastication. The softness of new bread, on the
other hand, renders it difficult of mastication, and at the same time
favors its clogging together into a heavy and close mass, which, on
arrival in the stomach, will be far less easily penetrated and acted
upon by the digestive juice. By heating for a short time in an oven,
stale bread may be again brought into the soft condition of new, and
will remain in this state for some hours. After being thus rebaked,
however, it soon undergoes change and becomes unpalatable.
Besides its physical condition, which renders bread a digestible
article of food, the effect of the heat which has been employed in
baking is to increase the digestibility of the constituents of the flour.
The state of the nitrogenous compounds becomes altered ; the starch
granules ruptured ; and some of the starch transformed into dextrin
and sugar.
The difference in the nutritive value of brown bread as compared
with white has been already referred to (vide p. 231 ). From the
presence of the indigestible particles of bran, brown bread acts to
some extent as an irritant, and thereby stimulates the secreting struc-
MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES PREPARED FROM FLOUR. 237
tures and the muscular walls of the alimentary canal. Hence the
service which it renders to persons, particularly those of sedentary
habits, suffering from constipation. In irritable states of the alimen-
tary canal it should be avoided ; and, in the case of those who work
hard or take much exercise it may prove the source of diarrhoea.
Toast. It is a frequent practice to cut bread into slices, and sub-
ject it to toasting, and the digestibility is thereby increased. Water
is driven off, a little scorching of the surface occurs, and greater firm-
ness is acquired. The toasting should be conducted so that crispness
is imparted throughout the whole thickness of the slice. If the slice
be thick, and a mere scorching of the surface be induced, the action
of the heat will give increased softness to the centre (just as rebaking
renders stale bread like new) and make it less digestible than the
bread from which it was prepared. Buttered toast, like any article
saturated with fatty matter, offers considerable resistance to diges-
tion, and is exceedingly apt to disagree where delicacy of stomach
exists.
Rusks. These consist of tea-cakes, which are made from flour,
butter, milk, and sugar, cut into slices, and the slices placed on tins
and introduced for a few minutes into a sharp oven. They are
turned so as to produce a little scorching of both surfaces, and after-
wards put into a drying oven for three or four hours in order to drive
off all the moisture.
Pulled Bread. For making pulled bread the crumb of a new loaf
the crust being sacrificed for the purpose is torn or drawn out
with the hands, and treated exactly in the same way as rusks. It
constitutes a very digestible form of bread, and is well adapted for
the dyspeptic.
Tops and Bottoms. Tops and bottoms are pretty largely used as
food for infants. They are made in the same way as rusks : the
form, indeed, constitutes the only essential difference between the two.
Small square-shaped cakes are, in the first place, made like the tea-
cake, from flour, butter, milk, and sugar, but usually with rather less
of the last ingredient. These are then cut in half hence the name,
tops and bottoms and baked and dried.
Muffins. Flour, water, and yeast are mixed into a liquid paste or
batter. This is poured into a hoop resting on a hot tin, and baked.
For eating they are cut in half, toasted and buttered.
Crumpets. The only difference between muffins and crumpets is,
238 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
that the latter are half the thickness of the former. They are toasted
and buttered whole for the table. Both are very trying articles to
the stomach.
Cracknelk. The process for making cracknells is somewhat pecu-
liar. A dough is formed, composed of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar,
and rolled into sheets. They are then cut in the appropriate shape,
and put into boiling water. They sink, and become hardened by the
coagulation of the albumen that occurs. In the course of a little
time they expand, and, becoming lighter, rise to the surface, and are
skimmed off. They are then immersed in cold water, and afterwards
placed in tins, and baked in a sharp oven.
Gingerbread. The ingredients of gingerbread are flour, treacle,
butter, alum, and common potashes. Its porosity or lightness is due
to the liberation of carbonic acid from the last-named substance by
the glucic and melassic acids of the treacle. By some makers,
ground ginger or sliced candied orange-peel is introduced. Addi-
tional lightness is also sometimes given by the employment of some
form of baking powder.
Biscuits. Biscuits are a useful wheaten product, on account of
their property of keeping, which is owing to their being dried as
well as baked. Some biscuits are made from flour and water only,
or flour, water, and a very little butter to diminish the hard and
flinty character which they otherwise possess. Such is the composi-
tion of captains' biscuits, and nothing is employed to give them light-
ness. Other biscuits are made with the addition of milk, and some
with the addition of sugar also ; and lightness may be given either
by a baking powder or the carbonate of ammonia, which, being a
volatile salt, is dissipated with the heat of the oven, and in escaping
raises the dough. There are also various fancy biscuits, each kind
containing, in addition to the ordinary ingredients, some special
article. Plain biscuits constitute an easily digestible form of food.
Biscuit powder is often advantageously used in combination with
milk where solid food cannot be borne. It also furnishes an excel-
lent and nourishing form of food for infants.
Passover cakes belong to the biscuit class. They may be looked
upon, in reality, as a very thin kind of biscuit, and are composed
only of flour and water.
Stale biscuits, on being moistened and rebaked, are restored, like
stale bread, to the condition of new.
MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES PREPARED FROM FLOUR. 239
Composition of biscuit (Letheby's table).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 15.6
Carbohydrates, ..... 73.4
Fatty matter, 1.3
Mineral matter, . . . . .1.7
Water, 8.0
100.
Semolina. This substance forms a granular preparation of the
heart of the wheat grain. It is made from the hard wheats, which
are rich in gluten. The grinding is performed with the mill-stones
sufficiently apart to leave the product in a granular form, instead of
reducing it to the state of flour. It forms a digestible and nourish-
ing article of food, and is useful for adding to broths, soups, milk,
&c. It likewise may be made into a light and nutritious pudding.
Soujee and Manna-croup are also names by which this granular
preparation of wheat is known. The Semoule of the French is like-
wise of the same nature. It constitutes the coarse, hard granules
which are a product of the grinding of the hard wheats, and are re-
tained in the bolting machine after the fine flour has passed through.
On account of the resistance which the hard wheats offer to reduc-
tion, these granules have escaped being crushed between the mill-
stones. As the product fetches a higher price than flour the skilful
miller so adjusts his mill-stones as to obtain as large an amount as
possible.
The Kous-kous, Couscous, or Couscousou, of the Arabs, which forms
a national food in Algeria, further constitutes a granular preparation
of wheat. It is cooked and eaten in a variety of ways. -
Macaroni, Vermicelli, and Italian or Cagliari paste. Italian
wheat, and some other kinds, which are rich in gluten, are employed
for making the above-named preparations, which are consumed very
largely in Italy. The flour is made into a stiff paste with hot
water, and then pressed through holes or moulds in a metal plate,
or else stamped so as to give the desired form, and afterwards dried.
They are all highly nutritious, but, from their closeness, where much
thickness of substance exists, as, for example, with pipe macaroni,
are not so easy of digestion as many other of the wheaten prepara-
tions.
240 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Such are the alimentary products of wheat in ordinary use amongst
us. Wholesome and most useful articles under ordinary circum-
stances, they sometimes acquire properties which render them ob-
noxious, upon which point a few remarks will now be offered.
Wheat is liable to be attacked by the weevil, a little insect which
consumes the farinaceous centre of the grain. The Acarus farince,
or flour mite, a microscopic animalcule, may also be encountered.
Beyond deteriorating the wheat for alimentary purposes, however, it
cannot be said that any harm is produced by these animals.
Certain low forms of parasitic vegetable growth also become de-
veloped upon wheat. There is the rust, or smut, with which the
wheat of our own country is frequently liable to be attacked. This
gives unpleasant characters to the flour and bread, but has not been
ascertained to produce any specific deleterious effects upon the ani-
mal system. In some localities abroad, the cereal grains, and
amongst them occasionally wheat,, but most particularly rye, become
infested with a species of fungus, which grows in such a way as to
present the appearance of a spur. What is alluded to here is the
ergotized or spurred corn, which is well known to exert a poisonous
action upon animal beings : the symptoms produced being of a two-
fold nature, viz., those of deranged nervous action, terminating
fatally, it may be in convulsions, on the one hand ; and of defective
nutrition, attended with dry gangrene of the extremities, on the
other.
In connection with this subject it may be mentioned that wheat
and other corn may be rendered poisonous by the accidental presence
of the seeds of the Lolium temulentum, or Darnel grass, which has
been allowed by the slovenly farmer to overrun his fields. Chris-
tison 1 says the Lolium temulentum is the only poisonous species of
the natural order of the grasses. The seeds appear to be powerfully
narcotic, and at the same time to possess acrid properties. " Head-
ache, giddiness, somnolency, delirium, convulsions) paralysis, and
even death," are effects that have been observed to arise from their
habitual consumption as an accidental ingredient of bread. Vomit-
ing and purging are also symptoms that have been sometimes pro-
duced.
It has been suggested that wheat and other grain may possess
1 On Poisons, 4th ed., 1845, p. 944.'
UNWHOLESOME WHBATEN PRODUCTS. 241
deleterious properties attributable to being gathered in an unripe
state. Local outbreaks of illness have been ascribed to this cause
in France. Dr. Christison considers that the subject requires further
inquiry, and remarks that, although grain is often cut down in an
unripe state in various districts of our own country, he has never
heard that any disease has been produced by its consumption.
Wheat, flour, and bread, may be in an unwholesome state ac-
quired by keeping. From the presence of moisture, they are prone
to undergo change, and to acquire a more or less strongly marked
acid character. Bread made from old and bad flour may be quite
sour to the taste ; and, although some persons may become accus-
tomed to such bread, and may eat it without any ill consequences
arising, yet with others, who are unused to it, it may give rise to
severe irritation of the alimentary canal, manifested by gastric de-
rangement, griping, and diarrhoea. Good bread is only slightly acid
at first, but if kept and allowed to remain moist, it becomes de-
cidedly so in the course of a little time.
Bread also becomes the seat of development of certain species of
fungi (Penicillium oidium, &c.) in other words, becomes mouldy
on keeping, and the more quickly so in proportion as it contains
water. The same likewise happens with wheat and flour under the
presence of moisture. The existence of this low form of vegetable
growth renders the articles pervaded dangerous for use. They are
liable to produce injurious and even fatal consequences. Dr. Chris-
tison states that on the Continent repeated instances have occurred
of severe and even dangerous poisoning by spoiled or mouldy rye
bread, barley bread, and wheat bread ; and that several instances
have been observed of horses having been killed in a short space of
time with symptoms of irritant poisoning by eating such bread with
their ordinary food. It has further been noticed that the consump-
tion of mouldy oats has been followed by fatal consequences. Dr.
Parkes, 1 quoting from Professor Varnell, states that "six horses
died in three days from eating mouldy oats ; there was a large
amount of matted mycelium, and this, when given to other horses
for experiment, killed them in thirty-six hours."
In cities and towns mouldy bread is rarely, if ever, encountered.
The daily supply of fresh bread that is provided removes any ne-
1 Practical Hygiene, 3d ed., p. 223.
16
242 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
cessity for keeping the article sufficiently long for a state of mouldi-
ness to be acquired. In outlying rural districts, however, where a
batch of bread is baked only at somewhat distant periods within the
household, time may be given before the batch is exhausted for the
last of it to become vinny, or mouldy, a more or less green color
being developed, and a ropy character produced.
Biscuits and rusks, on account of their dry ness, are not prone,
like bread, to become unwholesome from mouldiness.
OATS.
The common oat is derived from the A vena saliva. A consider-
able number of varieties of the plant are cultivated, yielding oats,
which may be arranged under the two heads of white oats, and red,
dun, or black oats. Other species ofAvena are also cultivated on the
Continent. Scotland is specially famed for the quality of the oats
it produces, and here more than half of the cultivated land is de-
voted to. their growth.
As met with in commerce, oats consist of the seeds inclosed in
their palese, or husk. When deprived of its integument, the grain
goes by the name of groats or grits y and these, when crushed, consti-
tute Embden groats. They are used for making gruel.
The husk amounts to from 22 to 28 per cent. The remaining 72
to 78 per cent, comprises the kernel of the seed.
Oatmeal constitutes the product of grinding the kiln-dried seeds,
deprived of their husk, or outer skin. It is not so white as wheaten
flour, and its taste is peculiar, being at first sweet and then rough
and somewhat bitter. It forms the article used for making porridge.
The Scotch oatmeal is ground coarser than the English, and is the
more esteemed of the two.
In Germany and Switzerland coarsely bruised oatmeal is baked
in an oven until it becomes of a brown color, and is then used to
thicken broths and soups.
Sowans, Seeds, or Flummery, which constitutes a very popular
article of diet in Scotland and South Wales, is made from the husks
of the grain. The husks, with the starchy particles adhering to them,
are separated from the other parts of the grain and steeped in water
for one or two days, until the mass ferments and becomes sourish.
OATS. 243
It is then skimmed, and the liquid boiled down to the consistence
of gruel. In Wales this food is called sucan.
Budrum is prepared in the same manner, except that the liquid is
boiled down to a sufficient consistency to form, when cold, a firm
jelly. This resembles blancmange, and constitutes a light, demul-
cent, and nutritious article of food, which is well suited for the weak
stomach.
Composition of oatmeal (from Letheby's table).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 12.6
Carbohydrates, 63.8
Fatty matter, 5.6
Saline matter, 3.0
Water, 15.0
100.0
Composition of dried oats (Pay en).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .14.39
Starch, 60.59
Dextrin, &c., 9.25
Fatty matter, 5.50
Cellulose, 7.06
Mineral matter, 3.25
100.00
The nitrogenous matter of the oat is formed chiefly of a principle
allied to casein, called avenin, which may be thus obtained : Let oat-
meal be washed on a sieve, and the milky liquid which runs through
be allowed to repose, to deposit the suspended starch granules. The
supernatant liquid, on being heated to 200 Fahr., throws down
albumen, and then, on the addition of acetic acid, a white precipitate
falls, which constitutes avenin.
On account of the absence of gluten, oatmeal cannot be vesiculated
and made into bread, like wheaten flour. It is devoid of the tenacity
or adhesiveness which is requisite to hold the vesicles of gas and give
porosity or lightness to the mass. It is, however, made into thin
cakes, by mixing into a paste with water, and then baking on an iron
plate. Under this form it is consumed as a staple food by a large
number of the inhabitants of Scotland (which is called, in conse-
quence, "the land of cakes"), and also of the north of England.
244 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Besides being eaten in this way, oatmeal is also consumed as por-
ridge or stirabout, as beef and kale brose, and likewise as gruel.
Porridge is made by simply stirring the oatmeal into boiling water
until it becomes of the consistence of hasty pudding. The water is
kept boiling until the process is finished. It is usually flavored with
either salt or sugar, and is frequently eaten with milk or treacle.
Brose differs from porridge in not being boiled over the fire. Beef
brose is made by stirring the oatmeal into the hot liquor in which
meat has been boiled. Kale brose is similarly made from the liquor
in which cabbage, or kale, has been boiled.
Gruel is consumed in a liquid or semi-liquid form. It is prepared
by first mixing groats with a little cold water, then pouring in the
requisite quantity of boiling water, and afterwards boiling for ten
minutes and well stirring during the while.
Oats form an important and valuable article of food. With a
proportion of nitrogenous matter which bears a favorable com-
parison with that of wheat, they stand next to maize amongst the
cultivated cereals in the amount of fatty matter that is present.
The percentage of saline matter is also high. "Oatmeal/ 7 says
Dr. Cullen, " is especially the food of the people of Scotland, and
was formerly that of the northern parts of England counties which
have always produced as healthy and as vigorous a race of men as
any in Europe." Scotch oatmeal is considered preferable to Eng-
lish. It possesses higher nutritive value.
Oatmeal enjoys the reputation of exerting a slightly laxative ac-
tion, and Dr. Christison remarks that he has in several instances
found it of service in relieving habitual constipation, upon being
taken at breakfast in the form of porridge. It is apt to disagree
with some dyspeptics, having a tendency to produce acidity and
pyrosis, and cases have been noticed amongst those who have been
in the daily habit of consuming it, where dyspeptic symptoms have
subsided upon temporarily abandoning its use.
Intestinal concretions, composed of phosphate of lime, aggluti-
nated animal matter, and the small, stiff, silky hairs existing at one
end of the oat, with small fragments of the husk, were formerly of
not uncommon occurrence as a result of the habitual consumption of
oatmeal food. Such concretions, however, are now rarely met with,
on account, it is believed, of the oats being more thoroughly de-
prived of their husk and better cleaned than formerly.
BARLEY. 245
BARLEY.
Barley is obtained from several species of Hordeum, the favorite
being Hordeum distichon, or common summer barley of England, of
which several varieties are cultivated. It is met with in commerce
as a grain, inclosed in the palese or husk. The product, when the
whole grain is ground, forms barley-meal.
Scotch, milled, or pot bcCrley, constitutes the grain deprived of its
husk by a mill.
Pearl barley is the grain deprived of the husk and rounded and
polished by attrition.
Patent barley forms the product derived from grinding pearl
barley to the state of flour.
Composition of barley meal (from Letheby's table).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .6.3
Carbohydrates, 74.3
Fatty matter, 2.4
Saline matter, 2.0
Water, 15.0
100.0
Iii the composition of barley, as given by Payen, a marked dis-
cordancy with the above exists as regards the nitrogenous matter,
the quantity of which, as will be seen by the following figures, is
represented as rather more than double :
Composition of dried barley (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 12.96
Starch, 66.43
Dextrin, &e., 10.00
Fatty matter, 2.76
Cellulose, 4.75
Mineral matter, . . . . .3.10
100.00
The nitrogenous matter of barley exists under the form of albu-
men and casein. There is little or no gluten, and hence, like oat-
meal, it cannot be made into a vesiculated bread. Barley bread is,
therefore, usually made by mixing wheaten flour with the meal.
2-6 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Barley cakes are eaten on the score of economy in some of the agri-
cultural districts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and in the
north of Europe, but form a much less palatable food than that de-
rived from wheaten flour. They are also less digestible, and are
regarded as possessing rather laxative properties. They certainly
appear to constitute an unsuitable food in disordered conditions of
the alimentary canal.
Barley-water is prepared from pearl barley, and forms a useful
demulcent and slightly nutritive liquid for the sick-room.
Malt is the product yielded when barley has been allowed to ger-
minate, and the germination has been stopped at a certain point by
subjecting the grain to heat on a kiln. As a result of the process, a
peculiar active nitrogenous principle, called diastase, is developed,
which has the power of effecting the conversion of starch into dex-
trin and sugar ; and, through this, malt differs from barley in a por-
tion of the starch being represented by sugar.
Malt infused in hot water yields. Sweet-wort, which is rich in sac-
charine matter. This is used for making beer. Malt is also used to
some extent as food for cattle, and is thought to be more easy of
assimilation than the unmalted grain, but experience has not shown
that it possesses higher fattening properties.
Malt forms one of the ingredients of Liebig's Food for Infants,
which has been introduced as a substitute for woman's milk. The
article has been referred to at p. 195, under the head of milk.
RYE.
The common rye, or Seeale eereale, is cultivated extensively on
the Continent, but is little grown in England. It is of a hardy
nature, and is usually sown in ground where the soil is too poor for
wheat to grow.
In external appearance the rye grain presents a closer resemblance
to wheat than any of the 'other cereals. It is, however, darker in
color and smaller in size. In the centre the grain is white and. fari-
naceous, but towards the exterior it is brownish. As met with in
commerce, it is deprived of the palese or husk, as in the case of
wheat. It is ground, and used under the form of rye meal.
RYE. 247
Composition of rye meal (From Letheby's table).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 8.0
Carbohydrates, 73.2
Fatty matter, 2.0
Saline matter, 1.8 >
Water, 150
100.0
Composition of dried rye (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .1250
Starch, . . . . . . 64.65
Dextrin, &c., 14.90
Fatty matter, 2.25
Cellulose, 3.10
Mineral matter, .... 2.60
100.00
The nitrogenous matter of rye consists of fibrin, glutin, and albu-
men. From the nature of its nitrogenous matter, rye approaches
nearer to wheat than the other cereal grains in the aptitude of its
flour for making a vesiculated bread.
Rye bread was once a common article of* food in England. It
forms the dark-colored and sour-tasting bread which is still exten-
sively used in the north of Europe. It may be spoken of as filling
the place of wheaten bread in temperate countries where poverty
prevails and agriculture is the least advanced ; and in some parts of
Belgium, Holland, Prussia, Germany, Russia, and other countries
of the north, rye bread is found to constitute the staple food of the
people.
Rye bread falls but little short of wheaten bread in nutritive value.
Its color and acid taste, however, render it disrelishable to those who
are unaccustomed to it, and it is only necessity that leads to its con-
sumption. Moreover, it is apt to occasion diarrhoea, but custom
soon overcomes this effect. On account of its laxative action, it is
sometimes taken to counteract habitual constipation. Rye is im-
ported into England for malting and is so made use of by distillers.
Ei*gotized or Spurred Rye. The cereals are subject to become the
seat of growth of a parasitic fungus, which gives to the grain dele-
terious properties ; and, of all of them, rye is the most prone to be
attacked in this way. The affected grain undergoes development, so
248 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
as to project considerably beyond the husk, and it may attain up-
wards of four times its size in the ordinary state. On account of
this excessive growth, it can be separated by sifting from the un-
affected seed, and, unless this is done to an ergotized crop, serious
consequences may arise from its consumption as food. At various
times, indeed, the inhabitants of different parts of the Continent
have been stricken with fatal illness from this cause. Two classes
of symptoms are produced, denominated the convulsive and gangren-
ous forms of ergotism. In the one, the phenomena consist of weari-
ness, giddiness, contraction of the muscles of the extremities, formi-
cation, dimness of sight, loss of sensibility, voracious appetite, yellow
countenance, and convulsions, followed by death ; in the other, there
is also formication, that is, a feeling as if insects were creeping over
the skin, and voracious appetite, and Avith this there occur coldness
and insensibility of the extremities, followed by gangrene (Pereira).
INDIAN CORN, OR MAIZE.
The common maize, or Indian corn (Zea mays), is a native of
tropical America, and is now extensively cultivated in the United
States, Africa, Asia, Southern Europe, Germany, and Ireland.
There are many varieties of the plant, as well as a distinct and
smaller species, named Zea curagua, which forms the Chili maize,
or Valparaiso corn.
The grains of maize are variously colored, but those most com-
monly met with are yellow. The ears, when nearly full-grown, are
a favorite delicacy in North America, where they are boiled, and the
grain eaten with salt and butter, or cut off and cooked with beans,
forming " succotash."
When ripened, the grains are deprived of the hull, and broken
or coarsely ground ; these preparations are known, according to the
size to which they are reduced, as hominy, samp, or grits. They are
boiled in water, and eaten like rice.
A small variety of maize, with translucent and deeply colored
grains, is known as pop-corn. This possesses the property, when
gently roasted, of bursting, turning inside out, and swelling to many
times the original size, in which condition it is eaten with a little
salt.
Maize or Indian corn meal is not adapted for making bread, on
INDIAN CORN, OR MAIZE. 249
account of its deficiency in gluten, without the admixture of wheaten
or rye flour. The common brown bread of New England is made
from a mixture of rye and maize meal. Used alone, maize meal,
like oatmeal and barley meal, is made into a cake, and this, when
roasted, is called tortilla in Spanish America. In the United States
is called " johnny-cake," " hoe-cake/ 1 " pone," or u Indian bread."
It is also frequently made into a liquid dough, and baked in thin
cakes.
Maize meal is consumed in Ireland and some other places princi-
pally in the form of porridge, which goes by the name of "polenta"
in Italy, and " mmh " in North America. Polenta is also the name
applied to the maize meal of the shops. Maize porridge, made with
milk, is a favorite food in British Honduras, where it forms what is
called " corn lob."
The flavor of maize is harsh and peculiar, and disagreeable to
those who have been unaccustomed to it. Treating the meal with
a weak solution of caustic soda deprives it of this unpleasantness.
It also, however, removes some of the nitrogenous matter, and thus
robs it of a portion of its nutritive value. Such constitutes the foun-
dation of the process for preparing the articles so extensively sold
and used under the names of Oswego Starch, Maizena, and Corn-flour.
Composition of Indian corn meal (Letheby's table).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 11.1
Carbohydrates, 65.1
Fatty matter, 8.1
Saline matter, ..... 1.7
Water, 14.0
100.0
Composition of dried maize (Pay en).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 12.50
Starch, 67.65
Dextrin, &c., 4.00
Fatty matter, 8.80
Cellulose, 5.90
Mineral matter, ..... 1.25
100.00
Whilst containing an average amount of nitrogenous matter,
maize is characterized and distinguished, as is shown by the above
250 ALIMENTAKY SUBSTANCES.
analyses, from the other cerealia by the large amount of fatty mat-
ter present. As regards this quality, none of the other cerealia ex-
hibit even an approach to it. On account of the fatty matter present,
maize acquires, on keeping for some time, an unpleasant rancid taste,
from the usual change induced by exposure to air.
Containing, as it does, about the same percentage of nitrogenous
matter as soft wheat, and upwards of four times the amount of fatty
matter, maize stands in a high position as regards alimentary value.
It is largely used both for feeding and fattening animals ; and its
fattening properties, as explained by its composition, are superior to
the other cereals. It is with maize that the Strasbourg geese are
crammed for the production of the "foie gras" Properly prepared,
it furnishes a wholesome, digestible, and nutritious food for man ;
but with those, it is said, who have been unaccustomed to its use, it
is apt to excite a tendency to diarrhoea. It is the chief food of the
slaves in Brazil, as it was of those in the United States, and is
largely eaten in Mexico and Peru, and by the Indians of New Spain.
Since its introduction into Europe, it has in some districts almost
superseded other grains, and it is said that twice as much maize is
eaten in Piedmont as wheat flour. In Ireland it has to a consider-
able extent taken the place of the potato.
RICE.
The common rice, or Oryza sativa, is extensively cultivated in
India; China, and most other Eastern countries; the West Indies;
Central America, and the United States ; and also in some of the
southern countries of Europe. It is said to supply the principal
food of nearly one-third of the human race.
There is a large number of varieties of the plant cultivated, and
considerably more than one hundred different kinds are grown in
India and Ceylon. The best rice imported into this country is
brought from Carolina and Patna. The fields in which rice is raised,
called paddy fields, are periodically flooded with water, as the plant
requires a constantly wet soil for its growth. Before ripening, the
water is drained off, and the crop is cut with a sickle.
Paddy is the name given to the seed when inclosed in the palese or
husk. This husk adheres very closely, and care has to be bestowed
to effect its removal without damaging or breaking the grain. Special
RICE. 251
machinery is employed for the purpose. After the husk has been
removed, the grain is passed through a whitening machine, in order
to remove the inner cuticle, or red skin. When this has been ac-
complished, the product forms the rice met with in the shops.
Rice is consumed as food, both in the state of grain and ground
into flour.
Composition of rice (from Letheby's table).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 6.3
Carbohydrates, . . . . .79.5
Fatty matter, 0.7
Saline matter, 0.5
Water, 13.0
Composition of dried rice (Pay en).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 7.55
Starch, 88.65
Dextrin, &c., 1.00
Fatty matter, 0.80
Cellulose, 1.10
Mineral matter, . . . . 0.90
100.00
Rice is characterized by the large proportion of starch, and the
small proportions of nitrogenous, fatty, and mineral matter, it con-
tains. In composition, it must be looked upon as presenting con-
siderable analogy to the potato.
Rice, like the potato, is largely used for the manufacture of starch.
The process adopted is to treat the flour with a solution of caustic
soda, which dissolves out the nitrogenous matter. The starch is
then allowed to deposit itself, and is afterwards washed and dried.
From the alkaline solution the nitrogenous matter may be recovered,
if desired, by the addition of an acid. The starch-granules of rice
are remarkable for the smallness of their size. They form exceed-
ingly minute, irregular-shaped, angular particles.
Rice is too poor in nitrogenous matter, fatty matter, and salts,
to yield alone what is wanted in an aliment, unless consumed in
very large quantity, thereby sacrificing a considerable portion of its
starch. The starch, in other words, is out of proportion to the other
252 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
alimentary principles, looked at in relation to the requirements of
the system. Associated with other articles to compensate for the de-
ficiency in the principles named, rice constitutes an exceedingly valu-
able food. It has the advantage of possessing an easily digestible
starch -granule, and hence is found a useful aliment in disordered
states of the alimentary canal. In the case of persons suffering from
diarrhoea or dysentery it agrees better than any other kind of solid
food. It certainly exerts no laxative action, as many of the cereals
do, and is often regarded, indeed, as having an opposite effect, but it
probably simply occupies a neutral position in this respect.
Rice is best cooked by thoroughly steaming. If boiled in water
it loses a portion of the already small quantity of nitrogenous and
saline matter it contains. It does not admit of being made into
bread, but it is used for mixing with wheaten flour to furnish the
very white bread which is in request in Paris.
MILLET.
The common millet (Panicum miliaceum) is a native of the East
Indies, but is cultivated in the south of Europe and other parts of
the world. Panicum jumentorum,, or Guinea grass, is a native of
Africa, but is now cultivated in the West Indies and America.
There is a very large number of varieties of millet, the grain of
which is mostly used as food for poultry and Bother domestic animals.
It is sometimes made into loaves and cakes, and in some places is
the principal food of the inhabitants. Its nutritive value is said to
be about equal to rice.
Dhurra, Dhoora, or Sorgho grass (Sorghum], is sometimes called
Indian millet, but it belongs to a different tribe of grasses from the
true millets. It is cultivated largely in Asia and Africa, and, to
some extent, in the south of Europe. The grain is round, and a
little larger than a mustard seed. In India it is ground whole and
made into bread. The bread is said to be very good, and to. have
been issued to the English troops in the last Chinese expedition.
Johnston describes the grain as quite equal in nutritive value to the
average of our English wheats. Letheby speaks of it as a little
more nutritious than rice, and as containing, on an average, about
BUCKWHEAT. 253
9 per cent, of nitrogenous matter, with 74 of starch and sugar, 2.6
of fat, and 2.3 of mineral matter.
BUCKWHEAT.
Buckwheat, although not a cereal, may be conveniently referred
to in connection with the cereal grains.
The common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentuin), belonging to
the order Polyyonacece^ is a native of Central Asia, and is said to
have been introduced into Europe either by the Moors or by the
Crusaders. In France it is called Eli Sarrasin, or Saracen wheat,
and in Norfolk and Suffolk it goes by the name of brank. The
name buckw 7 heat is a corruption of the German Buchweizen (beech-
wheat), drawn from its resemblance to the seed of the beech tree.
The plant grows very quickly, and yields abundantly, but, as it
is destroyed by frost, it cannot be sown until the season for cold
weather has passed. In England it is principally cultivated for
feeding pheasants and other game, but in Brittany it is grown in
place of wheat. No grain is eaten so eagerly by poultry, and it is
sometimes given to horses instead of oats, or in combination with
them. The seed is covered with a hard rind, or thin shell, which
has to be removed before it is fit for being eaten by cattle.
When used for human food, it is usually consumed as hasty pud-
ding or pottage. The .flour is fine and white, but devoid of gluten,
and, therefore, does not make proper bread. It is used, however,
for pastry ; and thin cakes, which are very good eating, are largely
made from it in the United States. Crumpets made from buckwheat
form a favorite dainty with the children in Holland.
Composition of buckwheat (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter, .. . . .13.10
Starch, &c., 64.90
Fatty matter, 3.00
Cellulose, 3.50
Mineral matter, 2.50
Water, 13.00
100.00
254 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
QUINOA.
Quinoa, like buckwheat, may also be conveniently considered in
association with the cerealia.
The quinoa plant (Chenopodium Quinoa), belonging to the order
Chenopodiaccce, which includes our spinach and beet, is a native of
the high table-lands of Chili and Peru, where it grows at an eleva-
tion of 13,000 feet above the level of the sea, a height at which
barley and rye fail to ripen. There are two varieties of it, viz., the
sweet and the bitter. It is hardly known in this country, but forms
the principal food of the inhabitants of the locality in which it
grows. The leaves are used as spinach, and the grain, called " petty
rice," is mixed with soup. Quinoa, judging from the subjoined
analysis, forms a valuable article of food as regards the possession
of nutritive ingredients. Its proportion of nitrogenous matter is
very large. It is also fairly rich in fat, and very rich in salts. It
is likewise said to be rich in iron the richest, indeed, in this re-
spect, of any vegetable. It thus appears to possesss qualities that
might render it exceedingly useful, in a therapeutic point of view.
Its starch-grains are alleged to be the smallest known. The meal
can only be made into cakes : not into leavened bread.
Analysis of quinoa (Voelcker).
Quinoa seeds dried
at 212 Fahr. Quiuoa flour.
Nitrogenous matter, .... 22.86 19
Starch, 56.80 60
Fatty matter, 5.74 5
Vegetable fibre, 9.53
Ash, 5.05
Water, 16
LEGUMINOUS SEEDS, OR PULSES.
This group of farinaceous seeds, which includes beans, peas, and
lentils, is characterized by the large proportion of nitrogenous mat-
ter they contain. In this respect they stand strikingly in advance
LEGUMINOUS SEEDS. 255
of the cerealia, for the amount may be twice as much as that con-
tained in an ordinary kind of wheat.
The form under which the nitrogenous matter is present is chiefly
as a substance called legumin, which is a representation of vegeta-
ble casein.
By virtue of their composition, the leguminous seeds possess a
high nutritive value, and furnish a food which is more satisfying
than vegetable food generally to the stomach, and more closely al-
lied in a dietetic point of view to .the alimentary products supplied
by the animal kingdom. They thereby furnish an advantageous
substitute for animal food for those who fast during Lent and on
maigre days, and it is probably on this account that haricote blancs
and lentils are so much more largely consumed in France and other
Catholic countries than in England. Their large amount of nitro-
genous matter adapts them for consumption in association with arti-
cles in which starch or fat is a predominating principle. With
rice, therefore, they form an appropriate combination, and this
admixture is found to constitute the staple food of large populations
in India. Bacon and beans are also a suitable associa'tion, and form
a dish which has been of repute amongst us from ancient times.
As a drawback to their high nutritive value, the leguminous
seeds must be ranked as difficult of digestion. They require pro-
longed boiling to render them tender and digestible. They are apt,
besides lying heavy on the stomach, to occasion flatulence and colic,
and the flatus is charged with a considerable quantity of sulphu-
retted hydrogen, arising from the sulphur which the legumin con-
tains. They are also regarded as stimulating or heating to the
system, and it is on account of this property that a moderate quan-
tity of beans proves a serviceable adjunct to the food of the horse
during the winter months.
BEANS.
Beans are derived from the Faba vulgaris, a plant which is sup-
posed to be a native of the East, but which has been cultivated in
Britain from time immemorial. There are several varieties, one of
which yields the common horse-bean, which is raised in fields ; and
another, the broad or Windsor bean, which is grown in gardens.
The former is almost exclusively employed as food for cattle. It is
256 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
but rarely used as food by man, and then chiefly after grinding, as
an adulterant of wheaten flour, or to give a desired quality to the
loaf made from certain kinds of flour. The latter is boiled in the
young and fresh state, for use at the table as a vegetable. It is also
dried and preserved, whilst still green, so as to be available all the
year round. In this condition it requires to be soaked in water for
some hours before being cooked.
Composition of beans (Payen.)
Broad or Windsor bean, dried in.
Horse-bean. the green state and decorticated.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . 30.8 29.05
Starch, &c., . . . . 48.3 55.85
Cellulose, . . . . .3.0 1.05
Fatty matter, .... 1.9 2.00
Saline matter, . . . .3.5 3.65
Water, 12.5 8.40
100.0 100.00
* HARICOTS, OR FRENCH BEANS.
The common kidney bean or French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), is
a native of India, and was introduced into England in the sixteenth
century. The scarlet runner (Phaseolus multiflorus), another variety
of the plant, is a native of South America, and was introduced into
England in 1633. The unripe pods of both, with the young seeds
in them, are cooked and eaten as a green vegetable at the table.
On the Continent the pods are allowed to ripen, and the seeds form
haricots blancs, which are consumed both in a fresh and dried state.
Composition of haricots blancs (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .25.5
Starch, &c., 55 7
Cellulose, .2.9
Fatty matter, . . . . 2.8
Mineral matter, 3.2
Water, 9.9
100.0
PEAS.
There are several varieties of the pea. Some, derived from the
Pisum arvense, are grown in fields by the farmer as food for cattle.
LEGUMINOUS SEEDS. 257
Others, forming the garden pea, are derived from the Pimm sativum,
a native of the south of Europe, but long known in England. The
more choice kinds of the garden pea were brought from Holland,
and formed an expensive article of food in Queen Elizabeth's time.
Peas are grown for the ripened and dried seeds, and also for eat-
ing as a succulent vegetable. In the latter case the pods are gathered
before they have arrived at maturity, and the seeds separated and
consumed in a green state. There is a kind of pea, called sugar pea,
the pods of which are gathered young, and cooked and eaten with
the seeds in them, in the same way as French beans.
Peas, when quite young, are tender and sweet, and far more diges-
tible, but less nourishing, than peas in the mature state. The latter,
like other leguminous seeds, require slow and prolonged cooking to
render them soft and digestible. When old, no amount of boiling
will soften them ; indeed, the longer they are boiled the harder they
become. In this condition they should be soaked in water for some
time, and then crushed and stewed, or treated in the same manner
as dried peas, to render them palatable and digestible.
Composition of dried peas (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 23.8
Starch, &c., 58.7
Cellulose, 3.5
Fatty matter, 2.1
Mineral matter, 2.1
Water, 8.3
The Sea pea (Pisum maritimum) is used as an article of food in
many parts of Europe, although the seeds are bitter to the taste
(" Baird's Cyclo. of Natural Sciences ").
LENTILS.
Lentils form another alimentary product yielded by the legumin-
ous tribe, and one of great antiquity. Although at present eaten in
some parts of Europe and in Eastern countries, they are rarely em-
ployed as human food in England. They are derived from the
Ervum lens, which constitutes a kind of tare.
17
258 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Composition of lentils (Pay en).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .25.2
Starch, &c., 56.0
Cellulose, 2.4
Fatty matter, 2.6
Mineral matter, . . . . .2.3
Water, 11.5
100.0
Hevalenta and Ervalenta, articles which will be referred to under
the head of farinaceous preparations, owe their chief composition to
lentil flour,
Misos, small beans like lentils, are eaten largely by the Japanese
("Thunberg's Travels," vol. 4, p. 35).
Dolichos furnish to the poorer natives of India a pulse which they
use extensively for their curries, &c. (" Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci.")
The seeds of the Egyptian white Lupine (Lupinus ternis) are used
by the Egyptians as an article of food, although it is difficult to rid
them of tfceir bitter taste ("Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci.").
The Lotus edulis, a native of the south of Europe and Egypt, has
the taste of peas, and is an article of food in some countries. The
ancient Egyptians ate it, as do the Egyptians of the present day.
THE CHESTNUT.
The Spanish, or sweet chestnut, is an edible, farinaceous seed,
which stands by itself. It is derived from a stately tree (Castanea
vesca), which is a native of all the southern parts of Europe, and
abounds also in North America. Besides starch, the chestnut con-
tains about 15 per cent, of sugar. No oil can be extracted from it
by pressure. It is sometimes eaten in the raw state, but is more
usually boiled or roasted. Even in a cooked condition it is not
adapted for a weak stomach, and in the uncooked state it is decidedly
indigestible. It is extensively used as an article of sustenance by
the lower classes in many parts of the European Continent, as in
Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and Germany, and by the Red Indians
of North America (" Food Journal," vol. 1, p. 100). Sometimes it
OLEAGINOUS SEEDS. 259
is ground into flour and made into a kind of bread, and in some dis-
tricts it is specially treated to get rid of its astringent and bitter
qualities. It is largely imported into England from Spain and Italy.
The seeds of some species of the genus Cycas are used as food, and
esteemed as highly as chestnuts. This tree is found in the temperate
and warm regions of Asia and America, and at the Cape of Good
Hope ("Baird's Cyclo. of Nat ScL").
ACORNS,
Acorns formed a considerable part of the food of man in the early
ages, and they are still used in some countries as a substitute for
bread (" Baird's Cyclo. of Nat Sci.")-
OLEAGINOUS SEEDS,
There are various seeds, denominated nuts, which are devoid of
starchy, but rich in oily matter. The starch of the cerealia appears
to be replaced by fat. They are also rich in nitrogenous matter,
which exists under the form of albumen and casein. Thus consti-
tuted, they possess a high nutritive value, but, like all articles per-
meated with fatty matter, they are difficult of digestion unless re-
duced to a minutely divided state before being consumed. The reason
of this is easily given. Digestion is effected by the agency of a
watery secretion, and where a substance is permeated with oily mat-
ter resistance is offered to the penetration of a watery liquid, and it
is only by a progressive action upon the surface that it can become
attacked. In a minutely divided state, however, no such obstruc-
tion is offered, and now there is only the richness belonging to an
article which is largely impregnated with fatty matter. In this
state, and if the stomach be not too delicate for them, they form a
highly advantageous kind of food, although amongst the human race
they enjoy but a limited application as an important or staple support.
It must further be remarked that, on account of their fatty constitu-
ents, they are prone to become rancid, in the course of time, under
exposure to air.
260 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
THE ALMOND.
This forms one of the most important of the oily seeds. It is de-
rived from the Amygdalus communis, a small tree which belongs to
Barbary and Syria, but which is now extensively cultivated in the
southern parts of Europe. It is also grown in England, but the
fruit here does not arrive at perfection. The fruit, like the peach,
apricot, plum, &c., belongs to the drupaceous group. The cortical
part of it, however, is fibrous and juiceless, and not adapted for eat-
ing. It has been looked upon, it may be mentioned, as bearing the
same relation to the peach that the sloe does to the plum, and the
crab to the apple. The seed or kernel, situated within the shell, and
provided with an enveloping reddish-brown skin, is the only edible
portion. The skin possesses a somewhat rough and bitter taste. It
is easily removed after soaking for a short time in warm water, and
the almond is then spoken of as blanched. Apart from the taste, the
husk or skin is irritating to the throat and stomach, and unpleasant
effects are mentioned as having been witnessed in consequence of its
non-removal. Almonds, therefore, should always be blanched for
the table.
Two varieties of the almond are met with, the sweet and the bitter.
They both yield by pressure an odorless fixed oil, which is of a per-
fectly innocent nature. The bitter almond, exclusively, contains the
principles for the development of poisonous products. It has been
shown that these products do not exist preformed in the seed, but
are generated by the reaction of two principles when water is added.
It appears that the bitter almond contains a crystallizable substance,
named amygdalin, which, by the action of the nitrogenous matter
present, viz., emulsin, when in contact with water, is converted into
a fragrant volatile oil (the essential oil of bitter almonds), hydrocy-
anic or prussic acid, and other products. The sweet almond contains
emulsin, but no amygdalin : hence the innocent properties that be-
long to it.
Of the sweet almond, the Valentia, Barbary and Italian, and
Jordan, form the varieties met with in commerce. The latter, im-
ported from Malaga, are the finest. The bitter almond is chiefly
brought from Mogadore. It is extensively used for the extraction
of the fixed oil, and when the residue has been mixed with water and
OLEAGINOUS SEEDS. 261
subjected to distillation for yielding the volatile oil, it is employed
for fattening pigs, &c.
Composition of sweet almonds (Boullay).
Emulsin, 24.0
Fixed oil, 54.0
Liquid sugar, ....... 6.0
Gum, 3.0
Seed coats, 5.0
Woody fibre, 4.0
Water, 3.5
Acetic acid and loss, ...... 0.5
100.0
Composition of bitter almonds (Vogel).
Volatile oil and hydrocyanic acid, . Quantity undetermined.
Emulsin, 30.0
Fixed oil, 28
Liquid sugar, 6.5
Gum, 3.0
Seed coats, ....... 8.5
Woody fibre, 5.0
Loss, 19.0
100.0
The sweet almond is used dietetically in cookery and confectionery,
and likewise as a dessert. For the latter purpose it is employed both
in the fresh and dried state. By baking for a short time it becomes
brittle and easy pulverizable, and is, doubtless, thereby rendered
more digestible. On account of the demand for it as an article of
food, its price is too high for the extraction of oil to be carried on
from it to any extent. At my own suggestion, it has been made into
biscuits 1 for the use of the diabetic, and its composition shows that
it forms a very suitable kind of food for administration in this com-
plaint. From their richness in nitrogenous and fatty matters, the
biscuits might also be advantageously employed in cases of defective
nutrition, where the stomach is strong enough to bear a food of the
kind.
The bitter almond is used to give flavor to puddings, sweetmeats,
1 Mr. Blatchley, of 362 Oxford Street, supplies these biscuits.
262 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
and liqueurs (macaroons, ratafia cakes, and noyeau, owe their flavor
to this source), but more often the essential oil, which is frequently
denominated Peach-nut oil, is employed instead. Both, but particu-
larly the latter, require to be cautiously dealt with, and, in proof of
their dangerous properties, it may be stated that a single drop of the
essential oil was observed by Sir B. Brodie to kill a cat in five min-
utes, and twenty seeds have sufficed, according to Orfila, to kill a dog
in six hours, when measures were taken to prevent their rejection
from the stomach by vomiting. Fatal results from both have been
recorded as having occurred in the human subject.
THE COCOANUT.
The cocoanut is derived from the Cocos nucifera, a species of palm,
supposed to have been originally a native of the Indian coasts and
South Sea Islands, but now found in all tropical regions. The tree
grows to from sixty to one hundred feet in height, and bears annu-
ally about eighty or a hundred nuts. The nut consists of a hard
shell, containing a white, fleshy kernel, the central portion of which
remains unsolidified, and yields the milky juice, which forms an
agreeable, cooling beverage. The shell is surrounded by a thick,
fibrous husk, which is turned to account for the construction of ropes,
matting, &c., and in its natural state the whole fruit is of about the
size of a man's head. The fleshy, edible portion contains about 70
per cent, of a fixed fat, which is extracted and used under the name
of cocoanut oil or butter. Its melting-point is a little over 70
Fahr.
The cocoanut forms the chief food of the inhabitants of Ceylon,
the South Sea Islands, the coast of Africa, and many other tropical
coasts and islands. It is not only eaten as it comes from the tree,
both in the ripe and unripe state, but is also prepared and served in
various ways.
THE WALNUT.
This is the fruit of the Juglans regia, a lofty tree, with large
spreading branches, a native of Persia, but long cultivated in
Europe, and supposed to have been introduced into Italy in the time
of the Emperor Tiberius. The ripe fruit supplies one of the finest
of nuts, which in many parts of France, Spain, Germany, and Italy,
OLEAGINOUS SEEDS. 263
forms an important article of food during the ripening season. Eng-
lish-grown walnuts are considered the best, but the supply from
England is not equal to the demand, and large quantities are im-
ported. In the unripe state, and before the shell has formed, it is
extensively used for pickling and making ketchup. The walnut
yields, by expression, a bland, fixed oil, which is consumed dieteti-
cally, and also used by painters.
The Hickory-nut is derived from the Carya alba, the Butternut
from the Juglans cinerea, the Walnut from the Juglans nigra, all of
which constitute species of the walnut tribe of transatlantic growth.
THE HAZELNUT.
The common hazelnut is derived from the Corylus avellana, a
native of all the temperate parts of Europe and Asia, and of North
America. The plant named is the parent of many varieties obtained
by cultivation. One variety, for instance, the Corylus tubulosa, yields
the filbert, and another, Corylus grandis, the cobnut. Barcelona-
nuts are derived from another variety. Like the hazelnut itself, the
latter are largely imported into England from Spain, and other
parts of Europe, having been kiln-dried before exportation.
THE BRAZIL-NUT.
The Brazil-nut is the produce of the juvia tree Beriholletia excelsa
large forests of which exist on the banks of the Orinoco, and in the
northern parts of Brazil. The outer case of the fruit, which attains
the size of a man's head, is divided into four cells, and each of these
contains six or eight nuts. The kernel of the nut, which is sur-
rounded by a hard shell, is exceedingly rich in oil, and from it a
large quantity of oil is extracted. It is highly esteemed by the
natives of the localities in which it is grown, and is largely exported
from Para and French Guiana for the European market.
THE CASHEW-NUT.
The tree (Anacardium occidentale) which yields the cashew or
acajou-nutj is a native of the West Indies. The fruit is a kidney-
shaped nut, about an inch in length, with a double shell. The outer
264 A'LIMENTAKY SUBSTANCES.
shell is ash-colored and very smooth, and between it and the inner
one there exists an acrid, black juice. The kernel is oily, agreeable
to the taste, and wholesome. It is a common article of food in
tropical climates, and is eaten in both the raw and cooked state.
THE PISTACHIO-NUT.
The pistachio-nut tree is a native of Persia and Syria, but is now
cultivated in the south of Europe and north of Africa. The nut
splits into two when ripe, and the kernel is of a bright green color.
It is very oleaginous, possesses a delicate flavor, and resembles the
sweet almond in its qualities. It is sometimes called the green
almond. The nuts are highly esteemed in the countries where they
are grown, but, as they soon become rancid, they are not much
exported.
TUBERS AND ROOTS.
POTATOES.
The potato may be considered as now occupying a place next in
importance to the seeds of the cerealia as an article of vegetable food,
although only of comparatively modern introduction amongst us.
It is derived from the Solanum tuberosum, a plant belonging to
the order Solanacece, which, including, as it does, the belladonna,
stramonium, henbane, and tobacco plants, furnishes some of the most
poisonous narcotic products encountered.
It is supposed to be a native of South America, and to have ex-
tended thence to North America. It seems to have been first brought
to the Continent of Europe by the Spaniards, from the neighborhood
of Quito, early in the sixteenth century, and to have been then culti-
vated in gardens only as a curiosity. Its introduction into England
and Ireland came from North America ; and in " Gerarde's Herbal/'
published in 1597, it figures under the name of Batata Virginiana.
John Hawkins brought it to Ireland in 1565, and Sir Francis Drake
to England in 1585, but without its attracting much attention in either
case. The potatoes of Shakspeare, it may be mentioned, are not the
same as the potatoes under consideration ; but, on the other hand, a
TUBEKS. 265
product of the Batatas edulis, known by the name of the sweet potato.
The potato was a third time imported by Sir Walter Raleigh, and,
as it then received notice as an article of food, the credit is usually
given to him for its introduction amongst us. It was not planted
in the open fields in England till 1684, and so little was for some
time thought of it, that in the "Complete Gardener" of London
and Wise, published in 1719, no mention is made of it.
The cultivation of the potato is now widely diffused over the globe,
and it seems to thrive in most climates, but a considerable check to
its prosperous growth has recently occurred. In 1845 a disastrous
and previously unknown disease broke out amongst the crops, and
has since resisted all efforts to eradicate it. The disease attacks the
whole plant, beginning in the leaves and proceeding through the
stem to the underground part, and in some years produces such
havoc as to entail a very heavy loss. Indeed, it prevails to such an
extent, and appears of such an inexterminable nature, as justly to
excite serious apprehensions respecting the continuance of a supply
sufficient to meet the demand for general consumption. The present
aspect, in fact, points to the possibility of the potato dying out, as
an article of everyday food, amongst us.
The potato became a popular food in Ireland earlier than in Eng-
land, and has ever since held its position there as one of the chief
articles of sustenance. Dr. E. Smith says that an adult Irishman
will consume his 10J Ibs. of potatoes daily, i. e., 3J Ibs. at each meal,
and it has been calculated that from three-fifths to four-fifths of the
entire food of the people of Ireland is derived from the potato. Since
the famine, however, that arose at the commencement of the failure
of the crops from the disease, Indian corn has come into greatly in-
creased use.
The part of the plant used as food constitutes the tuber, which is
connected with, or, indeed, forms an exuberant growth of, a portion
of the underground stem, with which this plant, in common with
some others, is provided, in addition to that which grows, as usual,
above ground. The tuber develops into a thick fleshy mass, but re-
tains its buds, which here go under the denomination of eyes, and
each of these buds or eyes is capable of independent growth in a de-
tached or isolated state. They are used, in fact, under the name of
sets for planting, and raising a crop.
The potato tuber is surrounded by a thin, grayish, epidermic cov-
266 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
ering, and beneath this is another tegumentary layer, in which color-
ing matter is deposited. The substance of the potato is made up of
cells, penetrated and surrounded by a watery albuminous juice, and
filled with a number of starch-granules.
There are many well-known different sorts of potato met with.
They are derived from corresponding varieties in the plant. In the
different varieties, notable differences in size, color, and edible quali-
ties, are observable.
Composition of the potato (from Letheby's table).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .2.1
Starch, &c., 18.8
Sugar, 3.2
Fat, 0.2
Saline matter, 0.7
Water, 75.0
100.0
The analysis given by Payen stands as follows :
Composition of the potato (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter, ....... 2.50
Starch, 20.00
Cellulose, 1.04
Sugar and gummy matter, ...... 1.09
Fatty matter, 0.11
Pectates, citrates, phosphates, and silicates of lime,
magnesia, potash, and soda, ..... 1.26
Water, 74.00
100.00
It is thus seen that the potato contains a large percentage of starch.
This, indeed, forms its characteristic feature, and renders it applica-
ble for the extraction, that is largely carried on, of starch for domes-
tic and other purposes. The starch obtained from it is also used for
adulterating the more expensive farinaceous dietetic preparations,
and likewise forms what is sold under the name of British arrow-
root, tapioca, &c. Whilst less expensive, there is nothing to show
that the starch of the potato differs to any sensible extent, in a nutri-
tive point of view, from the other starchy preparations.
Potatoes require to be cooked to render them fit for eating, and
POTATO. 267
this may be effected either by boiling, steaming, baking, or frying.
The heat employed coagulates the albuminous juice contained within
and between the cells. The starch-granules absorb the watery part
of the juice, swell up, and distend the cells in which they are lodged.
The cohesion of the cells becomes destroyed, and they then easily
separate from each other, leading to the potato easily breaking down
into a loose farinaceous mass. When these changes are complete,
the potato is spoken of as being in a mealy condition. When, on
the other hand, the liquid is only partially absorbed, and the cells
imperfectly separated, the potato remains more or less firm, and is
spoken of as close, waxy, or watery.
Steaming is a better process for cooking potatoes than boiling, on
account of not being attended by the loss that is occasioned by the
latter. When boiling is employed, the skin should not be removed,
as is so often found to be the practice ; for the removal of the skin
favors the extraction of the juice by the surrounding water. The
waste, says Dr. Letheby, when potatoes are cooked in their skins,
only amounts to 3 per cent., or half an ounce in the pound, whereas
when they are peeled first it is not less than 14 per cent., or from
two to three ounces in the pound. A little salt added to the water
in which potatoes are boiled tends to prevent the escape of their
saline constituents.
The potato constitutes a wholesome and agreeable article of food ;
and one, of which the palate does not easily become fatigued. The
amount of nitrogenous matter it contains is too small, however, to
enable it to form a suitable food alone, but with articles rich in
nitrogenous matter, as meat, fish, &c., it supplies a useful and eco-
nomical alimentary substance. By the peasantry in some rural dis-
tricts it is employed in association with buttermilk which, from
the casein present, furnishes the requisite nitrogenous matter as the
chief means of support ; and, thus associated, a cheap and, experi-
ence shows, an efficient diet, is provided.
In a mealy state the potato enjoys easy digestibility ; but in a
close, watery, or waxy state it is very trying to the digestive
powers, and should, therefore, when in this condition, be avoided
where delicacy of stomach exists. Young potatoes may be more
tempting than old, but, from what has been said, will be understood
to be indigestible.
The potato has a high repute for the possession of antiscorbutic
268 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
properties. The concurrent testimony of numerous observers points
to its forming a most efficient agent in preventing the occurrence of
scurvy. It is used successfully for this purpose on board ocean-
going vessels, and the inquiries of the late Dr. Baly into the diseases
of prisoners showed in a conclusive manner that the addition of po-
tatoes to the diet sufficed to arrest the prevalence of scurvy in prisons
where it had before existed.
The potato is subject to various diseases, which lead to an impair-
ment of its alimentary value. The most important, by far, is the
disease that was alluded to a few pages forward, and which is styled
popularly "the potato disease." Ever since 1845, when it was first
noticed, it has been common, some years more so than others,
amongst the potato crops, not only in our own islands, but on- the
Continent of Europe and in America. The disease commences in the
leaves of the plant, and extends thence through the stem to the
tubers. Brown spots make their appearance upon the surface of ( the
tuber, and then penetrate its substance and lead to decay. After
being subjected to cooking, the affected part remains hard, whilst
the healthy portion has become soft and mealy. If the diseased
part be cut away, the remainder will be found good and fit for food ;
but considerable waste is necessarily thereby incurred, and the dis-
ease spreads as the potato is kept. Nothing has been witnessed to
show that any ill effects, either in man or amongst the lower ani-
mals, have been produced by the incidental consumption of a small
quantity of the diseased part ; but potatoes, in an advanced state of
disease, are prudently to be regarded as unfit food even for the lower
animals.
Potatoes become deteriorated upon growing out or germinating.
They cease to assume a mealy state on cooking ; present a semi-
translucent appearance ; and possess a rather sickly, sweetish taste.
It has been asserted that a poisonous principle, solanin, becomes
developed in the buds and shoots of potatoes that are allowed to
grow out on keeping. No conclusive evidence, however, has been
adduced to show that the potato acquires noxious properties under
such circumstances, and nothing is ever heard of any poisonous ef-
fects arising from its use, notwithstanding the universal consumption
that is going on, and that it is often cooked without the aid of water,
which might have the effect of dissolving out any noxious principle.
If there be at any time a poison present, it must be either insignifi-
TUBERS. 269
cant in amount, or be destroyed by the heat to which the potato is
subjected before being sent to table.
Exposure to frost also seriously damages the potato. The effect
produced is of a mechanical nature. The watery juice contained in
the cells and intercellular spaces undergoes expansion in the act of
freezing, and so leads to a rupture and separation of the cells, and
in this way a destruction of the organization of the tuber. Its vital-
ity becomes thus destroyed, and in consequence, it has no longer the.
power to resist, when thawed, the ordinary changes of decomposition :
hence, putrefaction occurs, and advancing, renders the article unfit
for food.
THE SWEET POTATO.
The sweet potato is derived from the Batatas edulis, or, as it was
called by the older botanists, Convolvulus batatas, a plant which is
a native of the Malayan Archipelago, where it formerly grew wild
in woods. The plant is now cultivated in most of the warm countries,
and furnishes a starchy and sweet tuber, which is prized as an article
of food in the East and West Indies, America, and hot climates
generally. It was largely eaten in Europe before the cultivation of
the potato, which has now taken its place, and also its name. The
tubers were imported into England by way of Spain, and sold as a
delicacy before the potato was known, and it forms the article re-
ferred to when the name is mentioned by English writers previous
to the middle of the seventeenth century. It is still to some ex-
tent cultivated in the south of France and in Spain, and is to be ob-
tained in Paris during the fall of the year, but is not much esteemed
now, being considered too sweet to eat with meat and other articles
seasoned with salt, and not sweet enough as a sweet kind of food.
In North America it is a favorite article of food, more generally
used than perhaps any other vegetable except the white potato.
When roasted or boiled, it is mealy, and may be looked upon as
forming a wholesome food. It is said to possess slightly laxative
properties.
There are several varieties of the Batatas cultivated. The fol-
lowing is the composition, according to the analysis of Payen, of a
tuber of the kind grown in the south of France and America which
is characterized by richness in starchy and saccharine constituents :
270 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Composition of the sweet potato (Pay en).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 1.50
Starch, 16.05
Sugar, .10.20
Cellulose, 0.45
Fatty matter, 0.30
Other organic matter, . . . 1.10
Mineral salts, 2.60
Water, 67.50
100.00
THE YAM.
The yam is a large esculent tuber, derived from several species of
the genus Diosoorea, a group of climbing plants belonging to tropi-
cal climates. The tuber is oblong, and sometimes grows to the
length of three feet, and may weigh as much as thirty pounds. It
contains a considerable amount of starch, and, when boiled or roasted,
forms a mealy, palatable, and wholesome food. It is devoid of the
sweetness appertaining to the sweet potato, and keeps more readily.
It is eaten by the inhabitants of New Zealand, as well as by those of
the East and West Indies and the South Sea Islands, and holds as
important a position as an aliment in tropical countries as the com-
mon potato does in Europe. At the period of the potato famine
an attempt was made to introduce it into England, but with little
success.
Of the varieties, the Dioscorea sativa forms the common yam of
the West Indies. The Dioscorea alata, or winged yam, grows in
the South Sea Islands and likewise the West Indies, and is met with
also in a cultivated state in the East Indies. In different localities
there are many other varieties. The Dioscorea batatas has been re-
cently brought from China, and has been found to be susceptible of
cultivation in France, yielding an abundant produce of wholesome
and agreeable food, available all the year round, or readily, at least,
during the greater part of the year.
The tubers of all the yams contain an acid principle, which is dis-
sipated by boiling, but there are some species which possess poison-
ous properties.
TUBERS. 271
THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE.
This vegetable product is derived from the Helianthus tubero&iis,
a plant belonging to the sunflower tribe. The word "Jerusalem,"
indeed, as here applied, is asserted to form a corruption of the Italian
girasole (sunflower). The plant is said to have been brought in 1617
from Brazil, and is also believed to have been a native of Mexico.
It was cultivated in European gardens before the potato was intro-
duced. The root produces around it oval or roundish tubercles,
which form the edible part, and which may amount to as many as
thirty, or even fifty, in number. These tubercles, unlike the potato,
resist the action of the frost, and thus may be allowed to remain in
the ground during the winter, and collected for use as occasion may
require. The herbaceous part pf the plant, when dry, is also sus-
ceptible of being turned to account as fuel.
The Jerusalem artichoke is not consumed to a large extent in
England. It has something of the character of the potato, but pos-
sesses a sweetish taste, is less agreeable to the palate, and does not
become mealy on boiling. The absence of starch accounts for this.
There are no granules, as in the potato, to swell up and absorb the
moisture, and disorganize or break up the tissue into a loose, friable
mass. It therefore maintains a moist or watery condition after cook-
ing, and simply becomes softened. A body in this state must needs
be of a less digestible nature than the potato. Its analysis shows
that it contains a considerable percentage of sugar. The inulin,
which is present in small amount, forms a principle that is isomeric*
with starch.
Composition of the Jerusalem artichoke.
(From the analysis of Payen, Poinsot, and Fevry.)
Nitrogenous matter, 3.1
Sugar, 14.7
Inulin, 1.9
Pectic acid, 0.9
iPectin, 0.4
Cellulose, 1.5
Fatty matter, 0.2
Mineral matter, ....... 1.3
Water, 76.0
100.0
272 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Other tuberous products are used as food. Several species of the
Oxalidece have tuberous roots, and are cultivated for the sake of their
tubers. The Oxalis orenata and Oxalis tuberosa are natives of Peru
and Bolivia. Their tubers, when cooked, become mealy, like pota-
toes, and are said to be much esteemed. The tubers of Tropceolum
tuber osum are also eaten in Peru. Their taste is described as pecu-
liar. The TJllucus tuber osus grows in the mountainous regions of
South America, and is cultivated in Peru and Bolivia for the sake
of the tubers. It was introduced into France as a substitute for
potatoes. The tubers of the Witheringia (Solanum) montana are
used as an article of food by the Peruvians. The Phlomis tuberosa
is eaten by the Calmucs of the Caspian, after being reduced to pow-
der. The tuberous bitter vetch, Orobus tuber osus, is a native of
Britain, and its tubers have been used in times of scarcity as an
article of food (" Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci.").
The rhizomes or underground stems of the Caladium seguinum, or
dumb cane, of the West Indies, are often used as a substitute for
potatoes and yams. The rhizomes of the pondweed (Potamogeton
natans) are used in Siberia as an article of food. The root of the
Arraeaeha esculenta, a native of South America, is much cultivated
in the neighborhood of Santa Fe de Bogota and other parts of Colom-
bia, where it is as much eaten as potatoes or yams are elsewhere. It
is boiled like a potato, and is said to have a flavor intermediate
between that of the parsnip and chestnut ("Baird's Cyclo. of Nat.
Sci.").
CARROTS.
The garden carrot is derived by cultivation from the Daucus
carota, a plant which grows freely in a wild state in fields, hedge-
rows, and waysides in Britain. The root of the wild plant is white,
slender, and hard, and has an acrid, disagreeable taste, and strong
aromatic smell. As the result of cultivation, the root of the garden
variety is thick, fleshy, and succulent, and of a red, yellow, or pale
straw color, with a pleasant odor, and a sweet, agreeable taste.
Whilst young it is very tender, but becomes hard when allowed to
grow old. It is said that the garden carrot was introduced into use
in England by the Flemish refugees who settled at Sandwich in the
reign of Elizabeth.
ROOTS. 273
Composition of cat-rots (from Letheby's table).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .1.3
Starch, &c. } 84
Sugar, 6.1
Fat, 0.2
Mineral matter, . . . . .10
Water 83
100.0
Carrots form a wholesome and useful food, for both man and
cattle. They are not adapted, however, for a weak stomach, being
somewhat indigestible and apt to produce flatulence. They are pro-
portionately valuable as they have more of the outer, soft, red, than
the central, yellow, core-like part. On account of the sugar present,
they admit of a syrup being prepared from them, and also yield, by
fermentation and distillation, a spirituous liquid. Cut into small
pieces and roasted, they are sometimes used in Germany as a sub-
stitute for coffee.
THE PARSNIP.
The root of the parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) is of a pale yellow
color, but otherwise closely resembles that of the carrot, both in
general characters and alimentary properties. The plant forms a
native of Britain, and is also found in many parts of Europe and
the north of Asia. In the wild state the root is white, aromatic,
mucilaginous, and sweet-tasted, with some degree of acridness. By
cultivation it is rendered more fleshy and milder flavored. It is
used in the same way, but not so extensively, as the carrot, and is
not so generally liked. Erom custom, it forms the usual accom-
paniment of salt fish.
Composition of the parsnip (from Letheby's table).
Nitrogenous matter, . . . .1.1
Starch, &c., 9.6
Sugar, 5.8
Fat, 0.5
Salts, 1.0
Water, 82
100.0
18
274 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Parsnips are not only used as a vegetable, but a wine is sometimes
made from them, which is spoken of as somewhat resembling malm-
sey. A spirit, also, is sometimes distilled from the fermented prod-
uct, and in the north of Ireland, with the aid of hops, a table beer
is brewed from them.
THE TURNIP.
Turnips grow wild in England, but the wild plant (Brassica
campestris) is supposed to form the original of the Swedish turnip,
or Swede, which is too coarse eating for human food, and not of the
cultivated vegetable. This, the Brassica rapa (Lindley calls the
turnip Brassica napus, and rape Brassica rapa), is said to have
been first introduced as a food for cattle into this country by the
celebrated agriculturist, Coke of Holkham, afterwards Earl of Lei-
cester. It forms an agreeable and extensively used vegetable, being
either cooked alone or mixed with soups and stews. From the
large proportion of water it contains, its nutritive value is low.
The top shoots of such turnip plants as have stood the winter are
gathered, and used as a green vegetable. Those from the Swedish
turnip are the sweetest flavored.
Composition of the turnip (Letheby's table).
Nitrogenous matter, .... 1.2
Starch, &c., '.5.1
Sugar, 2.1
Salts, 06
Water, . 91.0
100.0
BEET-ROOT.
The common or red beet (Beta vulgaris), which belongs to the
family of saltworts, that contains also the spinach, quinoa, &c., and
is characterized by the large amount of alkali in combination with
an organic acid present in the plants, is a native of the coasts of the
Mediterranean, and was cultivated in this country by Tradescant the
younger in 1656. It was then called beet-rave, from the French
betterave. The root is usually of an elongated form, like that of the
carrot, but in some varieties it assumes more of a turnip-shaped
ROOTS. 275
character. The color varies from a deepish blackish-red to a light
red. Beet-root is extensively grown, and employed as food both for
man and cattle; and on the Continent is further used as a source of
sugar. It is eaten cold in slices, either alone or in salads, after
being boiled, and is also sometimes pickled.
The mangold-wurzel (Beta altissima) is usually thought to consti-
tute a large and coarse variety of the common beet, in which the red
color is but little developed.
RADISHES.
The common radish (Raphanm sativus) is a native of China, and
is mentioned by Gerard, in 1584, as then cultivated in England.
The root is either long and spindle-shaped, or round and turnip-
shaped. The color of the exterior varies : there being black, violet,
red, and white radishes; but, in all, the central portion is white. It
is usually eaten in a raw state, but is sometimes boiled and served
as a vegetable. In composition, the radish closely resembles the
turnip.
SALSIFY.
The salsify, or purple goat's beard, also known as "oyster plant "
(Tragopogon porrifolius), forms a hardy plant, indigenous in Eng-
land. The root is long and tapering, and becomes by cultivation
fleshy and tender, with a white milky juice. It has a mild, sweet-
ish taste, like the parsnip, and is boiled or stewed for the table. It
is not so much eaten in England as on the Continent. In America
it is usually boiled and fried in small cakes, either by itself or mixed
with potatoes.
The Ginseng root is highly valued by the Chinese for its supposed
invigorating and aphrodisiac qualities. It is a species of Panax;
and the Panax quinquefolium, which is a native of America, pos-
sesses the same qualities as the ginseng ("Barrow's Travels in
China/' and "Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci.").
The root of the Kalo, or Arum esculentum, which is the principal
food of the lower class of the Sandwich Islanders, somewhat resem-
276 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
bles the beet, but its color is brown instead of red. It is reared with
great care in small inclosures kept wet, like rice or paddy fields. A
sort of paste is made from the root, which is called poi (" Simpson's
Journey Bound the World/' vol. 2, p. 31).
The roots of the Potentilla anserina, or goose grass, when roasted
or boiled, taste like parsnips, and in the western islands of Scotland
they have been known to support the inhabitants for months together
in times of scarcity ("Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci.").
HERBACEOUS ARTICLES.
These include foliaceous parts, shoots, and stems of plants. They
are valuable as articles of food, not so much for the absolute amount
of nutritive matter aiforded for, on account of their succulent
nature, they contain but a small proportion of solid matter as for
the salts they yield and the variety they give to our diet. By culti-
vation they have been brought to a very diiferent state from that in
which they originally existed. To make them tender and agreeably
flavored is part of the art of the gardener, and is effected by quick
growth and, in many instances, by a partial exclusion from light. If
allowed to grow slowly, the development of ligneous matter is
favored, which gives them hardness, whilst full exposure to light
leads to the production, not only of green coloring matter, but of the
characteristic principles of the plant, which often communicate a
strong and disagreeable taste. It is found that leafy products, which
have been allowed to acquire a full green color, possess more or less
purgative properties. It is necessary, therefore, that the consump-
tion of these should not be on too extensive a scale. The antiscor-
butic virtue of the class of vegetables under consideration is high.
PRODUCTS OF THE CABBAGE TRIBE.
The original of the cabbage tribe is the sea-cabbage, a wild plant,
named Brassica oleracea, which is to be found growing on many of
the cliffs of the south coast of England, and in some other parts.
HERBACEOUS ARTICLES. 277
This is the true collet, or colewort, although the name is now ap-
plied to any young cabbage which has a loose and open heart, and
the leaves of it are gathered by the inhabitants and consumed as a
vegetable. In this state it only grows to an insignificant size in com-
parison with the dimensions attained as the result of cultivation.
From this plant a variety of well-known and extensively consumed
vegetables have been produced, including, for instance, cabbages,
greens, savoys, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, &c. Looked
at in a general way, these various products form a wholesome and
agreeable component of the food of man. It is true, containing, as
they do, about 90 per cent, of water, their nutritive value is not high,
but they are useful as giving variety, and for the salts they supply.
They also possess marked antiscorbutic virtue. They labor under the
disadvantage of being articles of difficult digestion, which renders
them unsuited where weakness of stomach exists. Their proportion
of sulphur is large, and they thus are apt to give rise to flatulence of
an unpleasant nature. To secure tenderness, they should be grown
quickly, and dressed whilst young.
The common white garden cabbage is a variety of the Brassica
oleracea. It is one of the oldest of cultivated vegetables, and has
been known in this country from time immemorial.
What is called Sauer-Kraut, which is largely consumed in Ger-
many, is prepared from the leaves of cabbage. These, deprived of
their stalk and midrib, are cut up and placed in a tub or vat in al-
ternate layers with salt. They are then subjected to pressure, and
allowed to remain till acid fermentation has set in and they have
become sour. The product is cooked by stewing in its own liquor.
Red cabbage. This is another variety of the Brassica oleracea,
which is similar in form to the preceding. It is used chiefly for
pickling, but is sometimes stewed in a fresh state for the table.
Greens constitute all the varieties of the Brassica oleracea which
grow in an open way or have no hearts, and which are used as an
article of food. Some of them are called colewort (the name applied
to the wild plant), and others, with curled or wrinkled leaves, are
known as green kale, or borecole. They are sufficiently hardy to re-
sist the cold of winter, and thus yield a green vegetable when such
food is scarce.
There is a variety of the cabbage plant extensively cultivated in
Jersey which attains a height of seven or eight feet and upwards.
278 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
It continues to grow, and throw out leaves from the top; and these,
as they attain full size, are stripped off and used as food, both for
man and cattle. Thriving through the winter, as it does, it is a
valuable plant to the inhabitants of the island. The stem is suffi-
ciently hard and woody to be susceptible of conversion into a walk-
ing-stick.
Savoy. This name is applied to a variety of cabbage, which is
distinguished from other close-hearted cabbages by having wrinkled
leaves. It is principally grown for winter use.
Brussels sprouts form also a winter and early spring vegetable.
They grow with small heads, like miniature cabbages, from the axils
of the leaves of one of the many cultivated varieties of the Brassica
oleracea. The plant is usually propagated from seeds imported from
Belgium, as it is apt to degenerate by growth in England. It has
been cultivated lately to a much larger extent in the market gardens
around London than formerly.
Cauliflower. This is one of the most delicate and highly prized
articles derived from the cabbage tribe. It is entirely the product
of cultivation, and constitutes the inflorescence of the plant, which
by art has been made to grow into a compact mass or head, of a
white color. It was known to the Greeks and Romans, but was not
much grown in England until the end of the seventeenth century.
It was then, however, very successfully cultivated, and even exported
to Holland, from which country so many of our vegetables have been
introduced.
Broccoli is distinguished from cauliflower, of which it is merely a
variety, by the color of its inflorescence and leaves, and its compara-
tively hardy constitution, which enables it to stand the winter.
Its color varies greatly, through shades of buff or yellow, green, and
purple.
Broccoli sprouts are obtained from the early purple or sprouting
broccoli. The plant grows from two to three feet high, and produces
sprouts of flowers from the axils of the leaves.
Kohl-rabi, Knol-kohl, or Turnip cabbage, forms a remarkable
variety of cabbage plant. The stem is enlarged j ust above the ground
into a fleshy, turnip-like knob, of about the size of a man's fist, from
which the leaf-stalks spring. The plant is of a hardy nature, and
the globular enlargement is more solid and more nutritious than a
turnip of the same size.
HERBACEOUS ARTICLES. 279
SPINACH.
The vegetable falling under this name forms the leaves of the
Spinacia oleracea, or garden spinach, a plant introduced into this
country in the sixteenth century, and supposed to be a native of
Western Arabia. There are several varieties of the plant, and the
leaves are boiled and mashed for the table, to be eaten as a green
vegetable, and are also frequently employed for introduction into
soup. It is a wholesome vegetable, with slightly laxative properties.
The spinach belongs to a tribe of plants, other families of which
yield leaves that are prepared and eaten in a similar way. For
instance, the leaves of the Chenopodnm, which furnishes the quinoa
grain, are used as spinach by the inhabitants of Chili and Peru.
The Beet family belongs to the same tribe, and the leaves of the
Beta mar-itima, or sea-beet, a common European seashore plant, and
of the Beta cicla, or white beet, are also used as spinach. The latter
plant, which is supposed to be a variety of the red beet, is cultivated
specially and solely for the leaves. It is a native of the seacoasts
of Spain and Portugal, and was introduced into England in 1570.
What is called mountain spinach is derived from the garden orache
(Atriplex hortensis), a member of another family, belonging to the
same tribe, which is a native of Tartary, and was introduced into
Europe in 1548. The leaves have a slightly acid flavor, and are
much esteemed as a vegetable in France.
The Romans ate the leaves of the mallow as a substitute for spin-
ach, and these are still used for a similar purpose in some parts of
France, Italy, and Lower Egypt. The leaves of Mercurialis annua
are cooked and eaten as spinach in Germany (" Baird's Cyclo. of
Nat. Sci.")-
SORREL.
Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) belongs to the buckwheat order of plants.
In England it is but little used as an article of food, and is to be
seen growing wild in meadows. In France, however, it is rather
extensively employed, and .by cultivation is considerably improved.
Sorrel possesses an acid taste of a pronounced character, which is
due to the presence of the superoxalate of potash and tartaric acid.
280 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
RHUBARB.
This forms another of the buckwheat tribe, and yields one of the
most useful of garden productions, but has only been of compara-
tively recent introduction for dietetic use into England. The Rheum
rhaponticum and Rheum hybridum constitute the species usually
grown for alimentary purposes. The Rheum palmatum, commonly
known to gardeners as the true Turkey rhubarb, also yields an ex-
cellent edible product. The stalks of the leaves, after being peeled,
are cooked and eaten precisely in the same way as gooseberries, for
which they form a good substitute, if even they are not to be pre-
ferred. Rhubarb occupies, indeed, in an alimentary point of view,
the position of a fruit, but it is not eatable in the raw state. It is
also sometimes used for making wine. On account of oxalate of
lime forming a constituent of rhubarb it should be avoided by per-
sons suffering from the oxalate-of-lime diathesis.
LAYER.
Laver is the name given to various kinds of sea-weed used as
food. Green laver, as dressed for the table, closely resembles spinach
in appearance, but has a bitterish taste. It is obtained from the
Viva latissima, a common sea-weed on the British shores. Amongst
the other marine plants employed are the Porphyra vulgaris and
laciniata ; Chondrus crispus, or carrageen, or Irish moss ; Laminaria
d,igitata, or sea-girdle ; Laminaria saccharina ; and Alaria esculenta,
or bladder-lock.
Basing his remarks upon the analyses of Dr. Davy and Dr. Ap-
john, Dr. Letheby states that sea-weeds, in a moderately dry condi-
tion, contain from 18 to 26 per cent, of water, 9J to 15 per cent, of
nitrogenous matter, and, upon an average, about 60 per cent, of
starchy matter and sugar (vegetable mucilage?) a composition
which places them amongst the most nutritious of vegetable sub-
stances. He urges the advisability of extending the use of so val-
uable and abundant a stock of food, which already enters largely
into the diet of some of the coast inhabitants of Great Britain, Ire-
land, and the Continent. Before being cooked, they require to be
.soaked in water, to remove their saline matter. They are then
HERBACEOUS ARTICLES. 281
stewed in water or milk until they become tender and mucilaginous.
Sometimes they are pickled, and eaten with pepper, vinegar, and oil,
or with lemon-juice. The consumption of laver is thought to be
useful in scrofulous affections and glandular tumors.
Sea-weeds are eaten by the Chinese, and a jelly is likewise made
by them from the leaves of fucus (" Barrow's Travels in China,"
pp. 551-2).
It may be mentioned here that certain varieties of Lichen are con-
sumed as food. Captain Franklin and his party, in their voyage to
the Polar Sea, subsisted principally, during a part of the year 1821
(when suffering great privations), on lichens of the genus Gyrophora,
which the Canadians term tripe de roche. Under this diet, however,
the party became little more than skin and bones, and after a time
the unpalatable weed became quite nauseous to all, and produced
bowel complaint amongst several (" Franklin's Journey/' p. 403).
CELERY.
The common celery (Apium graveolens) is a native of Britain, and
in its wild state is known as smallage, which grows freely by the
sides of ditches and in marshy places. In this state it has a coarse,
rank taste, and peculiar smell. By cultivation it loses its acrid
nature, and becomes mild and sweet. To keep it white it is excluded
from light, by being earthed up as it grows, the tops of the leaves
only being allowed to appear above the ground. Several varieties
of the plant are met with. Eaten raw, it must undoubtedly be
looked upon as difficult of digestion. It is frequently stewed, and
is employed also for introducing into soups.
SEA-KALE.
Sea-kale (Crambe maritima) forms a hardy plant, which grows on
the seashores of various parts of Britain and the Continent. It has
long been eaten by the common people, but was not cultivated in
gardens until the eighteenth century. It is now brought to a high
state of perfection, and is one of the most esteemed of vegetables.
Properly cooked, it is delicate, easy of digestion, and nutritious.
Like celery, it is blanched by exclusion from light during its growth,
282 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
and unless this is carefully attended to the shoots acquire an acrid
taste. The vegetable is but little known on the Continent.
ARTICHOKE.
The green artichoke constitutes the flower-head of one of the Com-
positce, viz., the Cynara seolymus, which is a native of the south of
Europe, and was introduced into England in 1548. The flower-head
is gathered before the flowers expand. The succulent bases of the
leafy scales and the central disk form the edible portion, and furnish
a delicate-flavored vegetable.
The term chard is applied to the leaf-stalks, which have been
blanched by tying up the leaves and wrapping all of them over
except the tops. In this state the stalks are tender and white, and
are sometimes thus prepared for the table.
The fleshy receptacle of the carline thistle (Carlina caukscens), a
native of the south of Europe, exceeds that of the artichoke in size
and is said to equal it in flavor.
The cardoon ( Cynara carduncellus) also yields an edible article.
The plant closely resembles the common artichoke. The thick,
fleshy leaves are blanched, and, when cooked, taste very much like
the artichoke. It is not much used in England, but is in consider-
able request on the Continent.
ASPARAGUS.
The Asparagus officinalis belongs to the lily tribe, and in its wild
state is a seacoast plant. It is a native of Europe, and is now
extensively cultivated as a garden vegetable. The young shoots
form the portion that is eaten, and, by cultivation, these have" been
greatly increased in size and altered from their original condition.
They are universally esteemed as a choice and delicate vegetable.
They contain a special crystallizable principle, called aspamgin,
which possesses diuretic properties, and gives a peculiar odor to the
urine.
Other vegetable products are sometimes dressed and eaten in the
same way as asparagus. The flower-stalks, for instance, othe Orni-
thogalum pyrenaicum are used as asparagus in some parts of Glouces-
tershire, and sold in Bath under the name of Prussian asparagus.
HERBACEOUS ARTICLES. 283
The stalks of the salsify are likewise sometimes similarly employed,
and also the leaf-stalks and midribs of the great white or sweet beet
(Beta cicla). The latter is denominated beet chard. The young
shoots of one or two species of Typha are eaten by the Cossacks like
asparagus.
ONION.
The onion (Allium cepa), like the asparagus, although differing so
much from it in its dietetic properties, belongs to the lily tribe of
plants. In common with, but to a higher degree than, the other
members of the allium species, which includes also the garlic, chive,
shallot, and leek, it contains an acrid volatile oil, which possesses
strongly irritant and excitant properties. Grown in Spain and
other warm places, the onion is milder and sweeter than when grown
in colder countries. The chief use of the onion reared in our own
gardens is as a condiment or flavoring agent, whilst the large onions
imported from Spain are sufficiently mild to be eaten as an ordinary
vegetable, and are stewed and roasted for the table.
LETTUCE.
The garden lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is a hardy plant, of which a
great number of varieties exist. It is supposed to be a native of the
East Indies, but has been cultivated in Europe from a remote
period of antiquity. Most of the lettuces grown for use form one
or other of two kinds cos and cabbage. The leaves of the former
are oblong and upright, and are tied together for the purpose of
being blanched; whilst those of the latter are rounder and of a
more spreading character, and at the same time grow nearer to the
ground.
The lettuce supplies a wholesome, digestible, cooling, and agreea-
ble salad. It is occasionally made use of as a boiled vegetable. It
contains a milky juice, especially when the plant has been allowed
to run to flower, which possesses mild soporific properties, and is
collected and inspissated, and used as a medicinal agent, under the
name of lactucarium, or lettuce opium.
284 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
ENDIVE.
The endive (Cichorium endivia) is a native of China or Japan,
and was introduced into Europe in the year 1548. It is largely
used as a winter salad. It is less tender than lettuce, and has a de-
cidedly bitter taste. It is sometimes stewed and eaten as a cooked
vegetable.
CRESS.
The common or garden cress (Lepidium sativum) is a native of
the East, but has been cultivated in our gardens since 1548. The
young leaves are used as salad, and they possess a pungent and
agreeable flavor. It ranks as one of the principal of the small
salads, and a variety with curled leaves is especially esteemed.
MUSTARD.
White mustard (Sinapis alba) is a native of Britain, and grows in
waste places. It is sown in gardens, and forced under glass for the
production of a small salad, which, like cress, possesses an agreeable,
pungent flavor.
RAPE.
Rape (Brassica napus) is frequently grown and used as a substi-
tute for mustard and cress. It is devoid, however, of the agreeable
pungency which belongs to these latter articles.
WATERCRESS.
The watercress (Nasturtium officlnale) is a creeping plant, which
grows in slow-running streams, and thrives best on a bottom of
sand or gravel. It is a native of almost all parts of the world, and
forms a favorite and wholesome article, which is seldom out of
season. There are two varieties the green and brown.
The young shoots of the common poke, or American grape (P%-
tolacca decandra), are eaten by the natives of America and the West
FRUITY PRODUCTS EATEN AS VEGETABLES. 285
Indies as a vegetable, and in Austria the plant is cultivated for the
same purpose (" Baird's Cyclo. Nat. Sci.").
The leaves of the common daisy are used as a pot-herb in some
countries (" Baird's Cyclo. Nat. Sci.").
The large purple flowers of the Abutilon esculentum (called in
Brazil, Ben9ao de Dios) are dressed and eaten with their food by
the inhabitants of Kio de Janeiro (" Baird's Cyclo. Nat. Sci.").
FRUITY PRODUCTS CONSUMED AS VEGETABLES.
CUCUMBER.
The common cucumber (Cacumis sativus) is a native of the south
of Asia, but has long been cultivated in all civilized countries. It
furnishes a fleshy fruit, which forms an edible product. It is grown
both in the open air and under glass, the fruit varying in size, ten-
derness, and flavor, accordingly : that which is forced or grown
quickly possessing choicer qualities than that which is grown
slowly.
Cucumber, in the raw state, must be looked upon as a cold and
indigestible article ; and it is apt to disagree with many. Stewed, it
forms a light and wholesome vegetable.
Young cucumbers are pickled in vinegar and called gherkins.
In this state they form an agreeable relish at a meal, and serve to
give zest for other food.
VEGETABLE MARROW.
Vegetable marrow constitutes the fruit of the Cacurbita ovifera,
which is supposed to be only a variety of the pumpkin. It was
introduced into Europe at the commencement of the present century,
and is now extensively cultivated in England. It is dressed in va-
rious ways, and its name is derived from the softness of its fleshy
substance. It forms a delicate-flavored and easily digestible vege-
table, but, on account of its highly succulent nature, its nutritive
value is very low.
286 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
The pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo), and melon-pumpkin, or squash
(Cucurbita melopepo), form articles of an allied nature to the vege-
table marrow, which are sometimes used as food.
. TOMATO.
The Tomato, or love-apple (Solarium ly coper sicum), is a native of
South America, and was introduced into Europe in 1596. The
ripe fruit is used in various ways, and has an agreeable acidulous
taste. It is more, perhaps, as a relish, than for its nutritive value,
that it is useful, and its popularity has rapidly increased of late. In
the unripe state it is said to make an excellent pickle. In America
it is very largely used, being eaten raw as a salad, or simply stewed ;
it is also extensively used in the manufacture of tomato ketchup. Of
late years an important industry has sprung up of "canning" toma-
toes, by partially cooking them and preserving them in hermetically
sealed cans.
A variety of the Solanum melongena, or egg-plant, yields a fruity
product, known as the egg-apple, aubergine, or brinjal. This is of
an elongated form and purple color. It is somewhat largely eaten
on the Continent, and to some extent also in England ; but it is dry
and spongy, and devoid of the agreeable qualities belonging to the
tomato. In America it is a favorite vegetable, being usually sliced
and fried.
ESCULENT FUNGI.
The fungi are low vegetable products, which are characterized
chemically by the large amount of nitrogenous matter they contain.
In this respect, indeed, they are closely allied to animal substances.
On the Continent a considerable number of varieties are consumed ;
but in England, from suspicion of the possession of dangerous prop-
erties, the selection is restricted mainly to three, viz., the mushroom,
morelle, and truffle. The following is the chemical composition of
these, according to the analyses of Pay en :
FUNGI.
287
Composition of edible fungi (Payen).
Nitrogenous matter and traces of \
sulphur, . . . . /
Fatty matter, ....
Cellulose, dextrin, saccharine \
matter, mannite, and other >-
non-nitrogenous principles, . J
Salts (phosphates and chlorides -v
of the alkalies, lime and mag- l
nesia), silica, . . . J
Water,
Mushrooms. Morelle. White truffles. Black truffles.
8.775
0.396
3.456
0.458
91.010
100.000
0.56
1.36
9000
100.00
9.958
0.442
15.158.
2.102
72.340
100.000
0.560
16.585
2.070
72.000
100.000
In the dried state, Payen remarks, mushrooms contain 52, morelles
44, white truffles 36, and black truffles 31 per cent, of nitrogenous
matter.
MUSHROOMS.
The Agaricus campestris constitutes the common edible mushroom.
It is found springing up spontaneously in our pastures during the
months of September and October, and is cultivated in beds, and
thence obtainable all the year round. It is a native of most of the
temperate regions of both hemispheres. It produces a spreading
filamentous or threadlike underground structure, called the myce-
lium or spawn. % From this, little tubers spring, which rapidly en-
large, and grow into a stalk, bearing at its summit a rounded head,
which, in a short time, expands into a pileus or cap. This, which
forms the edible portion, constitutes the fructification, and presents
upon its under surface a number of parallel plates or gills, that bear
the sporules of the fungus.
Mushrooms are employed for flavoring, and as an occasional deli-
cacy, rather than as a common article of food. Although difficult
of digestion, and, therefore, not adapted for the weak stomach, yet
by most healthy persons they may be consumed without proving
hurtful. Sometimes, however, probably from idiosyncrasy on the
part of the individual, they give rise to more or less serious derange-
ment. They are eaten in the fresh state, either broiled, baked, or
stewed, and are also preserved by pickling. The young or button
mushrooms are used for the latter purpose. Ketchup (besides being
288 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
made from the walnut and the tomato) is prepared from their juice,
flavored with salt and aromatics.
The resemblance between mushrooms and toadstools is so close,
that serious consequences have arisen from the wrong fungus having
been eaten. It is not easy to give precise rules, that will serve to
distinguish the wholesome from the poisonous article ; but as af-
fording some assistance, the following particulars bearing on the
point may be furnished. Mushrooms, when young, are like a small,
round button, with the exterior of both the stalk and head white.
As they grow larger, they expand into a flat or discoidal form, and
the gills underneath are at first of a pale flesh color, but afterwards
become dark -brown or blackish. The skin upon the top of the cap
or disk peels off easily. The flesh is white, compact, and brittle
not soft and watery. They have an agreeable odor, and grow, for
the most part, in closely fed pastures rarely in woods. Toadstools,
on the other hand, grow freely in woods and shady places. They
have, in general, an unpleasant smell, and the gills are of a brown
color. A sure test, says Dr. Christison, of a poisonous fungus, is an
astringent, styptic taste, and perhaps, also, a disagreeable, but cer-
tainly a pungent odor. He says, also, that most fungi which have
a warty cap, and more especially if there be fragments of membrane
adhering to their upper surface, are poisonous. The effects produced
by the poisonous fungi are of a narcotico-acrid nature ; sometimes
coma has been noticed as the predominant symptom, at other times
the symptoms have been allied to those of cholera. . Sometimes, also,
the effects have come on within a few minutes after the fungi have
been eaten, whilst at other times they have been delayed for several
hours. Recovery has generally occurred after a longer or shorter
period, but some few instances of fatal result are on record. Some
persons, as already mentioned, are, through idiosyncrasy, injuriously
affected by the ordinary edible mushrooms, but the effects are usu-
ally confined to vomiting, purging, and colic.
THE MORELLE.
The common morelle (Morchella e^culenta) is usually imported
from the Continent, though forming a native of this country. It
is kept in a dried state, and sold at Italian warehouses, and by the
herbalists at Covent Garden. In the fresh state it consists of a hoi-
FUNGI. 289
low stem and rounded head continuous with each other. It enters
as a flavoring ingredient into some made dishes, and is sometimes
also stewed and eaten separately, like the mushroom.
TRUFFLES.
The truffle forms a subterraneous fungus, which never appears
above the surface. It grows in light, dry soils, and is found in sev-
eral parts of England : more especially on the downs of Wiltshire,
Hampshire, and Kent. It is more plentiful in France, and there
acquires a larger size and choicer flavor. The most esteemed, on
account of the richness of their aroma, are those which are obtained
from the oak forests of Perigord. There are three varieties the
black, white, and red or violet. The latter is rare, and of the two
former the black is held in by far the higher repute. The white,
indeed, is considered of comparatively little value. To be in per-
fection, truffles should be quite fresh, much of their aroma being
lost by keeping. The black truffle is nodulated on the surface, and,
as met with in the market, varies in size from that of a filbert or
plum to that of the fist. Internally, it is marbled with white, fila-
mentous streaks, which have been regarded as constituting a sort of
mycelium.
As they do not appear above the surface, there is nothing to indi-
cate the locality of their growth, but their odor enables them to be
scented out by animals employed for the purpose. In England dogs
are trained for this work. They scratch and bark over the spot
where they grow, and then, men dig them out. In France pigs are
used in the same way. This animal appears to be very fond of them,
and on discovering their situation turns up the ground with its snout
in search of them.
Truffles are considered, particularly on the Continent, an article
of the greatest delicacy. Their firm and toughish consistence renders
them indigestible, but they are esteemed for the sake of their pecu-
liar aroma. They are seldom eaten alone. They are often used as
a stuffing, and form also a frequent ingredient of made dishes, besides
being employed to flavor gravies and sauces.
19
290 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
FRUITS.
The term fruit, in botanical language, signifies the seed, with its
surrounding structures, in progress to, or arrived at, maturity. In
a popular and dietetic sense, it lias a more limited signification, and
refers in a general .way only to such product when used in the man-
ner of a dessert. Botanically, wheat, peas, beans, <fec., constitute
fruits, but popularly the term is restricted to articles like apples,
pears, plums, grapes, &c.
Fruits consist of two parts the seed, and what is technically
called the pericarp. The latter comprises that which surrounds the
seed, and is composed of the epicarp the external integument or
skin ; the endocarp or putamen the inner coat or shell ; and the
sarcoearp or mesocarp the intermediate part, which generally pos-
sesses a more or less fleshy consistence. It is the sarcoearp which
forms the edible succulent portion of the fruit.
The flower, and thence the fruit, is formed from modifications of
the leaf, and in an early stage the fruit is green, and exhibits much
the same chemical composition and general comportment as the leaf.
It is only as maturity advances that' its special characteristics become
developed. At first, like other green parts of the plant, it absorbs
and decomposes the carbonic acid of the atmosphere under the in-
fluence of light, liberating oxygen and assimilating the carbon.
During its progress, it increases more or less rapidly in bulk and
weight; and, as it approaches maturity, it loses its green color,
becomes brown, yellow, or red, and no longer acts on the air like the
leaves, but on the contrary absorbs oxygen and gives out carbonic
acid. As this process advances, some of the proximate principles
contained in the unripe fruit, particularly the vegetable acids and
tannin, in part disappear, apparently by oxidation, and, thus, it
becomes less sour and astringent. At the same time the starch un-
dergoes transformation into sugar; and the insoluble pectose, into
pectin and other soluble substances of allied composition and having
more or less of a gelatinous character. The fruit in this way arrives
at a state of perfection for eating. Oxidation, however, still advances,
and now, the sugar and remaining acid become destroyed, giving
rise to the loss of flavor which occurs after the full ripened state has
been attained and deterioration has set in. Finally, if the changes
are allowed to pursue their ordinary course, the pericarp undergoes
decay, arid the seed is set free.
FRUITS. 291
The agreeable taste of fruits partly depends on the aroma, and
partly on the existence of a due relation between the acid, sugar,
gum, pectin, &c., and likewise between the water and the soluble
and insoluble constituents. Luscious fruits like the peach, green-
gage, and mulberry, which seem to melt in the mouth, contain a
very large proportion of soluble substances. A due proportion of
gum, pectin, and other gelatinous substances, serves to mask the
taste of the free acid, if present in a somewhat large proportion as
compared with the sugar. Such is the case with the peach, apricot,
and greengage, which contain but a small amount of sugar as com-
pared with the free acid, but a large proportion of gum and pectous
substances: The sour taste of certain berry fruits, as the currant
and gooseberry, arises from the presence of a considerable quantity
of free acid, with only a small amount of gum and pectin to disguise
it. By cultivation, the proportion of sugar may be increased in
fruits, as is instanced by the difference existing between the wild and
cultivated strawberry and raspberry. (Watts's "Dictionary of
Chemistry," Art, Fi-uit.)
Fruit forms an agreeable and refreshing kind of food, and, eaten
in moderate quantity, exerts a favorable influence as an article of
diet. Its proportion of nitrogenous matter is too low, and of water
too high, to allow it to possess much nutritive value. It is chiefly
of service, looking at the actual material afforded, for the carbo-
hydrates, vegetable acids, and salts it contains. It enjoys to a high
degree the power of counteracting the unhealthy state found to be
induced by too close restriction to dried and salted provisions. The
preserved juice acts in this way equally as well as the fresh fruit, and
the juice of certain fruits, the lemon and lime, for instance, as is well
known, is specially and largely used for its antiscorbutic efficacy.
Whilst advantageous when consumed in moderate quantity, fruit,
on the other hand, proves injurious if eaten in excess. Of a highly
succulent nature, and containing free acids and principles prone to
undergo change, it is apt, when ingested out of due proportion to
other food, to act as a disturbing element, and excite derangement
of the alimentary canal. This is particularly likely to occur if eaten
either in the unripe or overripe state : in the former case, from the
quantity of acid present; in the latter, from its strong tendency to
ferment and decompose within the digestive tract. The prevalence
of stomach and bowel disorders > noticeable during the height of the
292 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
fruit season, affords proof of the inconveniences that the too free use
of fruit may give rise to.
The effect of fruit is to diminish the acidity of the urine. The
alkaline vegetable salts which it contains become decomposed in the
system, and converted into the carbonate of the alkali, which passes
off with the urine. By virtue of this result the employment of fruit
is calculated to prove advantageous in gout and other cases where
the urine shows a tendency to throw down a deposit of lithic acid.
In the following description of fruits no strict classification will
be attempted. There are some fruits, however, that admit of being
conveniently grouped together, and these will be made to follow
each other. The pomaceous group, for instance, forms a natural as-
semblage, and includes the apple,- pear, quince, &c. The orange or
citron group includes, besides the orange and citron, the lemon,
lime, shaddock, and pomelo. Drupaceous fruits are those provided
with a hard stone, surrounded by a fleshy pulp, such as the plum,
peach, cherry, olive, date, &c. Fruits of the baccate or berry kind
comprise the grape, gooseberry, currant, cranberry, barberry, and
others. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and mulberries,
although in name compounded of the word berry, constitute a fruit
of quite a different nature.
THE APPLE.
The apple (Pyrus mains), and of which there are now very nu-
merous varieties, is derived by cultivation from the wild crab, a
native of Britain, and other parts of Europe. The smallest apples
grow in Siberia, and the largest in America, where many new va-
rieties have originated, and the fruit has attained its highest perfec-
tion. Their Newtown pippin is considered by the Americans to
stand at the head of all apples, native or foreign.
The apple forms one of the most useful and plentiful of British
fruits. It is introduced into tarts and puddings, besides being em-
ployed at the dessert table and made into sauce, preserve, and jelly.
It also furnishes the fermented beverage called cider. Verjuice is
>the fermented juice of the crab-apple.
In a raw state the apple must not be looked upon as easy of
-digestion. In a cooked state, however, it is light and digestible.
Hoasted apples exert a slightly laxative action, and are often
FRUITS. 293
employed as an agreeable means of overcoming habitual constipa-
tion.
Large quantities of apples are dried and flattened in America and
Normandy, producing what are known as "biffins" and "Nor-
mandy pippins." These are prepared for use by stewing.
Composition of apples (Fresenius).
SOLUBLE MATTER White dessert.
Sugar, 7.58
Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic acid), . . . 1.04
Albuminous substances, 0.22
Pectous substances, &c., 2.72
Ash, 0.44
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds, t)38
Skins, &c., 1.42
Pectose, 1.16
[Ash from insoluble matter included in weights given], . . [0.03]
WATER, 85.04
100.00
THE PEAR.
The pear (Pyrus communis), like the apple, is indigenous to this
country, but the wild pear is a very insignificant fruit. It flourishes
in a warm, moist atmosphere, and Jersey is considered to be the
most favorable situation for its growth in all Europe. There is a
larger nulnber of varieties of the pear than of the apple. The jar-
gonelle, bergamot, and Beurre form three of the most highly es-
teemed varieties. The fruit is chiefly used for dessert, but is also
stewed and made into compote and marmalade. Perry is obtained
from the fermented juice. The best varieties of pear form a very
choice and delicate fruit, and when in proper condition for eating, it
is soft and more digestible than the apple. Hard pears, to be ren-
dered wholesome, require to be subjected to cooking.
294 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Composition of pears (Fresenius).
Sweet red.
SOLUBLE MATTER , x
Sugar, 7.000 7.940
Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic acid), . 0074 trace.
Albuminous substances, 0.'260 0.237
Pectous substances, &c., . . . . . . 3.281 4.409
Ash, 0.285 0.284
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds, 0.390 |
Skins, &c.,. 3.420 j 3 ' 518
Pectose, 1.340 0.605
[Ash from insoluble matter included in weights given], [0.050] [0.049]
WATER, 83.950 83.007
100.000 100.000
THE QUINCE.
The quince (Pyrus cydonia or Cydonia vulgaris) was cultivated by
the ancient Greeks and Romans, and is now grown throughout tem-
perate climates. The fruit, which, like the apple and pear, belongs
to the pomaceous group, is in some varieties globose, in others pear-
shaped, and has a rich yellow or orange color, with an agreeable^
odor taken singly, but a strong, disagreeable smell when stowed
away together in quantity. In Persia it ripens so as to be eatable
in a raw state, but in Europe it never ripens sufficiently to allow of
its being eaten previous to being cooked. It is stewed with sugar,
and frequently added to apple tarts, the flavor of which it greatly
improves. It also furnishes an excellent marmalade a preserve
which takes its name from the Portuguese word for quince ^marmelo.
The seeds are employed for the mucilage they yield.
THE MEDLAR.
The medlar (Mespilus germanica) is a native of various parts of
Europe, and grows wild in Great Britain. The fruit, which is only
eaten when its tough pulp has become soft by incipient decay, has a
very peculiar flavor.
THE SERVICE.
The service (Pyrus domestica or Sorbus domestica) is a native of
FRUITS. 295
Italy, Germany, and France, and has been found wild in England.
The fruit has a peculiar acid flavor, and is not consumed till it has
reached an overripened state. It is not much eaten in England, as
it is considered inferior to the medlar.
THE ORANGE.
The common or sweet orange (Citrus aurantium) is supposed to be
a native of the eastern and central parts of Asia. It does not appear
to have been known to the Greeks and Romans, and was probably
introduced into Italy in the fourteenth century, above a thousand
years after the citron.
The orange is one of the most useful and agreeable of common fruits.
It is exceedingly grateful and refreshing to the palate, and in the
ripe state is so little likely to occasion disorder as to be admissible
under almost every condition both of sickness and of health.
Several varieties of orange exist. The following are the chief
encountered in ordinary use. The Portugal or Lisbon orange, which
is characterized by the thickness of its rind, is the most common of
all. The China orange, which is said to have been brought by the
Portuguese from China, has given rise to the St. Michael's as a subva-
riety, and this is one of the most highly esteemed on account of its
sweet and abundant juice. Its rind is smooth and thin. The Mal-
tese' or blood orange is remarkable for the bk)od-red color of its pulp.
The Tangerine orange is small and flat, and valued chiefly for the
aroma belonging to it. The peel, particularly, is charged with a
large quantity of volatile oil lodged in round or vesicular receptacles,
easily discernible beneath the outer surface. The egg orange is
known by its oval shape. The Majorca orange is seedless.
The sweet orange is pretty largely used by the cook and confec-
tioner, as well as being consumed as a fresh fruit.
The Seville or bitter orange (Citrus vulgaris) is characterized by its
taste and the amount of aromatic volatile oil contained in its rind.
It is too bitter to be agreeable for eating in the raw state. It forms
the best kind of orange for making wine and marmalade, and, for
these purposes, it is extensively employed. The rind is used for its
aromatic bitterness as a stomachic and tonic, and also simply as a
flavoring agent. The flavor of Cura9oa is derived from it. The
best orange-flower water is distilled from the flowers of this variety
of the orange plant.
296 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
THE LEMON.
The lemon (Citrus limonium) is a native of the north of India.
The fruit is oblong, wrinkled or furrowed, and of a pale yellow color.
In the common variety the pulp is very acid, but in the variety
called the sweet lemon the juice is sweet.
Lemons are extensively used to give flavor to many articles of
food. The juice possesses valuable antiscorbutic properties, and
made into lemonade constitutes one of the most popular of refreshing
beverages. The rind contains a volatile oil and bitter principle
which renders it useful as an aromatic and stomachic. In a candied
state it is employed as a dessert and in confectionery. The fruit is
occasionally made into wine in the same way as the orange.
THE CITRON.
The fruit of the citron tree (Citrus medico) is larger and less suc-
culent than the lemon, and of a strongly acid taste. The peel is
very thick and the surface warty and furrowed. The citron is not
suitable for eating in the natural state. Its juice mixed with water
and sweetened forms an excellent refrigerant and antiscorbutic drink.
Its peel is candied in the same way as that of the orange and lemon.
THE LIME.
The common lime (Citrus atida) is a native of India and China,
but has long been cultivated in the West Indies and the south of
Europe. The fruit is similar to the lemon, but smaller in size. It
has a thin rind and an extremely acid juice, which is largely used
for its antiscorbutic virtue. The sweet lime (Citrus limetta) is a
variety cultivated in the south of Europe, which has a pulp of a Jess
acid nature.
THE SHADDOCK.
The fruit of the shaddock (Citrus decumana) is large, and from
the thickness of its skin will keep longer on sea-voyages than any
of the other species of citrus. The pulp is of a mixed red and white
color and has a moderately acid taste. It forms a pleasant refresh-
ing fruit and is frequently made into a preserve.
FRUITS. 297
THE POMELO.
The pomelo or pompel moose (Citrus pompelmoos] closely resem-
bles the shaddock, of which it is sometimes regarded as a variety.
Its flavor is pleasant and approaches that of the orange. It is this
fruit which is sometimes sold in the London shops as the "forbidden
fruit."
THE POMEGRANATE.
The pomegranate (Punica granata) has been cultivated in Asia
from ancient times, and has long been naturalized in the south of
Europe. The fruit is of about the size of a large orange, and pos-
sesses a thick leathery rind of a fine golden yellow color with a rosy
tinge on one side. The central part is composed of cells filled with
numerous seeds, each of which is surrounded with pulp and sepa-
rately inclosed in a thin membrane. The pulp has a sweetish,
styptic, and slightly bitter taste. The rind is much more strongly
astringent, and is sometimes used in medicine on account of this
property. The fruit is also sometimes employed for its refrigerant
and mildly astringent qualities.
THE PLUM.
The common plum (Prunus domestica) is supposed to be a native
of Asia Minor, but it has long been naturalized in England. The
wild sloe (Prunus spinosa), which is found growing in hedges, forms
the parent of the plum. From this is first derived the bullace
(Prunm insititia) ; and from the bullace, afterwards the plum. The
varieties of the plum are numerous. They range in quality from a
delicious dessert fruit to one fit only for tarts and preserves.
The Damson or Damascene plum is so called from being derived
originally from Damascus. The Greengage, which is known in
France as the Reine Claude, may be looked upon for sweetness and
richness of flavor as the choicest kind of plum. The purple gage is
a new variety lately introduced by the French under the name of
Heine Claude violette.
Large quantities of plums are imported and consumed as a dried
fruit. The commoner kinds are known by the name of Prunes, the
choicer kinds by that of French plums.
Plums are more apt than most other fruits to produce disorder of
298
ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
the bowels, attended with griping and diarrhoea, and should, there-
fore, only be eaten in moderate quantity. In both the unripe and
overripe state they must be regarded as decidedly unwholesome.
Cooking renders them less objectionable. Some kinds possess so
marked an astringency as scarcely to be eatable in a raw state.
Prunes are often used for their laxative effect by persons suffering
from habitual constipation.
Composition of plums (Fresenius).
Mirabelle,
(jreengi
ige.
Black blue,
SOLUBLE MATTER
common
yellow.
yellow-green,
middle-sized.
large green,
very sweet.
middle-sized
plums.
Sugar, .....
3.584
2.960
3.405
1.996
Free acid (reduced to equivalent
in malic acid),
| 0.582
0.960
0.870
1.270
Albuminous substances, .
0.197
0.477
0.401
0.400
Pectous substances, &c., .
5.772
10.475
11.074
2313
Ash,
0.570
0.318
0.398
0.496
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds, ......
5.780
3.250
2.852
4.190
Skins, &c.,
0.179
0.680
1.035)
Pectose, .....
1.080
0.010
0.245/
.5 9
\_Ash from insoluble matter in-
cluded in weights giveii\ ,
} [0.082]
[0.039]
[0.037]
[0.041]
WATER,
82.256
80.841
79.720
88.751
100.000
100.000 100.000
100.000
Composition oj plums (Fresenius) continued.
Dark black-
Mussel plums.
SOLUBLE MATTER
red plums.
Common.
Italian, very
sweet.
Sugar, .....
.
2252
5.793
6.730
Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic ^
acid), } L33
0.952
0.841
Albuminous substances,
0.426
0.785
0.832
Pectous substances, &c.,
.
5.851
3.646
4.105
Ash, .....
.
0.553
0.734
0.590
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds,
.
3.329
3.540
3.124
Skins, &c., ....
}*
/ 1.990
0.972
Pectose, ....
1.020
I 0.630
1.534
[Ash from insoluble matter
included
} [0.063]
[0.094]
[0.066]
WATER, .....
.
. 85.238
81.930
81.272
100.000
100.000
100.000
FRUITS.
299
THE CHEEKY.
The common cherry (Cerasus duracina) is supposed to have been
a native of Syria ,and other parts of Western Asia. The varieties
differ greatly in color. The pale, sweet, firm-fleshed Bigarreau
forms the cherry most esteemed for dessert. The dark-skinned
mqrello constitutes the favorite for making preserves and for cherry
brandy.
Cherries, like plums, require to be eaten in moderation, on account
of their tendency to disorder the bowels. In the unripe and un-
sound state they are particularly apt to do so.
A liqueur is distilled from cherries called Kirschwasser. The
Italians prepare from the Marusca, cherry the liqueur named Marus-
quin, which is sweeter and more agreeable than the former.
In speaking of cherries, it may be mentioned that serious conse-
quences have arisen from the stones having been swallowed. These,
like the stones of other fruits, are liable, if swallowed, to become im-
pacted in the alimentary canal, and thence to occasion inflammation.
Composition of cherries (Fresenius).
SOLUBLE MATTER
Sugar, .....
Free acid (reduced to equiv-
alent in malic acid),
Albuminous substances,
Pectous substances, &c.,
Ash, .
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds,
Skins, &c., .
Pectose, .
[Ash from insoluble matter
included in weights given]
WATER,
Sweet, light
red heart.
13.110
| 0.351
2.286 i
0.600
5.480
0.450
1.450
} [0.090]
75.370
100.000
Very light
heart,
rather sour.
Sweet black
8.568
10.700
0.961
0.560
3.529
i 1.010
t 0.670
0.835
0.600
3.244
5.730
0.464
0.366
0.401
0.664
[0.070]
[0.078]
81.998
79.700
100.000 100.000
Sour.
8.772
1.277
0.825
1.831
0.565
6.182
0.808
0.246
[0.067]
80.494
100.000
THE PEACH.
The peach (Amygdalm persica) is a native of Persia and the north
of India, and is now cultivated in all temperate climates. It thrives
very freely and produces most plentifully in the United States.
300 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
The peach forms one of the choicest and most luscious of fruits.
The skin is downy or velvety, and its color varies from a dark red-
dish violet through many shades of crimson, green or yellow, to the
beautiful clear white of the American snow peach. The composition
shows that the peach is notable for the small quantity of saccharine
matter it contains in comparison with other kinds of edible fruits.
Composition of peaches (Fresenius).
SOLUBLE MATTER Large Dutch. Similar variety.
Sugar, 1.580 1.565
Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic)
acid), . . . . . . .}- 612 0-734
Albuminous substances, .... 0.463|
Pectous substances, &c., . . . . 6.313J
Ash, 0.422 0.913
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds, 4.629 6.764
Skins, &c., ......
Pectose, <- 0.991
[Ash from insoluble matter included in}
weights given-], }l-J [- 163 l
WATER, 84.990 76.546
100.000 100.000
THE NECTARINE.
The nectarine constitutes merely a variety of the peach, probably
produced by cultivation. It has been sometimes found growing on
peach trees, and the Boston nectarine, which forms the finest kind
known, was produced originally from a peach stone. It differs from
the peach in having a smooth and wax-like skin and being of
smaller size.
THE APRICOT.
The apricot (Prunus armeniaca) is a native of Armenia, and was
introduced into England in the time of Henry the Eighth. A good
apricot, when perfectly ripe, is an excellent fruit, but when of infe-
rior quality it eats dry and insipid. Unless quite ripe it is apt to
prove laxative, and should not be eaten by delicate persons. In the
cooked state it is more easy of digestion, and green apricots are often
used for tarts. It makes one of the most highly esteemed of pre-
FRUITS.
301
serves. The kernels of some are sweet, of others bitter. From the
bitter kind, Eau de Noyaux is distilled in France.
Composition of apricots (Fresenius).
SOLUBLE MATTER
Sugar, ....
Free acid (reduced to equiva
lent in malic acid),
Albuminous substances,
Pectous substances, &c., .
Ash,
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds, ....
Skins, &c.,.
Pectose, ....
[Ash from insoluble matter in
eluded in weights given], ,
WATER,
Fine, rather
large.
1.140
0.898
0.832
5.929
0.820
Large, fine
flavored.
1.531
0.766
0.389
9.283
0.754
3.216
0.944
1.002
100.000
100.000
Small.
2.736
1.603
0.411
5.562
0.723
3.415
1.248
0.750
[0.060]
83.552
100.000
THE OLIVE.
The olive-tree (Olea Europc&a) is supposed to be originally a
native of Greece, but it has long been naturalized in France, Italy,
and Spain. The fruit in the ripe state is black, and its fleshy part
abounds in oil, which is expressed and used with us as salad oil and
largely on the Continent for cooking. The ripe fruit is also some-
times eaten abroad, but it has a strong and, most persons would
consider, a disagreeable taste.
The olives imported into this country have been gathered green
and soaked first in strong lye, and then in fresh water, to remove
their rough and bitter taste before being preserved in a solution of
salt. French, Spanish, and Italian olives are imported. The
Spanish are much larger and more bitter, rich, and oily than the
others. Olives enter into the constitution of various dishes, are
sometimes used to stimulate the appetite at the commencement of
dinner, and also eaten at dessert as a relish and to cleanse the
palate for the enjoyment of wine.
302 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
THE DATE.
The date is derived from the Phoenix dactylifera, the date palm
or palm tree of Scripture, a native of Africa and parts of Asia, and
now brought into cultivation in the south of Europe. The tree
bears its fruit in bunches which weigh from twenty to twenty-five
pounds.
Dates, both fresh and dried, form the chief food of the Arabs.
Cakes of dates pounded and kneaded together into a solid mass
constitute also the store of food, called the tf bread of the desert,"
provided for African caravans on their journey through the Sahara.
The fruit is of a drupaceous nature, and the fleshy part contains,
according to the analysis of Reinsch, 58 per cent, of sugar, accom-
panied by pectin, gum, &c.
THE GKAPE.
The grape. vine (Vitis vinifera) is indigenous in the East, but was
introduced into the south of Europe at a very early period. It pro-
duces fruit in the form of a globular or oval berry with a smooth
skin. The color of the fruit is very various, from white, yellow,
amber, green, and red, to black. More than 1500 varieties are de-
scribed in works on the culture of the plant.
In England the summer is not long and warm enough to thor-
oughly ripen the fruit in the open air, but some of the finest grapes
produced are grown in the hot-houses of Great Britain.
The grape is one of the most useful and highly esteemed of
fruits. The skin arid seeds are indigestible and should be rejected,
but the juicy pulp possesses wholesome, nutritious, and refrigerant
properties, and may usually be safely taken by the invalid. If eaten
freely the fruit exerts a diuretic and laxative action. Besides being
useful as a fresh fruit it is dried and imported under the form of
raisins and currants, and, as is well known, furnishes the choicest of
wines and spirits.
The juice of ripe grapes, according to the analyses of Proust and
Berard, contains a considerable quantity of grape-sugar, small
quantities of a glutinous substance and of extractive matter, bitar-
trate of potash, tartrate of lime, a little malic acid, and other ingre-
dients suspended or dissolved in water.
FRUITS. 303
Composition of grapes (Fresenius).
White Austrian
SOLUBLE MATTER (quite ripe).
Sugar, 13.780
Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic )
> 1.020
Klienberger
(quite ripe).
10.590
0.820
0622
0.220
0.377
Albuminous substances, .
Pectous substances, &c., .
Ash,
. 0.832
. 0.498
. 0.360
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds, 1
Skins, . . . . . . .} 2 ' 592 I-
Pectose, 0.941 750
[Ash from insoluble matter included in
WATER, 79.997 84.870
100.000 10J.OLO
The amount of sugar varies considerably in different kinds of
grape. In Fresenius's analysis of very ripe Oppenheim grapes it
amounted to 13.52 per cent. ; overripe Oppenheim, 15.14 per cent. ;
red very ripe Asmannshauser, 17.28 per cent. ; and Johannisberg,
19.24 per cent.
Raisins constitute grapes in a dried state. The process of dry-
ing is effected either by exposure to the sun or by the heat of an
oven. The sun-dried grapes are the sweeter and better of the two.
Sometimes the stalks of the ripened bunches of grapes are partially
cut through, and the fruit allowed to dry spontaneously upon the
vine. The muscatels, which form the finest sort and are- eaten at
the dessert table, are prepared in this way. The Lexias are so called
on account of being dipped into a lixivium of wood ashes and olive
oil before being dried. This disposes them to shrink and wrinkle,
the alkaline solution serving to remove the waxy coat which im-
pedes the drying of the berry. Sultanas are characterized by an
absence of stones, whereby they save a great amount of trouble in
the kitchen, but they are not sufficiently rich in flavor and sweetness
to be advantageous for employment alone in puddings. Raisins
abound more in sugar and less in acid than the fresh fruit. They
are, therefore, more nutritious but less refrigerant. They are apt to
derange the digestive organs if eaten freely.
The so-called currants which are used in cakes and puddings
304 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
constitute the dried fruit of a vine which grows in the Ionian
Islands (especially Zante and Cephalonia), and yields a very small
berry. The word currant as here employed is a corruption of
Corinth, where the fruit was formerly produced. After being
gathered and dried by exposure to the sun and air, the currants are
heaped together and stored in magazines, where they become so
firmly caked as to require digging out for packing into casks for
exportation. Currants are of so indigestible a nature that they fre-
quently pass through the alimentary canal without betraying any
decided evidence of being acted upon,
THE GOOSEBERRY.
The common gooseberry, or feaberry as it was in former times
called (Ribes grossularia), grows wild in thickets and rocky situa-
tions, and is a native of many parts of Europe and the north of
Asia. This fruit is comparatively neglected on the Continent, but
has been brought to a high state of perfection in size and flavor in
England by the attention which has been paid to its cultivation,
more especially since the middle of the eighteenth century.
The gooseberry forms a wholesome and useful fruit. Malic and
citric acids blended with sugar give it its chief characteristics. It is
made into tarts and puddings and eaten at the dessert table, besides
furnishing a good preserve and a very passable wine.
Composition of gooseberries (Fresenius),
Large red. Small red.
SOLUBLE MATTER , ---- --- ,
Sugar, ..... 8.063 6.030 8.239
Free acid (reduced to equiva- )
lent in malic .rid), .} 1 ' 868 578 1 ' 9
Albuminous substances, . , 0.441 0.445 0.358
Pectous.substances, Ac., . . 0.969 0,513 0.522
Ash, ..... 0317 0.452 0.504
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds, . . . 2 481 i
Skins! &c ...... 0.512J 2 2 2 ' 529 '
Pectose ...... 0.294 0515 1.428
\_Ashfrom insolMer^tterin.,
eluded in weights given], . j
WATER, ...... 85 565 88.030 84.831
100.000 100.000 100.000
FRUITS.
305
Composition of gooseberries (Fresenius) continued.
Middle-sized,
yellow.
SOLUBLE MATTER , ---- ---
Sugar, ....
Free acid (reduced to equivalent ^ -. Q-
Large smooth,
red.
in malic acid),
Albuminous substances,
Pectous substances, &c.,
Ash,
6.383
7.507
6.483
1.078
1.334
1.664
0.578
2.112
0.200
0.369
2.113
0.277
0.306
0.843
0.553
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds, .
Skins, &c.,
. 3.3801
. 0.442 /
2.081
2.803
Pectose, .
. 0.308
0.955
0.390
[Ash from insoluble matter
eluded in weights given].
} [0.100]
[0.170]
[0.133]
WATER,
. 85.519
85.364
86.958
100.000
100.000
100.000
THE CURRANT.
There are two varieties of the currant, viz., the red (Ribes rubrum)
and the black (Ribes nigrum). Both are natives of Europe and some
parts of Asia and North America. Cultivation has produced the
white currant from the red, and in Russia there are varieties of the
black currant with yellow berries. The name currant is derived
from the resemblance of the fruit to the Corinth raisins or small
grapes of Zante, commonly called Corinths or currants.
Currants are employed in the same way as gooseberries, with
which they pretty closely agree in their alimentary properties. A
wine is made from the red currant and a liqueur from the black.
20
306
ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Composition of currants (Fresenius).
Middle-sized red. Very large red.
SOLUBLE MATTER
,
> x
Sugar,
4.78
6.44
5.647
Free acid (reduced to equiva-
lent in malic acid),
} 2.31
1.84
1.695
Albuminous substances, .
0.45
0.49
0356
Pectous substances, &c., .
0.28
0.19
0.007
Ash, . ' .
0.54
0.57
0.620
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds,
4.45^
Skins, &c., ....
0.66 /
4.48
3.940
Pectose,
0.69
0.72
2.380
[Ash from insoluble matter in-
cluded in weights given] , .
}[011]
[0.23]
[0.185]
WATER,
85.84
85.27
85.355
100.00
100.00
100.000
Middle-sized white.
SOLUBLE MATTER
Ji
Sugar,
6.61
7.692
7.12
Free acid (reduced to equiva-
lent in malic acid),
} 2.26
2.258
2.53
Albuminous substances, .
Pectous substances, &c., .
0.77)
0.18)
0.300
/0.68
10.19
Ash
0.54
0.560
0.70
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds, .....
| 4.94
4.144
4.85
Skins, &c., ....
Pectose, . . . . .
0.53
0.240
0.51
[Ash from insoluble matter in-
cluded in weights given],
} [0.12]
[0.14]
WATER,
84.17
84.806
83.42
100.00
100.000
100.00
THE CRANBERRY.
The common cranberry (Oxy coccus palustris, formerly Vaccinium
oxycoccus) is a native of the colder regions of the northern hemis-
phere. The fruit is too acid to be eaten raw, but is in much request
for tarts.
Wine is made from it in Siberia.
The American cranberry (Oxycoccus macrocarpus) furnishes a
larger fruit, but it is not so highly esteemed.
FRUITS. 307
Another species, brought from Nova Scotia in 1760, is called
snowberry, from the fruit being white.
THE BARBERRY.
lUie common barberry (Berberis vulgaris) grows widely distributed
through the north of Europe, Asia, and America. It is found in
woods, coppices, and hedges in England, especially on a chalky soil.
The old English name for the plant is Pipperidge, or Piprage bush.
The berries are of an elongated oval form ; and when ripe, generally
of a bright red color, more rarely whitish, yellow, or almost black.
They are too acid to be eaten in the fresh state, but make excellent
preserves and jelly, and are also used to garnish dishes. Malic acid
is prepared from them in France.
THE BILBERRY.
'The whortle-, hurtle-, bil- or blae-berry (Vaccinium myrtillus) is
a native of Great Britain, and grows in woods and on heaths or
waste places in the north of Europe and of America. It furnishes
a small round purple or almost black fruit, covered with a delicate
azure bloom. This is sweet and agreeable to the taste, and is either
eaten uncooked with cream or made into tarts. The bog whortle-
berry or great bilberry ( Vaccinium uliginosum) has a larger fruit, but
its flavor is inferior.
The red whortleberry ( Vaccinium vitis idcea) is often called cran-
berry, from the similarity of its acid fruit to the true cranberry. It
is much esteemed for preserves.
Composition of bilberries (Fresenius).
SOLUBLE MATTER
Sugar, .......... 5.780
Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic acid), . . 1.341
Albuminous substances, ....... 0.794
Pectous substances, &c., ...... 0.555
Ash, . ......... 0.858
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Pectose, ......... 0.256
[Ash from insoluble matter included in weights given], . [0.550]
WATER, .......... 77.552
100.000
308
ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
THE ELDERBERRY.
Elderberries are derived from the Sambucus nigra (the bourtree of
the Scotch), which is a native of Europe, and the north of Asia
and of Africa. The berries are black in color (sometimes, however,
white), and have a faintly acid with an after sweetish and unpleasant
taste. They are rarely used except for making elder wine. The pur-
ple juice obtained by expression is called elder rob. It possesses
mildly aperient, diuretic, and sudorific properties.
THE STRAWBERRY.
The common wood strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is indigenous in
almost all temperate climates. The products which have been ob-
tained by cultivation from this plant rank among the choicest and
most tempting of summer fruits, and afford an example of one of the
greatest triumphs of the gardener's art. The Alpine strawberry
(Fragaria collina) is a native of Switzerland and Germany. The
fruit is small, but produced in great abundance.
Composition of strawberries (Fresenius).
SOLUBLE MATTER ,
Sugar, ...... 3.247
Free acid (reduced to equivalent 1
in malic acid), . / L65
Albuminous substances, . . 0.619
Pectous substances, &c., . . 0.145
Ash, ...... 0.737
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Wild.
Pectose, ..... 0.299
[Ash from insoluble matter in- )
eluded in weights given^, . . } t ' 31 ^
WATER, ...... 87271
4.550
0.567
0.049
0.603
0.300
87.019
Light red pine
(quite ripe).
7.575 .
1.133
0.359
0.119
0.480
1.960
0.900
[0.154]
87.474
100.000
100 000
100.000
FRUITS.
309
THE RASPBERRY.
The raspberry (Rubus idceus) is a native of Great Britain and
most parts of the world, but it has only been cultivated in gardens
during the last one or two centuries. The fruit is wholesome and
agreeable, but is not so much eaten at dessert in England as on the
Continent. It is, however, largely used for tarts and puddings
under the form of a preserve, and for making raspberry vinegar.
A wine is sometimes prepared from the fermented juice.
Rubus arcticuS) a smaller variety, takes the place of the common
raspberry in the colder regions of Northern Europe.
Composition of raspberries (Fresenius).
SOLUBLE MATTER
Sugar,
Free acid (reduced to eqi
Albuminous substances,
Pectous substances, &c.,
Ash, ....
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds,
Skins, &c.,
Pectose, .
[Ash from insoluble matter included in weights
given], .
WATER,
Cultivated.
Wild red.
3.597
ivalent in malic acid), 1.980
0.546
Red.
4.708
1.356
0.544
White.
3.703
1.115
0.665
1.107
0.270
1.746
0.481
1.397
0.380
8.4GO
0.180
[0.134]
83.860
4.106
0.502
[0.296]
86.557
4.520
0.040
[0.081]
88.180
100.000
100.000
100.000
THE BLACKBERRY.
The blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) is indigenous in Great Britain
and the greater part of Europe, and grows wild as a shrubby bram-
ble in hedges. The fruit is gathered by children for eating, and
also for making into puddings. Jelly and jam are sometimes pre-
pared from it as well as a wine.
310 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Composition of blackberries (Fresenius).
SOLUBLE MATTER Very ripe.
Sugar, ........... 4.444
Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic acid), . . . 1.188
Albuminous substances, ........ 0.510
Pectous substances, &c., 1.444
Ash, 0.414
INSOLUBLE MATTER
Seeds,
Skins, &c., } 521
Pectose, 0.384
[Ash from insoluble matter included in weights given], . . [0.074]
WATER, . . . , . . 86.406
100.000
THE DEWBERRY.
The dewberry or gray bramble (Rubus ccesius) is a native of Britain
and many parts of Europe and Asia; it is closely allied to the black-
berry, but grows on the ground and not in hedges. The fruit is
very sweet and agreeable, and makes an excellent wine. The dew-
berry of North America (Rubus procumbens) bears a more acidulous
fruit, superior to that of Britain.
THE MULBERRY.
The black or common mulberry (Morus nigra) is a native of
Persia, but is supposed to have been brought to Europe by the Ro-
mans. The fruit is of a purplish-black color, with dark -red juice,
fine aromatic flavor, and acidulous, and sweet taste. It possesses
wholesome, refrigerant, and slightly laxative properties, and is highly
esteemed for dessert ; an excellent preserve and an agreeable wine
are made from it.
FRUITS. 311
Composition of mulberries (Fresenius).
SOLUBLE MATTER Black.
Sugar, 9.192
Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic acid),. . . 1.860
Albuminous substances, ....... 0.394
Pectous substances, &c., ....... 2.031
Ash, 0.566
INSOLUBLE MATTER
S: : ::::;::,: :}*
Pectose, 0.345
[Ash from insoluble matter included in weights given], . [0.089]
WATER, 84.707
100.000
THE MELON.
The melon (CuGumis melo) or cantaloupe belongs to the gourd tribe.
The fruit varies greatly in size, color, and the character of the rind.
In some the rind is smooth and thin, in others thick and warty, and
cracked in a net-like manner. The color of the flesh is green, red,
and yellow. It is eaten with sugar at dessert, or with pepper and
salt. at dinner. When in perfection it forms a rich and delicious
fruit, but, like its congeners, the cucumber, &c., it is sometimes apt
to disagree.
The water melon (Cucumis citrullus) is highly prized for its flavor
and juiciness. This fruit is round, with a dark green spotted rind,
and pink or white flesh. It is only eaten at dessert.
THE PINE-APPLE.
The pine-apple (Ananassa sativa) is a native of South America,
whence it has been introduced into Africa and Asia. It was first
cultivated in hot-houses in Holland and England at the end of the
seventeenth century. It may be looked upon as furnishing the
finest of dessert fruits. Besides being eaten in the fresh state, it is
made into a preserve with sugar, and otherwise employed by the
confectioner. It is also used to flavor rum.
312 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
THE FIG.
The common fig (Ficus carica) is a native of Asia and Barbary,
and has been naturalized in Greece, Italy, Spain, and the south of
France, where the fruit forms an important part of the people's food.
The fig tree also grows in the open air in some of the milder parts
of England, but its fruit fails to acquire the perfection in flavor be-
longing to that produced in a warmer climate. The varieties culti-
vated are numerous, and the color of the fruit of some is bluish-
black, of others, red, purple, green, yellow, or white. The fruit is
pear-shaped, and consists of. a pulpy mass, containing many seed-
like bodies. The amount of sugar present is exceedingly large.
The figs grown in England have but little taste, and that of a some-
what sickly nature. Grown in warm countries, however, they form
a rich and luscious fruit. Figs are largely imported in a dried and
compressed state. The best are brought from Smyrna, and are
known as Turkey figs. If freely eaten, they are apt to irritate and
disorder the stomach and bowels.
THE PRICKLY PEAR.
The prickly pear, or Indian fig (Opuntia vulgaris), is a native of
America, but is now naturalized in many parts of the south of
Europe and north of Africa. It grows freely on the barest rocks,
and spreads over expanses of volcanic sand and ashes too arid for
almost any other plant to live. The fruit is somewhat like a fig, of
a deep rose color, and rather larger than a hen's egg. The pulp is
juicy, and its flavor, which to most palates will be considered of a
sickly nature, combines sweetness with acidity. It is not much
known in England, but is largely eaten in some localities abroad.
THE TAMARIND.
There are two varieties of the tamarind the East Indian (Tama-
rindus indica), and the West Indian (Tamarindus occidentalis). The
fruit consists of a brown, many-seeded pod, filled with a sweet and
acidulous, reddish-black pulp. The pod of the East Indian is much
longer than that of the West Indian variety. According to the
analysis of Yauquelin, tamarinds contain 9.40 per cent, of citric
FRUITS. 313
acid; 1.55 per cent, of tartaric acid; 0.45 per cent, of malic acid;
3.25 per cent, of bitartrate of potash, and 12.5 per cent, of sugar,
besides gum, vegetable jelly, parenchyma, and water. They are
preserved by placing alternate layers of the fruit and sugar into a
cask, and pouring over them boiling syrup.
Tamarinds possess refrigerant and mildly laxative properties.
They are sometimes mixed with milk, for the production of tama-
rind whey, which is occasionally used as a drink in febrile and in-
flammatory affections.
THE PLANTAIN ANb BANANA.
The plantain (Musa paradisiacd) is a native of the East Indies,
but is now diffused all over the tropical and subtropical regions of
the globe. It is so called on account of having been supposed to
have furnished the fruit which tempted Eve in Paradise. The
banana (Musa sapientum) appears to be only a variety of the plan-
tain, bearing smaller and more delicately flavored fruit. Its name
is due to its having formed the chief food of the Brahmins or wise
people of India. They both constitute exceedingly productive
plants, and it is asserted that an extent of ground which would only
grow wheat enough for the support of two persons would maintain
fifty- if cultivated with the plantain. Plantains and bananas form
important and valuable articles of food to the inhabitants of many
tropical regions. They even afford in some localities the chief ali-
mentary support of the people. The fruit occurs in large bunches
or clusters, which may weigh as much as fifty pounds. On strip-
ping off the tegumentary part, a softish core is met with, which is
chiefly farinaceous in the unripe, and saccharine in the ripe state ;
the starch becoming converted, it is stated, during maturation, first
into a mucilaginous substance, and then into sugar. Plantain meal
is prepared by powdering and sifting the dried core of the plantain
whilst in the green or unripe state. It has a fragrant odor, and a
bland taste, like that of common wheat flour. It is said to be easy
of digestion, and to be extensively employed in British Guiana as
the food of infants, children, and invalids. The larger proportion
of it consists of starch, but it also contains a certain percentage of
nitrogenous matter, and is, therefore, of higher alimentary value than
the starchy preparations, as sago, arrowroot, &c.
314 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Composition of the pulp of ripe bananas (Coren winder).
Nitrogenous matter, ........ 4.820
Sugar, pectose, organic acid, with traces of starch, . . 19.657
Fatty matter, 0.632
Cellulose, 0.200
Saline matter, . . . . . . . . .0.791
Water, 73.900
100.000
THE BREAD FRUIT.
This is derived from the Artocarpus incisa, a native of the islands
of the Pacific and the Moluccas. The fruit is of a round or oval
shape, and attains a size as large as that of a small loaf of bread.
In an alimentary point of view, it occupies the same position amongst
the inhabitants of Polynesia that is held by corn in other parts of
the world. -The Artocarpus integrifolia is cultivated throughout
Southern India and all the warmer parts of Asia. Its fruit, called
jak fruit, is considerably employed as an article of food in Ceylon.
The fruit of the Carob tree, or St. John's bread ( Ceratonia siliqua),
is eaten in time of scarcity by the country people of the districts
where it grows, and, as implied by its name, it has been supposed
to have been the food of John the Baptist. It is a native of the
countries skirting the Mediterranean, and is almost the only tree
that grows in Malta (Baird's " Cyclo. of Nat. Sci.").
The Date plum of China, or key fig of Japan (Diospyros Jcaki),
is a native of China and Japan, and is frequently sent to Europe in
a dried state (Baird's " Cyclo. of Nat. Sci.").
The fruit of the Persimmon tree (Diospyros Virginiana), a native of
the United States, when fully ripe, is sweet and palatable. The
fleshy part is sepstrated from the seeds, and made into cakes, which
are dried and preserved (Baird's " Cyclo. Nat. Sci/').
The fruit of the Chilian pine (Araucaria imbricata) is the chief
food of the inhabitants of Chili and Patagonia. It is asserted that
the produce of one large tree will maintain eighteen persons for a
year (Johnston's " Chemistry of Common Life," vol. i, p. 108).
MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 315
BAKK.
The bark of trees is to some extent eaten in certain localities.
The Jakuts of Northern Siberia grate the inner bark of the larch,
and sometimes of the fir, and mix it with fish, a little meal and
milk, or by preference with fat, and make it into a sort of broth
(Wrangell's " Polar Sea," p. 23). The inhabitants of New Cale-
donia eat the bark of a tree after they have roasted it (Cook's
"Second Voyage," vol. ii, p. 123); and the Laplanders and Fins
make a kind of bread with the triturated internal layers of the bark
of the pine (Baird's " Cyclo. Nat. Sci.").
SAWDUST AND WOODY FIBRE.
In Sweden and Norway sawdust is sometimes converted into
bread, for which purpose beech, or some wood that does not contain
turpentine, is repeatedly macerated and boiled in water to remove
soluble matters, and then reduced to powder, heated several times
in ah oven, and ground. In this state it is said to have the smell
and taste of corn-flour (Tomlinson's " Cyclo. of Useful Arts," vol.
ii, p. 926).
Bread has been made in times of famine of a variety of substances ;
thus, in the years 1629, 1630, and 1693, very good, wholesome,
white bread was made in England from boiled turnips. The mois-
ture was pressed out of the turnips, and they were then kneaded
with an equal quantity of wheaten flour (Beckman's " History of
Inventions," 1846, vol. i, p. 349).
During the late siege of Paris, the bread served out constituted a
very coarse and mixed article. In Sheppard's " Shut up in Paris,"
p. 309, it is stated to have been found by analysis to be comprised
of one-eighth wheat; four-eighths potatoes, beans, peas, oats, and
rye ; two-eighths water, and the remaining one-eighth straw, hulls
of grain, and the skins of vegetable products.
316 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES*.
SACCHARINE PREPARATIONS.
Sugar forms an important alimentary principle, and is met with
widely, and in certain cases largely, amongst vegetable products,
from some of which it is extracted for use. It also constitutes,
under the name of lactin, one of the ingredients of the animal food
provided by nature for the support of the young mammal, viz.,
milk.
Sugar was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and its
manufacture is said by Humboldt to be of the greatest antiquity in
China.
Sugar evidently contributes towards force production in the
body, and, likewise, as is shown by ample evidence, towards the
formation and accumulation of fat. Being of a soluble and diifusi-
ble nature, it needs no preliminary' digestion for absorption, and,
therefore, sits lightly on the stomach. It is, however, apt in some
dyspeptics to undergo the acid fermentation, and give rise to pre-
ternatural acidity of stomach and likewise flatulence. A popular
notion prevails that it has a tendency to injure the teeth, but no
trustworthy evidence that such is the case exists.
The consumption of sugar in Great Britain in 1700 amounted to
10,000 tons. In the year 1863-64, it had risen to 536,226 tons of
unrefined, 14,879 tons of refined, and 40,165 tons of cane juice,
syrup, and molasses. In relation to population, the amount stood
at 30 Ibs. per head. In 1866, the quantity consumed in England
was at the rate of 38 Ibs. per head.
Besides employment as a daily article of food, sugar constitutes
the base of a variety of products of the confectioner's art. On ac-
count of its antiseptic virtue, it is also extensively used as a preser-
vative of other substances. It is chiefly vegetable products, as
fruits, &c., that it is employed for preserving, but animal sub-
stances can be equally well kept by the influence it exerts in this
direction.
There are two main varieties of sugar. The one is familiar to us
as the produce of the sugar cane, and the other as contained in
grapes and other kinds of fruit. The former variety is charac-
terized by the facility with which it crystallizes, and by its strong
sweetness of taste. It not only exists in the sugar cane, but also in
SUGAR. 317
beet-root, in the sap of certain species of maple, in the stems of
maize, and in some other vegetable products. It is distinguished
by the generic term of crystalline or cane-sugar. The latter is im-
perfectly crystall izable, and of much inferior sweetness. It abounds
in grapes and many other fruits and vegetable articles, and may also
be obtained by the action of acids and ferments on cane-sugar,
starch, gum, and liquorice. It is known by the generic name of
glucose, or grape-sugar. These two varieties differ further in their
chemical relations, and in the amount of the elements of water they
contain. The various saccharine products in common use consist of
one or other of these varieties.
Cane-sugar. This, looked at as a specific product, is derived from
the sugar-cane, or Saccharum, a plant which appears to have come
originally from the interior of Asia, whence it was transplanted to
Cyprus. It was introduced into the West Indies, where it is now
extensively cultivated, early in the sixteenth century. There are
several varieties of Saccharum grown for the extraction of sugar,
but the Creole cane, or Saccharum officinarum, is that which was
first introduced into the New World.
The sugar is contained in the juice of the cane, and the first step
in its manufacture is to obtain the juice by means of pressure, which
is usually applied by iron rollers. The cane, when ripe, is cut close
to the ground, stripped of its leaves, and then twice passed between
the iron rollers. The expressed juice is next clarified and evap-
orated. This is effected by the combined use of heat and the addi-
tion of lime. Passing through a series of evaporating vessels, the
scum and deposit are removed, and the liquor brought to the proper
consistence. It is now transferred into coolers, for the crystals to
form and separate from the uncrystallizable portion, which is allowed
to drain off. The solidified product constitutes muscovado, or raw
sugar, and is packed in hogsheads and distributed to the consumer.
The uncrystallizable portion, containing changed products resulting
from the action of the heat, is called molasses.
The juice of the sugar-cane contains about 18 to 22 per cent, of
>u t irar, and six to eight pounds of it are required to yield one pound
of the crystallized article.
A large portion of the raw sugar is refined or transformed from
brown or moist into white or loaf sugar before being used, and the
process of refining is extensively carried on in this country. The
318 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
object is to clarify and decolorize, and this is usually effected by
boiling the dissolved sugar with bullock's .blood, filtering, and
allowing the liquor to percolate through coarsely grained animal
charcoal. The nearly colorless liquid thence obtained is concen-
trated to the requisite degree in a vacuum pan heated with steam,
and then transferred to conical moulds, where solidification occurs.
The unsolidified portion, which constitutes treacle, is afterwards per-
mitted to drain off, and loaf sugar is left. The article is still to
some extent colored, and, as a finishing process, a saturated solution
of sugar is allowed to percolate through the loaf. This washes out
the remaining coloring matter, and leaves the product in the white
and porous condition observed to belong to the fully refined article.
Sugar is also extracted from the root of the beet (Beta vulgaris),
which contains nearly a tenth part of its weight of the principle.
The cultivation of the beet was recommended for the purpose as
early as 1747, at Berlin, but nothing was practically carried out
until Napoleon the First encouraged the proposal, and now the
manufacture is successfully and extensively pursued in France,
Belgium, and Russia. In England a beet-sugar factory has been
established at Lavenham, in Suffolk. The juice of the root is ob-
tained and submitted to the same kind of treatment as that of the
sugar-cane, and in the refined state the two sugars resemble each
other. '
A considerable portion of the sugar used in the northern parts of
North America is obtained from a variety of maple, the Acer sac-
charinum. Incisions are made into the tree, to allow the sap to
escape. This is collected and concentrated to crystallizing point.
It yields then a coarse sugar, which, however, admits of being puri-
fied and brought into the same state as the refined sugar of the cane
and beet.
The green stalks of the maize, or Indian corn, are largely im-
pregnated with sugar, and are spmetimes employed for its extraction.
Sugar was obtained from this source by the ancient Mexicans. The
Sorghum saccharatunij or sugar-grass, is also gradually growing into
importance as a source of sugar, both in North America and the
south of Europe. In India a large amount of sugar, called jaggary,
is obtained from the juice of various trees of the palm tribe. The
date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), the wild date palm (Phoenix sylves-
tris), and the gomuto palm (Saguerus saccharifer), are all turned to
SACCHARINE PRODUCTS. 319
account for this purpose, and the sugar is to some extent imported
into England, and used for mixing, but it is said not to be of
sufficient " strength " to pay for refining.
Barley-sugar. When a concentrated solution of sugar is rapidly
boiled down, its tendency to crystallize is diminished, and, it may be,
even destroyed. On being allowed to cool, it solidifies into a trans-
parent, amorphous mass, of a vitreous nature. It is in this way that
barley -sugar is prepared, and the same principle also determines the
production of acidulated drops, hardbake, toffee, &c. Sometimes a
little cream of tartar is introduced to favor the action of the heat, and
in the case of acidulated drops tartaric acid is added whilst the liquid
is boiling.
Sugar-candy. This is crystallized sugar, and is prepared by allow-
ing a concentrated syrup to slowly deposit crystals on the surface of
the vessel in which it is contained, and on threads stretched across it.
Crushed sugar-candy forms the coarse crystalline article which is
often used for sweetening coifee.
Molasses constitutes the dark-colored, viscid liquid which drains
off during the preparation of raw sugar. The molasses which sepa-
rates from beet-root sugar has a disagreeable taste, and is thereby
unfit for employment in the same way as that which is derivable
from the sugar of the cane.
Treacle. As molasses constitutes the uncrystallized liquid which
drains from raw sugar, so treacle forms that which escapes from the
moulds in which refined sugar concretes. Both liquids contain un-
crystallizable sugar, crystallizable sugar, gum, extractive matter, free
acid, various salts, and water. They are used as a cheap substitute
for sugar. > If consumed to any great extent, they exert a laxative
action.
Golden syrup is produced by reboiling the liquid which drains
from refined sugar, and filtering through animal charcoal. It there-
fore constitutes a purified form of treacle.
Caramel. When crystallized sugar is heated to about 400 Fahr.,
it suffers decomposition, gives off the elements of water, loses its
power of crystallizing, becomes dark-colored, and acquires a bitter
taste in the place of a sweet one. The article thus produced is called
caramelj and is used by the cook and confectioner as a flavoring and
coloring agent.
Glucose, or grape-sugar. It has been already stated that it is to.
320 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
this modification of sugar that grapes and many other fruits owe their
sweet taste, and that it may be produced artificially from cane-sugar,
starch, and some other substances. Its separation from the juice of
grapes, and likewise its manufacture from potato starch and sago,
have been to some extent carried out, and the product has formed an
article of commerce, but its chief employment has been as an adul-
terant- of cane-sugar. It is not used dietetically upon its own merits
in the same way as the latter. Its taste is less agreeably sweet, and its
sweetening power is so far inferior that five parts of grape-sugar are
said to be required to raise a given volume of water to the same
degree of sweetness as is effected by two parts of cane-sugar. It is
also much less soluble in water, and less disposed to assume a crys-
talline form, on which account it is not susceptible of the same facility
of purification.
HONEY.
Honey may be most conveniently referred to here, although not a
preparation standing in precisely the same position as the other prod-
ucts included in the group.
It is an article collected by the bee for its own use, which man
takes possession of and consumes instead. It is an exudation from
the nectariferous glands of flowers, which the bee sucks up and passes
into the dilatation of the oesophagus forming the crop or honey-bag.
From this it is afterwards disgorged, probably somewhat altered in
its properties by the secretion of the crop, and deposited in the cell
of the honeycomb. In Europe, it is principally through the Apis
mellifica that honey is obtained, and it is by the neuter or working
member of the hive that the office is performed. The honey of Sur-
inam and Cayenne, furnished by the Apis amalthea, is red, and that
supplied by the Apis unicolor of Madagascar is of a greenish color.
Honey is a concentrated solution of sugar, mixed with odorous,
coloring, gummy, and waxy matters. It usually resolves itself into
a fluid and a solid crystalline portion, which are separable from each
other by pressure in a linen bag. Chemically, the saccharine matter is
of two kinds : the one resembles that from the grape (glucose), whilst
the other is uucrystallizable, and analogous to the uncrystallizable
sugar which exists along with common sugar in cane-juice. Mannite,
uon- fermenting kind of sugar, has also been met with.
SACCHARINE PRODUCTS. 321
Honey varies in flavor and odor, according to the age of the bees,
and the flowers from which it has been collected.
Virgin honey, or that procured from young bees which have never
swarmed, is held in higher estimation than that collected from a hive
that has swarmed; but the term virgin honey is also applied to that
which flows spontaneously from the comb, on account of its being
better than that obtained by the aid of pressure, and especially heat
and pressure, this being contaminated with foreign matter derived
from the comb. The honey, again, of certain countries and dis-
tricts is well known to possess special qualities dependent on the flora
of the locality. Hence, the fragrant odor and choice taste belonging
to the honey of Mount Ida, in Crete; the neighborhood of Narbonne,
where the labiate flowers abound; the valley of Chamounix; and of
our own high moorland, when the heather is in bloom. Hence, also,
the deleterious qualities which the honey of Trebizonde, upon the
Black Sea, has lone: been known to possess, and which are due to its
/ O I /
collection from a species of rhododendron, the Azalea pontica, \vhich
grows upon the neighboring mountains. The effects produced con-
sist of headache, vomiting, and a kind of intoxication ; and, if eaten
in large quantities, a loss of all sense and power for some hours may
occur. It is said to have been probably this kind of honey which
poisoned the soldiers of Xenophon, as described by him in the "Re-
treat of the Ten Thousand." Many other instances of honey exert-
ing poisonous effects have been recorded.
Honey formed an alimentary article of great importance to the
ancients, who were almost unacquainted with sugar; and certain
localities, as Hybla in Sicily, and Hymettus near Athens, were
specially celebrated for its production. It is pretty largely consumed
dietetically in some districts, and possesses the same alimentary value
as sugar. It exerts a slightly laxative action, and is frequently em-
ployed therapeutically as an emollient and demulcent.
MANNA.
Manna is a sweet substance, which solidifies from the juice of
certain species of ash, especially Fraxinus ornu8 and rotundifolia.
Incisions are made into the stem of the tree, and the juice allowed
to escape and dry into solid masses. It contains a peculiar kind of
sugar mannite which forms about four-fifths of the best manna.
21
322 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Mannite, which also exists to some extent in the beet-root and some
other vegetable products, constitutes a white, crystallizable, odorless,
and sweet principle, which differs from ordinary sugar in not being
susceptible of undergoing the alcoholic fermentation in contact with
yeast.
The chief use to which manna is applied is as a mild and safe laxa-
tive. It possesses some nutritive value. Different sorts of manna
are eaten by the natives of Australia (Eyre's "Central Australia,"
vol. ii, p. 250).
FARINACEOUS PREPARATIONS.
Farinaceous or starchy matter is a product which is yielded by the
vegetable kingdom only. Here, however, it is widely,*and often very
largely, met with. It occurs under the form of little granular bodies
(starch-granules) lodged in the vegetable tissues, but readily suscep-
tible, under appropriate treatment, of isolation. These granules pos-
sess a distinctly organized construction, and are made up of a series
of superposed layers, the outermost of which is the thickest and
hardest. Thus are produced the concentric lines which are visible
when the granule is submitted to microscopic examination, and which
are arranged around a spot which is called the hilum. The granules
from different sources present distinctive features as regards size, form,
and appearance, which may be recognized with the aid of the micro-
scope.
Starch forms an important alimentary article. Being devoid of
nitrogen, it can contribute only towards force and fat production.
The hardness of the external envelope renders the granule in its
original state difficult of digestion and digestion, which involves
transformation into sugar, must occur before absorption and utiliza-
tion can ensue. On this account, when starch is consumed in the
raw state, more or less of it passes off with the undigested residue
from the alimentary canal. By boiling, or otherwise exposing to heat,
the granules rupture and become far more easily attacked by the di-
gestive juices. Starchy matter, therefore, should be subjected to
cooking before being consumed.
FARINACEOUS PREPARATIONS. 323
There are various starchy preparations in common use, an account
of which will now be furnished.
SAGO.
Sago is obtained from the central or medullary part, commonly
called pith, of the stems of several species of palm. When the tree
is sufficiently mature, it is cut down near the root and split perpen-
dicularly. The medullary matter is extracted, reduced to powder,
mixed with water, and strained through a sieve. From the strained
liquid the starch is deposited, and, after washing with water and
drying, forms the sago flour or meal of commerce. A single tree is
said to yield 5 to 6 hundred pounds of sago. What is called sago
bread is made in the Moluccas by throwing the dry meal into heated
earthenware moulds, which leads, in the course of a few minutes, to
its incorporation or caking together into a hard mass.
Granulated sago is prepared from sago flour by mixing it with
water into a paste, and then granulating. It consists of pearl sago,
which occurs in small spherical grains, and constitutes the kind now
commonly employed for dietetic purposes ; and brown or common
sago, which occurs in larger grains, and was the only kind used in
England prior to the introduction of the last. Both sorts are met
with variously tinted, and the tint is not uniform throughout, the
surface of the grain being deep on one side and pale on the other.
It may be rendered white by bleaching.
Sago constitutes an important article of food in some parts of the
East. It is used in household economy in England for introduction
into soup, and under the form of pudding. It serves as a light and
digestible alimentary material for the invalid and dyspeptic. It
absorbs the liquid in which it is cooked, and becomes transparent
and soft, but retains its original granular form. In 1863-64 the
amount of sago imported into Great Britain was 7306 tons.
CASSAVA AND TAPIOCA.
These starchy preparations are obtained from the large, thick,
fleshy, tuberous roots of the Manihot utilissima, formerly known
as the Jatropha manihot, a native of tropical America, but now
cultivated in Africa, India, and other hot countries. The plant
324 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
in question constitutes what is popularly called the bitter cassava,
but there is another variety from which cassava and tapioca are also
obtained, called the sweet cassava. Both plants, like others of the
order Euphorbiacece, to which they belong, have a milky juice. This,
in the case of the bitter variety, contains, amongst other deleterious
principles, hydrocyanic acid, and gives to the root highly acrid and
poisonous properties. In the case of the sweet variety the juice is
devoid of poisonous properties, and the root by boiling or roasting
becomes soft, and is used as an edible article. In the bitter variety
it is only the juice that is poisonous, and when this has been ex-
pressed or otherwise removed, the residue is of a harmless nature.
To procure the farinaceous preparations, the root, after being
washed and scraped, is reduced to a pulp by being rasped or grated.
The pulp is then subjected to pressure, to express the juice. From
the compressed residue cassava meal and bread are obtained ; and
from the juice, cassava starch, and tapioca.
Thus : the residue, dried over a brisk fire, and afterwards pounded,
forms cassava meal. If baked on a hot plate, it yields cassava bread.
Both these products form important and valuable articles of food to
the inhabitants of tropical America. They contain starch, vegetable
fibre, and nitrogenous matter. The expressed juice, in the next place,
contains suspended starch, which is allowed to subside. This, after
being washed and dried in the air without the aid of heat, consti-
tutes cassava starch^ or what is known in commerce as tapioca meal
or Brazilian arrowroot. Tapioca is made by heating the cassava
starch, before being dried, on hot plates, and stirring it with an iron
rod. By these means the mass agglomerates into small, irregular,
transparent granules, forming the article imported into this country
under the name in question from Bahia and Rio Janeiro.
Tapioca forms an agreeable, light, and easily digestible farinaceous
article of food. It is useful both for the sick and healthy, and is
employed under the form of pudding and for introduction into soup
and broth. Consisting, as it does, of starchy matter only, it pos-
sesses a less nutritive value than cassava meal and bread. In con-
sequence of the heat to which it has been subjected, many of the
starch-granules are in a ruptured state, which leads to its being
partially soluble in. cold water.
FARINACEOUS PREPARATIONS. 325
ARROWROOT.
Genuine arrowroot, or, as it is called, West Indian arrowroot, in
contradistinction to spurious representations of the article, constitutes
a pure form of starch derived from the tuberous root of the Maranta
arundinacea. It owes its name to the belief of the Indians of South
America that the root of the plant was an antidote to the poison of
their enemies' arrows. The plant grows in tropical climates, and
was originally cultivated in the West Indies, but has been transferred
to the East Indies, Ceylon, and Africa.
The following is the process by which the product is obtained.
The roots are dug up when they are about ten or twelve months old,
washed, and reduced to a state of pulp. This is mixed with water,
cleared of fibres by means of a coarse sieve, and the starch allowed
to settle. Successive washings are employed for further purification,
and the arrowroot is then either dried on sheets in the sun or in dry-
ing-houses, care being exercised to exclude dust and insects.
Arrowroot is imported into England from the West India Islands,
Calcutta, and Sierra Leone, and is usually distinguished by the
name of the island or place producing it. That derived from Ber-
muda is held in the highest estimation. It forms a white, odorless,
and' tasteless substance, and is met with either in the state of powder
or of small pulverulent masses. When rubbed between the fingers
it feels firm, and produces a slight crackling noise. It consists of
starch -granules, which are readily distinguished by their microscopic
characters from those derived from other sources.
Consisting, as arrowroot does, of pure starch, it has no alimentary
value beyond that belonging to this principle. It is chiefly used as
a bland article of food for invalids, but, of course, requires to be
conjoined with other alimentary matter, as alone it possesses only a
limited sustaining power. As an ordinary dietetic agent, it is em-
ployed under the form of pudding and blancmange, and, with other
materials, is made into a biscuit.
The spurious arrowroot consists of starch derived from other
sources, and substituted on the score of greater cheapness. For ex-
ample, Takitan arrowroot, or Taeca starch, also sometimes called
Otaheite salep, is obtained from the root of the Tacca oceanica, a
native of the South Sea Islands (the Tacca pinnatifida of the tropi-
326 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
cal parts of Asia also yields a large quantity of beautifully white
starch, which constitutes an important article of food to the natives) ;
Portland arrowroot (so called from being manufactured in the island
of this name), from that of the Arum maeulatum ; Brazilian arrow-
root, from that of the plant which yields tapioca ; East Indian arrow-
root, from that of the Curcuma angusti/olia, a species of turmeric
plant ; and English arrowroot, from the potato.
TOUS-LES-MOIS.
This name is given to the starch obtained from the tuberous root
of the Canna edulis, a native of the West Indies. It is extracted in
the same way as arrowroot, viz., by reducing the tuber to a pulp,
straining, washing, decanting the supernatant liquid, and drying
the starchy deposit. It is imported from St. Kitts, and was only
introduced into England as recently as about the year 1836. Its
granules are characterized by exceeding in size those of all other
starches. It is very soluble in boiling water, and appears to be
readily susceptible of digestion. It is used for invalids in the same
way as arrowroot, and in alimentary value resembles the other fari-
naceous preparations.
SALEP. .
Salep constitutes the prepared tubercles of several orchideous
plants. It is imported from India, Persia, and Turkey, and is met
with under the form of small ovoid tubercles, which have been sub-
jected to boiling for a few minutes in water, rubbing with a coarse
linen cloth to remove the skin, and drying in an oven. When re-
quired for use, they are ground to a fine powder, and mixed with
boiling water. Salep consists of, besides other ingredients, muci-
laginous matter and starch. It, therefore, possesses demulcent as
well as nutritive properties.
REVALENTA ARABICA.
Revalenta and Ervalenta form preparations the chief portion of
which consists of the flour of the lentil, or Ervum lens (hence erva-
lentd), a plant belonging, like peas and beans, to the leguminous
tribe.
FARINACEOUS PREPARATIONS. 327
Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica is thus composed, according to the
analysis of Dr. Hassall. Three samples, he says, were examined,
and one consisted of a mixture of the red or Arabian lentil and barley
flour; another, of the same ingredients mixed with sugar; and the
third of the Arabian lentil and barley flour, with saline matter,
chiefly salt, and a flavoring principle tasting as though consisting of
celery seed. Such, according to Dr. Hassall, was found to be the
composition of samples of an article which is vaunted in the adver-
tising columns of the daily press as a specific for almost all the ail-
ments that the human frame is heir to, and sold at an enormous
price, looked at in relation to the cost of its ingredients.
A sample of Wharton's Ervalenta, examined by Dr. Hassall, con-
sisted of the French or German lentil, mixed with a substance re-
sembling maize or Indian corn.
The object of the admixture of barley and other flours with the
lentil powder is not, remarks Dr. Hassall, that of gain, for the cost
of the latter is less than that of the former, but to diminish the
strong flavor which lentils possess, and which is so distasteful to
O JT *
many.
Regarded dietetically, a preparation which owes its chief composi-
tion to lentil flour is rich, like leguminous seeds in general, in nitro-
genous matter, but in that form of it which is of a more indigestible
nature than the nitrogenous matter belonging to the Cerealia.
BEVERAGES.
A SUPPLY of water under some shape or other is one of the essen-
tial conditions of life. It is just as needful as solid matter. It not
only enters largely into the constitution of the different parts of the
organism, but is required for various purposes in the performance of
the operations of life. Without it, for instance, there could be no
circulation nor molecular mobility of any kind. It forms the liquid
element of the secretions, and thereby the medium for dissolving and
enabling the digested food to pass into the system and the effete
products to pass out. A constant ingress and egress are occurring,
and the former requires to stand in proper adjustment to the latter.
Under ordinary conditions of exercise and temperature it may be
estimated that about five pints of fluid pass off through the kidneys,
skin, lungs and alimentary canal from an average-sized adult in the
course of the twenty-four hours, and this has to be replenished by
supply from without. But it is not necessary that this amount
should be drunk. A large proportion of our solid food, in many
cases as much as 70, 80, or 90 per cent., consists of water, and the
quantity required in an ordinary way to be taken daily in the form of
drink may be roughly assumed to amount to from two and a half or
three to three and a half or four pints or more. The loss going on,
however, represents such a fluctuating product dependent on exercise
or work and the temperature to which the body is exposed that great
variation must ensue in the amount of fluid required. The effect of
muscular exertion in leading to increased cutaneous transpiration is
familiar to all. Exposure to heat also is well known to act in the
same way, and where a particularly elevated temperature has to be
endured, the loss of fluid by the skin is very great indeed, it is by
this loss and the evaporation which follows that the cooling influ-
ence is exerted whereby the temperature of the body is kept down
within natural limits. In the case of men, as particularly the stokers
BEVERAGES. 329
of large steam-vessels, who remain for some time in a highly heated
atmosphere, the loss of fluid occurring entails the consumption of an
enormous quantity some quarts in the course of a few hours of
liquid, and it is the practice with such persons to drink from a store
of water into which a little oatmeal has been thrown. Now, accord-
ing to the amount required so is the supply provided for by the
sensation of thirst a sensation which creates an irresistible desire to
drink when the want of fluid in the system exists.
If a plain and wholesome liquid be drunk the error is not likely
to be committed of taking too much. After compensating for the
loss by the skin and with the breath the surplus passes off through
the urinary channel, and it is desirable that this surplus should
amply suffice to carry off the effete products forming the solid matter
of the urine in a thoroughly dissolved state. The notion has been
started that it is advisable to restrict the amount of fluid taken with
the meals with the view of avoiding the dilution of the gastric juice.
"Whether as the result of the influence of this notion upon the public
mind or not, mischief, I believe, is frequently occasioned, especially
amongst the higher ranks of society, by a too limited consumption
of fluid. Instead of taking a draught of some innocent and simple
beverage, it is at many tables the fashion to sip fluid and this a
more or less strongly alcoholic one only from the wineglass. It is
a mistaken notion to think that when we drink with a meal we are
diluting the gastric juice. The act of secretion is excited by the ar-
rival of the meal in the stomach, and the gastric juice is not there
at the time of ingestion. It happens, indeed, that the absorption of
fluid takes place with great activity, and the liquid which is drunk
during a meal becoming absorbed may be looked upon as proving
advantageous, by afterwards contributing to yield the gastric juice
which is required.
Water constitutes the essential basis of all our drinks, taken
purely as such. The liquids consumed are of various kinds, but
water is the element physiologically and indispensably required.
Many of the beverages in use, however, are far from simply fulfilling
the office of supplying water for the purposes of life. The accessory
ingredients they contain give them special properties, for the sake of
which their employment is often mainly, if not solely, dictated. It
may be said, however, that when a large quantity of fluid is required
to be consumed to compensate for the loss occurring under violent
330 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
exercise or exposure to a high temperature, nothing is equal to a
simple aqueous liquid, and the softer and purer the water the better.
As already mentioned, those who work in unusually hot situations
are in the habit of consuming, and wisely so, plain water, the raw-
ness of which is removed by the addition of a little oatmeal.
Before treating of the beverages having special properties, as tea,
coffee, &c., and the various liquids of the alcoholic class, all of which
are products of artificial resource, something will be said regarding
water, which forms the drink that has been placed at our disposal
by nature.
WATER.
Water is derivable from various sources, and is denominated ac-
cordingly.
Rain water constitutes the aqueous vapor which has existed in
the atmosphere and, becoming condensed, has descended in a liquid
form. It holds an analogous position to distilled water, and differs
from it only in being impregnated with volatile products which
have been abstracted from the air. It is found to be highly aerated
and to contain traces of ammonia, nitric acid, &c., and also a little
organic matter. It is liable to be contaminated by the surfaces upon
which it has fallen, and unless special care has been taken in its col-
lection, is not well adapted for potable purposes, although from its
freedom from the earthy salts it is particularly eligible for domestic
use. Its purity, indeed, as far as freedom from the earthy salts is
concerned, renders it specially prone to acquire dangerous properties
from lead contamination should it chance to be brought into contact
with this metal.
Spring water is rain water which has percolated through the
earth, and made its escape through some opening at a lower point
admitting of its flow. It is charged with gaseous and saline princi-
ples, dependent in nature upon the character of the soil it has per-
meated. Many spring waters furnish one of the best kinds of water
for drinking. Some are charged with special ingredients the
mineral waters are alluded to which render them unfit for ordinary
use, but may give them a high value in a therapeutic point of view.
Well or pump water is of the same nature as spring water. Deep
well water, unless there should be any defect in the construction of
WATER. 331
the well allowing a leakage into it from above, mostly yields a safe
and wholesome drink. The water of surface or superficial wells,
however, cannot be spoken of in a similar way. Derived as it is
from soakage from the surrounding surface, through a comparatively
shallow stratum only, and this often consisting of a loose porous
soil, it is liable to be contaminated with organic impurities that
may cause it to give rise to the most serious consequences. Superfi-
cial well water should always be regarded with suspicion. It may
be clear, bright, sparkling, cool, and agreeable, and yet possess dan-
gerous properties.
River water consists partly of spring water, and partly of rain
water, that has run off from the surrounding surface of land. A
large portion of the water consumed is drawn from rivers, and
whilst varying considerably in character, according to local circum-
stances, some river waters possess qualities that render them highly
suited for our use. The main drawback to their employment as a
source of supply is their liability to pollution by the refuse of cities
and towns being allowed to reach them. Rivers, however, possess
a purifying power of their own. The effect of a running stream,
and the influence of vegetation, are to oxidize and destroy impuri-
ties; and thus if the pollution be only of a limited extent, the water
may be maintained fit for use.
Distilled water is now extensively used at sea. Most large vessels
are furnished with the necessary appliance for subjecting sea-water
to distillation, to afford the water required, instead of, as formerly,
shipping it from shore. Thus a plentiful supply of pure water, in
a strict sense, is at command. From the absence of air it has a flat
taste, and, therefore, drinks less agreeably that that obtained from
other sources. There are means, however, of submitting it to aera-
tion, and overcoming this objection. On account of its purity it
readily takes up lead, and many instances have occurred of injurious
effects having been produced by contamination through the medium
of the pipes or their joints belonging to the condensing apparatus.
Speaking now of water generally, it is almost needless to say that
to be suitable for drinking purposes it should be bright and clear,
and devoid of taste and smell. As a natural product, impregnation
with a certain amount of gaseous and solid matter may be looked
for. The gaseous matter, when consisting, as it only properly should
do, of air and carbonic acid, gives an agreeable briskness, and may
332 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
be considered a desirable accompaniment. The solid matter, unless
of a specially noxious character from the presence of organic im-
purities, or unless existing in considerable amount, cannot be re-
garded as detracting from the fitness of the water for consumption,
although it must be said that the less the extent of impregnation
with solid matter in other words, the purer the water the better
is it suited for our use.
Unwholesome water. The chief sources of unwholesomeness of
water are: 1. An excess of saline matter; 2, the presence of organic
impurities ; and 3, contamination with lead.
1. The presence of a moderate amount of saline matter does not
render a water objectionable for drinking, although the less the
amount the more wholesome may it be considered to be. A large
amount of saline matter may prejudicially influence (increasing or
diminishing according to its nature) the action of the secreting
organs of the alimentary canal, and so occasion constipation or diar-
rhoea; may aggravate the deranged condition existing in cases of
dyspepsia; and possibly prove, in some instances, the source of cal-
culous disorders, or, at least, if not the source, may favor the forma-
tion of urinary gravel or calculi when a tendency this way exists.
2. There is conclusive evidence to show that the most serious
consequences have arisen from the consumption of water polluted
with organic matter. This, in fact, is the impurity that is most
to be dreaded. Outbreaks of diarrhoea have been very distinctly
traced to the use of contaminated water of this kind. It is acknowl-
edged to be one of the most common causes of dysentery, and has
been alleged, when derived from a marshy district, to be capable of
inducing malarious fever and its concomitant enlargement of the
spleen.
From the facts that have been recently made known, there can be
no doubt that typhoid or enteric fever has been frequently commu-
nicated through the medium of water. Some well-established in-
stances have lately been brought to light, where milk adulterated
with polluted water has been the cause of serious outbreaks of fever.
Whether water simply charged with general organic impurity will
suffice to produce the disease has not been settled ; but certain it is,
that if it be contaminated with the intestinal excreta of a fever
patient, either by the discharge of sewage into a river, percolation
from a drain or cesspool into a superficial well, or in any other way,
WATER. 333
it will do so. Probably the presence of sewage impurity in a par-
ticular state, apart from the specific poison, will occasion the disease,
and it appears that it may be induced by impregnation with sewer
gases allowed, through a defective service arrangement, to become
absorbed during storage in a cistern. Cholera is another disease
which may be considered as having been traced to contaminated
water, and probably this forms the chief mode of its spread through
a community. As with typhoid fever, the discharges from a cholera
patient, in any way reaching water that is subsequently consumed,
may suffice to be the cause of a widely spread outbreak of the
disease.
3. Water may possess unwholesome properties from contamination
with lead acquired by transit through leaden pipes or storage in
leaden cisterns. A portion of the metal becoming dissolved, the
prolonged use of the water gives rise to the ordinary phenomena of
lead poisoning. It is only certain kinds of water that are liable to
become contaminated in this way. Water charged with a moderate
quantity of the earthy salts may be preserved in contact with lead
with impunity. Protection is afforded by the formation of an in-
soluble compound upon the surface of the metal. With a purer
water, on the other hand, a solvent action is allowed to come into
play. Distilled water very readily becomes impregnated with lead,
and if a cistern be provided with a leaden cover the water which has
evaporated and condensed in drops upon the surface in falling back
may lead to a contamination which, from the character of the water,
would not otherwise occur.
Purification of Water. It follows, from what has been stated, that
water has much to answer for in the causation of disease, and that
care should be taken to secure a pure supply for drinking purposes-
It is wise to be cautious in drinking water that has been derived
from a superficial source, unless it has been subjected to a prepara-
tory purification. In the case of spring water issuing from a depth,
and of deep well water, there is but little chance of any serious harm
arising. The extent of soil through which it has percolated is suf-
ficient to insure an absence, certainly, of noxious organic impurity.
The danger especially lies with river water and the water of shallow
wells, and these should always be regarded with suspicion.
A considerable number of processes have been, proposed for the
334 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
purification of water. Only those in common use in this country
need be referred to.
Water from certain sources is treated on a large scale by what is
known as Claris process, which consists of the addition of a definite
amount of lime-water. The object of the process is to diminish the
hardness by reducing the amount of earthy matter, and it is usefully
applied to water derived from chalk districts. By combining with
the carbonic acid, which is holding in solution carbonate of lime, the
lime leads to a precipitation of newly formed carbonate, and at the
same time of almost the whole of the carbonate previously present.
The hardness produced by sulphates and chlorides still remains, but
suspended and perhaps some dissolved organic matter is thrown
clown.
Soiling, by driving off the carbonic acid, has the effect of dimin-
ishing the hardness due to the earthy carbonates. It also acts upon
organic matter. If it does not remove organic matter it may be
spoken of as having the power of destroying the activity of that
which possesses specifically poisonous properties. Where fear is
entertained respecting the transmission of cholera or typhoid fever
the water should be subjected to thorough boiling, and it may then
be considered safe for use. Toast and water, which is made by pour-
ing boiling water on toasted and partially charred bread or biscuit
and allowing it to cool, forms, on this account, a safer drink for water
drinkers than plain and fresh w r ater, unless dependence can be placed
upon the purity of the source.
Filtration is very extensively practiced, and contributes in a most
important manner towards the purification of water. Before being
distributed to the metropolis the supply of the London water com-
panies is submitted to filtration through sand and gravel. Sus-
pended matters, both mineral and organic, are hereby removed, and
dissolved mineral matter may be to some extent diminished, but dis-
solved organic matter fails to undergo any material alteration, and
such filtration must not be viewed as rendering water safe for use
when contaminated with noxious excreta. Animal charcoal, -how-
ever, possesses a purifying power which is not enjoyed by other
agents, and percolation through a good filter composed of this ma-
terial effects a removal not only of suspended matters, but of a large
proportion of the dissolved organic matter that may be contained in
water. It is alleged that animal charcoal, in arresting, exerts at the
NON-ALCOHOLIC, ETC., BEVERAGES. 335
same time a chemical alteration of the organic matter. The best
domestic niters owe their action to this agent, and it is probable that
they have the power of completely depriving water of any noxious
property of an organic source that it may have possessed. There is
always the possibility, however, that through defective action some
active matter may pass through, and where room for suspicion exists
that water may be dangerously contaminated, it is prudent to sub-
ject it to boiling instead of relying solely on nitration. The purify-
ing power of animal charcoal is not unlimited. When water is
charged with much organic matter it soon ceases to be effective.
With the ordinary drinking-waters, however, where the organic im-
purity is small in amount, a filter will continue to act satisfactorily
for many months, or even longer, provided, as is always necessary,
the passage of the water is not too quick. After ceasing to act
properly animal charcoal may be cleansed and again fitted for use,
and to secure a constant state of efficiency a filter should, from time
to time, be subjected to this process.
NON-ALCOHOLIC, EXHILARATING, AND RESTORA-
TIVE BEVERAGES.
The group of dietetic articles of which tea, coffee, and cocoa form
the chief representatives, are only of comparatively modern intro-
duction into Europe, although now so extensively consumed
amongst us. They must be regarded as exerting a great influence
on the social condition of mankind, possessing the innocent proper-
ties they do, and consumed as largely as they are in the place of
articles belonging to the alcoholic class, from which, when used in
excess, such baneful physical and moral results take their source.
It is certainly a remarkable circumstance that the articles of this
group should have independently come into use in different parts of
the globe purely upon their own merits ; that they should also be
derived from plants widely separated in their botanical affinities,
and from different structures of the plant, and yet that they should
be found to possess the same dietetic properties, and, moreover,
should be discovered, long subsequently to their introduction, to
836 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
contain the same active chemical principle. In 1820, caffein was
discovered in coffee by Range, and in 1827 thein in tea by Oudry;
and in 1838 these two principles were found by Jobst and Mulder
to be identical. In 1840, the same substance was recognized by
Martius in Guarana an article used in some parts of South America
in the same way as we use tea and coffee; and in 1843 it was found
by Stenhouse also to exist in Paraguay tea a kind of tea obtained
from the leaves of quite a different plant from that which yields
the Chinese tea. Theobromin, the peculiar principle belonging to
cocoa, is certainly not strictly identical with, but, on the other hand,
is very closely allied to caffein and thein. Now that caffein and
thein and what were originally called guaranin and paraguain have
been shown to be identical, it would prove a source of conveni-
ence if some suitable generic name were invented and employed by
chemists to represent them.
TEA.
Tea constitutes the dried leaves of a plant belonging to the genus
Thea of Linnaeus, which, according to the more recent authority of
Bentham and Hooker, forms a section only of the genus Camellia, a
tribe of plants with which we are all familiar in this country. The
tea plant is indigenous in China, Cochin China, Japan, and the
northern parts of the eastern peninsula of India, and has been in-
troduced into British India on the southern declivities of the Hima-
layas, Java, the Kong mountains in Western Africa, Brazil, Madeira,
and other warm and temperate countries. It is capable of flourish-
ing in all latitudes between and 40.
The two chief varieties of the plant are Thea bohea and Thea
viridis, but besides these Thea sasangua is grown and used for some
of the choicest sorts of tea*
It was formerly supposed that Thea bohea yielded black tea only,
and Thea viridis green ; but Mr. Fortune ascertained, and it has
since been fully corroborated by others, that black and green are
both obtained from each variety of the plant, it being upon the
mode of preparation adopted that the difference in the nature of the
article depends. Thea viridis abounds in the northern districts of
China, where it is cultivated on the fertile slopes of the hills.
Thea bohea is cultivated in the southern parts of China, especially
about Canton.
TEA. 337
The first gathering of tea is conducted in April, and consists of
young leaf-buds, the removal of which to some extent injures the
plant. The tea thus obtained, called yutien, is insignificant in
amount, and not an article of commerce, but only intended for choice
gifts to friends. It is used on occasions of ceremony, and although
very strong in taste, scarcely colors the water in which it is infused.
The showers of spring bring on fresh leaves, and the second gather-
ing, which is the most important of the season, takes place in May.
A third and last gathering supplies only inferior teas.
Green tea is prepared from the young leaves, which within an hour
or two after being gathered are roasted in pans over a brisk wood
fire. After four or five minutes 7 roasting they are rolled by hand,
and again thrown into the drying pans, where they are kept in rapid
motion for about an hour or an hour and a half. The process is
simple, and speedily accomplished. Prussian blue, turmeric root,
gypsum, and sometimes indigo and copper, are used to give an at-
tractive bloom, but this artifice is only resorted to for the foreign
market. The Chinese, it is said, never dye the teas used for their
own consumption.
For black tea, the leaves are allowed to lie in heaps for ten or
twelve hours after they have been gathered, during which time they
undergo a sort of fermentation. They are then tossed about till they
become soft and flaccid, and after being rolled are alternately heated
and rolled three or four times. The leaves are afterwards dried
slowly over charcoal fires.
Various sorts of both black and green tea are manufactured. Of
green, Single or Twankay is the lowest in quality. The chief of the
others, in upward order of excellence, are Hyson-skin, Hyson, Im-
perial, Gunpowder, and the choicest young Hyson. The chief
varieties of black tea, arranged in a similar order, are Bohea,
Oolong, Congou, Campoi, Souchong, Souchy or Caper, and Pekoe.
Certain teas possess a characteristic aroma, dependent on the dis-
trict in which they are grown ; but the Chinese also adopt the plan
of scenting some kinds of tea with various flowers, such as roses,
jasmine, and orange blossoms. The dry tea and the freshly gathered
flowers are mixed and allowed to remain together for twenty-four
hours. The flowers are then sifted out.
Lie tea is the name applied to an article produced from the dust
and sweepings of tea warehouses, cemented with rice-water, and
22
338 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
rolled into grains. It is made either of a black color, to imitate
Caper ; or green, to resemble Gunpowder. It is manufactured for
the purpose of adulterating the better kinds of tea.
Brick tea is made from the refuse, siftings, sweepings, and the
broken leaves and twigs of tea moulded into forms. The Tartars
use this tea. They reduce it to powder, and boil it with the alka-
line water of the steppes, to which salt and fat have been added ; and
this decoction, mixed with milk, butter, and a little roasted meal,
they consume as an article of subsistence. It is also used in the same
manner as other tea.
Tea appears to have been used from time immemorial in China,
and is known to have been common at the beginning of the sixth
century. It is said to have been introduced into Japan about the
beginning of the ninth century. The Dutch East India Company
introduced it into Europe early in the seventeenth century. The
first reference to tea made by an Englishman was in the year 1615,
and is found in the records of the English East India Company. In
1657 a rather large consignment fell into the hands of Mr. Thomas
Garraway, the person who established Garraway's Coffee House.
The consumption of tea in the United Kingdom in 1853 amounted,
according to Johnston, to fifty-eight millions of pounds (25,000
tons), or about one forty-fifth part of the estimated produce of China.
In 1866 the amount entered for home consumption had risen to
ninety-eight million pounds. In 1871, according to the published
Custom House Returns, the quantity consumed was 3 Ibs. 15 oz.
for each member of the community.
The most important constituents of tea are
1. An astringent matter of the nature of tannic acid, which con-
stitutes the source of the bitter styptic taste it possesses. In the
analyses furnished below the amounts of this astringent matter stand
in round figures at 13 and 18 per cent.
2. A volatile oil, to which it owes its peculiar aroma, and 'which
only amounts to about J or } per cent.
3. A crystallizable body, of an alkaline nature, and rich in nitro-
gen, called thein. This, according to the subjoined analyses, only
amounts to about J per cent., but Stenhouse has found from 1 to 1.27
per cent., and Peligot's results give more than double this, viz.,
TEA. 339
from 2.34 to 3 per cent. There is, therefore, considerable diversity
in the results that have been obtained by different chemists upon
this point. 1
Composition of tea (Mulder).
Black tea. Green tea.
Essential oil, 0.60 0.79
Chlorophyll 1.84 222
Wax, 0.00 0.28
Kesin, 3.64 2.22
Gum, 7.28 8.56
Tannin, 12.88 17.80
Thein, 0.46 0.43
Extractive matter, 21 36 22.80
Coloring substance, . . . . 19.19 23.60
Albumen, 2.80 3.0
Fibre, 28 32 17.08
Ash (mineral substances), .... 5.24 5.56
Tea is consumed under the form of infusion, which should be
prepared by pouring boiling water on it, and allowing it to stand a
short time. If boiled, a loss of its characteristic flavor occurs through
the dissipation of the aromatic principle, which is very volatile.
The water used should be neither particularly hard nor soft, as
the former impedes the extraction of the soluble principles, and the
latter favors the absorption of too much of the general extractive
matter, at the sacrifice of delicacy of flavor. River water is the best,
and this is employed by the Chinese. The water should not be
allowed to remain long on the leaves, as by standing or stewing the
infusion loses its aroma, and takes up an excess of extractive matter,
which gives a rough and bitter taste. Thus, the liquid quickly
poured off contains more aroma, and less coloring and astringent
matters, and thereby possesses a choicer flavor than that which has
been allowed to stand. In China tea is sometimes infused in a tea-
pot, and sometimes in the cup from which it is drunk off the leaves.
In Japan the tea leaves are ground to powder, and after infusion in
a tea-cup the mixture is beaten up till it becomes frothy, and then
the whole is drunk.
1 In the " Food Journal," vol. i, p. 162, it is stated that Stenhouse's observa-
tions show a range in the amount of thein in various teas from 0.70 to 2.13 per
cent. ; and that Peligot's results vary, but that in his last and most complete ex-
periment he obtained 6.21 per cent.
340 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Dr. Letheby says that it is experimentally proved that an infusion
of tea is strong enough when it contains 0.6 per cent, of extracted
matter, and that a moderate-sized cup, holding five ounces, would
thus contain about thirteen grains of the extract of tea.
Tea is usually measured by the spoon for use, but the weight of a
spoonful varies much with the different sorts of tea, and as green tea
is rolled much closer and weighs heavier than black, a spoonful of
the former, apart from any difference in composition, will make a
stronger infusion than that of the latter. Dr. E. Smith has instituted
a comparison in reference to this point, and the following is the table
given by him showing the weight in grains of an evenly taken
moderate-sized caddy-spoonful of tea, and the number of such spoon-
fuls required to make a pound.
Weight of Number of
Kind of tea. a spoonful spoonfuls
Black i n grains. in a pound.
Oolong, 89 179
Congou, inferior quality, ... 52 138
Flowery Pekoe, ...... 62 113
Souchong, 70 100
Congou, fine, 87 80
Green
Hyson skin, f Not now imported ) . .58 120
Twankay, 1 into this country, ) . .70 100
Hyson, ....... 66 106
Fine Imperial, 90 77
Scented Caper, an artificial preparation, 103 68
Fine Gunpowder, 123 57
With regard to these results, something may be due to the con-
dition as to form of the tea, some teas holding together in the spoon
more than others, otherwise a pound packet of the first on the list
ought to be three times the size of that of the last.
The Chinese drink their tea in a pure state. The Eussians fre-
quently squeeze the juice of lemon into it, and this is said to form
an agreeable addition. The Germans often flavor it with rum., cin-
namon, or vanilla. In England it may be said to be customary to
add milk or cream, and sugar ; the one having the effect of dimin-
ishing the astringent taste, and the other being employed to please
the palate.
TEA. 341
Tea is not to be looked upon as constituting an article of nutri-
tion. The quantity of material furnished to the system in the man-
ner it is used is too small to be of any significance per se in contrib-
uting to the chemical changes which form the source of vital action.
If not occupying the position of an article of nutrition, however, its
extensive and widely spread employment may be taken as indicating
that some kind of benefit is derivable from itvS use, and it is proba-
bly through the nervous system that this is mainly, if not entirely,
produced.
Much discordancy exists in the statements that have been made
regarding the effects of tea upon the system, and an unfortunate
want of uniformity amongst medical practitioners in the recommen-
dations given to the public upon the subject of its employment. The
diametrically opposite advice that is frequently found to be given to
patients, one member of the profession recommending, and another
immediately afterwards prohibiting, the use of tea, exhibits an ar-
bitrary course of procedure which testifies to the want of some defi-
nite guiding principle of action. An attempt will be made to furnish
a concise representation of what is known, and from this may be
drawn a basis for greater uniformity of procedure.
Tea forms a light beverage which is neither heating to the system
nor oppressive to the stomach, in which respects it differs from coffee.
Taken in moderate quantity, it may be spoken of as exerting an ex-
hilarating and restorative action without stimulating or inebriating
like alcohol. By such action, it exerts a reviving influence when
the body is fatigued, but perhaps some of the effect is also attributa-
ble to the warmth belonging to the liquid consumed. It disposes
to mental cheerfulness and activity, clears the brain, arouses the
energies, and diminishes the tendency to sleep to such an extent, it
may be, in some sensitive persons, as to occasion a painful state of
vigilance or watchfulness, and sleeplessness.
The phenomena produced when tea is consumed in a strong state,
and to a hurtful extent, show that it is capable of acting in a power-
ful manner upon the nervous system. Nervous agitation, muscular
tremors, a sense of prostration, and palpitation, constitute effects
that have been witnessed. It appears to act in a sedative manner
on the vascular system. It also possesses direct irritant properties
which lead to the production of abdominal pains and nausea. It
promotes the action of the skin, and, by the astringent matter it
342 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
contains, diminishes the action of the bowels. Green tea, as is well
known, possesses far more active properties than black, although, as
previously stated, the two are obtained from the same plant. The
difference between them is dependent on the mode of treatment to
which the leaf is subjected and the period of gathering it.
Tea, like coffee, appeases the sensation arising from the want of
food, and enables hunger to be better borne. Lehmann was of
opinion that it lessened the waste of the body, but Dr. E. Smith
asserts that it increases slightly the amount of carbonic acid exhaled,
and he thereby speaks of it as promoting rather than checking
chemico-vital action. More conclusive evidence, it may be con-
sidered, is required in reference to this matter, to show that any de-
cided action either way is exerted.
To express in a few words the advantages derivable from the use
of tea it may be said that it forms an agreeable, refreshing, and
wholesome beverage, and thereby constitutes a useful medium for
the introduction of a portion of the fluid we require into the system.
It secures that the water consumed is rendered safe for drinking by
the boiling which is necessitated as a preliminary operation in
making tea. It cools the body when hot, probably by promoting
the action of the skin ; and warms it when cold, by virtue, it would
seem, of the warm liquid consumed. In a negative way it may
prove beneficial to health by taking the place of a less wholesome
liquid. Through the milk and sugar usually consumed with it in
England it affords the means of supplying a certain amount, and
not by any means an insignificant amount, viewed in its entirety, of
alimentary matter to the system. Experience shows that it often
affords comfort and relief to persons suffering from nervous head-
ache. It also tends to allay the excitement from, and counteract the
state induced by, the use of alcoholic stimulants ; and, further, on
account of its anti-soporific properties, like coffee, it is useful as an
antidote in poisoning by opium.
Its use, particularly green tea, is objectionable, in a strong state,
in the case of persons who are rendered watchful by it, and .in all
irritable conditions of the stomach. The astringent matter it con-
tains will cause it to impede digestion, if taken strong and in any
large quantity during or shortly after a meal.
TEA. 343
REPRESENTATIVES OF TEA.
Before concluding this section on tea, reference may be made to
the leaves of certain plants, which are prepared and extensively
used in some localities in the same manner as those of the Chinese
tea-plant.
Mate, or Paraguay Tea. This is derived from the dried leaves of
the Ilex Paraguayensis, or Brazilian holly, a plant belonging to the
same tribe as the holly of our own country. It is a native of South
America, where it grows in a wild state ; and in some parts of that
portion of the \vorld the leaves are as extensively employed dietet-
ically as tea and coffee are in Asia and Europe. The leaves, after
being dried, are reduced to a coarse kind of powder before being
used for yielding the infusion. It is not correct to look upon Par-
aguay tea as a spurious substitute for Chinese tea. It is consumed
upon its own merits, and it forms a curious and interesting fact, that
it contains an active principle which was at first called paraguain,
but which has since been found to be identical with thein and
caffein.
The chief constituents of Paraguay tea are :
1. An astringent principle analogous to tannic acid, which is
present in sufficient proportion to render the fresh leaves an article
of use to dyers in the Brazils.
2. A volatile oil.
3. Thein, amounting in quantity to about 1.20 per cent.
Paraguay tea is spoken of as being more exciting than Chinese
tea ; and when used in excessive quantity, is said to produce a kind
of delirium tremens.
Additional varieties of Paraguay tea are made from the leaves of
the Ilex gongonha (called Brazilian tea), Ilex thecezans, Psoralea
glandulosa (called Mexican tea), and Capraria biflora.
Coffee leaves. In the islands of the Eastern Archipelago the leaves
of the coffee plant, which somewhat resemble in outside character
those of the common laurel, are dried and used in the manner of
tea. They yield an infusion which even more approximates that of
Chinese tea than does the infusion of mate", or Paraguay tea. It
contains the same kind of constituents, and the thein amounts to
about 1.26 per cent. It forms the favorite tea of the dark-skinned
344 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
population of Sumatra. In taste and odor it resembles a mixture
of tea and coffee.
Labrador tea is made from the dried leaves of the Ledum palustre
and Ledum latifolium. It is very strong in astringent and narcotic
properties.
'Abyssinian tea, called chaat, consists of the dried leaves of the
Catha eduliSj a small tree allied to the Sageretia thecezans. It is
cultivated and used extensively in Northern Africa.
In Johnston's " Chemistry of Common Life " a list of several
other plants is given, the leaves of which are used for infusing and
consuming in the same manner as Chinese tea.
COFFEE.
Coifee beans constitute the seeds found within the fruit of the
Coffea Arabica, a small tree belonging to the tribe Coffeacece, of the
family Rubiacece, which is indigenous in Southern Abyssinia.
The tree *is said to have been transplanted into Arabia at the
beginning of the fifteenth century, and the cultivation has since been
extended to Egypt, the West Indies, Peru, Brazil, Java, Ceylon,
and other warm countries. When the climate is dry, abundant
irrigation is required while the tree is growing, but as the fruit
begins to ripen the water is cut off.
The fruit forms a succulent berry, similar in appearance and color
to a small cherry. Each berry contains usually two seeds, forming
the coffee-bean of commerce, surrounded by a parchment-like en-
velope and the fleshy pulp.
To extract the seeds, the fresh ripe berries are sometimes bruised
between rollers, and the thick juicy pulp is then separated by pass-
ing through sieves, upon which the beans are retained. They are
afterwards washed with water, and dried. The parchment-like en-
velope is next detached by a heavy wooden wheel, and the chaff
removed by winnowing. Sometimes the berries are dried in the
sun, by which the pulp and membranous envelope become friable,
and are removed by lightly crushing and winnowing.
The coffee-bean is usually imported in the above-mentioned de-
corticated state. It then constitutes a horny body, rounded on one
side, and flat with a longitudinal furrow on the other, and of a yel-
lowish, bluish, or greenish color. Sometimes, however, it is met
COFFEE. 345
with surrounded by its membranous envelope, and is then called in
commerce " coffee in the husk. 11
The coffee produced by different countries presents variations in
quality and the physical characters of the bean. The smallest bean
is considered the best. Mocha or Arabian coffee is the most highly
esteemed. The bean is small and round, and of a dark-yellow color,
with a tinge of green. This variety develops a more agreeable
aroma than the others. West Indian coffee is usually of a greenish-
gray tint, with the ends of the beans rounded. A slight difference
exists in the production of the various islands. Jamaica coffee, for
instance, does not exactly resemble that from Martinique, and the
coffee from St. Domingo is less esteemed than either, and is pointed
at the two extremities. Java and East Indian coffee is large, and of
a pale yellow color. Ceylon coffee is the least prized of all.
Coffee is said to have been in use in Abyssinia from time im-
memorial, and in Persia from A. D. 875. It was used in Constan-
tinople about the middle of the sixteenth century, in spite of the
violent opposition of the priests; and in 1554 two coffee-houses were
opened in that city. It was introduced into Europe in the seven-
teenth century, but the precise date is variously stated by different
authorities. It was drunk in Venice soon after 1615, and brought
to England and France about forty years subsequently.
To show the progress in the consumption of coffee it may be men-
tioned that in 1699 one hundred tons of coffee were consumed in the
United Kingdom, seventy of which were used in England (Tomlin-
son). In 1858 the consumption in the United Kingdom is stated to
have been sixteen thousand tons (Chambers's "Encyclopaedia").
About the same time the total European consumption was something
like seventy-five thousand tons (Johnston), and the entire weight of
coffee raised over the world was guessed to be about six hundred
millions of pounds (Johnston). Nearly as much coffee is consumed
in the United Kingdom as in France; and, proportionately to its
size, Belgium, Payen says, consumes five times as much as France.
The coffee of commerce is formed of the raw bean, and subjection
to the process of roasting is required to place it in a suitable condi-
tion for the consumer. This is performed in an iron cylinder made
to revolve over a fire. It leads to the development of the aroma and
346 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
other qualities for which the article is esteemed. From the volatile
nature of the aroma the roasted coffee greatly deteriorates by keep-
ing; hence the process of roasting should not be performed long
before the coffee is made use of.
Under the process of roasting the coffee bean loses in weight, and
gains in bulk by expansion. It at the same time changes in color,
assuming a reddish-brown, chestnut-brown, or dark brown, according
to the extent to which the roasting has been carried. The quality of
the coffee a great deal depends upon the manner in which the roast-
ing has been performed. If the seeds are roasted too little the desired
aroma and empyreumatic products are not sufficiently developed,
whilst if roasted too much they are partially dissipated, and an un-
pleasant flavor substituted. If a full flavored coffee be desired, the
darker shade of color should be chosen. In England the operation
of roasting is conducted in large establishments devoted to the pur-
pose, but on the Continent it is not uncommon for it to be performed
from time to time on a small scale by a member of the household.
Before being used, coffee requires to be ground, and the remark that
has been made about the roasted bean losing its aroma by keeping,
applies with still greater force to the article when ground. To grind
it as it is required forms the best plan, but when this is not adopted
it should be preserved in a well-closed bottle or tin.
The chief constituents of coffee are of the same nature as those
mentioned for tea. They are as follows :
1. A volatile oil which gives to coffee the aroma it possesses, and
is developed by the process of roasting. The amount of it is less than
that existing in tea.
2. Astringent matter constituting a modification of tannin and
called caffeo-tannic and caffeic acids. It is present in much smaller
quantity than tannic acid in tea, and amounts to about 5 per cent, in
raw coffee.
3. Caffein. This principle, as already mentioned, is identical with
thein. The amount of it, as estimated by different observers, in
coffee varies considerably. Stenhouse gives it as about 0.75 to 1 per
cent., others at 3 to 4 per cent.
COFFEE. 34:7
Composition ofunroasted coffee (from " Chambers's Enc} r clop8edia ").
Caffein, 08
Legumin (vegetable casein), 13.0
Gum and sugar, ......... 15.5
Caffeo-tannic and caffeic acids. ...... 5.0
Fat and volatile oil, 13.0
Woody fibre, 34.0
Ash, 6.7
Water, 12.0
100.0
An elaborate analysis is given by Payen, 1 from his own results,
with which the above is in close accord. It is as follows :
Composition of coffee (Payen).
Cellulose, 34.
Water, 12.
Fatty matter, from 10 to 13.
Glucose, dextrin, undetermined vegetable acid, . . . 15.5
Legumin, casein, &c., 10.
Chloroginate [caffeo-tannate] of potash and of caffein,
from 3.5 to 6.
JNitrogenized structure, 3.
Caffein, 0.8
' Essential oil, 0.001
Aromatic essence, ........ 0.002
Mineral substances, 6.697
100.000
Coffee is prepared for drinking both in the form of infusion and
decoction. In Arabia and the East a decoction of the unroasted
article is usually drunk, and the custom prevails of consuming the
grounds, which are looked upon as nutritious, with the liquid. In
Europe, however, coffee is always roasted before it is used. The
old practice in England was to place the coffee-pot over the fire for
the coffee to boil. In this way a larger amount of material is ex-
tracted, but at the sacrifice, it must be said, of flavor, for the aroma
of coffee is of a volatile nature, and becomes dissipated during the
process of boiling. To preserve the aroma, an infusion only should
1 Substances Alimentaires, Paris, 1865, p. 414.
348 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
be made, and the appliances that have been devised for making
coffee in this way are exceedingly numerous. The most general
plan adopted is to allow the boiling water to percolate through the
coffee, disposed in such a manner as to prevent the grounds passing
with the liquid.
As boiling leads to a loss of aroma, so infusing, only, involves a
waste of some of the extractive matter, which escapes being taken
up. If economy is no object this need not be considered, a large
amount of coffee being taken for use. If it be desired, however, to
turn the coffee to the utmost account, both a decoction and an infu-
sion should be made; and this may be accomplished by boiling the
grounds from which an infusion has been made with water, and
pouring the boiling decoction over a fresh portion of recently
ground coffee. The boiling water has fully extracted what the
grounds would yield, and on being poured over the fresh coffee,
carries with it the aroma and the principles contained in an ordinary
infusion. The grounds last left, in their turn, will serve to boil
with more water, and yield a decoction for pouring over another
fresh portion of coffee. In this way all the goodness is obtained
without any sacrifice of aroma.
As is the case with tea, soft water extracts more from coffee than
hard, and the addition of an alkali, as carbonate of soda, augments
the extracting capacity.
The extent to which the coffee has been roasted influences the
amount of matter susceptible of extraction. Pay en says that one
litre (about If pints in English measure) of boiling water allowed
to filter through 100 grammes (about 3J oz.) of recently ground
coffee and this he gives as about the proper proportion for making
coffee when the roasting has been carried only to the production of
a reddish-brown color, extracts 25 per cent, of its substance, and
only 19 per cent, when the roasting has been carried to a chestnut
brown.
According to Dr. Letheby, an infusion of coffee is strong enough
when it holds in solution 3 per cent, of extracted matter. Charged
to this extent, a moderate-sized cup (5 oz.), he adds, should contain
66 grains of extract of coffee, and such proportion will be obtained
when 2 oz. of freshly roasted coffee are infused in a pint of boiling
water.
COFFEE. 349
Coffee forms a favorite and useful beverage. The properties it
possesses fully justify the estimation in which it is held. Like tea,
it produces an invigorating and restorative effect on the system,
without being followed by any depression. It, however, exerts a
more heating and stimulating action than tea, and increases in a de-
cided manner the force and frequency of the pulse. It also differs
in being heavier and more oppressive to the stomach. It arouses
the mental faculties and the energies generally, and so disposes to
wakeful ness, but in this latter respect its influence is not so power-
ful as that of tea. Taken in immoderate quantity it may induce
feverishness, and various manifestations of disordered nervous ac-
tion, as tremor, palpitation, anxiety, and deranged vision.
One of the most valuable properties of coffee is its power of re-
lieving the sensation of hunger and fatigue. It exerts a marked
sustaining influence under fatigue and privation, and thus enables
arduous exertion to be better borne under the existence of abstinence
or a deficiency of food. To the soldier on active service it forms a
most useful article on this account. The experiments of Lehmann
led him to conclude that coffee diminishes the waste of the tissues,
and causes food to go further, but how far this is true is uncertain.
Gasparin, however, from his observations, also says that coffee has
the property of rendering the elements of the body more stable; and
thus, if not affording much nourishment itself, it economizes other
nourishment by diminishing the waste going on.
" In some constitutions/' says Pereira, " coffee acts on the bowels
as a mild laxative." "I have known," he adds, "several persons in
whom it has this effect; yet it is usually described as producing con-
stipation."
Whilst heating and stimulating to the system in hot weather, cof-
fee is most serviceable in giving warmth to the body under exposure
to cold. Something, it must be admitted, is due to the warm liquid
consumed, but an action beyond this is exerted.
Consumed, as coffee usually is, with milk and sugar, it further
forms a medium for supplying direct nourishment, and this of no in-
considerable amount, to the system. Payen remarks that a litre
(about a pint and three-quarters) of cafe au lait, such as is usually
taken with the morning meal, contains between 5 and 6 oz. of solid
matter, of which about 1} oz. consist of nitrogenous matter.
In addition to its dietetic value, considerable benefit is often de-
350 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
rived from the employment of coffee as a therapeutic agent. By
virtue of its antisoporific properties it is advantageously administered
as an antidote in cases of opium poisoning. It is also of service in
subduing the effects produced by the immoderate use of alcoholic
stimulants. It frequently affords relief in some forms of nervous
headache, and is well known to constitute one of the most valuable
agents we possess for controlling the paroxysms of spasmodic asthma.
Fictitious Coffee. A number of articles, consisting of various
beans, seeds, berries and roots, have been used as substitutes for cof-
fee, but in none of them does there exist the characteristic and active
principle caffein, and none therefore are endowed with the virtue
of coffee. The roasted acorn is much used on the Continent under
the name of acorn coffee, and has been imported into England. The
best substitute for coffee yet discovered is said to be that which is
known by the name of Swedish coffee, and is prepared from the
Astralagus Boeticus.
CHICCORY.
Chiccory is prepared from the root of the wild succory or endive
(Cichorium Intybus), the type of a great division of the order Com-
positce, known by their milky juice, and to which also belong the
dandelion and lettuce. It was formerly used medicinally from pos-
sessing properties resembling those of the dandelion ; and for about
one hundred years has been employed as a substitute for, and admix-
ture with, coffee. The plant is cultivated in England, Belgium, Hol-
land, Germany, and France, and the foreign is considered much su-
perior to the English growth. The roots after being washed are cut
into small pieces and dried on a kiln. They are then roasted in iron
cylinders, which are kept revolving just as is done in the case of
coffee.
Roasted chiccory contains, like coffee, an empyreumatic volatile
oil, which forms the source of its aroma, and a bitter principle, but
no caffein. According to the analysis of John, 25 per cent, consists
of w r atery bitter extractive matter.
Chiccory yields a drink closely allied in flavor and color to coffee.
It is very largely consumed on the Continent, not merely as an adul-
terant of coffee, but as an independent beverage. In Belgium as
much as 5 Ibs. a head are used in the year, counting the whole popu-
CHICCORY GUAKANA. 351
lation ; and in some parts of Germany women, it is said, are regular
chiccory-topers.
It gives increased color and flavor to coffee, and, used as an ad-
mixture, to a moderate extent, is considered by most persons to fur-
nish an improvement upon coffee alone. The preference shown is
quite independent of any consideration of economy. It is employed
upon its own merits, and when there is no concealment, its addition
to coffee cannot be looked upon in the light of an adulteration.
GUARANA.
Brazilian cocoa, or guarana, is obtained from the seeds of the
Paullinia sorbilis, a tree belonging to the order Sapindacece, or soap-
worts, which, according to most botanists, includes our common
horse chestnut. The tree grows abundantly in the province of Ama-
zonas, along the banks of the Tapajos, Rio Negro, &c., as well as in
Guiana and Venezuela. It is used extensively in Brazil, Guatemala,
Costa Rica, and other parts of South America, as a nervous stimu-
lant and restorative, and also as a refreshing beverage. According
to late reports, 16,000 Ibs. are annually exported from the city of
Santarem.
The fruit, which is about the size of a small walnut, contains five
or six seeds. These seeds are roasted, and, after being pounded, are
made into a thick paste with water and formed into round or oblong
cakes, which are dried in an oven or by the heat of the sun, and
called guarana bread. The cakes are scraped or grated when re-
quired for use, and the powder produced possesses a light brown
color, an odor faintly resembling roasted coffee, and a bitter astrin-
gent taste.
It contains, in addition to empyreumatic oil (developed by the
process of roasting), and tannic acid, a substance called guaranin by
Theodore von Martius, but shown by Dr. Stenhouse to be identical
with thein. This alkaloid is stated by Dr. Stenhouse to be present
to the extent of 5.07 per cent., or, according to the results of the
same observer, to the extent of twice the amount contained in good
black tea, and five times that contained in coffee the actual figures
given for tea being 2.13 per cent., and for coffee 0.8 to 1.0 per cent.
For Paraguay tea the amount mentioned is 1.25 per cent.
The large amount of tannic acid that enters into the composition
of guarana gives it marked astringent properties, whilst, owing to
352 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
the guaranin it contains, it exerts the same kind of effect on the nerv-
ous system as tea and coffee.
Guarana is used in South America, to some extent dietetically,
but chiefly therapeutical ly, as a stomachic and febrifuge, and as an
astringent in catarrhal diarrhoea, and dysentery. It is either eaten
with cassava, or chocolate, or taken as a drink in sweetened water.
In the United States it is employed as a nervous stimulant and re-
storative, and attention was directed to it some years ago in France
by Dr. Gavrelle, who had held the post of physician to Don Pedro
of Brazil.
Alcohol, it is stated, forms the only agent which completely ex-
tracts its active principles. Ether and water only do so imperfectly.
A watery infusion, therefore, will fail to possess the virtue belonging
to guarana.
Guarana appears for some time to have enjoyed a high repute in
France as a remedy for migraine, or sick headache, and attention has
been recently directed to its smployment for this purpose, in England,
by my colleague, Dr. Wilks. Articles upon the subject have ap-
peared during the year 1872 in the "British Medical Journal," and
another article, by Mr. M. C. Cooke, is to be found in the " Phar-
maceutical Journal" (third series, vol. i, p. 221). From these
sources the author's information has been chiefly derived. The ex-
perience that has been collected shows that in some cases of sick or
nervous headache it affords the most marked relief, whilst in others
it proves perfectly useless. Its virtue is, in all probability, due to
the guaranin (thein or caffein) it contains, which, as already remarked,
is, according to the analyses of Stenhouse, present in much larger
proportion than in either tea or coffee. Employed for the purpose
mentioned, about 15 grains of the powder (which may be taken in
coffee, water, or some other suitable vehicle) form the quantity
generally used.
COCOA.
Cocoa constitutes a product derived from the seeds of the' Theo-
broma cacao, a tree indigenous in South America, Mexico, and the
West Indies, and cultivated also in the Mauritius, the Isle of Bour-
bon, and some parts of Asia and Africa. The term cocoa, as applied
to this product, must not be looked upon as implying that it has
any relation to the well-known cocoanut. It is employed as a cor-
COCOA. 353
ruption of cacao, which has been rejected for popular use on account
of its want of euphony. The generic name Theobroma (food for
gods Oeo<; frwijLa), was given by Linnaeus to the tribe of plants,
which includes several species, to mark the estimation in which he
held the product under consideration.
From the cacao tree small flowers grow on stalks, springing
directly from the stem. The flower is succeeded by an elongated
thick fruit somewhat resembling in form the vegetable marrow.
The fruit consists of a number of seeds (from twenty to fifty) ar-
ranged in regular rows, with partitions between them and surrounded
by an acid and slightly saccharine pulp. When the fruit is ripe it
is gathered and collected in earthen vessels or into heaps on the
ground, where it is allowed to remain a few days, during which time
it ferments, heats, and softens. It is then opened and the seeds,
which are about the size of or rather thicker than a plump almond,
are separated, cleansed, and dried in the sun. The fruit is sometimes
covered instead with earth until the pulp has become rotten and soft,
and the cocoa yielded is said to be sweeter and better.
The use of cocoa is of great antiquity in Mexico and Guatemala,
and chocolate was introduced into Europe in 1520 by the Spaniards,
who long kept its preparation a secret. Cocoa was sold in the London
coffee-houses, soon after their establishment, about the year 1652,
and in 1660 its use spread over Europe and as far as Turkey and
Persia. The present total annual consumption is said to amount to
about one hundred million pounds. A large quantity is used in
France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. In England, the consumption
is on a smaller scale.
Cocoa is imported in the state of dried and cleansed seeds, con-
sisting of a crisp dark-colored central portion or kernel, surrounded
by a somewhat brittle husk. The first step in preparing it for use
is to subject it to the process of roasting, which is performed in an
iron cylinder like a coffee roaster, and has for its object the develop-
ment of aroma. From the roasted seeds chocolate and the various
forms of cocoa supplied for use are prepared.
Cocoa nibs constitute the kernels of the roasted seeds deprived of
husk, and roughly crushed in a machine called a " kibbling-mill."
Nibs are used for furnishing a decoction. They are gently boiled in
water for about a couple of hours, and the dark-brown decoction is
23
354 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
then simply poured off the undissolved part of the nib. Used in
this way, only a portion of the kernel is extracted and consumed,
and the beverage presents a closer analogy to tea and coffee than
that derived from the other cocoa products, which, from being pre-
pared in such a way as to lead to the whole substance of the kernel
being drunk, furnish liquids possessing, in addition to the common
properties of the class, a high nutritive value.
In the other preparations of cocoa the kernel is ground to a paste
and usually incorporated with some diluting material of a starchy or
saccharine nature to diminish its oily consistence. Numerous kinds
of cocoa are sold, some of them being named from the form given,
the nature of the admixture, or after the manufacturer. Flaked
cocoa constitutes the article simply ground to a paste in a suitable
mill. Granulated cocoa is prepared by reducing to a coarse powder
and covering the particles with a layer of sugar and starch. Soluble
cocoa contains sugar as a diluting substance. Carrageen Moss, Ice-
land Moss, and Lentils are used as special agents for incorporation,
and the cocoas bear the name of the agent prefixed. To produce
the low-priced forms of cocoa more or less of the husk is ground up
with the kernel, and sundry cheap diluting articles are also used for
admixture.
The preparations of cocoa in which sugar is employed as the
diluting article require no preliminary boiling or cooking for use.
The addition of boiling milk or water suffices. Those, however, in
which some kind of starchy substance has been used for admixture
need boiling to properly liquefy and bring them into a homogeneous
state for drinking.
Chocolate constitutes a superior form of prepared cocoa. It is
made upon an extensive scale in France, where its manufacture has
attained a high state of perfection. Forming as it does an article of
luxury, much care is bestowed on its preparation. The seeds after
being sifted and picked, are gently roasted till the desired aroma is
developed. They are then allowed to cool, and afterwards lightly
crushed and winnowed to separate the husk from the kernel. Dif-
ferent sorts of cocoa-seeds are mixed the more aromatic, for in-
stance, with the more oily for the purpose of improving the product.
The cocoa is next ground by suitable machinery to a perfectly even
paste. The grinding is effected by revolving rollers over a heated
iron plate which maintains the fatty matter of the seed in a liquid
COCOA. 355
state, and thus allows a thin paste to be formed. During the process
of grinding, sugar is incorporated with the cocoa to the extent of from
one-third of its weight to an equal part, and just before completion
an aromatic, as vanilla, cinnamon, or whatever the taste may direct,
is added to give the flavor required. The final process consists in
running the liquid paste into moulds ; and, as cooling takes place, it
becomes solid and hard.
The husks rejected in the manufacture of chocolate and cocoa are
frequently sold to the poor, who boil them in water and obtain
therefrom a wholesome beverage.
Cocoa is characterized, and distinguished from tea and coffee, by
the large amount of fatty and albuminous matters it contains, these
principles averaging as much as about 50 and 20 per cent, respec-
tively in the unmanufactured article.
The chief constituents of cocoa are :
1. A volatile oil, to which it owes its aroma and which is pro-
duced during the process of roasting. The amount of this oil is
very small.
2. Theobromin, which resembles thein and caffein, but is not
identical with them. It is found to contain a larger proportion of
nitrogen. All analyses agree upon this point, although the results
of different chemists are not strictly of accord in the proportion of
nitrogen assigned to each. The following selected analyses may be
given as an illustration of the relative ultimate composition :
Carbon,
Hydrogen
Theobromin.
(Woskresensky.)
46.33
4.55
Thein.
(Mulder.)
49.48
5.37
Nitrogen, .
Oxygen, .
35.38
. 13.74
28.52
1663
100.00 100.00
Although not identical with thein and caffein, it has been found
by Strecker that theobromin may be made to yield caffein. Theo-
bromin, in fact, conjoined with methyl, produces caffein, so that
caffein has been regarded as a methylated theobromin. The quan-
tity of theobromin present in cocoa amounts to about 2 per cent.
3. Fatty matter, known as cacao butter. This constitutes a firm
356 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
fat, and, unlike most other fats, keeps without becoming rancid on
exposure to air. It amounts to about half the weight of the cocoa.
4. Albuminous matter. About a fifth part of cocoa is composed
of this.
5. Starch.
The following according to Pay en's observations represents the
average composition of cocoa of good quality deprived of husk and
not submitted to roasting :
Composition of cocoa (Payen).
Cacao butter, 48 to 50
Albumen, tibrin, and other nitrogenous matter, . . 21 " 20
Theobromin, . . . 4 " 2
Starch with traces of sugar, . . . . . . 11 " 10
Cellulose, 3 2
Coloring matter, aromatic essence, ..... traces.
Mineral matter, . . . . . . . . 8 " 4
Water, 10 " 12
100 100
Looked at dietetically, cocoa possesses, though in a milder de-
gree, the properties of tea and coifee ; but it stands apart from these
articles in the high nutritive power which its composition gives it.
Containing, as pure cocoa does, twice as much nitrogenous matter,
and twenty -five times as much fatty matter as wheaten flour, with a
notable quantity of starch and an agreeable aroma to tempt the
palate, it cannot be otherwise than a valuable alimentary material.
It has been compared in this respect to milk. It conveniently fur-
nishes a large amount of agreeable nourishment in a small bulk, and
in South America cocoa and maize cakes are used by travellers, and
form a food several days' supply of which is easily carried.
Chocolate, and the various preparations of cocoa, are usually con-
sumed with milk ; and, taken with bread, will suffice, in the ab-
sence of any other kind of food, to furnish a good repast.' A prepa-
ration of cocoa and condensed milk is made and sold in closed tins
by the Condensed Milk Company. Thus preserved, the admixture
is ready for use at any time, requiring only the addition of water.
Whilst possessing highly nutritive properties, its richness in fat
renders cocoa heavy and oppressive to a delicate stomach. It is
therefore apt to disagree with the invalid and dyspeptic.
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. 357
The remarks that have been made regarding the nutritive ca-
pacity of chocolate and prepared cocoa do not apply to cocoa nibs in
the manner they are used. In the former case the entire article is
consumed ; whereas in the latter only a decoction of the coarsely
crushed seed is employed, and this contains but a portion only of
its constituents. Indeed, the. decoction of the nibs forms a beverage
holding a closely analogous position to tea and coffee.
Fictitious cocoas. In the United States the earth-nut, ground-
nut, or pea-nut (Arackis hypogcea), a kind of oily underground pea,
is roasted and converted into a spurious form of cocoa, and is also
largely grown for the table and for manufacture into oil. In Spain,
also, the root of the Cyperus -esculentus, or earth chestnut, is roasted
and used as a substitute both for coffee and chocolate. Neither of
these products contain any theobromin.
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.
There are several beverages in use derived from different sources
containing alcohol. The starting-point of all is a vegetable product
in which starch or sugar is present. Fermentation is either allowed
to occur spontaneously, as in the case of wine ; or else set up by the
addition of a ferment, as in that of beer. In this artificial way only
is it that alcohol is developed, and whilst the beverages containing
it all agree in exerting the same kind of stimulating action on the
system, they differ in their effects in other respects, according to the
associated constituents that may happen to be present. Their chief
properties are due to alcohol, but their other constituents must by
no means be regarded as playing an unimportant part.
The position held by alcohol in an alimentary point of view has
been discussed in a previous part of this work (vide p. 137, et seq.)..
It will be there seen that much divergence of opinion has prevailed
upon the prime question, whether alcohol is to be regarded as pos-
sessing any alimentary value or not. It will suffice here to refer
the reader to what has been already mentioned, and to state that the
weight of evidence appears to be in favor of the affirmative. A
small portion seems undoubtedly to escape from the body uncon-
358 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
sumed, but there is reason to believe that the larger portion is
retained and turned to account in the system. In the ensuing pages
the general effects of the alcoholic beverages will be first touched
upon, preparatory to their individual consideration.
Apart from any effect due to oxidation or consumption within
the system apart, in other words, from any direct alimentary ap-
plication the liquids of the class under consideration exert a marked
influence upon the functions of the body. Taken in moderate quan-
tity they increase the activity of the circulation. The heart beats
more rapidly. The pulse becomes not only thereby more frequent,
but, at the same time, fuller. Turgescence of the small cutaneous
vessels follows, and accounts for the flushing of the face that is
noticeable. It has been affirmed that the temperature is lowered,
but Dr. Parkes, from his recent thermometric observations, remarks
that there is but little change induced in the temperature of the
axilla and rectum of healthy men, but that what change occurs is
in the direction of increase. Dr. Anstie, however,^ states, upon the
evidence of his experiments conducted upon the lower animals, that
he has witnessed an average rise of over 3 Fahrenheit with the
thermometer placed in the ear. The amount of urinary secretion is
increased, the appetite augmented, the nervous system stimulated,
and' the mental faculties exhilarated. *
It has been alleged that alcohol diminishes tissue metamorphosis,
and economizes the consumption of material in the body. Amongst
other points, Dr. Parkes has given attention to this matter, and
could discover no alteration of importance in the elimination of
nitrogen, which may be taken as a measure of tissue destruction. It
appears unlikely, in the face of the chemical results, he remarks,
" that it can enable the body to perform more work on less food,
though, by quickening a failing heart, it may enable work to be
done, which otherwise could not be so. It may thus act like the
spur in the side of a horse, eliciting force, though not supplying it."
A discrepancy exists in the results of the experiments of different
authorities upon the elimination of carbonic acid, and upon this
point precise data obtained by the improved method of investigation
adopted at the present day are wanted.
Reference may here be made to the question, whether the effect
of alcohol is to increase or diminish the facility with which work
is performed. In one of Dr. Parkes's series of observations (" Pro-
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. 359
ceedings of the Royal Society," vol. xx, p. 412, 1872), a soldier
passed a period of three days performing a certain amount of work
without the use of brandy ; and, after three days of rest, another
period of three days' work with twelve ounces of brandy per diem,
administered in four-ounce doses, at 10 A.M., 2 P.M., and 6 P.M.
The man was requested to observe as closely as he could whether
he did the work better with or without the brandy. He commenced
the brandy period, it is stated, with the belief that the brandy would
enable him to perform the work more easily, but ended with the
opposite conviction. The work performed was chiefly done in the
two hours immediately succeeding each dose of brandy. The two
hours' work after the first four fluid-ounces appeared to be accom-
plished equally well with and without the brandy. The man, it is
said, could tell no difference except, to use his own words, " the
brandy seemed to give him a kind of spirit which made him think
he could do a great deal of work, but when he came to do it, he
found he was less capable than he thought." After the second four
ounces of brandy, at 2 P.M., he felt hot and thirsty ; but on the first
two days thought he worked as well as on the water days. On the
third day, however, the report says that he had palpitation of the
heart, and was surprised to find that he was obliged to stop from
time to time because of his breathing not being so good. The third
four fluid-ounces of brandy, taken at 6 P.M., produced on all three
days very marked narcotic effects. The account given is, that " im-
mediately after taking it he became heavy, felt the greatest indispo-
sition to exert himself, and could hardly refrain from throwing down
his spade and giving up his work. He worked with no vigor, and
on the second evening thought his muscular power decidedly les-
sened. On the third evening it was raining; he could not dig, but
took walking and running exercise under cover. On attempting to
run, he found, to his great surprise, as he is a particularly fast and
good runner, that he could not do so. He had palpitation, and got
out of breath, and was obliged to stop."
The experience of this man harmonizes with the advice that is
given by guides, and others, who are in the habit of undertaking
the ascent of mountains. Spirits, they say, take away the strength
from the legs, and should, therefore, be avoided during a fatiguing
expedition.
AVhen consumed in large quantity the effects of alcohol may be
360 ALIMENTAEY SUBSTANCES.
summed up with the description that it acts as a depressant and
narcotic.
Whilst a moderate quantity of alcohol appears to promote the
appetite, a large quantity, in a very decided manner, lessens it. The
effect upon digestion also depends upon the amount that is taken.
It is a common practice amongst many to partake of a small quan-
tity of brandy or some other spirit after an article of food of an in-
digestible nature has been consumed. This, by stimulating the
mucous membrane of the stomach, and exciting an increased flow of
gastric secretion, affords assistance to digestion in harmony with the
idea that popular experience has suggested. Introduced in larger
quantity, however, into the stomach, an opposite result is occasioned.
The alcohol now, by virtue of the amount present, throws down the
nitrogenous digestive principle pepsin in a solid form, and so
destroys the energy of the solvent juice. Thus, whilst a small quan-
tity, by its stimulant action, may assist digestion, a large quantity
stops it, and accounts for the rejection of food in an undigested state
that is frequently noticed to occur after the too free imbibition of an
alcoholic liquid with a meal.
The effects of strong alcoholic liquids taken repeatedly to a preju-
dicial extent are well known to the practical physician. By direct
contact it acts upon the stomach, and leads to a destruction of its
secreting tubules. Nothing with such certainty impairs the appetite
and the digestive power as the continued use of strong alcoholic
liquids. From the stomach it is absorbed, and with its distribution
through the system it interferes with nutrition, and leads to a gen-
eral textural deterioration. Upon certain organs, however, its effects
are more manifest than upon others. The liver, kidneys, and ner-
vous system, for instance, very strikingly suffer, a diseased state
being set up, which forms a distinctly recognizable source of death.
Nothing, indeed, as a rule, with greater certainty leads to premature
death than alcoholic intemperance, and the managers of insurance
offices are well acquainted with this fact.
It has been mentioned that one of the immediate effects of the
ingestion of alcohol is turgescence of the small cutaneous vessels of
the face, producing the flushed appearance that is noticeable. A
frequent repetition of this condition leads ultimately to its permanent
establishment, and thus accounts for the well-known visage acquired
by the Bacchanalian.
BEER. 361
I have been hitherto referring to the action of alcohol per se; and,
in spirits, except, perhaps, in the case of hollands and gin, which
possess diuretic properties, due to the flavoring agent (juniper) added,
we have little or nothing, it may be considered, besides this action
to deal with. In the primary fermented liquids, however, there are
associated ingredients which give rise to the production of modified
and additional effects'upon the system. The beverages, for instance,
which are rich in saccharine and extractive matters, as particularly
stout, porter, and the heavier ales, possess a nourishing and fattening
power which does not belong to a simple alcoholic liquid. Such
beverages also are apt to occasion headache and gastric derangement,
or what falls under the denomination of biliousness, in those who
lead a sedentary mode of life, whilst a lighter and purer alcoholic
drink may be found to agree. Again, gout appears to be the off-
spring, not of a simple alcoholic liquid, but of alcohol in combina-
tion with saccharine and extractive matter; for observation shows
that it is not the spirit drinker, but the beer and port wine drinker
that is specially liable to become the subject of the disease. As al-
cohol alone is not the source of gout, neither, it may be said, are the
saccharine and extractive matters without the alcohol. It seems as
though these solid, imperfectly fermented matters underwent, under
the influence of the presence of alcohol, a defective assimilation in
the system, and so gave rise to the development of the morbid
products, which form the source of the chief manifestations of the
disease.
BEER.
Beer consists of a fermented infusion of malt flavored with hops,
and is a beverage of great antiquity. Barley is moistened with water,
and allowed to germinate to a certain extent. It is then placed upon
the kiln, where it is exposed to heat and dried, and the amount of
heat employed determines the kind of malt produced. Pale malt,
which is used for brewing ale, is dried at a temperature below 140.
Porter and stout derive their color from malt that has been dried at
a higher temperature; and malt, called high-dried, patent, or black
malt, is specially made for employment as a coloring agent by roast-
ing the grain in cylinders, in the same manner as coffee.
The object of malting is the conversion of the starch of the grain
into dextrin and sugar. This in part occurs during the process of
362 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
germination, the change being effected by the action of a nitrogenous
principle of the nature of a ferment, which is known as diastase, and
which is developed during germination. Kiln-dried malt, however,
yields a larger amount of saccharine extract than that which has been
allowed to dry spontaneously in the air; hence the conversion is still
carried on during the exposure to heat in the kiln. Still, unchanged
starch remains, but the requisite conditions are present for the com-
pletion of the change during the preliminary part of the brewing
process.
Brewing consists of three operations. In the first place, an in-
fusion of the malt is obtained. This is then boiled with hops, and
the product is afterwards made to undergo fermentation.
The malt after being crushed is placed in the mash tun, and water
at a temperature of about 160 Fahr. is poured upon it. The two
are well stirred together, and subsequently left covered over for a
few hours. This operation is called mashing, and the liquid which
results from it sweet wort. The water takes up the saccharine matter
contained in the malt, and under the influence of the heat and mois-
ture the diastase acts upon the unchanged starch existing, and com-
pletes its conversion into sugar. Indeed, the diastase present is
capable of effecting the transformation of a much larger amount of
starch into sugar than that which the malt itself contains ; and hence
a certain quantity of un malted barley or other grain can be utilized
in making a "wort" for fermentation. The excise regulations of
England do not permit the use of unmalted grain for brewing, but
by distillers it is largely employed. In Belgium potato-starch, it
seems, is somewhat extensively used in brewing, upon the principle
explained, in the place of grain. The saccharine quality of the wort
may be also increased by the addition of sugar itself, and a prepared
sugar (probably grape-sugar) is sold to brewers for this purpose, and
is considered by them to give improvement to the beer.
The wort, which has a marked sweet taste, is next transferred to
a copper, and boiled with the appropriate quantity, according to the
kind of beer intended to be produced, of hops. By this, the liquid
acquires the aromatic bitterness belonging to beer, and the effect of
the hops seems further to exert a preservative influence over the prod-
uct. The liquid is now drawn off and strained from the hops, and
placed in shallow coolers for the temperature to be lowered as quickly
as possible. Refrigeration is also sometimes further aided by special
BEER.
measures for the purpose. When sufficiently cooled, the concluding
process is performed, which consists of adding yeast, and allowing
fermentation to occur. The addition of yeast, however, is not in-
dispensable ; for fermentation, it is found, will occur without it, but
a considerably longer time is required. On this account it is usual
to start the fermentation with yeast, and by the end of a few hours
signs of the commencement of the process are visible, and within
three or four days 7 time it is over. In the absence of yeast it re-
quires a day or two for fermentation to commence, and a fortnight
or three weeks to be completed, but the resulting beer is said to have
more of a vinous flavor than ordinarily brewed beer, and to keep
longer without becoming sour.
By the process of fermentation the sugar of the wort is converted
into alcohol and carbonic acid ; the latter escaping and the former
giving to the beer its intoxicating property. When the process is
over, the fermented liquid is either allowed to clarify spontaneously,
or the suspended matter is carried down by the use of finings. It is
lastly stored and allowed to ripen.
Scrupulous attention requires to be paid to all the minor points
connected with the art of brewing. The quality of the beer and its
power of keeping not only depend on the amount and quality of the
materials used, but equally as much on the skill and care with which
the several steps of the operation of brewing are carried out. The
composition of the water used exerts a more or less marked influence
on the product. The spring water of Burton-on-Trent is well known
to stand in high repute for the pale and bitter ales which are now so
largely consumed, and it is supposed that the sulphate of lime con-
tained in it aids in clarifying and producing a bright and clear liquid.
Several varieties of beer are prepared. The term ale is applied to
that which is made from pale malt. Vastly different qualities are
sold depending upon the amount of malt and hops employed : the
former giving strength in alcohol, the latter in bitterness. Formerly,
the strong alcoholic ales were chiefly in request, but, latterly, the
popular taste has changed, and it is now a light bitter ale which is
held in the highest esteem. This was first especially prepared for
the Indian market, and hence the name of Indian pate ale by which
it is known in addition to that of bitter ale. Great care and atten-
tion require to be bestowed on the manufacture of this beverage, and
on account of its clearness and brightness and its delicate color and
364 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
taste, the best materials only can be employed. Its richness in the
aromatic bitter principle of the hop gives it its predominant charac-
ter, but at the same time whilst containing a moderate amount of
alcohol, the quantity of extractive matter is low, and fermentation
has been carried to an extent to render it comparatively free from
sugar. Porter is prepared from, and is dependent for its strength
on, pale malt, but high-dried malt is added to communicate color
and flavor. It is looked upon as more easy of digestion and assimi-
lation than ale of a corresponding quality. Stout constitutes a bever-
age of the same nature as porter. Its chief characteristic is the large
proportion of extractive matter that is present. What is called Lon-
don Cooper is generally understood to represent a mixture of stout
and porter, but a distinct beer occupying an intermediate position
between the two is also brewed and sold under this denomination.
Beer contains- the following ingredients :
Water,
Alcohol,
Sugar, dextrin, and other allied substances,
Nitrogenous matter,
Traces of fatty matter,
Aromatic, bitter, and coloring principles,
Saline matter,
Variable quantities of carbonic and acetic acids.
The alcohol, sugar and its allies, and the bitter principle, form the
constituents which give to beer its characteristic properties.
The alcohol varies in different kinds of beer from 1 or 2 to about
9 or 10 per cent, by volume. The following is the proportion ac-
cording to the analyses of Brande, the amount referring to alcohol of
the sp. gr. 0.825 at 60 Fahr., which consists of 89 per cent, of
absolute alcohol and 11 per cent, of water.
Alcohol, sp. gr. 0.825,
per cent., by measure.
Burton ale, ......... 8.88
Edinburgh ale, 6.22
London ale (average), 6.20
Brown stout, ......... 6.80
London porter (average), 4.20
London small beer (average), ...... 1.28
Adopting mean numbers, a pint (20 ounces) of beer will contain
about one ounce of alcohol (Parkes).
CIDER PERRY. 365
The amount of solid extractive matter derived from the malt
(chiefly sugar and other carbohydrates) varies from about 4 to 15
per cent. It is lowest in the bitter and highest in the strong and
sweet ales and stout. Subjoined are the results of special analyses of
certain beers for malt extract and alcohol :
Barclay and Perkins's Londo
Malt extract,
per cent.
n porter, . 6.0
6.8
Alcohol,
per ceut.
5.4
6.9
Analyzed
by
Kaiser.
Balling.
Burton ale, ....
Scotch ale (Edinburgh),
. 14.5
. 10.9
5.9
8.5
Hoffmann.
Kaiser.
An imperial pint of good porter yields in general about an ounce
and a half of extract (Brande).
Beer is a refreshing, exhilarating, nutritive, and, when taken in
excess, an intoxicating beverage. Its nutritive properties are due to
the extractive matter, consisting principally of carbohydrates, which
it contains, and observation sufficiently testifies that beer which is
highly charged with extract exerts a decidedly fattening influence.
Its bitter principle renders it a stomachic and tonic. A light beer
well flavored with the hop is calculated to promote digestion, and
may be looked upon as constituting one of the most wholesome of
the alcoholic class of beverages. It is not all, however, who can
drink beer without experiencing inconvenience. In the case of
persons of a bilious temperament, also with dyspeptics and sometimes
others, it is apt to excite headache, heaviness, and other sensations
which fall under the popular designation of " biliousness." The
stronger beers, taken continuously in excess, induce a full and
plethoric state, and are liable, particularly if conjoined with seden-
tary habits, to result in the accumulation of defectively oxidized
products, as uric acid, &c., in the system, and so lead to the devel-
opment of gout.
CIDER: PERRY.
These form fermented beverages derived respectively from the
juice of the apple and the pear. Fruit that is not fit for eating, on
account of its acid, bitter, or rough taste, may be made use of for
their manufacture. The fruit is crushed to a pulp, and this is sub-
jected to pressure for the extraction of the juice. The amount of
ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
juice yielded nearly equals half the weight of the pulp employed.
The juice contains the elements required for starting fermentation,
and on exposure to air at the appropriate temperature the formation
of alcohol takes place, a froth collecting on the surface and a sedi-
ment subsiding. This constitutes the most delicate part of the ope-
ration, and upon the manner in which it is conducted depends, in a
great measure, the quality of the product. If allowed to proceed too
far, the process passes into the acetous fermentation, and the liquid
becomes sour and thin, and if not far enough the product is thick
and unpalatable. The fermentation, by rights, should lead to a
spontaneous clarification. When a pale product is required the pulp
is submitted to pressure immediately after crushing. If the pulp be
left for some hours it undergoes a change, which leads to a coloration
of the juice. The fruit should be taken at its maximum richness in
saccharine matter, and for this it should be gathered when ripe, and
afterwards stored away for a month or six weeks, to allow it to
mature.
Cider and perry are closely analogous liquids, but have a different
flavor. The following represents the percentage of spirit in the sam-
ples that were examined by Brande :
Alcohol, sp. gr. 0.825 at 60 F.,
per cent., by measure.
Cider, highest average, . . . . . .9.87
" lowest " 5.21
Perry, average of four samples, .... 7.26
In some localities cider and perry are consumed as the common
drink, taking the place of beer elsewhere. They constitute agree-
able, wholesome, and refreshing stimulating beverages when in a per-
fectly sound condition. Their proneness, however, to undergo the
acetous fermentation renders it necessary that they should be drunk
with caution, for in a sour state they are apt to occasion colic and
diarrhoea with those who are not in the habit of constantly taking
them.
WINE.
The term wine, when employed without any prefix, is understood
to signify the fermented juice of the grape. The word has, however,
a broader signification, and is applied to liquids generally that have
simply undergone the alcoholic fermentation. Used in this sense a
WINE. 367
prefix is attached to denote the source of the product, as, for instance,
is the case with malt wine, honey wine, orange wine, currant wine,
<fcc. It is to the fermented juice of the grape alone that I purpose
at present directing attention.
Wine constitutes a beverage that appears to have been known
from the earliest periods of history. Until towards the close of the
seventeenth century the chief of the wine consumed in England
was derived from France. In consequence of the hostilities that
then broke out between the two countries a duty was, for a time,
imposed on French wines, of so heavy a nature as to be almost pro-
hibitory to their introduction. Political influences were now also
directed towards encouraging the importation and consumption of
port, and soon the wines of Portugal assumed the place that had
been previously occupied by those of France. As regards sherry,
this is shown to have been well known in England in the seven-
teenth century, by a work, published in 1619, entitled " PasquiPs
Palinodia, and his Progresse to the Taverne, where, after the survey
of the sellar, you are presented with a pleasant pynte of Poeticall
Sherry." The author extols sherry, against which " no fiery red-
faced claret," he says, can stand. Much of the " sack " formerly in
use appears to have been sherry, and this is corroborated by the fol-
lowing quaint lines taken from the above-mentioned work, which
contain also an allusion to several other drinks :
" Strong hoop'd in bonds are here constraint to tarry,
Two kinsmen neere allyde to sherry sack,
Sweet Malligo, and delicate canary,
Which warme the stomacks that digestion lacke."
"The broth with barley sodden,
Compares not with this licker,
The drayman's beere is not so cleere,
And foggy ale is thicker :
Metheglin is too fulsome,
Cold cyder and raw perry,
And all drinks stand with cap in hand,
In presence of old sherry.
Then let us drinke old sacke, old sacke, boyes,
Which makes us blythe and merry."
The import duties have always largely influenced the consump-
tion of wines, and previous to 1861 no distinction was made between
the light wines of France and Germany and the strong wines of
368 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Spain and Portugal. This necessarily told seriously in a commer-
cial point of view against the former, by rendering them more ex-
pensive to drink than the latter. From the nature of the two wines
the advantage is on the side of the stronger, as this can only be
drunk in smaller quantity, and will therefore go further; and, also,
when a bottle is opened its contents may be gradually consumed,
instead of requiring to be disposed of quickly on account of want of
keeping power. 1861 is the date of a new era as regards wine con-
sumption in England, in consequence of Mr. Gladstone's altered
tariff; and the duty now levied on strong wines is 2s. 6d. per gallon,
whilst on light wines it is only Is. All wines containing less than
26 per cent, of proof spirit (and this will include all natural wines,
that is to say, wines which constitute simply the fermented juice of
the grape, without any addition of spirit) are admitted at the lower
duty. If containing above 26 per cent, the wine is regarded as be-
longing to the class of brand ied or fortified wines, and is charged
with the higher duty, the maximum strength allowed to the class
being 42 per cent, of proof spirit, which may be looked upon as
fairly including all beverages that can justly lay claim to the title of
wine. All liquids above the 42 per cent, in strength are regarded
as falling within the category of spirits, which are taxed at a much
higher rate.
On account of the free trade that has been opened out by the
present duties on wines, a great variety now finds its way within
the reach of persons of moderate means. These different wines pos-
sess very different characters and properties, and the medical practi-
tioner is constantly being called upon to advise as to which is most
suitable for his patient. It is therefore necessary that he should be
informed, as a, part of his professional knowledge, upon the point
indeed, it is scarcely too much to say that for those who practice
amongst the well-to-do classes, an acquaintance with the distinctive
qualities of the various wines introduced for general use is as essen-
tial to his success as a knowledge of the properties of the several
drugs. The subject is an extensive one, but I will endeavor to
give a concise account in accordance with the general scope of this
work.
The starting-point of wine is the grape ; a few words are therefore
necessary upon the nature of this fruit. It is a succulent berry,
WINE. 369
which is provided with a thin but tough enveloping structure or
skin, to retain the central juicy substance, and preserve it from con-
tact with the air. The skins are found to yield a considerable
quantity of white wax to boiling alcohol, and this material may be
looked upon as evidently designed to impede both the penetration of
water from without and the escape of moisture from within. The
skins of some grapes (white grapes) are colorless or yellow, whilst in
the case of others (black grapes) they are more or less impregnated
with a deep blue coloring material. In both varieties they contain
astringent matter under the form of tannic acid.
The fleshy part of the grape consists of an organized structure
namely, of a mass of delicate vesicles, which contain the chief por-
tion of the juice. Instead, therefore, of the juice being loose or
free, and in a position to run out when the grape is cut open, it is
retained in these receptacles, which require to be broken up in order
that it may escape and be procured. Hence the treading that was
had recourse to in former times, and the crushing by passing between
rollers that is now generally employed, for liberating the juice previ-
ous to fermentation.
The chief solid constituents of the juice are sugar, nitrogenous mat-
ter, and organic acids principally the tartaric. The two former are
indispensable to the production of wine (the one forming the ferment-
ing principle and the other the ferment); the latter, an important
accompaniment for the development of vinous qualities. The juice
contains no tannic acid or other astringent matter, and is devoid of
color even in the colored grapes, with the exception of the tintilla or
teinturier grape, where it possesses a purple color. Hence, with the
exception named, although the grape externally may be deeply
colored, internally it is colorless, or only of a slightly yellowish hue.
The stones, in opposition to the pulp which surrounds them, are rich
in astringent matter.
As the grape-stalks are frequently placed in the fermenting vat
together with the fruit, it may be mentioned that these, like the husks
and stones, contain tannic acid, and thus help to give astringency to
a wine prepared with their employment.
There are many conditions which influence the quality of a wine.
They comprise those relating to its preparation and those connected
with the character of the grape. It is not difficult to understand
that much must depend upon the precise manner in which, and the
24
370 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
conditions under which its manufacture in all its details is carried
out, and it is equally easy to realize that much must also depend
upon the nature of the article from which it is produced. The
variety of grape, the period at which it is gathered, the soil upon
which it is grown, the particular surroundings of the locality, the
general climate of the place, and the climate peculiar to the year, all
tell upon the fruit, and must hence produce their influence upon the
quality of the wine.
There are many special conditions belonging to the grape which
cause a particular feature to be giveu to the wine, but the two which
produce the most marked influence are the amounts of saccharine mat-
ter and of acid. Occupying the position of first importance is sugar,
because it is the basis of fermentation, and without it there could be
no production of wine. Now, the amount of sugar in grape-juice
has been found to vary from about 10 to 30 per cent., a very marked
extent of variation as will be seen. Whilst the fruit is in the unripe
state the acids abound and sugar is deficient. Under the influence
of the light and heat of the sun*, as is the case with the ripening of
fruit in general, the sugar increases and the acids diminish ; and ac-
cording to the extent of influence exerted by the sun so will be the
amount of change occurring in this direction. Hence it is the grape
that is grown in hot countries that is the richest in saccharine matter,
and contains the least acid. The effect of different summers with
varying degrees of heat will be readily understood, and it is especi-
ally at the end of summer, or when the grape is ripening, that the
character of season produces the greatest influence. In the extreme
northern limits of the growth of the grape for wine production a
great deal of uncertainty, dependent upon the temperature, exists.
An excess of acid and deficiency of sugar are common defects, and it
is only in some years that the grapes sufficiently ripen for giving rise
to a really satisfactory product. The deficiency of sugar may be
easily counteracted by its addition to the juice, and this is frequently
done, but there remains the excess of acid which still tells in a
prejudicial manner upon the wine. Quality and quantity of yield,
it may be remarked, do not necessarily go together, for in some years
the quantity is great and the quality bad, whilst in others it may be
the reverse.
It has been mentioned that the amount of sugar contained in the
juice of grapes grown under different climates and during different
WINE. 371
seasons varies from about 10 to 30 per cent. The amount of free
acid, reckoned as tartaric acid, varies under the same circumstances
from about 0.3 to 1.5 per cent. For the production of good wine it
is said to be requisite that the juice should contain not less than
about 20 per cent, of sugar and not more than about 0.5 per cent, of
free acid.
From what has been stated it is apparent, then, that a warm and,
it may further be said, a dry summer is propitious to the grape for
wine production. It will be equally apparent that full ripeness
should be allowed to be attained so that there shall be a maximum
of sugar and minimum of acid: Tokay wine, which is renowned for
its sweet and rich, full, wine flavor, is even prepared from grapes
that have been allowed to remain upon the vine till overripe, and
till a certain amount of desiccation and thereby concentration of the
juice has occurred.
Some grapes possess a peculiar aroma which is communicated to
the wine made from them. Ordinarily the juice of the grape is de-
void of any decided fragrance, and the aroma of the wine is developed
during the process of fermentation. In some instances, however,
and particularly in the muscat grape, a very decided aroma exists
which remains perceptible after the juice has been converted into wine.
The first step in the manufacture of wine after the grapes have
been gathered is to crush them between rollers or otherwise, in order
that the juice may be liberated. As long as the juice is contained
within the grape it is not observed to undergo fermentation. With
the expressed juice, on the other hand, and to this the term "must"
is applied, fermentation soon sets in under exposure to an appropri-
ate temperature. No ferment is required to be added; the nitrogen-
ous matter present supplies what is wanted for starting the change
as soon as it is brought into contact with the atmosphere. It is
evidently the exclusion of air by the skin which prevents fermenta-
tion from occurring whilst the juice is contained within the fruit.
The process of crushing having been accomplished, the juice is
either at once expressed and fermented alone, or else the whole is
fermented together for awhile, and then expression performed. In
the former case, whether black or white grapes are used, a non-
colored and non-astringent product is the result. In the latter case,
astringent matter is taken up from the skins- and stones, and from the
372 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
stalks also when these are present. Coloring matter likewise is dis-
solved out so as to produce a dark-colored wine, when colored grapes
have been employed. The color of the liquid becomes more intense
as fermentation proceeds, on account of the solvent power which is
enjoyed by alcohol and an acid. Whilst the watery juice impreg-
nated with its acid fails to touch the coloring matter, directly alcohol
is present it is taken up, and with it also astringent matter ; for the
tannin and coloring matter in this respect behave alike, and so far
go together that, as a rule, the deeper the color the rougher the
flavor. When contact with the skins has been sufficiently prolonged
for the desired color and astringency to be communicated to the
wine, the fermented liquor is separated from the " mark " by expres-
sion. The "mark " or expressed residue still contains a quantity of
coloring matter and other vinous substances, and sometimes a kind
of sham wine is made from it by mixing it with a solution of glucose
and allowing fermentation to occur.
The fermenting stage varies in duration according to the prevail-
ing temperature. In warm localities it may be over in two or three
days, whilst in colder districts it may last considerably longer. As
it commences, the " must" becomes more turbid than it was originally,
and appears to be in motion from the ascent of the little bubbles of
carbonic acid gas that are generated. The temperature of the liquid
rises and a froth collects on the surface due to the escaping gas.
After it has attained its maximum activity, and has begun to dimin-
ish, the contents of the fermenting vat require to be stirred up so
that all the elements may be brought into contact afresh. Doubtless,
the general custom now is to effect this by means of a mechanical
contrivance, but formerly the revolting practice prevailed of men in
a naked state entering the vats for the purpose, and it was thought
that the temperature of the body was useful in promoting fermenta-
tion. It is stated that several men thus employed have been killed
by the carbonic acid that has been given off from the liquid and
accumulated above its surface.
The character of the wine is much influenced by the temperature
at which fermentation takes place, and this is allowed to remain de-
pendent on that which happens to belong to the locality and season.
Hence in part is due the variation in the wines of different countries
and years.
Active fermentation, for instance, at a high temperature, leads to
WINE. 373
a disappearance of sugar before time has been permitted for the de-
velopment of bouquet and flavor. The vinous elements have been
exhausted or destroyed, and the resulting wine is thin and poor, and
becomes quickly matured. This appears to account for the custom
that has arisen of "fortifying/' or adding spirit to wine, in hot
countries as Spain, Portugal, Madeira, and the Cape. It is well
known that the wines which we receive from these countries are in
a " fortified " state, whilst those derived from cooler countries, as
France, Germany, &c., contain no added spirit, and therefore con-
stitute " natural " wines. In the former, after the fermentation has
advanced to a certain point, the spirit is added to check its further
progress, before the saccharine matter is wholly destroyed. Through
the saccharine and extractive matters thus left the wine possesses a
body and fruitiness which would have been lost had fermentation
been allowed to continue undisturbed ; and out of such body and
fruitiness are generated those esteemed vinous qualities which become
slowly developed as the liquid matures.
In France, Germany, Hungary, &c., where a cooler climate pre-
vails, fermentation occurs with less rapidity, and is allowed to pro-
ceed until it comes to a spontaneous termination. Here, then, the
transformation of saccharine matter is permitted to go on until it is
quite or nearly lost, and, in consequence, there is produced a drier
or less fruity wine, and one which takes less time to mature. With
wines of this class also a stronger bouquet or aroma is developed,
either as a result simply of the slower fermentation or of the more
acid quality of the grape, for it has been suggested that the free acid
probably exerts some influence over the production of the aroma.
The wines of the Rhine and Moselle districts, which are amongst
the most northern of wine-producing localities, are particularly
characterized, it may be remarked, by the amount of aroma they
possess. Although fermentation has been allowed to exhaust the
saccharine matter, the amount of alcohol produced does not nearly
equal that found in the " fortified " wines. It suffices for preserv-
ing the wine in closed casks and bottles, but not for giving it the
power enjoyed by the other kind of keeping without turning bad
under exposure to air.
Should the temperature happen to be too low for fermentation to
proceed with proper activity, a wine devoid of 'lasting properties
will be produced.
374 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Although it is evident that the surrounding temperature during
the period of fermentation plays such an important part in deter-
mining the quality of the wine, yet it does not seem that artificial
measures are yet had recourse to for rendering the process, as it
easily might be rendered, independent of the local conditions that
may happen to prevail.
As fermentation diminishes in activity, the liquid, which at first,
as previously mentioned, became more turbid, begins to grow
clearer by throwing down a sediment called " lees" consisting of
portions of the ferment and other organic substances combined with
cream of tartar, the amount of the latter, on account of its sparing
solubility in spirit, varying with the amount of alcohol present. It
is now drawn off from the a lees " into casks, to prevent the acetous
fermentation setting in. Here vinous fermentation still continues
slowly, and more sediment, of the same nature as before, subsides ;
the cream of tartar belonging to it being thrown down in a crystal-
line form, and constituting what is known as " argol." Again the
wine is removed from the sediment, and transferred to other casks ;
and the process is repeated, it may be, two or three times more.
Much depends upon the care and attention bestowed upon these
rackings of the wine during the first year ; and another point that
requires to be equally looked after is keeping the casks constantly
filled up, to compensate for the loss by soakage through the wood
and evaporation that is going on, and prevent an empty space
existing within. The wine during this storage is undergoing
changes which result in the ultimate development, as maturation
afterwards slowly progresses, of its special flavor, bouquet, and
other vinous properties.
It is a common practice to burn a brimstone match in the empty
cask into which the wine is to be transferred, with the view of ex-
erting a preservative influence.
As a finishing operation, the wine is usually subjected to the pro-
cess of "fining." This is effected by adding an agent like isinglass,
or the white of egg, which undergoes precipitation by the action of
the wine, and leads to the suspended fine particles being entangled
and carried down. Wine thus clarified is not only, from its clear-
ness and brightness, rendered more pleasing to the eye, but by the
separation of the floating extraneous matter placed in a condition
for keeping better.
WINE. 375
Sparkling wines require to be subjected to a further process to
give them their effervescing character, which is due to carbonic acid
dissolved and retained under pressure. The wine is first fermented
in the usual way, and having become bright and clear by the fol-
lowing spring, is put into bottles, and dosed with a concentrated
solution of sugar. This leads to a second fermentation, during
which the wine throws down a further sediment that is collected at
the neck of the bottle, the bottles being inverted for the purpose.
By a process which is called " disgorging " the sediment is per-
mitted to be blown off, and the bottles are finally corked and
wired, and, after the lapse of a little time, the wine becomes ready
for use.
Wine consists of numerous component principles, some of which
are derived directly from the grape, others from products of fermen-
tation, while others spring from the subsequent changes which occur
during the process of maturation. Apart from water, the following
may be enumerated as constituting those upon which its character-
istic properties depend.
Alcohol,
Sugar,
Coloring matter,
Astringent matter,
Extractive matter,
Acids,
Volatile oils and ethereal products.
Something will be said regarding each of these constituents, but
too much importance must not be attached to a knowledge of the
chemical composition of wine. It is true the predominant qualities
are dependent upon the relative proportion in which the respective
constituents exist, but a knowledge of chemical composition alone
will not serve as a basis upon which to estimate the value of a wine.
The palate and stomach afford the only true criterion in the matter.
There may be all the difference between a palatable and unpalatable,
and a wholesome and unwholesome wine, and chemistry shall fail in
pointing it out. Again, however satisfactory the composition accord-
ing to the figures obtained by the analyst, his result is utterly worth-
less if unconfirmed by the living laboratory.
Indeed, although chemistry displays the existence of a number of
376 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
constituents in wine, yet it may be considered that in its action upon
the system we have not to deal with the effects of its independent
principles, but with a liquid in which the ingredients should be so
amalgamated, incorporated, or blended together as to make a homo-
geneous whole. For instance, if we look to alcohol, which forms the
most active component, the effects of a certain amount of this princi-
ple as it is contained in wine are not identical with those of the same
amount diluted to an equal extent with water. The alcohol appears
to become blended with the other ingredients, and in this state to
exert a somewhat modified action upon the system. One of the ad-
vantages, and perhaps the chief, which wine derives from keeping is
probably attributable to this blending of its constituents. It is well
known to acquire a uniformity of flavor by age, in contradistinction
to the crude character and mixed tastes belonging to it in a new state.
Even made-up wine may, in the course of time, lose much of its per-
nicious nature, and become passable by acquiring an amalgamated
condition.
Alcohol. This forms the most prominent constituent of wine,
being that which gives to the liquid its intoxicating properties.
Without implying that the value of a wine is proportionate to its
amount, it must be looked upon as the most important constituent,
being that which is the source of its keeping power.
It is the special object of fermentation to produce this principle,
and unless added during the preparation of the wine its amount is
dependent on that of the sugar primarily contained in the fermenting
liquid. One atom of grape-sugar is resolved into two atoms of alco-
hol and two of carbonic acid (new notation), and the formulae show
that from 180 parts, by weight, of dry grape-sugar, 92 parts of alco-
hol are produced. In other words, for every two parts of sugar
about one of alcohol is obtained.
With this information it is easy to determine what should con-
stitute the range of alcoholic strength of a natural wine. Now,
grape-juice, as has been previously mentioned, is found to contain
from 10 to 30 per cent, of sugar, and this, supposing all the sugar
to undergo the fermentation metamorphosis, and none of the alcohol
to have been lost, will give an alcoholic strength of from (about)
5 to 15 per cent., which corresponds with about 10 to 30 per cent,
of proof spirit. Theoretically, therefore, a natural wine should not
Contain more than 30 per cent, of proof spirit, but, practically, it
WINE. 377
will not contain so much; for, apart from the question of the whole
of the sugar being transformed in the one direction only, there must
needs be a loss of alcohol by evaporation during fermentation, and
more of alcohol than of water, on account of the greater volatility of
the former.
Natural wine, in fact, rarely contains more than 22 per cent, by
volume of proof spirit. The ordinary range is from 18 to 22 per
cent. The maximum strength allowed by the English Government
for the lower rate of import duty is 26 per cent., and this, it may be
considered, is sufficiently high to include all natural wines. Indeed,
independently of the amount of saccharine matter in the juice, the
extent of alcoholic strength is limited by the action of the alcohol
generated, for directly a certain quantity is present a check is put
upon the further progress of fermentation, and the excess of sugar
remains unfermented. Thus, although the juice might have been
artificially sweetened by the addition of sugar, or the percentage of
sugar increased by the partial desiccation of the grapes or evapora-
tion of the juice, only a limited alcoholic strength can be attained as
the result of fermentation alone. It may further be remarked that
as the presence of a certain quantity of alcohol puts a stop to the
progress of fermentation, so does sugar beyond a certain proportion
interfere with its commencement. There is a limit, in other words,
to the strength of a saccharine liquid that can be thrown into fer-
mentation.
There is another class of wine, in relation to alcoholic strength,
met with in commerce. The class includes such wines as port,
sherry, Madeira, <fcc., which contain a larger amount of spirit than
could naturally arise from fermentation. They constitute the pro-
duce of the warmer wine-producing countries, and spirit is added
after fermentation has proceeded to a certain point, to stop further
change and give the wine a preserving power. The average strength
of these " fortified " wines is about 34 or 36 per cent, of proof spirit.
Anything containing over 26 per cent, is regarded by the English
Government, and, in reality, may be fairly looked upon, as having
been fortified. The import duty charged is, accordingly, at a higher
rate, and the maximum strength fixed to include all liquids that can
justly claim the title of wine is 42 per cent.
The relative average strength of. natural and fortified wines may,
S78 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
therefore, be represented by stating that the former contains about
one-fifth, and the latter one-third of its bulk of proof spirit.
By keeping in cask wine increases in alcoholic strength, which is
accounted for by wood being more easily penetrated by water than
by alcohol. It thus happens that water is lost by evaporation from
the outside of the cask in larger quantity than the alcohol, and the
wine is left in a more concentrated condition.
The amount of alcohol in wine is ascertained by distilling over
say half from a given quantity, adding distilled water to the dis-
tillate to make it equal in measure the wine employed, and then
taking the sp. gr., from which may be learned, by the tables that
have been framed, the percentage of alcohol present.
Sugar. The amount of sugar contained in wine will depend upon
the extent to which fermentation is carried. In natural thoroughly
fermented wines, as claret, Burgundy, hock. &c., there may be none,
or, if any, the quantity is very small. In fortified wines, as port,
sherry, Madeira, &c., more or less sugar is usually found on account
of fermentation having been artificially checked in the manner al-
ready explained. As these wines are kept the sugar undergoes a
gradual diminution in amount from some kind of metamorphosis
occurring that is unattended with any visible evidence of fermenta-
tion. There are dry sherries to be met with that are free from
sugar. In some wines the quantity of sugar may amount to as
much as 20 per cent., or even more. Tokay, Constantia, Malmsey,
Lachryma Christi, Tent, and Malaga are wines characterized by the
quality of sweetness.
Coloring matter. Wines, as is well known, present very different
colors, passing from an almost colorless state through various shades
of yellow and brown, on the one hand ; and violet, or a mixture of
red and blue, on the other. The coloring matter encountered is not
generated during fermentation, but derived from the grape. With
the exception of the teinturier grape the juice is colorless, or only
very slightly yellowish. Wine, therefore, prepared from the juice
alone, with the exception named, no matter whether white or black
grapes have been employed, is in a corresponding state. It is not
exactly colorless, but nearly so. It has, however, in common with
vegetable matter generally, a tendency to become yellowish or brown-
ish under exposure to air.
The colored wines derive their color from the coloring matter
WINE. 379
residing in the skin of the grape, and this is of two kinds, yellow or
rather yellowish-brown, and blue. The skin of the white grape fer-
mented with the juice gives the color to the yellow or brown varie-
ties of wine ; and that of the black grape, to the red varieties. In
the latter case the color is essentially or primarily blue, but, like
other kinds of vegetable blue, it is reddened by, and in proportion
to, the acid present. In the grape, even, it is red, whilst the fruit
is in an acid and unripe state, but becomes blue as ripening occurs,
and the acid diminishes. It is well known that as the grapes be-
come sweet the depth of blue color increases.
The skins being allowed to remain in contact with the juice, the
coloring matter is extracted during the process of fermentation. It
happens, whilst resisting solution in a watery liquid impregnated
with an acid, as, for instance, the juice of the fruit, to be very solu-
ble in the presence of alcohol with the acid. Thus as fermentation
proceeds, and alcohol becomes developed, more and more of it is
taken up.
Colored wines are observed to become paler as their age increases.
A deeply colored port, for example, assumes in the course of time a
tawny color, and ultimately, even, an almost colorless state. In pro-
portion as the loss of color occurs, a colored crust accumulates. The
coloring and astringent matters, in fact, gradually become insoluble,
and are deposited together as the change slowly progresses.
Coloring matters are sometimes employed to deepen or change the
tint of wines. In Spain must, which has been reduced by heat to
the consistence of treacle, forms an article used to deepen the color of
sherry. Pale wines also frequently derive a certain amount of color
from the oak casks in which they are kept. The color of port is said
to be sometimes deepened artificially.
Astringent matter. The astringent matter of wine consists of tan-
nic acid. Wines prepared from the juice of the grape only possess
no astringency, on account of the juice being devoid of tannic acid.
Tannic acid, however, exists in the skins, stones, and stalks of grapes,
and from these sources its presence in wine originates. The astrin-
gent and coloring matters of wine are found to be closely analogous in
their relations, and to accompany each other; so that the deeper the
color of a wine, the rougher generally in taste is it as well. They
are also deposited together under the form of crust, and as the wine
becomes paler it likewise loses correspondingly in astringent flavor.
380 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Sometimes the deposit takes place in the shape of thin filmy flakes,
which, floating in the wine, produce what is known as "beeswing"
Extractive matter. Besides sugar, and coloring and astringent mat-
ters, there are various unknown solid organic constituents, and the
whole grouped together, under the term "extractives" comprise what
is known as forming the " body " of wine. When the amount of
solid matter is large it is principally owing to the presence of sugar.
It may be mentioned here that glycerin appears to constitute a
product of fermentation, and to form one of the constituents of wine.
Acids. The acidity of wine is chiefly due to tartaric acid and the
acid tartrate of potash, or cream of tartar, but there are various other
acids, fixed and volatile, present. The acids discoverable are in part
derived from those contained in the fruit, and in part generated dur-
ing and after fermentation. Wine that is too acid to be agreeable
may be looked upon as unsuitable for drinking, but, at the same
time, it is to be remarked that taste affords no true measure of the
amount of acid present, for the sourness perceived may depend either
upon an excess of acid or a deficiency of " body " (extractive matter),
which has the effect of covering or concealing the impression of
acidity upon the palate.
The amount of acid is found, by chemical examination, to be least
in sherry and port wines, and most in Moselle and Ehine wine, or
hock. In the wine produced by northern localities undue acidity is
a common defect, on account of the heat being insufficient for a full
ripening of the grape. The following, according to the appendix in
Dr. Bence Jones's translation of Mulder's work on the " Chemistry
of Wines/' is the order of acidity of the subjoined varieties :
Order of acidity in an increasing ratio.
Sherry,
Port,
Champagne,
Claret,
Burgundy,
Madeira,
Moselle,
Khine wine (Hock).
Volatile oil and ethereal products. These constitute the source of
the bouquet or aroma of wine, and are most prominent in the pro-
WINE. 381
ductions of the cooler climates. It is these, also, which give the
most marked distinctive character to wine, and they doubtless con-
tribute to produce a portion of its exhilarating effect, for the exhila-
rating properties of a given quantity of wine cannot be wholly ac-
counted for by the amount of alcohol it contains. The quality and
value, indeed, of wine are more determined by these ingredients than
by the proportion of alcohol. They are partly, in some instances,
derived directly from the grape, besides being developed during fer-
mentation and the subsequent process of maturation. It is known
that acids and alcohols react upon each other, and give rise to the
production of an ether. Now, these elements exist in wine, and an
ethereal product is obtainable by distillation, to which Liebig and
Pelouze have applied the term " oenanthic ether."
Attention will now be directed to the distinctive characters of the
different wines that reach this country. They are generally named
after the locality of their production, and are most conveniently
grouped under the head of the country yielding them. The wines
of each country have special features of their own sufficiently marked
to enable an experienced person readily to recognize them. First of
all, it may be mentioned that, as regards their prominent qualities,
the following varieties may be enumerated :
Natural, or light,
Fortified, or strong,
Red,
White,
Sweet, or fruity,
Dry, or thoroughly fermented,
Full-bodied,
Thin,
Acidulous,
Astringent,
Sparkling.
French Wines. The natural wines of France, which formerly
constituted the principal wine consumed in England, and which from
political considerations were for a considerable time displaced by the
fortified wines of Portugal, have been latterly advancing into more
general use amongst us, especially since the alteration of the import
382 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
duty in 1861. Clarets, Burgundies, and Champagnes are produc-
tions of France with which every one is acquainted. Besides these
natural wines, a strong or fortified wine (Roussillon is an example)
is produced in the South of France, which approximates in character
to the wines of Portugal.
Clarets are derived from the Bordeaux district. Both red and
white wines are met with. The red comprise such as Lafitte, Latour,
La Rose, Margaux, Mouton, Pauittac, St. Julien, St. Emilion, Medoc,
&c. ; the white, such as Sauterne, Vin-de- Grave, Bar sac, and an ex-
ceedingly choice production, the Chateau d' Yquem. Clarets contain
no added spirit. Their alcoholic strength averages from 18 to 20
per cent, of proof spirit. Being fully fermented, they are rendered
more or less free &om sugar, and constitute, therefore, dry wines.
They are light, agreeable, and refreshing to drink, have a delicate
fragrant odor, and a slightly rough or astringent taste, without, in
good wine, any unpleasant acidity. The white wines of the Bordeaux
class, like white wines generally, are finer flavored, and have a more
delicate perfume and less astringency than the red. The Chateau
d'Yquem, particularly, is a choice, full-flavored wine, with an extra
luscious character, due to the richness of the grape, which is not
gathered until after attaining thorough ripeness, in saccharine
matter.
With the moderately exhilarating, and the other properties that
the clarets possess, they form an exceedingly valuable kind of stim-
ulant, both for the healthy and the sick. There is scarcely any con-
dition in which they are calculated to disagree. They form a most
suitable beverage for persons of a gouty or rheumatic disposition,
and also for the dyspeptic. It may be said that they are not prone
to turn sour upon the stomach themselves, nor to cause other articles
to become sour; neither do they provoke headache or derangement
in those who are subject to bilious disorders.
Burgundies are derived from the southern districts of the central
parts of France that portion of France, it may be said, which is
most propitious to the growth of the grape. As with Bordeaux
wine so with Burgundy, both red and white varieties are produced.
Of the red, Clos de Vougeot, Chambertin, Romance, Volnay, Pom-
mard, Beaune, and Maeon, form well-known brands ; and of the
white, Chablis, Pouilly, Meursault, and Montrachet.
The wines of the Rhone districts, consisting of such as Cote Rotie,
WINE. 383
Hermitage, red and white, and Beaujolais (which has risen rapidly
into notoriety as a reasonable wine during the last ten or twelve
years), are generally classed also with Burgundies.
In character, Burgundy is a richer, fuller-bodied, or more gener-
ous wine than claret. With a choice aroma and strong wine flavor,
it possesses a trace of bitterness. To appreciate its qualities to the
fullest extent, it should be served in the middle of dinner, with the
roast meat or game. Therapeutical ly, it is a valuable agent where
poverty of blood or an ill-nourished state of the system exists. In
such states it is decidedly to be preferred to claret. An idea prevails
that, unlike claret, Burgundy encourages the development of gout.
This may be so with a very sumptuous wine presenting an approx-
imation to port, but there is reason to think that the charge is un-
founded in the case of the ordinary Burgundies that are met with
in common use.
Beaujolais may be ranked as occupying a place between Burgundy
and claret. Whilst wanting the fulness of body of the former, it is
a rather stouter wine than the latter.
Champagnes are the produce of several parts of France, but the
most renowned brands are derived from the department of the Marne
Rheims forming the centre of the district on the northern, and
Epernay, that on the southern side of the river. They are classified
as sparkling and still, and sweet and dry ; and the better qualities
are distinguished by the name of the producer. Amongst well-
known and favorite brands may be mentioned those of Roederer^
Mod, Clicquot, Jules Mumm, and Perrier Jouet. In good wines the
carbonic acid is so incorporated with the liquid as to escape slowly,
or " creamily " as it is termed, when the bottle is opened.
^ Champagne, whilst only possessing the alcoholic strength of
natural wines (Griffin's analysis of a sample showed 18 per cent, of
proof spirit), is characterized in its effects upon the system by the
rapidity of its action as a stimulant and restorative. As it acts more
rapidly and strongly, so its effects also pass off more quickly.
It may be described as a volatile stimulant, with a more transitory
action than other beverages of the alcoholic class. It is a useful
wine for exciting the flagging powers in cases of exhaustion. It also
has a tendency to allay irritability of the stomach, and in some cases
of vomiting may be found to be retained when other stimulants are
rejected. ' Unless in a good sound state, however, there is scarcely
384 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
any wine that is so calculated to upset the stomach. To give it
effervescence sugar is added after its introduction into the bottle, for
the purpose of inducing a second fermentation, and until this fer-
mentation is complete the wine must be looked upon as in a state of
change, and thereby apt to excite changes of the food within the
stomach, which tend to interfere with the natural course of diges-
tion. Unless the elements of the wine, also, are in proper relation
and of proper goodness, it is apt to acquire ascescent and obnoxious
properties, from the vinous passing into the acetous fermentation.
Besides Champagne, France produces other sparkling wines.
There are, for instance, sparkling Burgundies, both white and red ;
a sparkling Hermitage ; and also a wine closely resembling and often
doing duty for Champagne, which is produced on the banks of the
Rhone, and styled St. Peray.
The South of France, in the neighborhood of the Pyrenees, is the
seat of production of quite a different kind of wine from the varieties
that have been referred to. The wine in question, of which Roussil-
lon and Masdeu furnish examples, belongs to the fortified class. It
forms a French representative of the red wines of Portugal, but does
not nearly come up to them in quality, and has something of the
Burgundy or claret character about it. It sometimes passes under
the names of Burgundy Port and French Port. In Thudichum
and Dupr6 ? s analytical table the alcoholic strength of Roussillon
stands at 36.2 per cent, of proof spirit.
German Wines. With the exception of what is known as Hambro
sherry (a low-priced fortified wine, and, as its name implies, of a
sherry-like nature) which is not made at, but simply shipped from
Hambro, the German wines are natural products. They are 0f
light alcoholic strength, and are characterized by their marked and
peculiar aroma or fragrance, and their acidulous nature. These
properties render them grateful and refreshing to drink, as well as
an excitant of the appetite! They thus form a specially appropriate
beverage at the commencement of dinner. On account of the northern
situation of the country, and the variation in the climate of different
years, they exhibit a wider range of difference in quality according
to the season (a hot and dry season being that which is most propi-
tious) than the products of more southern latitudes. Notwithstand-
ing the greatest care in the process of manufacture, a want of bright-
WINE. 385
ness characterizes the wines of Germany. Hence the custom of
drinking them from colored glasses, the efftct of which is to conceal
from view that which might displease the eye.
The German wines produced on the banks of the Rhine generally
pass in this country under the name of Hock. They are mostly
white, and the best known and most esteemed varieties are such as
Johannisbcrger, Steinberger, Riidesheimer , Marcobrunner , Rauenthaler,
Hockheimer, and Niersteiner. Assmannshauser represents a red va-
riety of hock.
The wines produced on the banks of the Moselle agree in their
general characters with hocks or Rhine wines, but they are some-
what more acid in taste, and have less body. Excellent sparkling
wines are made both in the Rhine and Moselle districts.
Hungarian Wines. In general character the wines of Hungary
may be said to resemble those of France more closely than those of
any other country. With the exception of Tokay, which has long
been prized amongst us as one of the choicest of wines, they were
but little known in this country previous to the notice they received
at the International Exhibition of 1862. Since then they have risen
rapidly in public estimation, and now meet with an extensive con-
sumption. They are good specimens of a light or natural wine, with
a distinctive flavor of their own. Both red and white wines are
produced, and the varieties are sufficiently numerous to present to
the uninitiated a somewhat perplexing list of names. Of the red
wines, the Carlowitz is the best known in England. It possesses
good body, a full alcoholic strength for a natural wine, a slight as-
tringency, and freedom from saccharine matter. It may be said,
indeed, to constitute a generous wine of its class, and in this respect
may be compared to Burgundy. Next to Carlowitz, 0/ner, perhaps,
stands in highest estimation. The white wines are specially charac-
terized by their softness and richness of grape flavor. The Ruster
and (Edenburg are good and exceedingly agreeable-drinking wines.
But Tokay far excels them all, and holds, in fact, a unique position.
It is one of the most universally famed of wines, and always com-
mands a price that places it within reach only of the wealthy. It is
made of the juice which flows spontaneously from the finest, thor-
oughly matured grapes. It ranks amongst the sweet wines, and
25
386 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
with its sweetness it possesses a full wine flavor. It is usually drunk
at the end of dinner, in the manner of a liqueur.
Greek and Italian Wines. These wines are less known in Eng-
land than those which have been hitherto referred to. They are
light or natural wines, with a high alcoholic strength for their class.
Kephisia, St. Elie, Patras, and Thera are reasonable-priced, dry
Greek wines ; and amongst the sweet wines may be mentioned Vin-
santo, Lachryma Christi, Cyprus, and Malmsey. White Capri is an
agreeable-drinking Italian wine.
Australian Wines. A full-bodied natural or light wine has been
recently introduced from Australia. It is favorably spoken of by
Dr. Druitt in his practical little volume on " Cheap Wines."
Port and other wines of Portugal. Port, like the wines of hot
countries in general, as sherry, Marsala, Madeira and Cape, belongs
to the fortified class. Spirit is added after fermentation has ad-
vanced to a certain point, to check its further progress and give the
wine increased keeping power. Thus, a wine of an alcoholic strength
averaging about 36 per cent, of proof spirit is produced, instead of
about 20, as with the natural or unfortified varieties. If made with-
out being fortified, the produce of Portugal presents a close resem-
blance in character to Burgundy, but wine of this sort is not exported
for the English market, on account of its alleged want of sufficient
keeping power for transport.
Port is a wine which possesses when new a considerable amount
of saccharine matter, which gives it a marked fruity character. In
the first place, from the warm climate in which they are grown, the
grapes acquire a sweetness which is not attained under exposure to a
less amount of heat ; and next, as has been mentioned, fermentation
is stopped before the sugar has become exhausted. The wine is also
rich in astringent and other extractive matters, and thus possesses,
as it is termed, a full body. By keeping, the astringent, in conjunc-
tion with the coloring matter, becomes gradually deposited under the
form of crust. The saccharine matter also undergoes transformation,
and in this way the wine loses its rough, sweet, and fruity taste, and
acquires what is known as the character of dryness. There is no
wine which improves more by keeping than port. From possessing
WINE. 387
a roughness or harshness and confusion of flavors which may be ab-
solutely unpleasant to the palate, it tones down in the course of time
to a pure, mellow, and homogeneous liquid. Not only are some of
the objectionable elements deposited and the others blended or in-
corporated together, but, by the reaction of the acid and alcoholic
principles upon each other, ethereal products become developed
which give the aroma or bouquet that forms so choice a feature be-
longing to the ripened or matured wine.
It is a common practice amongst dealers to mix different sorts of
port with the view of meeting the taste of the consumer, and it
must be admitted that some of the most pleasant-drinking wines are
produced in this way. It is said to be only in certain years that a
wine is good enough to stand alone, and when so allowed to remain,
it is called a "Vintage wine."
Port stands pre-eminent amongst wines as a full, rich, and
strength-giving stimulant. It is of great service in enfeebled states
of the system, and particularly during convalescence from fever and
other debilitating diseases. Its astringency gives it a special value
where there is also diarrhoea to control. For everyday use, whilst
suiting many, it is far too heavy for others. By dyspeptics, the
gouty, persons suffering from attacks of bilious or sick headache,
and those passing urinary red sand, as a rule, it should be shunned.
Drunk in excess it tends to induce a plethoric state, and there can
be little doubt that not only is it an excitant of gouty attacks where
the gouty disposition exists, but that the gouty habit may be de-
veloped through its influence. It seems to be the presence of im-
perfectly fermented matter in association with the spirit and the
same holds good with regard to other alcoholic beverages that
gives it its pernicious properties in relation to gout.
Port, some years back, was largely consumed amongst the upper
classes as an after-dinner wine. At the present time its place may
be said to be taken by claret, and, whatever the cause, it is now
rare, in society, to come across men who admit that port agrees with
them. If not drunk so much, however, amongst the upper classes,
there has been no falling off of its consumption in England ; and
this, because it now finds its way into the houses of small trades-
men, and others, where formerly it was unknown.
A limited quantity of white wine reaches us from Portugal.
Bucellas is a white Portuguese dinner wine, which, a short time
388 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
since, met with a somewhat extensive consumption, but which is
now seldom heard of. Lisbon, also, is a white wine derived from
Portugal. White port is likewise to be obtained, but it is not often
brought forward.
Sherry and other Spanish ivines. Under the generic name sherry
are included the ordinary white wines of Spain. The heat, dryness,
and equality of the climate give advantages which render Spain a
most successful wine-producing country. Sherry has long held a
high position in public estimation as a wholesome and clean-drink-
ing wine. Like the other products of hot countries it is subjected
to the addition of spirit, and its alcoholic strength is about the same
as that of port. Unbrandied sherry is often advertised, but the
wine in an unfortified state in reality is not imported.
Several kinds of sherry are met with, varying in color, body, and
taste. There is the pale, golden, and brown ; and some are thin
and dry, whilst others are full-bodied and rich. Naturally, the
wine is pale,, but, to suit the market, color and body are given by
the addition of " must " (grape-juice) which has been evaporated
down until it has assumed the condition of a thick and dark-colored
syrup of a somewhat treacle-like nature. This, as may be inferred,
not only adds to its color and fulness, but also modifies its taste.
Certain sherries are characterized by distinct names, as, for in-
stance, Amontillado, Vino di Pasto, Montilla, and Manzanilla.
These are all dry wines, and are often found free, or almost free,
from saccharine matter. Amontillado has a very pronounced bitter
taste.
A pure and dry sherry may be said to constitute one of the most
wholesome liquids for general use of the fermented class. It is de-
void of astringency, and has not the strength-giving properties of
port, but forms a wine that may be drunk when other wines dis-
agree. There are some dyspeptics who complain of its producing
acidity, but, as a rule, it is borne well alike by those who suffer
from dyspepsia and gout. A pure dry wine, however, must be se-
lected for consumption.
There are various sweet wines derived from Spain. Malaga is a
sweet luscious wine of low alcoholic strength. Paxarette is another
wine of an allied nature. Rota Tent, which is chiefly used in Eng-
land for sacramental purposes, is also a sweet wine, with a low per-
vcentage of spirit. Sack is a name of antiquity as applied to Spanish
WINE. 389
wine. Formerly it comprised a dry wine, of the character of
sherry, but the " sack " of the present day belongs to the group of
sweet wines.
A considerable quantity of red wine is likewise now imported
from Spain. It is known as Tarragona, or Spanish port, and possesses
the advantages of being a low-priced, sound, and full-bodied wine.
It may be spoken of as forming the best substitute for port that is
furnished.
Marsala. This forms a Sicilian wine; which has attained con-
siderable repute, and is largely consumed in this country. It is used
in the same way as sherry, for which it constitutes a good, moderate-
priced substitute. A price that will purchase a good Marsala will
only secure an indifferent sherry, and there is much truth in the re-
mark that for persons of moderate means it is far better that they
should drink a good Marsala than a bad sherry. It is rather a full-
bodied wine, not so free from saccharine matter as a dry sherry, and
of about the average alcoholic strength of wines of the fortified class.
Madeira. This is one of the choicest of the fortified wines. The
amount produced can never pass beyond certain limits, on account
of the restricted area of the island for the growth of the vine; and,
latterly, from the severity with which the vine disease prevailed, its
production has almost ceased altogether, for nothing less than rooting
up the old plants and replacing them with new has been necessitated.
Time will be required for these new plants to arrive at a state of per-
fection, but, from the accounts that are given, the yield of wine is
satisfactorily increasing, and the island promises soon again to be-
come a flourishing vine-producing country.
Madeira is characterized by the fulness of its body and the choice-
ness of its aroma. It is a wine which, like port, greatly improves
by keeping, and its mellowness is found to be further increased by
transport to a hot country and back. Hence the practice of shipping
Madeira to the East Indies and back, and it is probably to the effects
of the heat and agitation that the improvement is due.
Cape or South African Wines. Formerly, when colonial were ad-
mitted at a lower duty than foreign wines, these were introduced on
an extensive scale, but now that they do not enjoy this advantage
390 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
they are not much heard of. The productions in question reach us
as cheap imitations of port, sherry, and Madeira ; but there is one
Cape wine of wide renown, viz., Constantia, which stands upon its
own "merits, and ranks high in public estimation as a sweet or lus-
cious wine.
FRUIT WINES AND OTHER WINES.
Wine is made not only from the grape, but also from the juice of
various other kinds of fruit, and likewise from the juice of other
parts of plants containing sugar. Orange wine, currant wine, plum
wine, gooseberry wine, and many others, for example, are derived
from fruits; whilst palm wine, maple wine, parsnip wine, &c., are
derived from other vegetable products. Each possesses distinctive
characters of its own. None will bear comparison for purity and
choiceness of flavor with the fermented liquid derived from the grape.
It is not deemed necessary to devote space to their special consider-
ation.
Mead is a wine that is prepared from honey and water. It is a
fermented liquid of great antiquity in England, but is not much con-
sumed now. It is rarely to be met with, indeed, except amongst the
peasantry in certain localities. It is of moderate alcoholic strength,
and of variable sweetness according to the amount of unfermented
honey remaining. By keeping it improves and acquires a peculiar
fragrance.
SPIRITS.
Spirits are the product of distillation of fermented liquids, and
have as their base the alcohol which is formed during the process of
fermentation. Fermented liquids have been known from the earliest
periods of antiquity, but it was not till the twelfth century that the
method of obtaining spirit by distillation was discovered by Abuca-
sis. As the alcohol passes over, it is accompanied by other volatile
products, and thus the odor and flavor of the spirit vary with the
source from which it is obtained. This applies to the product of first
distillation, and accounts for the well-known difference that is notice-
able in the various spirits, such as brandy, whisky, rum, &c., that
SPIRITS. 391
are supplied for use. By repeated distillation, or rectification as it is
termed, the alcohol may be separated from the other principles
through their difference in volatility, and made to lose the identity
that belonged to the original spirit. It clings, however, very tena-
ciously to water, and caii only be separated from this associate by ad-
mixture with an agent, as pearlash (carbonate of potash), quicklime,
&c., which has a strong affinity for it, and holds it back whilst the
alcohol distils over. It is in this way that pure or absolute alcohol
is obtained, a liquid having a sp. gr. at 60 Fahr. of 0.794, and,
therefore, being considerably lighter. than water.
Pure or absolute alcohol, which has been just referred to, is only
employed for chemical purposes. What is called rectified spirit con-
sists of alcohol with 16 per cent, of water, the mixture having a sp.
gr. of 0.838 at 60 Fahr. Proof spirit consists of an admixture of
alcohol and water in nearly equal proportions, viz., 49 parts by
weight of the former, and 51 of the latter, and has a sp. gr. of 0.920
at 60 Fahr. Both these latter are used for making the tinctures of
pharmacy.
Proof spirit is taken in England as the Government standard for
levying the excise and customs duty. According to the proportion
of alcohol and water, so will be the sp. gr., and tables have been
framed showing the relation between the two, and thus enabling the
strength of the spirit to be determined when the sp. gr. has been
ascertained, which is usually done by means of an instrument called
the hydrometer. With a larger proportion of alcohol than exists in
proof spirit the sp. gr. is lowered, and the spirit is said to be over
proof, whilst conversely with a less proportion it is raised, and the
spirit is said to be under proof. From the ascertained sp. gr. can be
learned, with the aid of the tables supplied, how much per cent, either
over or under proof a spirit may be; and in this way, with a given duty
per gallon for proof spirit, the charge to be levied, reckoned at a pro-
portionate rate, can be calculated for spirits of any other strength.
It is necessary, however, that the spirit under examination should
consist only of alcohol and water; and, where any foreign matter is
present, its separation must be effected by distillation, and the bulk
of the distilled product raised to that of the original liquid by the
requisite addition of distilled water, just as requires to be done for
ascertaining the alcoholic strength of a simple fermented liquid, like
wine, beer, &c.
392 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
Spirits as they reach the consumer, whilst presenting a certain
range of variation, may be said to be of about the strength of proof
spirit, or to consist, in other words, of about equal parts of absolute
alcobol and water.
Brandy. Brandy (a corruption from the German Branntwein,
French Brandevin, burnt wine, or wine subjected to the influence of
heat) is the name applied to the spirit procured from the distillation
of wine. Its quality varies with the kind of wine from which it is
obtained, and the care with which the process of distillation is carried
out. It is chiefly white wine that is used, on account of its yielding
a more delicate and agreeable-flavored spirit than red. The most
esteemed brandy is that which is made in France, and the districts
of Cognac and Armagnac are more renowned than any others for
the quality of the product. As first distilled, like other spirits,
brandy is a colorless liquid. By keeping in an oak cask it acquires
a pale-sherry tint from the tannic acid which it extracts. Dark
brandies are artificially colored with caramel. The flavor and aroma
of brandy are due to the cenanthic ether and other volatile products
belonging to wine which pass over with the alcohol and water in the
process of distillation. As with wine, from which it is derived, the
flavoring principles become modified and the brandy improved by
keeping. Thus it is that old Cognac possesses a delicacy of flavor
which does not belong to new. When first imported it is generally
1 or 2 per cent, over proof, but its strength decreases by storage in
cask. As sold, it may be as much as 10 or 15 or more per cent,
under proof. Brande places the average strength of brandy at 42
per cent, by measure of absolute alcohol.
Brandy occupies the first place in public estimation of all the ardent
spirits. Its purity and the delicacy of its flavor give it the position
that it holds, and render it suitable for selection in any case where,
either dietetically or therapeutically, a spirit is required. It is a
popular remedy for sickness, diarrhoea, exhaustion, spasms, and for
correcting indigestion, or stimulating the digestion of an indigestible
article of food. Burnt brandy is often specially useful in protracted
sickness, and will be sometimes found to be retained when other
articles are rejected.
Rum. In the West and East Indies molasses, the skimmings
SPIRITS. 393
from the sugar boilers, &c., are mixed with water, fermented, and
subsequently submitted to distillation. The distilled product is
afterwards colored with partially burnt sugar, and constitutes rum.
Rum is a spirit that improves greatly acquiring a fine, mellow, soft
flavor by keeping. Its alcoholic strength is about the same as that
of brandy. Jamaica rum is considered the best. Sliced pineapples
are sometimes placed into puncheons containing the finer qualities of
rum, and the product is known as pine-apple rum.
Whisky. The term whisky is stated to be a corruption of the
Celtic word usquebaugh water of life. The article constitutes one
of the corn spirits, but, unlike gin, is derived from the malted grain.
It is usually made from malted barley, but in America rye and
maize or Indian corn are largely used. The peculiar flavor which
it possesses is due to the effect of kiln-drying upon the grain, and
during this process the nature of the fuel employed produces its in-
fluence on the character of the product, the use of peat and turf fires
giving the smoky aroma which is looked upon as a desirable prop-
erty. As with brandy and rum, whisky is a spirit which greatly
improves by keeping, a soft and mellow taste being thereby com-
municated to it. If the flavor be not objected to, whisky may be
used in precisely the same way as brandy, with which it closely
corresponds in alcoholic strength. Scotland and Ireland are the
countries that are famed for the production of whisky. A difference
exists in the flavor of the products of the two countries, but when
of good quality they may be regarded as of equal repute and utility.
Gin, Geneva, Hollands, or Schiedam. The spirit comprehended
under these names was originally, and, for some time, wholly, im-
ported into this country from Holland. It is a corn spirit, derived
chiefly from unmalted grain, which, after distillation, is purified by
the rectifier, and subsequently flavored, principally with juniper
berries. The name Geneva is derived from Genievre, the French
for the juniper plant and berries, and this by corruption has been
shortened into gin. As an imitation Geneva, or gin, became some
time back manufactured in this country, the Dutch spirit fell under
the designation of Holland Geneva, Hollands, and Schiedam, the
latter being derived from the export town of that name.
In the manufacture of gin the fermented liquid is distilled, as in
394 ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.
the case of the other spirits; but instead of the process stopping
here, the distillate is subjected to rectification by redistillation. The
object is to obtain a perfectly pure and neutral spirit as a basis for
the addition of the flavoring agents. Besides common alcohol, there
is a small amount of amylic alcohol, or oil of potato spirit -fuselol of
the Germans developed during fermentation. Possessing, as this
principle does, a strong acrid taste and nauseous odor, it forms a
contaminating ingredient which it is considered advisable to get rid
of. It happens to be of a less volatile nature than common alcohol,
and hence on redistillation the process can be so conducted as to
leave it behind in the still. The spirituous liquid thus left also
contains other impurities, and goes under the name of "faints."
To convert rectified corn spirit into gin, it is flavored with juniper
and various aromatics. Oil of turpentine, according to what is
stated, is also sometimes used. As sold by the rectifier, the strength
is about 20 per cent, under proof (it is not allowed by law to be sent
out stronger than 17 per cent, under proof), but the retailers after-
wards dilute and generally sweeten it. Thus sweetened it becomes
" cordial gin" and also passes under the name of " Old Tom"
On account of the juniper belonging to it, gin possesses diuretic
properties to an extent not enjoyed by the other spirits. Age, also,
does not improve it in the same manner as it does brandy, rum, and
whisky.
Several other spirits are in use in different parts of the world. It
will suffice to mention here that arrack is the name given to the
spirit obtained from a fermented infusion of rice, and also from
toddy or palm wine; that koumiss, which has been extolled as useful
in the treatment of consumption, is obtained from fermented mare's
(and latterly also cow's) milk ; and that robur or tea-spirit, the latest
novelty in spirits, consists of ordinary spirit flavored with tea. With
regard to this last, it may be said that a special value is claimed for
it as a spirit by its introducer, but looked at physiologically, it is
composed of agents which exert antagonistic effects upon the animal
system.
LIQUEURS.
Liqueurs constitute distilled spirituous liquids sweetened and
flavored with various fruits and aromatic substances. They are not
LIQUEURS. 395
much used except as stimulants at the end of dinner. Some of them
are employed as appetizing agents. Their variety is great, but only
the best known will be referred to here, and it will suffice simply to
mention the principles to which they owe their flavor.
Curagoa has an aromatic bitter taste which is due to orange-peel.
Noyeau is flavored with the kernels of the peach and apricot, some-
times with those of the cherry, and sometimes with bitter almonds.
Maraschino derives its flavor from cherries. Kirschwasser also owes
its properties to the cherry. Cherries are bruised and allowed to
ferment. The stones are cracked and the kernels broken and used
as well. Distillation is afterwards performed. Chartreuse was
originally prepared in a monastery bearing this name in France.
In 1864 the Pope prohibited the monks from any longer making it
for sale, and, as the recipe was not published, the Chartreuse which
is now sold is a different liqueur from the original. Parfait amour
contains a number of aromatics. In a recipe for it the following are
enumerated : lemon-peel, cinnamon, rosemary, cloves, mace, carda-
moms, and orange-flower water. Anisette is flavored with aniseed
and coriander. Kilmmel is the principal liqueur of Russia, and con-
sists of sweetened spirit flavored with cumin and caraway seeds.
Absinthe differs from the above in being a bitter liqueur. It con-
sists of a sweetened spirit flavored with wormwood, and is generally
drunk diluted with water before a meal to stimulate digestion and
excite a flagging appetite. It is, perhaps, one of the most treacher-
ous and pernicious for habitual use of all the liquids of the alcoholic
class. Bitters are likewise used in a similar way, and receive their
flavor from various bitter agents most commonly from angostura
bark, orange-peel, or angelica root and seeds.
CONDIMENTS.
CONDIMENTS consist of seasoning or flavoring agents. Without
being strictly alimentary substances, they nevertheless play no insig-
nificant part in the alimentation of man, and prove of service in more
ways than one. Their first effect is to render food more tempting
to the palate, and thereby increase the amount consumed. We are
guided in the choice of food by taste and smell, and that which
agreeably affects these senses excites the desire for eating. Condi-
ments are employed for this special purpose, and thus a flagging
appetite receives a stimulant. Through their aromatic and pungent
qualities they also assist digestion, the modus operandi being by pro-
moting the flow of the secretions, and increasing the muscular activity
of the alimentary canal. In some cases they may be further useful
by serving to correct injurious properties that may belong to an
article of food.
Standing in the position they do, it is not considered necessary to
give a special description of the various condiments. A somewhat
lengthy list of them exists. One, viz., salt, is simply of a saline
nature. It is the most universally employed of all. Some, as
vinegar, lemon-juice, pickles, and capers, owe their virtue to acidity.
Others owe it to their pungency, as, for example, mustard, pepper,
cayenne, ginger, curry, and horse-radish. Others, again, form an
aromatic group of condiments, which includes such as cinnamon,
nutmegs, cloves, allspice, vanilla, mint, thyme, fennel, sage, parsley,
onions, leeks, chives, shallots, garlic, and some others. Besides these
there are various sauces of artificial production, which are employed
to give zest for food by their flavor.
THE PRESERVATION OF FOOD.
THE preservation of food has been practiced from time immemo-
rial. The ancient processes, however, resolved themselves into such
as simply drying, salting, &c. Food thus preserved only imper-
fectly represents the article in the fresh state ; but in the present age
of progress the art has not been allowed to stand still, and methods
are now had recourse to by which both animal and vegetable foods
are preserved in such a way as to be susceptible of being kept for
an indefinite period, and then being almost equal in quality to what
they were originally. With the improvements that have taken
place a new trade has been established, which has rapidly grown
into significance, and promises to prove of the deepest importance to
the human race. Food is now being utilized that was formerly
wasted, because it exceeded the requirements of the district, and it
was not known how it could be rendered available in distant parts.
In Australia and South America particularly the amount of animal
food procurable far surpasses the wants of the inhabitants, and it
has been the practice to sacrifice the animals for the wool, skins, fat,
and bones, which formed exportable commodities. The processes
that have been invented now enable the meat to be preserved and to
be transported in a fit condition for taking the place of fresh food
elsewhere; and, with the facility of transit that exists, countries
where food is scarce may be supplied from those where abundance
prevails, whatever the distance intervening between the two. The
art of preserving food has been brought to a sufficient state of per-
fection for this to be realized, but, at the same time, it must be ad-
mitted that there remains room for improvement, and, doubtless,
with advancing experience, improvement will follow. Much atten-
tion, indeed, is being given to the matter, and it may be looked
upon as forming one of the most important questions of the day.
398 PRESERVATION OF FOOD.
The object in view is to check the change which spontaneously
occurs when food is exposed to ordinary conditions. I need not
enter here into the theoretical considerations that have been
broached regarding the precise cause of this change, which w r e speak
of as decomposition and putrefaction. Suffice it to state that there
are three conditions essential to its occurrence. These are the pres-
ence of 1, warmth ; 2, moisture ; and 3, air. The exclusion of
either of these conditions will prevent the occurrence of decomposi-
tion, and thus we are supplied at once with three means of preserv-
ing food, viz., by
1. The influence of cold;
2. The removal of moisture, or drying ; and
3. The exclusion of air.
There is still another principle of action that can be brought to
bear, and this is
4. The influence of certain chemical agents.
The effect of these is (whether by destroying or rendering inac-
tive the germs contained in the air supposed to excite decomposition,
or whatever else their modus operandi) to render the article resistant
to the operation of the ordinary influences. Each of these princi-
ples of action will be cursorily referred to.
1. Cold. At the freezing-point molecular change is entirely
checked, and, as long as it remains in a frozen state, an article may
be kept for an indefinite time. The guides at Chamouni are ready
to recount to visitors the incident of human remains derived from
an avalanche disaster that occurred to a party making the ascent of
Mont Blanc in 1820, having been disclosed in a perfectly fresh state
in 1861 and 1863 at the foot of the Glacier des Bossons, five and a
half miles from the seat of the accident. Immersed in the glacier,
they were gradually brought down by the continual advance made
by it to the point where they were discovered, which is where the
glacier is progressively melting away in proportion to its advance.
Cold is very extensively employed as a preservative agency. Ice
is now largely used by fishmongers and other dealers in perishable
animal foods, to enable them to keep their stock in a fresh condition.
The ice-chest is also considered almost a necessary appurtenance,
certainly during the summer months, for preserving food in large
PRESERVATION OF FOOD. 399
establishments. In ocean-going passenger steamers meat is pre-
served on a large scale by introduction into an ice-room or chamber.
An attempt has just been made to bring meat over in a frozen state
from Australia. The experiment failed from the cold not having
been properly sustained on the voyage, but there is no reason that
the process should not be susceptible of being successfully carried
out, as far as the act of preservation is concerned. The question of
expense, however, will have to form an element of consideration,
and experience must decide whether any serious deterioration of the
article arises from the complete freezing that is necessary. Meat
that has been frozen is subsequently less resistant to change than
before, and butchers in this country take steps to avoid allowing the
frost in very cold weather to affect the contents of their shop.
2. Drying. Preservation by drying is applied to both animal
and vegetable foods. The practice is one of great antiquity, and it
enables a number of articles of ordinary consumption to be kept in
a state always ready for use. Latterly it has been artificially applied
to potatoes and other vegetables, as well as some fruits, and with
such success that, after being properly soaked and cooked, they
closely approach, both in appearance and taste, the fresh articles,
and thus furnish a very fair substitute for them where circumstances
do not permit them to be obtained. It does not answer so well for
animal substances, although a quantity of food (both meat and fish)
preserved in this way is to be met with. The drying here leads to
more or less loss of the natural flavor, and an unpleasant taste is apt
to be generated. Under the name of charqui, beef which has been
cut into strips or slices and dried is imported from South America.
Pemmican, which was formerly so extensively used by Arctic voy-
agers, consists of dried and pulverized meat mixed with fat. It
presents a large amount of nourishment in a small space.
3. Exclusion of Air. This is the principle upon which food is
now being extensively preserved, to some extent for home use, but
chiefly for transport from one locality to another. It is imperfectly
carried out in the domestic operation of covering potted meat with a
layer of melted butter or some other kind of fat. Some articles also
are preserved by immersion in oil. The bottled and tinned pro-
visions represent a more perfect application of the process. The
food is introduced into a suitable bottle or tin, and, after being heated
to drive out the air by the generation of watery vapor, the opening
400 PRESERVATION OF FOOD.
is closed and hermetically sealed, to preclude the subsequent re-
entrance of air. When properly performed, the efficacy of the process
is such that after the lapse of many years the provisions have been
found in a perfectly good and sound condition. It is applied to
both animal and vegetable articles of food.
The fruit and vegetables preserved in bottles and tins enable the
representative of the fresh article to be had at all seasons of the year
and in all localities, and so closely does the preserved approach in
character the fresh fruit or vegetable that there is but little discov-
erable difference between the two.
Every variety of meat and soup, and also fish, lobsters, &c., are
now to be obtained in a preserved state, and importation upon a
very extensive scale has lately been carried on into this country from
Australia and elsewhere. . An important branch of trade has, indeed,
sprung up during the last few years in this department of commerce,
which is rapidly increasing, and promises ultimately to attain enor-
mous dimensions. The plan of preserving that is generally adopted,
and as described in an Australian journal, is as follows :
The meat-preserving establishments are so situated as to combine
as fully as may be found possible proximity to a well-supplied cattle
market, with facilities for the shipment of the finished product.
Whenever practicable, grazing paddocks are provided adjacent to the
works, in which to keep the stock purchased until required for use.
The animals are slaughtered, skinned, and dismembered. From the
slaughter-house the meat is removed on tramways, or by sliding it
along suspended from iron bars, to the " boning-room," where the
process of meat-preserving properly commences. Expert butchers,
paid by the, piece, here take the meat in hand, and, taught by long
practice and stimulated by the desire to earn large wages, perform
their work with surprising skill and rapidity. Their duty is to cut
the meat from the bone and remove superfluous fat ; and so thor-
oughly is the work done, that a hungry dog, it is stated, would have
to turn over a large number of bones before it could obtain a dinner
from the minute shreds of meat adhering to them. The meat is now
conveyed to the kitchen, and here it is in the first place cut into suit-
able pieces for tinning, and weighed. In some establishments it is
then partially cooked, generally by means of steam ; in others it is
put into the tins in a raw state, with the addition of a little salt.
Usually a surplus allowance of a few ounces, the number varying
PRESERVATION OF FOOD. 401
according to the size of the tin, is made for the loss that occurs in
cooking. Sometimes some rich gravy, extracted from portions of
meat which are not suitable for tinning, is added to each tin. The
tops are then soldered on, a small hole being left in the middle of
each. This is one of the most critical operations in the whole pro-
cess, since everything depends on the tins being air-tight, and the
most skilful tinsmiths are employed to perform it. The canisters,
arranged in numbers together on a perforated tray, are next lowered
into a bath containing a saturated solution of chloride of calcium,
and there allowed to remain immersed to within an inch or two of
their tops, at a gradually increasing temperature, until the contents
are cooked, and all atmospheric air is expelled through the small
orifice in the top. The hole is then closed with solder, and the can-
ister subjected to a short, thorough immersion in the heated solution,
the temperature of which considerably exceeds that of boiling water.
All that now remains is to cool, clean, test, and paint the canisters.
After removal from the heated bath they are placed in cold water,
cleaned, and then transferred to the testing-room. This is an arti-
ficially heated room, in which they are allowed to remain for a period
of six days. Should there be the slightest leak in the solder of the
tin the defect will show itself within this time by the bulging out of
the ends due to the generation of gas as the result of decomposition
occurring within. The canisters that stand the test are, lastly, painted,
labelled, and packed for exportation. As long as their contents re-
main good they give signs of the absence of putrefactive gases by the
depression of the surface caused by the condensation ensuing after
the process of hermetically sealing.
Meat preserved in this way sustains no loss of its nutritive capacity,
and it possesses the pecuniary advantage of being free from bone.
The material is there with its proper aptitude for digestion. The
only objection is that through the heat employed to insure its pres-
ervation it is brought into an overcooked condition. It is proba-
bly impossible, in depending only on heat, to escape from this objec-
tion, for experiments on the putrefactive process show that not only
is it necessary to exclude all air containing active germs, but the
germs must be destroyed that are in contact with the article itself,
and it requires a high temperature to accomplish this result.
Milk may be preserved by the same method, but when treated
26
402 PRESERVATION OF FOOD.
in the ordinary state the disadvantage arises of the butter separating
and not being afterwards easily miscible with the liquid. To over-
come this objection the milk is concentrated to a thickish consistence,
and is also mixed with sugar. In this state it will keep for some
time after the tin is opened.
4. Preservation of Food by the use of Antiseptics. There are seve-
ral agents that are employed for this purpose. Salt is one of the
most common, and nitre is frequently conjoined. The effect of a
saline, however, is to depreciate the nutritive value of the article by
extracting the soluble constituents, and by also hardening the texture,
so as to render it difficult of digestion. Syrup, alcohol, and vinegar,
form other agents in common use as preservatives. After being to
some extent salted, certain kinds of meat and fish are often sub-
jected to smoking. The empyreumatic vapor with which they be-
come penetrated possesses a strong antiseptic capacity, which greatly
promotes their power of keeping.
The analysis of brine shows that the process of salting must ma-
terially diminish the nutritive value of meat, for it is found to con-
tain a large portion of the ingredients of its juice. Not only does
the contraction which ensues cause the infiltrating liquid to be driven
out, but the liquefied salt tends further to draw out by osmosis its
diffusible organic and saline constituents. Liebig estimates the loss
of nutritive value as amounting to one-third or even one-half. Soak-
ing salted meat in water removes its saltness, but cannot, of course,
restore the nutritive principles that have been lost.
From experience it has been learned that salted and dried food
cannot be used continuously for a lengthened period without impair-
ing the health. The well-known effect is the development Of a ca-
chectic state which manifests itself under the form of what are called
scorbutic affections.
PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
THE physiological properties of the various alimentary principles,
looked at individually, were considered in a former part of this
work ; they here require to be spoken of collectively in reference to
the maintenance of life.
It happens that an article, viz., milk, is produced by the operations
of nature for the special purpose of sustaining life during an early
period of the existence of the mammalian animal. Such an article
may be taken as affording a typical illustration of natural food.
Now, we find on looking to its composition that it contains the fol-
lowing alimentary principles:
Nitrogenous matter (casein principally, and in smaller quantity
some other forms of albuminoid matter),
Fatty matter (butter),
A carbohydrate (lactin),
Inorganic matter, comprising salines and water.
The egg, also, stands in an analogous position. As all the parts
of the young animal are evolved from it, it must needs represent the
material, or contain the suitable principles, for the development and
growth of the body, and the same groups of principles are to be
recognized that exist in milk, although in the case of one of them it
is only present to a somewhat minute extent. (1) Nitrogenous matter
is largely present under the form of albumen both in the white and
yolk. (2) Oily matter is contained in the yolk. (3) Saccharine
matter, a principle belonging to the carbohydrate group, is to be
detected, but only, it must be mentioned, to a sparing extent, in
which respect the composition of the egg differs notably from that of
milk. (4) Inorganic matter, consisting of salines and water, com-
pletes the list, and for the saline matter required, that belonging to
404 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
the shell is drawn upon as the process of incubation proceeds. As
Liebig has pointed out, there is an insufficiency of mineral matter
in the soft contents of the egg for the development of the skeleton
and other parts of the chick, but the shell forms a store of earthy
matter which gradually becomes dissolved by the phosphoric acid
generated through the oxidizing influence of the air upon the phos-
phorus existing amongst the contents of the egg. By the occurrence
of this process the shell becomes thinner and thinner as incubation,
or development of the chick, advances.
We thus see that in these products, which are specially designed
in the economy of nature for the development and nutrition of ani-
mal beings, it is a combination of principles that is present. This
may be therefore taken as suggestive that such a combination is
needed, and experiments upon alimentation have abundantly proved
it to be the case. It is not this or that alimentary principle which
can be separated artificially from others that will suffice for sustain-
ing life, but different principles associated together, just as we find
them in the productions of nature. As objects of nature ourselves,
it is the productions, of nature that form our appropriate food. We
are so framed as to depend for existence upon natural productions,
and unless we are supplied with such a combination of principles as
is met with in natural productions defective nutrition results.
It was formerly thought that the nitrogenous principles ought to
be capable of sustaining life, seeing that they not only represent
what is wanted for administering to the nutrition of the body, but
through their carbon and hydrogen can also contribute towards heat
production, and it excited surprise when it was discovered experi-
mentally that animals perished of inanition, exactly as if they had
been deprived of all food, when confined exclusively to these princi-
ples. Tiedemann and Gmelin found that geese were starved upon
an abundant supply of white of egg, but it is especially to the
researches of the Paris Gelatin Commission that we are indebted for
a comprehensive survey of the subject.
The labors of this Commission were instigated with the view of
determining whether the gelatinous extract from bones could properly
supply the place of meat, particularly as food for the poor. It had
been asserted that such was the case, and the investigation was under-
taken by a commission appointed by the Academy of Sciences of
PRINCIPLES OF FOOD AND THEIR NUTRITIVE CAPACITY. 405
Paris and named the Gelatin Commission. After nearly ten years
of uninterrupted research it is stated, the report was sent in by
Magendie in the name of the Commission. ' The question which the
Commission primarily undertook to decide was : Whether it was pos-
sible economically to extract from bones an aliment which alone or mixed
with other substances could take the place of meat ; but the inquiry led
on to a study of the nutritive properties of the alimentary principles
in general. The conclusions 1 arrived at by this Commission form
simple expressions of well ascertained facts, and therefore, unlike
many physiological conclusions, stand uncontroverted by the ex-
perience of the thirty years which have elapsed since the report was
drawn up. They are of sufficient interest and importance to lead me
to introduce them here. They run as follows :
1. It is not possible by any known process to extract from bones
an aliment which, either alone or mixed with other substances, can
take the place of meat.
2. Gelatin, albumen, and fibrin, taken separately, nourish animals
but for a very limited period, and only in a very incomplete manner.
In general they soon excite an insurmountable disgust, so that the
animals rather die than partake of them.
3. These same alimentary principles artificially reunited and
rendered agreeably sapid by seasoning, are taken more readily and
for a longer period than when in a separate state ; but they have no
better ultimate influence on nutrition, for the animals that eat them,
even in considerable quantities, end by dying with all the signs of
complete inanition.
4. Muscular flesh, in which gelatin, albumen, and fibrin are united
according to the laws of organic nature and associated with other
matters as fat, salts, &c., suffices, even in very small quantity, for
complete and prolonged nutrition.
5. Raw bones can do the same, but the quantity consumed in the
twenty-four hours must be very much larger than in the case of
meat.
6. Every kind of preparation, such as decoction with water, the
action of hydrochloric acid, and particularly the transformation into
1 Comptes Rendus des Seances de 1'Academie des Sciences, tome 13me, p. 282.
Paris, 1841.
406 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
gelatin, diminishes, and seems even in certain cases almost completely
to destroy, the nutritive quality of bones.
7. The Commission, however, is unwilling at present to express
an opinion upon the employment of gelatin, associated with other
aliments, in the nourishment of man. It believes that direct experi-
ment can alone throw light upon this subject in a definite manner.
It is actively occupying itself with reference to the point, and the
results will be made known in the second and last part of the report.
8. Gluten extracted from wheaten or maize flour satisfies by itself
complete and prolonged nutrition.
9. Fats taken alone sustain life for some time, but give rise to an
imperfect and disordered nutrition, fat accumulating in all the tissues,
sometimes in the state of olein and stearin, sometimes in that of al-
most pure stearin.
Looking at the above conclusions, the one which refers to gluten
(8) stands in opposition to the others. Surprise is expressed in the
report, and it does seem surprising, that whilst other isolated alimen-
tary principles failed in sustaining life gluten should be capable of
affording perfect nourishment for animals ; nevertheless, it is stated
that animals were kept upon it for three months without interrup-
tion, and presented throughout this period all the signs of excellent
health. The explanation suggested in the report for this discordant
and unexpected result is that the gluten employed did not form a
pure alimentary principle, but retained some starch and other non-
nitrogenous matter. Doubtless, also, there must have been mineral
matter likewise present, for it would be inconsistent, from what we
now know, that life should be maintained for a lengthened period in
the absence of this constituent of food. Under this view the discord-
ancy becomes reconciled, the result observed being attributable to a
mixture of substances being in reality consumed instead of a single
alimentary principle.
The Paris Commission having found that gelatin taken alone
failed to nourish animals, a Commission of the Institut d'Amsterdam
undertook to determine whether it increased the nutritive value of
other aliments to which it might be added. Evidence was drawn,
in the same manner as had been done by the Paris Commission, from
experiments conducted upon dogs, and the conclusion arrived at 1
1 Gazette Medicale, tome 12me, Paris, 1844, p. 176.
PRINCIPLES OF FOOD AND THEIR NUTRITIVE CAPACITY. 407
was that gelatin was not only of no nutritive value when taken
alone, but was not made nutritive by combination with other sub-
stances. This conclusion, which places gelatin in the position of a
useless agent in an alimentary point of view, is inconsistent with
the now well-established fact that the ingestion of gelatin, like that
of other nitrogenous principles, gives rise to an increase in the
elimination of urea; for, as pointed out in a previous part of this
work, with the production of urea from nitrogenous matter a hydro-
carbonaceous compound is left, which is evidently susceptible of
being turned to account as a force-producing agent in the system.
Some experiments of Mr. Savory, it may be remarked, have been
interpreted and quoted as showing that nitrogenous matter, com-
bined only with the appropriate saline principles, suffices for the
maintenance of life. Thus, in "Kirkes's Physiology, seventh edition,
p. 259, it is stated, " Contrary to the views of Liebig and Lehmann,
Savory has shown that while animals speedily die when confined to
non-nitrogenous diet, they may live long when fed exclusively with
nitrogenous food." Again, Dr. Parkes (" Hygiene," third edition,
p. 160) says, "For though the dog and the rat (Savory) can live on
fat-free meat alone, man cannot do so." Bischoff and Voit found
that dogs could be sustained on meat deprived of visible fat, and
maintained at their full weight with but very slight variation,
whilst Ranke, it appears, could not maintain himself in perfect nu-
trition on meat alone.
Now, with reference to these statements, it must be borne in
mind that after the removal of the visible fat, flesh still contains a
certain amount which is brought into view by analysis. It cannot
be deprived of fat beyond 1 per cent., and in Savory's experiments
on rats, 1 the flesh (lean veal) employed was found to contain 1.55
per cent. But, let us look into the particulars of the experiments
and see what they in reality prove.
In the first place, 1.55 per cent, of fat in meat means rather over
6 per cent, in the dry matter of meat, about three-fourths of fresh;
meat being made up of water.
In one experiment a couple of rats which had been nearly
brought to the verge of death by restriction to starchy matter and
fat were fed with bread and meat for four days, and then with meat
1 Lancet, vol. i, 1863, pp. 383, 412.
408 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
alone. A week after commencing the meat their united weight was
9 oz. 1J dr., and three weeks later 10 oz. 1 dr. Being now placed
on a diet of meat, with non-nitrogenous food (starch and fat), a
notable improvement occurred, for in three days 7 time they weighed
11 oz. ; four days later 14 oz. 12 drs. ; and a week later still, 14 oz.
4 drs.
In another experiment two rats, weighing 12 oz., were placed on
an exclusive diet of lean meat and water. They remained healthy
in appearance, but steadily lost weight, and in a month's time weighed
only 8f oz. They were now placed on a miscellaneous diet, and in a
week's time weighed 12 J oz.
In a third experiment two rats, weighing together 12 ozs. 7 drs.,
were kept upon the meat diet exclusively. On the thirteenth day
one of the rats died, the weight of its body being 2 oz. 8 drs., and
that of the other 6 oz. 3 drs. The live one was still restricted to
the same food, and this died ten days later, the weight of its body
then being 5 oz. It is worthy of meution, as a passing remark,
that two other pairs of rats which had been taken at the same time,
one pair being fed on a non-nitrogenous diet and the other on a
mixed diet, remained still alive.
I have entered into these particulars because the experiments in
question, contrary to their true effect, have been referred to as in-
validating the accredited doctrine that to sustain life in an efficient
manner there must be an admixture of the nitrogenous and non-
nitrogenous alimentary principles. Before quitting the subject it is
right to state that a hawk was kept for two months on the same
meat food, and improved, it is asserted, in appearance and condition.
No weights, however, are given, and the quantity of food consumed
is not mentioned. With the 1.55 per cent, of fat in the fresh meat,
forming rather over 6 per cent, of the dry material, a sufficiently
notable amount of fat may have been ingested if the quantity of
food consumed was large. It is not contended that heat or force-
production generally, is dependent solely upon the non-nitrogenous
aliment supplied, for it is well known that the nitrogenous princi-
ples undergo metamorphosis into urea, and an oxidizable residue
which is susceptible of utilization in that direction ; but observation
tends to show that for the proper maintenance of nutrition (and it
must be remembered that fat is a necessary agent in the accomplish-
PRINCIPLES OF FOOD AND THEIR NUTRITIVE CAPACITY. 409
merit of the formative processes) the presence of some non-nitro-
genous matter at least is needed in the food.
If the nitrogenous principles, from their capacity for yielding the
requisite material for the construction and maintenance of the tissues,
and likewise from their capacity for undergoing metamorphosis into
urea and a hydrocarbonaceous product susceptible of appropriation
to force production, might appear theoretically sufficient, as far as
organic matter is concerned, for the support of life, such even cannot
be said with respect to the non-nitrogenous principles. These could
not possibly be expected to suffice for maintaining life, as an element
is missing which is wanted for the formation of the tissues. Ex-
perimental proof, however, has been adduced upon the point. Fat
formed one of the articles subjected to investigation by the Gelatin
Commission, and its inability to support life is shown amongst the
conclusions that were arrived at. Boussingault also fed a duck on
butter only, and found that it died at the end of three weeks of
starvation. Butter, it is stated, exuded from all parts of the body,
and the feathers seemed as if they had been soaked in melted
butter.
Sugar, gum, and starch were submitted to experiment by Magen-
die on dogs, and Tiedemann and Gmelin on geese; the animals be-
came emaciated and more and more feeble till they perished of in-
anition. Like experiments have sifrce also been performed by others,
and corresponding results obtained.
When fat is combined with other non-nitrogenous matter, emacia-
tion is still one of the phenomena observed. In Mr. Savory's ex-
periments on rats 1 fed on equal parts by weight of arrowroot, sago,
tapioca, lard, and suet a mixture found to contain only .22 per cent,
of nitrogen the animals underwent emaciation and died of inani-
tion, fat having disappeared from the body as occurs under complete
privation of food. Notwithstanding this absence of fat from the
body, the fur of the animals was observed to have presented a de-
cidedly greasy appearance, just as though fat exuded from the skin
in correspondence with what Boussingault noticed in his experiment
where a duck was fed exclusively on butter.
It may be inferred that nitrogenous matter is required not only
for the formation of the tissues, but likewise for contributing, by the
1 Lancet, vol. i, 1863, pp. 382 and 413.
410 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
promotion of the requisite change, to the utilization of the non-nitro-
genous principles, and, unless it exists in suitable amount in the food,
these principles fail to pass on to their proper destination. It is
known that the carbohydrates contribute to the formation and ac-
cumulation of fat, but for this to take place the concurrence of a due
amount of nitrogenous matter is required. Boussingault's experi-
ments on pigs showed that, whilst potatoes alone did not suffice for
fattening the animals, they grew fat with the addition of nitrogenous
matter; and the presence of fat also in the food seems in some man-
ner or other likewise to promote the transformation of the carbohy-
drates. Boussingault also found that the cow was insufficiently
nourished on potatoes and beet-root alone, although given in very
large quantity.
The question as to whether non-nitrogenous matter should enter
into the composition of food has been sufficiently discussed already,
but another question presents itself: Are both fats and carbohydrates
necessary ? If we look to the diets of different nations we almost
invariably find that both these principles are represented. Still it is
evident that fat alone will suffice for yielding the non-nitrogenous
matter required for the support of life, for we find in certain parts of
the globe that there are large numbers of persons who subsist, and
maintain themselves in good health, exclusively on animal food, in
which fat forms the only representative of non-nitrogenous matter.
As to whether, however, the carbohydrates can similarly supply what
is wanted forms a question that is not so summarily to be disposed
of. It is true, there are some articles of vegetable food which are
capable of sustaining life, and which, whilst freely containing a car-
bohydrate, contain a comparatively insignificant quantity of fat, but
the presence of fat, as has been already mentioned, appears to be of
service in promoting the metamorphosis of the carbohydrates in the
system. It also exerts a favorable influence over the assimilation of
nitrogenous matter and the processes of tissue formation and nutrition ;
and it may be said that there is strong reason to believe that the as-
sociation of a certain amount of fatty matter with the carbohydrates
is probably necessary for the maintenance of the organism in perfect
health. The belief is further entertained that its deficiency is some-
times the source of the development of the tuberculous diathesis.
Inorganic matter, under the form of saline materials and water, is
ADAPTATION OF FOOD TO DEMAND. 411
equally as essential for satisfying the requirements of life as the organic
components of food. Although such saline materials and water do
not appear to be individually concerned in the interplay of changes
which form the source of the phenomena of life, they nevertheless
enter as essential elements into the constitution of the textures and
fluids of the body, and thus must needs be supplied, to an adequate
extent to meet the requirements of nutrition and secretion, with the
food from without.
Such form the principles that are required as components of food
for the maintenance of the body in a healthy condition. But as yet
I have only referred to the nature of the principles and not to their
amount. As regards the inorganic portion of food, it may simply
be said that enough of the several principles encountered in the body
must be supplied to meet the wants of nutrition and secretion. The
organic portion, however, cannot be so summarily disposed of, and
the question first arises : What relative proportion of nitrogenous and
non-nitrogenous principles is best adapted for administering to the
requirements of life?
It may be fairly concluded that the requirements as regards food
vary with exposure to different conditions. According to the ex-
penditure that is taking place, so, in a good scheme of dieting, should
materials be supplied which are best calculated to yield what is
wanted. Under exposure to hard labor and inactivity, and to a
high and low external temperature, the consumption of material in
the system differs, and the supply of food should be regulated ac-
cordingly. Notwithstanding the tenor of recent experiments as to
mechanical or muscular work being obtainable from the oxidation of
non-nitrogenous matter, general experience is to the effect that for
the maintenance of a good condition nitrogenous matter is required
in larger quantity under great exertion than during a state of rest.
The inhabitants of the colder regions also require to be more per-
fectly supplied with combustible matter than persons inhabiting
warmer climates.
The laws of nature are such as to conduce to an adaptation of the
supply of food to its demand. We are all conversant with the fact
that exercise and exposure to cold conditions which increase the
demand for food sharpen the appetite, and thus lead to a larger
quantity of material being consumed ; whilst, conversely, a state of
412 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
inactivity and a warm climate tell in an opposite manner, and reduce
the inclination for food. A badly fed laborer is capable of perform-
ing but a slight day's work, and a starving man falls an easy victim
to the effects of exposure to cold.
Not only is there thus a correspondence between the amount of
food required and the inclination for taking it, but, probably arising
from the teachings of experience, we find the nature of the food
selected in different countries to vary, and to constitute that which
is most in conformity with what is needed.
For example, the dwellers in the Arctic regions, besides consum-
ing an enormous even prodigious quantity of food, partake of
that kind which abounds in the most efficient form of heat-generat-
ing material, viz., oleaginous matter. It is from the bodies of seals
and whales, and suchlike sources that the food of the extreme
northerners is obtained. It is true, the coldness of the climate will
not permit the production and supply of the carbohydrates by vege-
table growth, as occurs in lower latitudes ; but, if it did, they could
hardly be consumed in sufficient quantity to yield the requisite
amount of heat.
Sir Anthony Carlisle relates an anecdote from his experience
amongst the Arctic inhabitants : " The most northern races of man-
kind," he says, " were found to be unacquainted with the taste of
sweets, and their infants made wry faces and sputtered out sugar
with disgust ; but the little urchins grinned with ecstasy at the sight
of a bit of whale's blubber. 77
In the tropics, on the other hand, it is especially upon vegetable
products products largely charged with principles belonging to the
carbohydrate group instead of fat, that the native inhabitants sub-
sist. The succulent fruits and vegetables, says Liebig, on which the
natives of the south prefer to feed, do not, in the fresh state, contain
more than 12 per cent, of carbon. The blubber and train oil, on
the other hand, which enter largely into the diet of the extreme
northerner, contain, he remarks, from 66 to 80 per cent, of carbon.
For a temperate climate reason would suggest something between
the two extremes as yielding the most suitable form of food, and
custom, we find, has led to the selection of a mixed diet, which fur-
nishes the combination of the two kinds of heat-producing principles.
It is, then, upon the principle of adaptiveness to the particular re-
quirement existing that the diet should be made to conform. The per-
LIEBIG'S ESTIMATE OF THE NUTRITIVE VALUE OP FOOD. 413
formanee of work was until recently believed, in accordance with
Liebig's teaching, to have its source in the metamorphosis of nitro-
genous matter. It was considered that muscular and nervous action
resulted from an oxidation of muscular and nervous tissue, and, that
according to the extent of action occurring, so was a supply of the
nitrogenous alimentary principles demanded to replace the oxidized
material. This gave to nitrogenous matter a special position in re-
lation to the manifestation of nerve-muscular activity, and Liebig
measured the working value of food by the amount of what he
styled the plastic elements of nutrition it contained. The following
table was framed by him to show, upon' this principle, the relative
working value of various articles of food in common use. To bring
the comparison to uniformity, the non-nitrogenous matter is all
reckoned as starch. The relative value of fat and starch for heat-
producing purposes may be reckoned from the amount of oxygen
respectively required for the complete oxidation of the product, and
it is found to stand in the ratio of 1 to 2.4. Thus, by a simple pro-
cess of calculation, fat, when this form of non-nitrogenous matter
exists in a given article of food, is easily reduced into its heat-pro-
ducing equivalent of starch.
Liebig's Tabular Representation of the relative value of various
Articles of Food.
Non-nitrogenous
Plastic nitrogenous calorifacient matter
matter. reckoned as starch.
Veal, 10 1
Hare's flesh, .... 10 2
Beef, 10 17
Beans, 10 22
Peas, 10 23
Fat mutton, .... 10 27
Fat pork, 10 30
Cow's milk, .... 10 30
Woman's milk, ... 10 40
Wheaten flour, ... 10 46
Oatmeal, 10 50
Rye, ..... 10 57
Barley, 10 57
Potatoes, 10 86 to 115
Rice, 10 123
It has been previously shown in this work that there is now
strong reason to believe that, in opposition to Liebig's view, the non-
414 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
nitrogenous elements of food contribute, as well as the nitrogenous,
to the production of muscular force, and with this before us, nitro-
genous matter ceases to hold the special value as a source of working
power that was, till quite recently, assigned to it.
It was through the extension of the doctrine of the conservation
of energy (which implies that force is readily transmutable from one
form into another, but, like matter, not susceptible of being created
from nothing, nor of being destroyed) to living bodies, combined
with the results obtained by Fick and Wislicenus in their ascent of
the Faulhorn (vide p. 58), that physiologists were led to entertain
the view that is now held. Fick arid Wislicenus proved that the
oxidation of their muscular tissue, as measured by the amount of
nitrogen voided with the urine, sufficed only for the production of
a small proportion of the force expended in the accomplishment of
the measured work performed. The only conclusion they could
arrive at, therefore, was that muscular power originated from the
oxidation of non-nitrogenous matter, of which their food exclusively
consisted for a short time before, and during the period of the ascent.
Experiments have since been performed by other observers, with
corroborative results, and it may now be looked upon as a settled
point, that non-nitrogenous alimentary matter contributes, in a
manner not before suspected, to muscular force production.
As a sequel to this deduction, Professor Frankland 1 undertook
the experimental determination of the force-producing value of
various articles in common use as food. His results represent the
actual force evolved by complete oxidation, under the form of heat,
measured by means of the calorimeter. Now, heat and mechanical
work are not only mutually convertible, but bear a fixed quantitative
relation to each other. A certain amount of heat, in other words, is
transformable into a definite amount of motive power capable of
performing a fixed and ascertainable amount of mechanical work.
Thus, by calculation, the value of a given article of food is easily
represented in working power. It is in this way that the measure
of working power has been deduced! Professor Frankland's table
will be found annexed. In it the continental weights and measures
are employed. 2 The unit of heat is the amount of heat which will
1 Philos. Mag., vol. xxxii, 1866.
2 Expressed in English weights and measures it is the foot-pound, or the
power required to lift one pound one foot high, which forms the unit of work,
FORCE-PRODUCING VALUE OF FOOD. 415
raise the temperature of 1 gramme (15.432 grains) of water 1 Cent.
(1.8 Fahr.). A kilogrammetre of force is the representative of the
power required to lift 1 kilogramme (2.2046 Ibs. avoidupois) 1 metre
(3.2808 feet) high. The value of the various articles mentioned in
the list in units of heat is the result of direct observation, whilst
that in kilogram metres of force is obtained by calculation upon the
basis of Mr. Joule's estimate, which represents the heat that will
raise the temperature of 1 kilogramme of water 1 Cent, as equiv-
alent to the mechanical power required to lift 1 kilogramme 423J
metres high, or, what is the same thing, 423J kilogrammes 1 metre
high.
In the following table it will be seen that the working value is
not the same where nitrogenous matter has to be dealt with, when
oxidized in the body as when burnt in oxygen. This arises from
the occurrence of complete oxidation in the one case, and not in the
other. Whilst with non-nitrogenous matters complete oxidation of
the elements occurs within the body, like when burnt without, it is
not so with nitrogenous matters. These in the system are only par-
tially consumed, the nitrogen escaping under the form of urea, and
carrying off a portion of the carbon and hydrogen in an imperfectly
oxidized condition. This final product of animal consumption,
therefore, possesses a certain amount of unexpended force (at least
one-seventh of that originally belonging to the material), whereas
the final products of burning in oxygen consisting of free nitrogen,
carbonic acid, and water represent fully exhausted principles. It
is of course assumed, in speaking of the force-producing value of
articles consumed in the body, that this only refers to the material
that is actually digested and utilized, which certainly as a rule is far
from comprising the whole that is consumed as food.
Taking the force-value as given above, and reckoning, in accord-
ance with Helmholtz's calculation, that the animal system is capable
of turning one-fifth of the actual energy developed by the oxidation
of the food to account as external work, Professor Frankland has
and 772 foot-pounds represent, according to Mr. Joule's estimate, the dynamic
equivalent of 1 Fahr., that is, the heat required to raise the temperature of
one pound of water 1 Fahr. constitutes the equivalent of the power required to
lift one pound 772 feet high. Kilogram metres are convertible into foot-pounds
by multiplying by 7.232; one kilogramme (2.2046 Ibs. avoir.) raised one metre
(3.2808 feet) high equalling one pound raised 7.232 feet high.
416
PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
determined the weight and cost of various alimentary articles that
would be required to raise the body-weight of a person of 10 stone,
or 140 Ibs., to a height of 10,000 feet.
Force-producing value of one gramme (15.432 grains} of various articles
of food (Franklaod).
NAME OF FOOD.
Per cent,
of water
present.
FORCE-PRODUCING VALUE.
In units of
heat.
In kilogrammetres of
force.
When
burnt in
oxygen.
When
oxidized in
the body.
Cod-liver oil, . . . . . .
Beef fat. . . .
Butter,
Cocoa-nibs,
Cheese (Cheshire) 24.0
Isinglass,
Bread crust,
Oatmeal,
Flour,
Pea-meal,
Arrowroot,
Ground rice,
Yolk of egg, 47.0
Lump-sugar,
Grape-sugar (commercial), . .
Hard-boiled egg, 62.3
Bread crumb, 44.0
Ham, lean (boiled), 54 4
Mackerel, 70.5
Beef (lean), 70.5
Veal (lean), 70.9
Guinness's stout, 88.4
Potatoes, 73
Whiting, 80.0
Bass's ale (alcohol reckoned), . . 88 4
White of egg, 86.3
Milk, 870
Apples, 82.0
Carrots, 86.0
Cabbage, 88 5
9107
9069
7264
6873
4647
4520
4459
4004
3936
3936
3912
3813
3423
3348
3277
2383
2231
1980
1789
1567
1314
1076
1013
904
775
671
662
660
527
434
3857
3841
3077
2911
1969
1914
1888
1696
1669
1667
1657
1615
1449
1418
1388
1009
945
839
758
664
556
455
429
383
328
284
280
280
223
184
3857
3841
3077
2902
1846
1550
1665
1627
1598
1657
1591
1400
1418
1388
966
910
711
683
604
496
455
422
335
328
244
266
273
220
178
FOOD IN RELATION TO WORK.
417
Weight and cost of various articles of food that would require to be con-
sumed in the system to raise the body of a person weighing 10 stone, or
140 pounds, to a height of 10,000 feet (Frankland).
NAMK OF FOOD.
Weight in Ibs.
required.
At price per ft>.
Cost.
553
s. d.
3 6
*. d.
1 11J-
Beef fat
555
10
5
Butter . ...
693
1 6
1 Oi
Cocoa-nibs,
0.735
1 6
1 H
1.156
10
1H
Oatmeal,
1.281
2|
3*
1 287
1
1 3A
Flour
1 311
2
3
Pea-meal . . . . .
1 335
31-
41
Ground rice . . .
1 341
4
5
1.377
16
22
1 505
6
9
Commercial grapo-sugar, . . .
1.537
2209
3
6i
5
1 2i
Bread,
2.345
2
4|
3 001
1 6
4 6
Mackerel
3 124
8
2 1
Lean beef .
3 532
1
3 6i
Lean veal . .
4 300
1
4 3*
6.068
1
51
Whiting,
6.369
1 4
9 4
7815
li
llf
Milk,
8021
6d. per quart.
1 3*
White of egg
8 745
6
4 4A
9.685
U
1 2i
Cabbage.
12.020
1
1 01
Guinness's stout (bottled), . .
Bass's pale ale (bottled), . . .
6| bottles
9 "
lOrf. per bottle.
lOrf. "
5 7J
7 6
Looked at in the manner above represented, muscular work, like
heat, in opposition to Liebig's theory, is derivable from the oxida-
tion of non-nitrogenous as well as nitrogenous matter, and Professor
Frankland's tables show that .55 Ib. of fatty matter will furnish the
same amount of power as is obtainable from 1.3 Ibs. of flour, 1.5 Ib.
of sugar, 3.5 Ibs. of lean beef, and 5 Ibs. of potatoes. Traube even
inverted the proposition of Liebig, and asserted in the most de-
27
418 PRINCIPLES OP DIETETICS.
cided manner that the substances by the oxidation of which force
is generated in the muscles are not the albuminous constituents of
the tissue, but non -nitrogenous principles, viz., either fats or carbo-
hydrates.
According to the foregoing table, wherein is mentioned the cost of
the various articles of food required to be consumed to accomplish a
given amount of work, it appears, viewing these articles purely in
their capacity as force-producing agents by oxidation, that the same
amount of work is obtainable from oatmeal costing 3 Jd. ; flour, 3}d. ;
bread, 4fd.; and beef fat, 5Jd.; as from beef costing 3s. 6Jd., and
isinglass 1 2s. OJd.
Taking all the facts at present revealed into consideration, we
appear to be warranted in adopting the following terms of expres-
sion. It is in the first place admitted on all hands that food is the
source from which muscular power is derived, and hence the supply
of food should be in proportion to the amount of work that is per-
formed. It was formerly thought that food must be converted into
muscular tissue before it could be available for the performance of
work, which involved the origin of work from nitrogenous alimen-
tary matter. The effect of recent investigation, however, is to show
that it is not to an oxidation of muscular tissue that we are to look
for the force produced. The muscles appear to stand in the position
of instruments for effecting the conversion of the chemical energy
evolved by the oxidation of combustible matter into working power.
Fats and carbohydrates can furnish the combustible matter required,
and, under ordinary circumstances, probably do largely, if not chiefly,
supply it. Nitrogenous matter can do so likewise, but it has to undergo
a preparatory metamorphosis for effecting the separation of nitrogen
in a suitable form for elimination.
As pointed out in a previous part of this work (vide p. 76 et seq\
it is under the form of urea that the nitrogen of digested and ab-
sorbed nitrogenous matter mainly escapes. This body consists, be-
sides nitrogen, of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and the amount of
oxygen is such as to leave a portion of the carbon and hydrogen in a
combustible or oxidizable condition. In the escape of urea, there-
fore, there is a loss or waste of a portion of the force-producing power
of the original nitrogenous principle, and, taking dry nitrogenous
matter, as nearly as possible one-third passes off as urea. The re-
maining two-thirds form the available portion for force-production.
FOOD IN RELATION TO WORK. 419
But this residuary portion is made up in part of oxygen, and it is
only in reality 50 per cent, of the original nitrogenous matter that
consists of carbon and hydrogen in an oxidizable condition. Thus it
is that, for force-production, nitrogenous matter is of less value than
the fats and carbohydrates.
Observation shows that the results of experience fully accord with
the teachings of science. In the case of navvies and other hard-work-
ing men the appetite is known by the employer to form a measure of
capacity for work. A falling off of the appetite means, that is to
say, a diminished capacity for the performance of work. A farmer,
where wages were good, when asked " how it was that he paid his
laborers so well ?" replied, " that he could not afford to pay them
less, for he found that less wages produced less work." Indeed, one
might just as reasonably expect that a fire would burn briskly with
a scanty supply of fuel, or a steam-engine work with a deficient sup-
ply of coal, as that a man could labor upon a meagre diet. Men
have also learned, where arduous work has to be performed, and simi-
larly in cold climates where a large amount of heat has to be pro-
duced for the demand is the same in the two cases that the re-
quirements are best met by a liberal consumption of fatty matter
the most efficient kind of force-producing material with the food.
The fat bacon relished and eaten with his bread by a hard-working
laborer yields, at a minimum cost, the force he forms the medium for
producing.
As thus considered, the non-nitrogenous alimentary principles ap-
pear to possess a higher dietetic value than the nitrogenous, and
when regarded solely in relation to capacity for force-production,
there is no doubt they in reality do so. But there is a further point
to be looked at. The physical development and maintenance of the
body must be likewise taken into account, and for this, it is nitro-
genous alimentary matter only that can supply what is needed.
AVherever vital operations are going on, there exists nitrogenous
matter. It is, indeed, through the instrumentality of nitrogenous
matter that the operations of life occur. The tissues which form the
instrument of living action require to be constructed. in the first in-
stance ; and next to be constantly renovated, to compensate for the
loss by deterioration which is continually going on. Thus, a demand
for nitrogenous alimentary matter is created quite apart from direct
contribution to force-production ; and, further, not only is nitroge-
420 " PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
nous matter required for .the construction and repair of the tissues,
but likewise to form a constituent of the secretions, for all secre-
tions which possess active properties owe them to the presence of a
nitrogenous principle. Here, then, is an additional demand for ni-
trogenous matter, and it is to be remarked, that as increased work
leads to an increased development of the tissues employed, and
thereby an increased appropriation of nitrogenous matter, so it calls
for an increased production of secretions in consequence of the
larger amount of food that has to be prepared for consumption. In
this way, theoretically, without contributing in a direct manner
to force-production, the performance of work may be looked upon
as necessitating a proportionate supply of nitrogenous alimentary
matter.
Practically, it is found that hard work is best performed under a
liberal supply of nitrogen-containing food. The reason probably is
that it leads to a better nourished condition of the muscles and of
the body generally. Under the use of animal food, which is char-
acterized by its richness in nitrogenous matter, the muscles, it is
affirmed, are observed to be firmer and richer in solid constituents
than under subsistence upon food of a vegetable nature. What
meat is to man, corn, which of all vegetable fodder contains the al-
buminates in the largest proportion, is to the horse. Highly bred
horses require highly nitrogenous food. The Arab, says Bonders,
never lets his horse eat grass and hay to satiety. Its chief food is
barley, and in the wilderness it gets milk, and if great effort is re-
quired, even camel's flesh. The horses which in Sahara are used for
hunting ostriches are kept nearly exclusively on camel's milk and
dried beans. In the case of our horses, too, he continues, it is well
known that to do heavy work they require more than grass and
hay. Corn is necessary to give strength and activity. Coachmen
know that " the oats must be in them." In order to perform hard
work horses must have, not watery, but firm muscles, and the food
which serves best, viz., the more richly nitrogenous, to produce
such muscles, is afterwards necessary to maintain their condition.
As albuminous food produces firm muscles, so exercise makes them
red. To sum up, science intimates that a liberal supply of nitroge-
nous matter is necessary to produce and maintain muscles in a good
condition for work, and the result of experience is to confirm it.
FOOD IN RELATION TO WORK. 421
I have been speaking of food considered in relation to the per-
formance of work, but it would be unphilosophical to look at it
only in this light. The question should be viewed under a broader
aspect, and the point really for the physiologist to discuss is under
what combination of alimentary principles the highest state of de-
velopment, both mental and physical, is attainable. If regarded as
living for the mere performance of work, and looked at economi-
cally, man, it may be said, would bear an unfavorable comparison
with a machine set in motion by steam. Mechanical work is under
no form so costly as under that produced by muscular agency, and
particularly by that of man. It has been calculated, it is true (vide
p. 22), that whilst, through the medium of the animal system, one-
fifth of the power stored up in the food consumed is realizable as
external mechanical work, the amount realizable from fuel is only
one-tenth in the case of even the best constructed steam-engine, the
remainder being dissipated or lost as heat. Thus far the animal
machine is more economical of its force than the machine of artifi-
cial construction ; but, on the other hand, the fuel (food) consumed
in the former is very much more costly than that consumed in the
latter. From this consideration human labor can never compete in
economy with steam, and hence, as suggested by Bonders, the worst
use to make of a man -is to employ him exclusively in mechanical
work a proposition which harmonizes with the increasing intro-
duction of machinery in our advancing age of civilization. Letheby, 1
on the subject of the comparative costliness of food and fuel, says,
" Taking a steam-engine of one horse-power (that is, a power of
raising 33,000 Ibs. a foot high per minute) it will require two horses
in reality to do the same work for ten hours a day, or twenty-four
men ; and the cost would be lOd. for the steam-engine, 8s. 4d. for
the two horses, and just 2 sterling for the twenty-four men."
From what has preceded we may conclude that, with a supply of
nitrogenous matter sufficient for the thorough development and sub-
sequent maintenance of the body in good condition, the best materials
for the production of working power, as well as heat, are the non-
nitrogenous principles, and that of these the fats are more effective
than the others.
1 Cantor Lectures "On Food," 1870, p. 109.
422
PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
Tables have been given of the relative amounts of the different
alimentary principles requisite for the proper support of life, such
tables having been framed either by ascertaining through observa-
tion the minimum upon which the body can be maintained in a
healthy state, or by stopping the supplies from without and estimating
the consumption of material occurring in the system from the out-
goings found by examination to take place. The latter method
must be discarded as fallacious. Existence under an absence of food
fails to represent the natural state, and the outgoings fall short of
their ordinary amount : a portion being naturally derivable from
food metamorphosis, as well as from the consumption of material by
oxidation for life manifestation.
The table given by Moleschott is generally accepted as furnishing
a fair representation of a standard or model diet that is, a diet con-
taining the requisite combination of alimentary principles for just
maintaining health, in a person of average height and weight, under
exposure to a temperate climate and a moderate amount of muscular
work. It is as follows :
Alimentary substances in a dry state required daily for the support of an
ordinary working man of average height and weight (Moleschott).
DRY FOOD.
In oz. avoir.
In grains.
In grammes.
Albuminous matter, ....
Fatty matter, .
4.587
2 964
2006
1296
130
84
14.250
6234
404
S a lt
1.058
462
30
Total,
22.859
9998
648
Thus about 23 oz. form the quantity of dry solid matter contained
in this standard diet, and a fifth of it is composed of nitrogenous
matter. If we reckon that our ordinary food contains, say .50 per
cent, of water, these 23 oz. will correspond to 46 .oz. of solid food in
the condition in which it is consumed. To complete the alimentary
ingesta, a further quantity of from 50 oz. to 80 oz. of water may be
put down as taken, under some form or other, daily.
STANDARD DIET. 423
The dynamic or force-producing value of this daily standard diet
amounts to 3960 foot-tons. 1
It must be distinctly understood that the above quantities are to
be looked upon only as yielding what is necessary for the support of
life under medium conditions. The amount of material consumed
in the body, and, therefore, the food required to compensate for the
loss occurring, varies with the external temperature and the work
performed. In speaking of a standard diet, the expression must not,
therefore, be taken for more than it is really worth. It would be as
absurd to look upon a certain diet as adjusted to the requirements of
every particular case as to assign to a certain amount of coal the
capacity, when consumed in a grate, of maintaining a room at a given
degree of heat under varying states of external temperature; or, when
consumed in a furnace, of enabling a locomotive to propel a train
irrespective of its weight over a given number of miles.
Men are led by instinct to adjust the quantity of food consumed
to the particular requirements existing, and it is well known that the
1 For calculating the dynamic value the experimental determinations of Frank-
land are used. These, as has been previously explained, were obtained by ascer-
taining with the calorimeter how much heat is evolved during the oxidation of
a givjen quantity of a substance subjected to examination. The measured heat
is then transformed into its equivalent of working power; and, represented in
kilogrammetres, or force required to raise a kilogramme one metre high (vide p.
415). The following are the figures given for the under-mentioned alimentary
articles which have been taken as representing the three groups of organic ali-
mentary principles.
Force produced by the oxidation of one gramme (15 432 grains) as consumed within
the body.
In kilogrammetres.
Albumen (purified), .... 1805
Fat (beef fat), . . * . . . 3841
Starch (arrowroot), .... 1657
Kilogrammetres are convertible into foot-tons (tons lifted one foot high) by
multiplying by .0032285. Below are given the figures representing the foot-ton
value of an ounce.
Force produced by the oxidation of one ounce (437.5 grains] as consumed
within the body.
In foot-tons.
Albumen (purified), . . . . 16520
Fat (beef fat), 351.56
Starch (arrowroot), .... 151.66
424 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
appetite is sharpened by exposure to cold and under the performance
of labor, and lessened by warmth and habits of inactivity.
Travellers have dilated on the large amount of food consumed by
the inhabitants of cold as compared with that consumed by the in-
habitants of temperate and hot climates. Accounts are given which
almost appear incredible regarding the enormous quantities of food
devoured by dwellers in the Arctic regions. Thus Sir John Ross 1
states that an Esquimaux "perhaps eats twenty pounds of flesh and
oil daily." Sir W. Parry, 2 as a matter of curiosity, one day tried
how much food an Esquimaux lad, scarcely full-grown, would con-
sume if allowed his full tether. The food was weighed, and, besides
fluids, he got through, in twenty hours, 8J Ibs. of flesh and If Ibs.
of bread and bread-dust, and "did not consider the quantity extra-
ordinary." Sir George Simpson, 3 from his travelling experience in
Siberia, says : " In one highly important particular the Yakuti may
safely challenge all the rest of the world. They are the best eaters
on the face of the earth." Having heard more on this subject than
he could bring himself to believe, he resolved to test the matter by
the evidence of his own senses. He procured a couple of men, who
had, he states, a tolerable reputation in that way, and prepared a
dinner for them consisting of 36 Ibs. avoirdupois of beef and 18 Ibs.
of butter for each of them. By the end of an hour they had got
through half of their allowance in Sir George Simpson's presence.
Their stomachs at this time projected "into a brace of kettledrums."
They were then left in charge of deputies, and Sir George was as-
sured, on returning two hours later, that all had been consumed.
He remarks that, after such surfeits, the gluttons remain for three or
four days in a state of stupor, neither eating nor drinking, and mean-
while are rolled about, with a view to the promotion of digestion.
It must not, of course, be considered that such accounts afford
ordinary examples. Illustrations can also be given of the perform-
ance of similar feats of gluttony by the inhabitants of other regions
1 Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a Northwest Passage, p. 448.
London, 1835.
2 Second Voyage for the Discovery of the Northwest Passage, p. 413. Lon-
don, 1824.
3 Narrative of a Journey Round the World during the Years 1841 and 1842,
vol. ii, p. 309. London, 1847.
ADJUSTMENT OF FOOD TO CLIMATE AND WORK. 425
of the globe. The Hottentots and Bosjesmans of Southern Africa,
where food is not really required to the same extent, are equally con-
spicuous, according to the records of travellers, for their gormandiz-
ing propensities. " The Hottentots," says Barrow, 1 " are the greatest
gluttons upon the face of the earth. Ten of our Hottentots ate a
middling-sized ox, all but the two hind legs, in three days." Re-
garding the Bosjesmans, he says: "The three who accompanied us
to our wagons had a sheep given to them about five in the evening,
which was entirely consumed by them before the noon of the follow-
ing day. They continued, however, to eat all night, without sleep
and without intermission, till they had finished the whole animal.
After this their lank bellies were distended to such a degree that
they looked less like human creatures than before."
Putting aside these extraordinary revelations as devoid of physio-
logical import, the bodily experience of those engaged in Arctic
travelling affords sufficient evidence for our purpose. " He who is
well fed," remarks Sir John Ross, 2 " resists cold better than the man
who is stinted, while the starvation from cold follows but too soon
a starvation in food In every expedition or voyage to a
polar region," he further observes, " at least if a winter residence is
contemplated, the quantity of food should be increased, be that as
inconvenient as it may. It would be very desirable, indeed, if the
men could acquire the taste for Greenland food, since all experience
has shown that the large use of oil and fat meats is the true secret of
life in these frozen countries." Sir John Franklin 3 also states
" During the whole of our march we experienced that no quantity
of clothing could keep us warm while we fasted ; but on those occa-
sions on which we were enabled to go to bed with full stomachs we
passed the night in a warm and comfortable manner."
Turning now to the adjustment of food to the performance of
work, it is mentioned by Liebig 4 that the English navvies who were
sent out during the Crimean war to make the Balaclava railroad con-
sumed daily from 150 (5.291 oz.) to 159 (5.608 oz.) grammes of
1 Account of Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa. 1801.
2 Op. cit.
3 Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in the Years 1819 to
1822, p. 424. London, 1823.
4 Lancet, 1869, vol. i, p. 5.
426 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
albuminate, and that the men in the Munich breweries, where the
work is heavy, consume on an average 165 grammes (5.820 oz.) per
diem, whilst the amount entering into the rations of the Bavarian
and English soldier, in time of peace, is about 126 grammes
(4.444 oz.).
Dr. Playfair 1 has collected and grouped the dietaries of persons
engaged in various ways. His arrangement shows that there is in
practice a correspondence between the amount of work performed
and of food consumed. The dictates of experience are seen to be in
harmony with the suggestions of science. In order to give a repre-
sentation of the relative value of different dietaries the amounts of
the nutritive principles require to be ascertained and set forth.
This is the only way by which dissimilar diets can be brought to
uniformity so as to allow of anything like an exact comparison being
made.
Now, to ascertain the amounts of the alimentary principles con-
tained in a given dietary, or to fix its dietetic value, the composi-
tion of the constituent articles requires to be known. Tables have
been given by different authorities representing the composition of
the various articles of food. No two tables, however, will be found
exactly to agree. The composition, in fact, of an alimentary sub-
stance is in no case fixed and invariable. It is not surprising, there-
fore, that the results furnished by different analysts should vary.
Taking, however, the figures of an established chemical authority as
a basis of calculation, sufficient reliance may be placed upon the
estimate yielded. It is true the amounts of nutritive principles
worked out must not be looked upon as representative of anything
like absolute precision, still they may be regarded as sufficiently near
for all practical purposes. The following table is drawn from Dr.
Letheby's work, 2 with a few additions selected from a table compiled
bv Dr. Parkes. 3
1 On the Food of Man in Relation to his Useful Work. Lecture delivered at
the Royal Society, Edinburgh, and Royal Institution, London, April, 1865.
2 " On Food," Cantor Lectures, 1870, 1st ed., p. 6.
3 Practical Hygiene, 3d ed., p. 165.
COMPOSITION OF FOOD, IN ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 427
Table showing the percentage composition of various articles of Food.
(From a table furnished by Letheby, with additions marked thus f from one furnished by Parkes.)
Water.
Albumen, &c.
Starch, &c. Sugar.
Fat.
Salts.
Bread,
37
8 1
47 4 36
1 6
2 3
Biscuit, f
g
15 6
73 4
1 3
1 7
Wheat flour,
15
108
66.3 4 2
2.0
1 7
Barley meal,
15
6.3
694 4.9
2.4
2.0
15
12 6
58 4 54
56
3
Rye meal,
15
80
69 5 3.7
20
1.8
Indian corn meal, ....
Rice,
Peas,
14
13
16
11.1
6.3
23.0
64 7 0.4
79 1 0.4
55.4 2.0
8.1
0.7
2.1
1.7
0.5
2.5
Arrowroot,
Potatoes,
18
75
2 1
82.0
18 8 32
2
7
83
1.3
8.4 6.1
0.2
1.0
Parsnips,
82
1 l
96 58
5
1
Turnips, . . .
91
1 2
51 21
6
'Cabbage,!
91
2
5 8
5
7
Sii <r ar . . .
5
95
Treacle, .
23
77
"Vow milk,
86
4 1
... 52
3 9
8
66
2.7
2.8
26.7
1.8
Skim milk,
88
4
... 54
1 8
8
Buttermilk,
88
4 1
: . . 64
7
8
Cheese.f
36.8
33.5
24.3
6.4
Cheddar cheese, ....
36
28.4
31.1
4.5
Skim cheese,
44
44 8
6 3
4 9
72
19.3
3 6
5 1
Fat beef,
51
14.8
29.8
4.4
Lean mutton,
72
53
18.3
12.4
4.9
31.1
4.8
3 5
Veal,
63
16.5
15.8
4.7
Fat pork .
39
9 8
48 9
2 3
24
7.1
66.8
2.1
15
8.8
73.3
2.9
Ox liver,
74
18 9
4 1
30
Tripe,
68
13 2
16 4
2 4
2 Cooked meat, roast, no \
drippingbeinglost. Boil- v
ed assumed to be thesamef J
Poultry,
54
74
27.6
21.0
15.45
38
2.95
1.2
White fish,
78
18.1
2.9
1.0
Eels,
75
9.9
13.8
1.3
77
16.1
5.5
1.4
Entire eg "
74
14
10 5
1 5
"White of e^g, ....
78
20 4
1 6
52
16.0
30.7
1.3
15
83.0
2.0
91
0.1
8.7
0.2
The nitrogenous matter in Dr. Parkes's table is put down as 0.2, but 2.0 is evidently meant.
Ranke's analysis.
428 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
Playfair's dietaries, to which reference has been made, will now be
introduced. The food is brought into its equivalent in nutritive
principles. I have calculated and appended to each the dynamic,
or force-producing value, according to the determinations of Frank-
land. The dynamic value must not be taken for more than it is
really worth. It is scarcely necessary to state that the proper dis-
tinction must be kept in view between dynamic and nutritive value.
Subsistence diet. This is drawn from certain prison dietaries; the
diet of needlewomen in London ; the common dietary for convales-
cents in the Edinburgh Infirmary ; and the average diet during the
cotton famine in Lancashire in 1862. The mean of these several
dietaries gives a daily allowance of
Nitrogenous matter, .... 2.33 oz.
Fat, 0.84 "
Carbohydrates, . . . * . 11.69"
Dynamic value 1 of daily allowance, 2453 foot-tons.
Diet of adult in full health with moderate exercise. The dietaries
of the English, French, Prussian, and Austrian soldiers during peace
are taken as the basis of this class. The mean of these dietaries
stands as follows :
Nitrogenous matter, .... 4.215oz.
Fat, . . . . . . . 1.397 "
Carbohydrates, 18.690 "
Mineral matter, 0.714 "
Dynamic value, 4021 foot-tons.
Diet of active laborers. To represent this class Dr. Play fair has
placed together the dietaries of soldiers engaged in the arduous duties
of war, viz., those of the English during the Crimean and Kaffir
wars; the French during the Crimean war; the Prussians during the
Schleswig war; the Austrians during the Italian war; the Russians
during the Crimean war; the Dutch during the Belgian war; and
those of the Federal and Confederate armies in the American war of
1861-5. The mean of the above gives the following quantities :
Nitrogenous matter, .... 6.41 oz.
Fat, 2.41
Carbohydrates, 17.92 "
Mineral matter, 0.68 "
Dynamic value, 4458 foot-tons.
1 Vide note, p. 423.
PLAYFAIR'S DIETARIES IN RELATION TO WORK. 429
In addition to the group just furnished Dr. Playfair points to the
dietaries of the Royal Engineers during peace as affording a repre-
sentation of the amount of food required by laboring men performing
a fair, but not an excessive, amount of work during the twenty-four
hours. In this branch of the military service, he says, the men
while in the depot at Chatham are actively occupied either in con-
structing field-works, or in pursuing their avocations as artisans, from
which class of people they are selected. The actual amount of food
consumed by 495 men belonging to different companies was carefully
ascertained for twelve consecutive days and reduced to its dietetic
value. The mean of all the returns came out as follows:
Nitrogenous matter, ..... 5.08 oz.
Fat, 2.91
Carbohydrates, 22.22 "
Mineral matter, 0.93 "
Dynamic value, 5232 foot-tons.
Diet of hard-working laborers. Dr. Playfair remarks that we do
not possess many well-recorded examples of ordinary laborers 7 diets
containing precise information as regards amounts. In those included
in his table, however, the actual weight of food consumed was de-
termined. They comprise the dietary of the English navvy engaged
in tjie Crimea, and in the construction of the Rouen railway; of hard-
worked weavers; of fully-fed tailors; and of blacksmiths. With
these are grouped the dietaries of the English and French sailor, and
the mean given stands as follows :
Nitrogenous matter, ..... 5.64 oz.
Fat, 2.34 "
Carbohydrates, 20.41 "
Dynamic value, 4849 foot-tons.
In the first and last of these dietaries nothing, it will be observed,
is said of mineral matter. Reckoning, however, that an average
amount is here supplied, the lowest of the foregoing series of dietaries
will comprise between 15 and 16 oz. of dry food, and the highest a
little over 31 oz. The amount of nitrogenous matter present stands
in a varying proportion of from about the one-fifth to the one-sixth
and a half of the whole.
The English soldier on home service, says Dr. Parkes, receives
from Government one pound of bread and three-quarters of a pound
430 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
of meat, and buys additional bread, vegetables, milk, and groceries.
The nutritive value of his usual food is represented by Dr. Parkes
to be as follows :
Nitrogenous matter, 3.86 oz.
Fat, 1.30 "
Carbohydrates, ...... 17.35 "
Mineral matter, 0.808"
The supply of carbon in this diet, as calculated by Dr. Parkes, is
4718 grains, and of nitrogen only 266 grains per diem.
The dynamic value calculated in the same manner as in the case
of the preceding dietaries amounts to 3726 foot-tons.
By Dr. Playfair 1 the nutritive value of the English soldier's diet
is given as somewhat higher, thus :
Nitrogenous matter, ..... 4.250 oz.
Fat, 1.665
Carbohydrates, 18.541 "
Mineral matter, ...... 0.789 "
D3 r namic value, 4099 foot-tons.
According to Dr. Playfair 2 also, the nutritive value of the English
sailor's fresh meat diet stands as follows :
Nitrogenous matter, 5.00 oz.
Fat, 2.57 "
Carbohydrates, 14.39 "
Dynamic value, 3911 foot-tons.
Workhouse dietaries, although applied to large numbers of people,
and followed with scrupulous attention to weight and measure, fail
to afford information of the kind required for advancing our position
with reference to the point under consideration. They are framed
particularly for the maintenance of the aged, the infirm, the sick,
and the young. There are but few able-bodied people as inmates of
these establishments, and the diet for this particular class is, perhaps,
often fixed below what would be needed for a permanency, so that
no encouragement may be offered to a prolonged stay being made.
Moreover, although model dietaries are issued by the Local Govern-
ment Board, the local authorities have the power to frame dietaries
of their own, and provided they are considered to furnish sufficient
food, sanction to their adoption is given. Thus it happens that in
1 On' the Food of Man in Eelation to his Useful Work, Edin , 1865, p. 11.
2 Op. cit., p. 18.
PRISON DIETARIES IN RELATION TO WORK. 431
point of detail great diversity prevails within the different establish-
ments throughout the country.
For the various county and borough gaols the same liberty exists
as in the case of workhouses. Dietaries have been recommended by
the Home Office for different classes of prisoners according to the
duration of sentence, and to whether it is with or without hard labor,
but it is left to the discretion of the county authorities to adopt them
or to frame others of their own. The result is, that some have con-
formed whilst a larger number have not, and thus, again, there is
much diversity to deal with. For long sentences the dietaries must
necessarily be adequate to meet the requirements of life, but for short
sentences the punishment of confinement is increased by a scanty al-
lowance of food. For instance, in the recommendations from the
Home Office, the daily allowance for prisoners sentenced for less than
seven days without hard labor consists of 1 Ib. of bread and 2 pints
of oatmeal gruel, made with 2 oz. of oatmeal to the pint; and for
over seven days and under twenty-one, of 1J Ibs. of bread and two
pints of gruel. The nutritive value of the first-named diet stands
thus 1.800 oz. of nitrogenous matter, .480 oz. of fat, and 10.712 oz.
of carbohydrates; and of the second 2.448 oz. of nitrogenous mat-
ter, .608 oz. of fat, and 14.792 oz. of carbohydrates. For longer
terms potatoes and meat are also allowed.
In the Government convict 1 establishments the prisoners are all
under long sentence, and uniformity is carried out in classes arranged
according to occupation. This constitutes a rational principle of
1 With convicts sentenced to hard labor the hours of labor, I notice, are mnde
to vary in the summer and winter, being 10 hrs. 40 min. per diem in the former,
and 8 hrs. 55 min. in the latter. "Whether this arrangement has been designed
in relation to food, or for some other reason of prison management, 1 do not
know, but it stands in harmony with what is rational in a physiological point of
view. Both the work performed and heat produced must be represented by an
equivalent of food, and under the arrangement before us the food which corre-
sponds to the extra amount of labor demanded of the convicts in the summer is
free for appropriation to the production of the extra amount of heat necessitated
in the winter. If the food were exactly adjusted to the requirements in the sum-
mer it would be insufficient for the accomplishment of the same amount of labor
during the winter. To provide for the production of the extra amount of heat
required in the. winter there must be either an increase in the amount of food or
a diminution in the amount of labor. The latter course in prison management
is observed to be pursued.
432 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
dieting. The health of the prisoners must be maintained, and the
diet is such as has been found by experience to suffice for this end.
On the other hand, upon the score of economy, and likewise that no
unnecessary bodily comfort may be supplied, the food is reduced to
as short an allowance as is found to be compatible with the preser-
vation of health. These dietaries, therefore, should afford us illus-
trations of just the requisite quantity of food for supporting life
under the performance of different amounts of labor. For these
reasons I will introduce here the dietaries at the present time in use;
and, for the purpose of comparison, give their calculated nutritive
value founded on the composition of food according to the table fur-
nished at p. 427.
The cocoa supplied consists of prepared cocoa, which is contracted
for as such. It doubtless, like other forms of prepared cocoa, con-
tains a certain admixture of starchy, or starchy and saccharine mat-
ter. I have taken the average of HassalPs results of the examina-
tion of various samples of prepared cocoa, and reckoned that it con-
tains about 35 per cent, of carbohydrates in combination with the
pure article, the composition of which is assumed to be in accordance
with the analysis given by Payen.
The nutritive value of the meat is calculated from the analysis of
cooked meat given by Parkes. The composition of cheese is also
taken from the analysis furnished by Dr. Parkes, which represents a
medium quality.
The shins are made into soup, and I have assumed that the whole
of the animal matter is extracted from the bones. It was ascertained
for me that the shins actually supplied consist upon an average of
59.57 per cent, of meat and 40.43 per cent of bone. The meat is
reckoned in accordance with the composition of lean beef (vide table,
p. 427). j As regards the bone, I found by observation that a fore
and hind shin taken together and deprived of meat lost 15.29 per
cent, of water upon being dried by exposure to heat until they ceased
to lose weight. The dry bone is reckoned as consisting of one-third
animal matter and two- thirds earthy, and the animal matter is cal-
culated as of the same value as lean meat.
In the absence of a record of the analysis of onions they have been
assumed to be of the same nutritive value as turnips an assump-
tion which, even if not precisely correct, cannot materially influence
the calculated result.
DIETARIES OF ENGLISH CONVICT ESTABLISHMENTS. 433
HARD LABOR DIET.
(Daily period of labor summer, 10 hours 40 minutes; winter, 8 hours 55 minutes.)
Weekly allowance.
Nitroge-
nous
matter.
Carbohy-
drates.
Fat.
Mineral
matter.
Total solid
matter.
oz.
Cocoa, .... 3 500
oz.
0.560
oz.
1.540
oz.
1.295
oz.
0.105
oz.
3.500
Oatmeal, ... 14 OOu
Milk, .... 14.000
Molasses, . . 7 000
1.764
0.574
8.932
0.728
5.390
0784
0.546
0.420
0.112
11.9UO
1.960
5.390
Salt, 3.500
3 500
3 500
Barley, .... 2000
Bread, .... 168.000
(Jheee 4 ooti
0.126
13 608
1 340
1.486
85680
0.048
2.688
972
0.040
3.8*4
216
1.700
105.840
2 528
Flour, .... 8.&25
Meat (cooked with-
out bone or grravy ) 15000
0.931
4 140
6.081
0.172
2 318
0.147
0442
7.331
6 900
Shins (made into
soup), .... 16000
3.376
0.640
4.144
8.160
Suet, 1 500
1 244
0030
1 274
Carrots,. . . . 2000
Onions, .... 3.500
Turnips, ... 2000
Potatoes, . . . 96.000
0.026
0.042
0.024
2.016
0.290
0.252
0.144
21.120
0.004
0.192
0.020
0.021
0.012
0.672
0.340
0.315
0.180
24.000
Total weekly allowance,
28.527
131.643
10.903
13.745
184.818
LIGHT LABOR DIET.
(Labor consists of oakum-picking, Ac.)
Weekly allowance.
Nitro-
genous
matter.
Carbohy-
drates.
Fat.
Mineral
matter.
Total solid
matter.
oz.
Cocoa, .... 3.500
Oatmeal, . . . 14.000
Milk ... 14000
oz.
0.560
1.764
574
oz.
1.540
8932
728
oz.
1.295
0.784
546
oz.
0.105
0.420
112
oz.
3.500
11.900
1 960
Molasses . . . 7.000
Salt ... 3 500
6.390
3 500
5.390
3 500
Barley, . . . ' 2.000
Bread, . . .145000
Cheese, . . . 4.000
0.126
11.745
1 340
1.486
73.950
0.048
2.320
0.972
0.040
3335
216
1.700
91.350
2 528
Flour, .... 4.625
Meat (cooked with-
out bone or afravv), 12.000
0.499
3.312
3.261
0.092
1.854
0.079
0354
3.931
5 520
Shins (made into
soup), .... 12000
2.532
0.480
3 108
6 120
Suet, 0.750
0.622
0.015
0.637
Carrots, .... 2.000
Onions, .... 3.500
Turnips,. . . . 2.000
Potatoes, . . . 96.000
0.026
0.042
0.024
2.016
0.290
0.252
0.144
21 120
0.004
O.'l92
0.020
0.021
0.012
0.672
0.340
0.315
0.180
24.000
Total weekly allowance,
24.560
117.093
9.209
12.009
162.871
28
434
PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT DIET.
(Employment as tailors, shoemakers, weavers, &c.)
Weekly allowance.
Nitro-
genous
matter.
Carbohy-
drates.
Fat.
Mineral
matter.
Total solid
matter.
oz.
Cocoa 3 500
oz.
560
oz,
1 540
oz.
1 295
oz.
105
oz.
3 500
Oatmeal, .... 14.000
Milk, 28.000
1.764
1.148
8.932
1.456
0784
1.092
0.420
0.224
11.900
3.920
Molasses, .... 7.000
Salt, . . . . 3 500
5.390
3 500
5.390
3 500
Barley, .... 1.000
0.063
0.743
0.024
0.020
0.850
Bread 148.000
11.988
75 480
2 368
3 404
93 240
Cheese, . . . 4 000
1.340
972
216
2 528
Flour, . . . 8.625
0.931
6 081
172
147
7 331
Meat (cooked with-
out bone or jravy), 16000
4.416
2 472
472
7 360
Shins (made into
soup) . 8 000
1.688
320
2 072
4 080
Suet, 1.500
Carrots, .... 1.000
Onions, .... 3.000
Turnips, .... 1.000
0.013
0.036
0.012
' 6.145
0.216
0.072
1.244
0.002
0.030
0.010
0.018
0006
1.274
0.170
0270
0.090
Potatoes, .... 96.000
2.016
21.120
0.192
0672
24.000
Total weekly allowance,
25.975
121.175
10.937
11.316
169.403
PENAL DIET.
(For offenders against the prison laws. May be continued for three months. Also used every
fourth day in the place of punishment diet where punishment diet is ordered for more than three
days.)
Daily allowance.
Nitro-
genous
matter.
Carbohy-
drates.
Fat.
Mineral
matter.
Total solid
matter.
oz.
Bread, .... 20.000
Oatmeal, . . . 8.000
Milk, 20.000
oz.
1.620
1.008
0.820
oz.
10.200
5.104
1.040
oz.
0.320
0.448
780
oz.
0.460
0.240
0.160
oz.
12600
6.800
2.800
Potatoes, . . . 16.000
0.336
3.520
0.032
0.112
4.000
Total daily allowance,
3.784
19.864
1.580
0.972
26.200
PUNISHMENT DIET.
(Bread and water diet for the punishment of prisoners.)
Daily allowance.
Nitrogenous
matter.
Carbohy-
drates.
Fat.
Mineral
matter.
Total solid
matter.
oz.
Bread, .... 16.000
oz.
1.296
oz.
8.160
oz.
0.256
oz.
0.368
oz.
10.080
DIETARIES OF ENGLISH CONVICT ESTABLISHMENTS. 435
Representing the nutritive value of these diets in the same man-
ner as that previously adopted, they come out as follows :
Hard Labor Diet per diem.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . 4.075 oz.
Fat, ..'.... 1.557
Carbohydrates, .... 18.806 "
Mineral matter, .... 1.963
Dynamic value, 4072 foot-tons.
Light Labor Diet per diem.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . 3.508 oz.
Fat, 1.315 "
Carbohydrates, . . . . 16.727 "
Mineral matter, .... 1.715 "
Dynamic value, 3577 foot-tons.
Industrial Employment Diet per diem.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . 3.710 oz.
Fat, 1.562
Carbohydrates, .... 17.310 "
Mineral matter, .... 1.616 "
Dynamic value, 3787 foot-tons.
Penal Diet per diem.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . 3.784 oz.
Fat, 1.580
Carbohydrates, .... 19.864 "
Mineral matter, .... 0.972 "
Dynamic value, 4193 foot-tons.
Punishment Diet per diem.
Nitrogenous matter, . . . 1.296 oz.
Fat, 0.256 "
Carbohydrates, . . . .8.160 "
Mineral matter, .... 0.368 :t
Dynamic value, 1541 foot- tons.
On comparing the hard labor diet with the collection of dietaries
framed by Dr. Playfair (vide p. 428), it will be seen that it very
closely conforms with the representative diet for full health and
moderate exercise, and is considerably under that, particularly in
nitrogenous matter, of active laborers. The industrial employment
436 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
diet is of a rather higher nutritive value in each respect than the
light labor diet. The penal diet, whilst containing less nitrogenous
matter than the hard labor diet, surpasses it in carbohydrates, and
has about the same amount of fat. In force-producing value it
holds the higher position of the two. The punishment diet would
be inadequate for the support of life as a continuance.
Some extraordinary instances of subsistence upon a small amount
of food indeed the amount is so small as almost to excite suspicion
with regard to its accuracy are to be found recorded. A well-
known case, remarks Dr. Carpenter, is that of Thomas Wood, the
miller of Billericay, reported to the College of Physicians, in 1767,
by Sir George Baker, in which a remarkable degree of vigor is said
to have been sustained for upwards of eighteen years upon no other
nutriment than 16 oz. of flour made into a pudding with water, no
other liquid of any kind being taken. In nutritive value, 16 oz. of
flour will represent 1.72 oz. of nitrogenous matter, 0.32 oz. of fat,
and 11.28 oz. of carbohydrates.
A more striking instance still is that afforded by the case of
Cornaro, a Venetian of noble descent, who lived in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, and attained an age of upwards of 1QO. Im-
pressed with the conviction that the older a man gets and the less
amount of power he possesses, the less should be the amount of food
consumed, in opposition to the common notion that more should be
taken to compensate for his failing power, he, at about 40 years of
age, resolved to enter upon a new course, and betake himself to a
spare diet, and scrupulously regular mode of life, after having, as
he says, previously led a life of indulgence in eating and drinking,
and having been endowed with a feeble constitution and " fallen into
different kinds of disorders, such as pains in my stomach, and often
stitches, and spices of the gout, attended by what was still worse,
an almost continual slow fever, a stomach generally out of order,
and a perpetual thirst." He also did all that lay in his power "to
avoid those evils which we do not find it so easy to remove. These
are melancholy, hatred, and other violent passions, which appear to
have the greatest influence over our bodies. The consequence was,
that in a few days I began," he adds, " to perceive that such a course
agreed with me very well ; and by pursuing it, in less than a year I
found myself (some persons, perhaps, will not believe it) entirely
LIMITED DIET OF CORNARO. 437
freed from all my complaints. ... I chose wine suited to my
stomach, drinking of it but the quantity I knew I could digest. I
did the same by my meat, as well in regard to quantity as to quality,
accustoming myself to contrive matters so as never to cloy my
stomach with eating or drinking ; but constantly rise from the table
with a disposition to eat and drink still more. In this I conformed
to the proverb which says, that a man, to consult his health, must
check his appetite. . . . What with bread, meat, the yolk of an egg,
and soup, I ate as much as weighed in all 12 oz., neither more nor
less. . . . I drank but 14 oz. of wine." 1 Upon this scanty allowance
Cornaro tells us he perseveringly subsisted, "living in possession of
all his faculties to write a series of discourses, at the respective ages
of 83, 86, 91, and 95, urging others to follow a similar course.
These discourses, which are imbued with vigor and vivacity, and
contain many shrewd remarks on the subject of living, seem to have
excited considerable attention at the time they appeared, and for
many years afterwards. A translation from the Italian original
was published in London in 1768, from which the above extracts
have been taken.
Reference has been made in the foregoing pages to the actual diets
consumed under various conditions, .and the value of these diets in
alimentary principles. It will be instructive now to consider the
elementary components of food in relation to the outgoing elements
from the body. Regarded under this point of view, scientific data
are afforded for showing the combination of alimentary principles
that is best adapted for administering in the most economical man-
ner to the wants of the system. We can ascertain, for instance, the
amount of carbon and nitrogen escaping from the body as products
of destruction, and then with a knowledge of the composition of food
can define the precise kind and amount required for compensation
without any surplus on either side.
To assist in determining the amounts of different alimentary
articles required to be consumed to yield a given daily supply of
nitrogen and carbon, a table has been furnished by Pay en, 2 of which
the following is a copy, with the omission -of such as have been
deemed unimportant :
1 The italics are my own.
2 Substances Alimentaires, Paris, 1865, p. 488.
438
PRINCIPLES OP DIETETICS.
Table, from Pay en, showing the quantity of nitrogen and carbon in 100
parts of various alimentary articles. Under the head of carbon is in-
cluded, not only this element, but likewise its equivalent of the hydrogen 1
existing in the compound in excess of what is necessary to form water
with the oxygen present.
Multiplying the figures representing the nitrogen by 6.5 gives the equivalent amount of
nitrogenous matter.
Nitrogen. Carbon.
Beef, without bone, 3.00 11.00
Roast beef, 3.528 17.76
Bullock's heart, 2.831 16.16
Calves' liver, 3.093 15.68
Foiegras, 2.115 6558
Calves' lights, 3.458 14.50
Sheep's kidneys, 2.655 12.15
Skate, 3.85 12.25
Conger eels, 3.95 12.60
Codfish salted, 5.02 16.00
Sardines in oil, 6.00 29.00
Herrings salted, 3.11 23.00
fresh, 1.83 21.00
Whiting, 2.41 9.00
Mackerel, 3.74 19.26
Sole, 1.91 12.25
Salmon, 2.09 16.00
Pike, 3.25 11.50
Carp, 3.49 12.10
Gudgeons, 2.77 13.50
Eels, 2.00 30.05
Eggs, 1.90 13.50
Cow's milk, 0.66 8.00
Goat's milk, 0.69 8.60
Russian caviare, . . . . . . 4.49 27.41
Mussels (fleshy substance), .... 1.804 9.00
Oysters (fleshy substance), . . . .2.13 7.18
Lobster (raw fleshy substance), . . .2.93 10.96
" (soft internal substance), . . . 1.87 7.30
Cheese, Brie, 2.93 35.00
" Gruyere, 5.00 38.00
Chester, 4.126 41.04
Parmesan, 6.997 40.00
" cream, 2.920 71.10
1 A given quantity of hydrogen is equivalent to three times the amount of
carbon in capacity of appropriating oxygen under conversion respectively into
water and carbonic acid.
PERCENTAGE VALUE OF FOOD IN NITROGEN AND CARBON. 439
Nitrogen. Carbon.
Cheese, Koquefort, 4.210 44.44
Dutch, 4.80 43.54
" Neufchatel, fresh, .... 1.27 60.71
Beans, 4.50 42.00
" green, dried, 4.46 46.00
" Haricots, 3.92 43.00
" dried split, 4.15 48.50
Lentils, 3.87 4300
Peas, dried, ordinary, 3.66 44.00
" split green, dried, 3.91 46.00
Hard wheat from the South, .... 3.00 41.00
Soft wheat, 1.81 39.00
Flour, Parisian white, 1.64 38 50
Eye flour, 1.75 41.00
Barley, 1.90 40.00
Indian corn, 1.70 44.00
Buckwheat, 2.20 42.50
Rice, 1.80 41.00
Oatmeal, 1.95 44.00
Bread, Parisian white, 1.08 29.50
" household, stale, 1.07 28.00
" " new, 1.20 30.00
Potatoes, 0.33 11 00
Carrots, 0.31 5.50
Mushrooms, forced, 0.66 4.520
Truffles, black, 1.350 9 45
" white, 1.532 9.10
Chestnuts, ordinary, 0.64 35.00
" dried, j 1.04 48.00
Gooseberries, ....... 0.14 7.79
Figs, fresh, 0.41 15.50
" dried, 0.92 34.00
Plums, dried, 0.73 28.00
Nuts, fresh, 1.40 10.65
Almonds, sweet, fresh, 2.677 40.00
Coffee, from infusion of 100 grammes (3J oz.), 1.10 9.00
Tea, from infusion of 20 grammes (308 grs.), 0.20 2.10
Chocolate, from 100 grammes (3 oz.), . . 1.52 58 00
Lard, 1.18 71.14
Butter, ordinary fresh, 0.64 83.00
Olive oil, Traces 98.00
Beer, strong, 0.08 4.50
Alcohol, absolute, 62.00
Spirits of wine, 27.00
Wine, 0.016 4.00
440 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
Dr. Parkes 1 sets forth the quantity of nitrogen and carbon con-
tained in the typical alimentary principles, and remarks that the
amount of the two elements present in a given diet may be thence
calculated, presuming its value in alimentary principles to have
been ascertained. Thus, he says :
Nitrogen. Carbon.
1 oz. of water-free albuminate contains . . 69 grains 238 grains.
1 " fat " 345.6 "
1 " " carbohydrate")
> a 194 2 lt
(except lactin) j
1 " " lactin " 175 "
In employing this method it is necessary, in the first place, to
extract, with the aid of the table at p. 427, the dry alimentary prin-
ciples. Then, with the use of the figures above given, the nitrogen
and carbon may be ascertained.
, From the investigations that have been conducted, it appears that
the daily quantity of nitrogen required to compensate for the elimi-
nation occurring under ordinary conditions of life may be said to
range from about 250 to 350 grains (16 to 22 \ grammes); and of
carbon, from 4000 to 6000 grains (259 to 388J grammes). Amongst
badly fed operatives the amounts upon which subsistence has been
maintained have been observed to be as low as about 170 grains
(11 grammes) of nitrogen, and 3600 grains (233 grammes) of
carbon.
Taking Moleschott's model diet (vide p. 422), and applying Dr.
Parkes's method of calculation, the amounts of nitrogen and carbon
come out as follows :
Nitrogen. Carbon.
4.587 oz. dry albuminate, . . . 316 grains 1068 grains.
2.964 " fat, . . . . . ... 1024 "
14.257 " carbohydrate, . 2768 "
Total, . . .316 grains 4860 grains.
These amounts, it will be perceived, correspond with about the
mean of the usual range of ingested nitrogen and carbon mentioned
above.
Let it be assumed, then, that 300 grains ,of nitrogen and 4800
1 Hygiene, third ed., p. 166.
OUTGOING NITROGEN AND CARBON AS A DIET BASIS. 441
grains of carbon are daily required. I will proceed to show, after
the manner adopted by Payen, 1 in what way these elements are
most economically, or with the least waste of material, supplied.
The ratio of the quantities named is as 1 to 16, which implies that
sixteen times as much carbon is required as nitrogen. In albumen
the ratio, on the other hand, is about as 1 to 3.5. Hence, if albumen
alone were supplied, in furnishing the 300 grains of nitrogen, there
would only be 1050 instead of the 4800 grains of associated carbon;
and conversely, if the 4800 grains of carbon were supplied, there
would be 1371 grains of accompanying nitrogen, or rather more than
4| times the amount required. In bread, following Payen's analysis,
the ratio of nitrogen to carbon is as 1 to 30. The amount of bread,
therefore, that would yield 300 grains of nitrogen would contain 30
times the quantity, or 9000 grains of carbon; that is, nearly double
the amount required; and should an amount of bread be consumed
that would just suffice to yield the 4800 grains of carbon, only 160
grains, or rather more than half the quantity of nitrogen required,
would be supplied.
From these considerations it follows that neither bread nor albu-
men is adapted for economically furnishing what is wanted, and
what is true concerning these articles is equally so of others contain-
ing a preponderance of either carbon or nitrogen. It is upon a due
admixture of the two that the principle of adjustment is founded;
and as nitrogenous principles preponderate in animal food and the
carbonaceous or non-nitrogenous in vegetable, we see that the teach-
ings of science harmonize with the instinctive propensity which in-
clines man so universally to the emyloyment of a mixed diet when-
ever the circumstances under which he is placed admit of its being
obtained.
The following tabular arrangement will more forcibly illustrate
the point in question.
Let meat be taken instead of albumen. In round numbers, it con-
tains 1 1 per cent, of carbon and 3 per cent, of nitrogen. 43,637
grains, or rather over 6 Ibs., will thus yield
4800 grains of carbon.
1309 " of nitrogen.
1 Substances Alimentaires, Paris, 1865, p. 483.
442 PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS.
Bread contains, say 30 per cent, of carbon and 1 per cent, of nitro-
gen (Pay en). Hence, 30,000 grains, or rather over 4 Ibs., will yield
9000 grains of carbon.
300 of nitrogen.
In the first case there is the requisite quantity of carbon and a
surplus of 1009 grains of nitrogen, which corresponds with 33,633
grains, or about 4f Ibs., of meat; and in the second, the requisite
quantity of nitrogen and a surplus of 4200 grains of carbon, which
corresponds with 14,000 grains, or 2 Ibs., of bread.
Suppose, now, that a suitable admixture of bread and meat be
given, the result will stand as follows :
Carbon. Nitrogen.
14,000 grains (2 Ibs.) of bread contain . 4200 grains. 140 grains.
5,500 (about f Ib.) of meat)' 6Q5 16g fl
contain /
Total, . . . 4805 grains. 305 grains.
Hence, from 2 Ibs. of bread and about f Ib. of meat we can obtain
a sufficient amount of both carbon and nitrogen ; whilst rather over
6 Ibs. of meat and rather more than 4 Ibs. of bread, if taken singly,
would be respectively required to satisfy the demand in the case of
the two elements.
The train of reasoning here pursued is equally applicable to a
combination of nitrogenous food with the non-nitrogenous principle,
fat. By a proper adjustment of these articles the precise quanti-
ties of carbon and nitrogen required can in a similar manner be sup-
plied without waste in either case.
PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
PROPER FOOD OF MAN.
UPON the supply of a proper quantity and quality of food the
maintenance of health and life is dependent. The records of this
and other nations have from time to time afforded bitter evidence of
how intimately disease and mortality are associated with the supply
of food. Plague } pestilence, and famine stand associated together in
the public mind; and, through an imperfect knowledge of the princi-
ples of dietetics, the most calamitous results have sometimes occurred
from improper dieting amongst large bodies of men. The consider-
ation of food thus becomes a matter of the deepest public importance.
To its physiological contemplation the previous pages have been de-
voted, and now its practical bearings, both in relation to health and
sickness, will form the subject of attention.
As has been already stated, it is to organic nature that we have
to look for our supply of food, and we have found it to be derivable
from both animal and vegetable products. Looking at the various
animal organisms around us, it is noticeable that some are designed
for subsistence upon an exclusively animal, others upon an exclu-
sively vegetable, and others, again, upon a mixed diet.
Let us see what kind of food is best adapted for the support of
man.
It may be premised by saying that no animal possesses so great a
power of accommodating itself to varied external conditions as man,
and this is true of diet as well as other things. Without this power
the distribution of mankind over the surface of the globe must have
been much more limited than it is. The difference of climate in
different latitudes, not only gives rise to different personal require-
ments as regards food, but likewise modifies the character of the
alimentary products that are to be found ; and it happens, as with
444 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
other portions of the plan of nature, that the two are in harmony
with each other. In illustration of this subject I will here introduce
a collection of extracts from various sources, representing the nature
of the food consumed by the inhabitants of different parts of the
globe.
Extracts from the works of various authors descriptive of the kind of food
consumed by the inhabitants of different parts of the globe.
ARCTIC REGIONS. The Esquimaux are mainly an animal feeding
people, and their food consists of the reindeer, musk-ox, walrus,
seals, birds, and salmon. They will, however, eat any kind of ani-
mal food, and are fond of fat and marrow. Lubboctis Prehistoric
Times, 1869, p. 485.
" Our journeys have taught us the wisdom of the Esquimaux ap-
petite, and there are few among us who do not relish a slice of raw
blubber or a chunk of frozen walrus beef. The liver of a walrus
(awuktanuk), eaten with little slices of his fat, of a verity it is a de-
licious morsel. Fire would ruin the curt, pithy expression of vitality
which belongs to its uncooked juices. Charles Lamb's roast pig was
nothing to awuktanuk. I wonder that raw beef is not eaten at home.
Deprived of extraneous fibre, it is neither indigestible nor difficult
to masticate. With acids and condiments, it makes a salad which
an educated palate cannot help relishing, and, as a powerful and
condensed heat-making and antiscorbutic food, it has no rival.
" I make this last broad assertion after carefully testing its truth.
The natives of South Greenland prepare themselves for a long
journey in the cold by a course of frozen seal. At Upernavik they
do the same with the narwhal, which is thought more heat-making
than the seal ; while the bear, to use their own expression, is ' stronger
travel than all.'
" In Smith's Sound, where the use of raw meat seems almost in-
evitable from the modes of living of the people, walrus holds the
first rank. Certainly this pachyderm, whose finely condensed tissue
and delicately permeating fat oh ! call it not blubber assimilate it
to the ox, is beyond all others, and is the very best fuel a man can
swallow. It became our constant companion whenever we could get
it, and a frozen liver upon our sledge was valued far above the same
VARIETIES OF FOOD CONSUMED BY DIFFERENT NATIONS. 445
weight of pemniican." Kane's Arctic Explorations, 1856, vol. ii,
pp. 15, 16.
THE GREENLANDERS. " The choicest dish of the Greenlanders
is the flesh of the reindeer. But as those animals have now become
extremely scarce, and several of them are soon consumed by a hunt-
ing party, they are indebted to the sea for their permanent sus-
tenance, seals, fish, and sea-fowl. Hares and partridges are in no
great estimation as delicacies. The head and fins of the seal are
preserved under the grass in summer, and in winter a whole seal is
frequently buried in the snow. The flesh, half frozen, half putrid,
in which state the Greenlanders term it mikiak, is eaten with the
keenest appetite. The ribs are dried in the air and laid up in store/
The remaining parts of the seal, as well as birds and small fishes,
are eaten, well boiled or stewed with a small quantity of sea-water.
On the capture of a seal the wound is immediately stopped up, to
preserve the blood, which is rolled into balls, like forcemeat." Sim-
monds's Cariosities of Food, 1859, p. 32.
THE ICELANDERS. " The diet of the Icelanders consists almost
solely of animal food, of which fish, either fresh or dried, form by
far the largest proportion. During the summer they have milk and
butter in considerable abundance; but of bread and every other vege-
table food there is the utmost scarcity, and among the lower classes
an almost entire privation As an effect of these circumstances
in the mode of life of the Icelanders, cutaneous diseases, arising from
a cachectic state of the body, are exceedingly frequent among them,
and appear under some of their worst forms. Scurvy and leprosy
are common in the island, occurring especially on the western coast,
where the inhabitants depend chiefly upon fishing, and where the
pastures are inferior in extent and produce Scurvy is observed
to occur with greatest frequency at those periods when there has been
a deficiency of food among the inhabitants, or when the snow and
frost of the winter succeed immediately to a wet autumnal season.
For its cure a vegetable diet is employed, in as far as the circum-
stances of the Icelanders will allow of such means. Fruits of every
kind are altogether wanting to them; but some advantage is derived
from the employment of the Cochlearia (officinalis et Danica], of the
trefoil (Trifolium repens), of the berries and tops of the juniper
446 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
(Juniperus communis), and of the Sedum acre, plants which are all
indigenous in the island. Inflammatory affections of the abdominal
viscera are likewise very common among the Icelanders, chiefly,
perhaps, in consequence of the peculiar diet to which they are accus-
tomed.
" The diet of the Icelanders likewise gives much disposition to
worms, and the ascarides are observed to be particularly frequent."
Mackenzie's Travels in Iceland, 1811, pp. 407-412.
SIBERIA. Lower Kolyma. "One of the women prepares the
frugal dinner or supper, which usually consists of either fish or rein-
deer meat, boiled or fried in train oil. As an occasional delicacy,
they have baked cakes of fish-roe or of dried and finely-pounded
muksuns, which are the substitutes for meal Bread is every-
where rare. From the meal, which is so dear that only the rich can
buy it, a drink is prepared called saturan." WrangeWs Expedition
to the Polar Sea, 1844, p. 75.
The Jakuts. " Their food consists of sour cow's milk and mare's
milk, and of beef and horseflesh. They boil their meat, but never
roast or bake it, and bread is unknown among them. Fat is their
greatest delicacy. They eat it in every possible shape raw, melted,
fresh, or spoiled. In general, they regard quantity more than quality
in their food. They grate the inner bark of the larch, and some-
times of the fir, and mix it with fish, a little meal, and milk, or by
preference with fat, and make it into a sort of broth, which they con-
sume in large quantities. They prepare from cow's milk what is
called the Jakut butter. It is more like a kind of cheese or of curd,
and has a sourish taste ; it is not very rich, and is a very good article
of food eaten alone." WrangeWs Expedition to the Polar Sea, 1844,
p. 23.
NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. "The buffalo meat, however, is
the great staple and staff of life in this country [Mandan Village,
Upper Missouri], and seldom, if ever, fails to afford them an abun-
dant and wholesome means of subsistence. There are, from a fair
computation, something like 250,000 Indians in these western re-
gions, who live almost exclusively on the flesh of these animals,
VARIETIES OF FOOD CONSUMED BY DIFFERENT NATIONS. 447
through every part of the year." Catlings Letters on the North
American Indians, vol. i, p. 122.
INDIAN TRIBES OF THE INTERIOR OF OREGON. "They all
prefer their meat putrid, and frequently keep it until it smells so
strong as to be disgusting. Parts of the salmon they bury under
ground for two or three months, to putrefy, and the more it is de-
cayed the greater delicacy they consider it." Wilkes, V. S. Explor-
ing Expedition, vol. iv, p. 452.
MEXICO. " The Indians of New Spain those, at least, subject
to European domination generally attain to a pretty advanced
age. As peaceable cultivators and inhabitants of villages, they are
not exposed to the accidents attending the wandering life of the
hunters and warriors of the Mississippi and of the savannas of the
Rio Gila. Accustomed to uniform nourishment of an almost en-
tirely vegetable nature, that of their maize and cereal gramina, the
Indians would undoubtedly attain very great longevity if their con-
stitutions were not weakened by drunkenness. Their intoxicating
liquors are rum, a fermentation of maize and the root of the Jatropha,
and especially the wine of the country, made of the juice of the
Agave Americana, called pulque. This last liquor is nutritive, on
account of the undecomposed sugar which it contains. Many In-
dians addicted to pulque take for a long time very little solid nourish-
ment. \Yheu used with moderation, it is very salutary, and by for-
tifying the stomach, assists the function of the gastric system."
Taylor's Selections from HumboldCs Works relating to Mexico, 1824,
pp. 67, 68.
" The usual food of the laboring classes, throughout such states as
I visited, is the thin cake of crushed maize, which I have described
under the name of tortilla ; and it is remarkable that, notwithstand-
ing the great abundance of cattle in many places, the traveller can
rarely obtain meat in the little huts which he finds on his road.
Chilis are eaten abundantly with the tortillas, being stewed in a kind
of sauce, into which the cakes are dipped. A few fowls are at times
to be seen wandering near the cottages, or some pigs rambling
through the village, and the flesh of these creatures furnishes a feast
on holidays." Lyon's Residence in Mexico, 18-28, vol. ii, pp. 244-5.
448 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
PAMPAS INDIANS. " The Indians of whom I heard the most
were those who inhabit the vast unknown plains of the Pampas,
and who are all horsemen, or rather pass their lives on horseback.
The life they lead is singularly interesting. In spite of the climate,
which is burning hot in summer and freezing in winter, these brave
men, who have never yet been subdued, are entirely naked, and have
not even a covering for their head.
" They live together in tribes, each of which is governed by a
cicique ; but they have no fixed place of residence. Where the pas-
ture is good, there are they to be found until it is consumed by their
horses, and they then instantly move to a more verdant spot. They
have neither bread, fruit, nor vegetables; but they subsist entirely on
the flesh of their mares." F. B. Head's Journeys across the Pampas,
1828, p. 120.
u The ground is the bed on which, from their infancy, they have
always slept. The flesh of mares is the food on which they have
been accustomed to subsist," Ibid., p. 122.
Sir Francis Head, when crossing the Pampas, got tired at first
with the constant galloping, and was forced to ride in a carriage after
five or six hours on horseback. " But after," he says, " I had been
riding for three or four months, and had lived on beef and water, I
found myself in a condition which I can only describe by saying
that I felt no exertion could kill me. Although I constantly ar-
rived so completely exhausted that I could not speak, yet a few
hours' sleep upon my saddle on the ground always so completely
restored me, that for a week I could daily be upon my horse before
sunrise, could ride till two or three hours after sunset, and have
really tired ten and twelve horses a day. This will explain the
immense distances which people in South America are said to ride,
which I am confident could only be done on beef and water."
Ibid., p. 51.
GUACHOS. " We find a people living between the twentieth and
fortieth parallel of latitude, in the Argentine Eepublic, known as
Guachos [the half-white inhabitants of the Pampas]. They are a
mixed race of Indian and Spanish blood, who are employed at the
ranches or great cattle stations, and spend the greater part of their
time on -horseback, in hunting the half-wild cattle which roam over
.the wide grassy plains extending from the Atlantic coast to the foot
VARIETIES OF FOOD CONSUMED BY DIFFERENT NATIONS. 449
of the Andes. . . . These people live entirely on roast beef, with a
little salt, scarcely ever tasting farinaceous or other vegetable food,
and their sole beverage is mat<3, or Paraguay tea, taken without
sugar." Odontoloyical Society's Transactions, vol. ii, new series,
p. 44.
THE NATIVES OF AUSTRALIA. "Their food consists of fish
when near the coasts ; but when in the woods, of opossums, ban-
dicoots, and almost any animal they can catch, and also a kind of
(/rub, which they find in decayed wood. Sometimes they spear a
kangaroo. They roast all the fish and animals on the ashes, skin
and all, just as they catch them. When it is pretty well done they
divide it amongst themselves by tearing it with their teeth and fin-
gers, and, excepting the bones, they devour every part, including
the entrails." Robert Dawson's Present State of Australia, 1830,
pp. 67, 68.
" Amongst the almost unlimited catalogue of edible articles used
by the natives of Australia the following may be classed as the
chief: All salt- and fresh- water fish and shellfish, of which in the
large rivers there are vast numbers and many species ; fresh-water
turtle; frogs of different kinds; rats and mice; lizards and most
kinds of snakes and reptiles; grubs of all kinds; moths of several
varieties ; fungi and many sorts of roots ; the leaves and tops of a
variety of plants; the leaf and fruit of the Mesembryanthemum ;
various kinds of fruits and berries ; the bark from the roots of many
trees and shrubs ; the seeds of leguminous plants ; gum from several
species of acacia ; different sorts of manna ; honey from the native
bee, and also from the flowers of the Banksia by soaking them in
water; the tender leaves of the grass-tree; the larvae of insects;
white ants ; eggs of birds ; turtles or lizards ; many kinds of kan-
garoo; opossums; squirrels, sloths, and wallabies; ducks, geese, teal,
cockatoos, parrots, wild dogs, and wombats; the native companion,
the wild turkey, the swan, the pelican, the leipoa, and an endless
variety of water-fowl and other descriptions of birds." Eyre's Cen-
tral Australia, vol. ii, pp. 2501.
NEW ZEALAND. " In former times the food of the natives con-
sisted of sweet potatoes, taro (Caladium esculentum), fern root (Pteris
esculenta), the aromatic berries of the kahikatea (Dacrydium excel-
29
450 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
sum), the pulp of a fern-tree (Cyathea medullaris) called korau or
mamako, the sweet root of the Draccena indivisa, the heart of a
palm-tree (Areca sapida), a bitter though excellent vegetable, the
Sonchus oleraceus, and many different berries. Of animals, they
consumed fishes, dogs, the indigenous rat, crawfish, birds, and gua-
nas. Rough mats of their own making, or dog-skins, constituted
their clothing. They were hardened against the influence of the
climate by the necessity of exerting themselves in procuring these
provisions, and by their frequent predatory and travelling excur-
sions, which produced a healthy excitement, and with it an easy
digestion of even this crude diet." Dieffenbach's Travels in New
Zealand, 1843, vol. ii, pp. 17, 18.
Fish is the principal food of the inhabitants, and, therefore, the
inland tribes are frequently in danger of perishing of famine.
" Their country produces neither sheep, nor goats, nor hogs, nor
cattle ; tame fowls they have none."
The vegetables eaten are fernroot, yams, clams, and potatoes.
They also eat dogs. Cook's First Voyage (Hawkesworth, vol. iii,
p. 447).
Roots of the fern are to the people what bread is to the inhab-
itants of Europe.
" The birds which sometimes serve them for a feast are chiefly
penguins and albatrosses." Ibid., p. 459.
THE NATIVES OF THE FRIENDLY ISLANDS. " Yams, plantains,
and cocoanuts compose the greatest part of their vegetable diet.
Of their animal food, the chief articles are hogs, fowls, fish, and all
sorts of shellfish ; but the lower people eat rats.
" Hogs, fowls, and turtle seem to be reserved for their chiefs."
Cook's Third Voyage, vol. i, p. 397.
THE INHABITANTS OF OTAHEITE. " Their food consists of pork,
poultry, dog's flesh, and fish ; bread-fruit, bananas, plantains, yams,
apples, and a sour fruit which, though not pleasant by itself, gives
an agreeable relish to roasted bread-fruit, with which it is frequently
beaten up." Wallis's Voyage, 1767 (Hawkesworth 's Voyages, vol. i,
pu 483).
" I cannot much commend the flavor of their fowls, but we all
^agreed that a South Sea dog was little inferior to an English lamb ;
VARIETIES OF FOOD CONSUMED BY DIFFERENT NATIONS. 451
their excellence is probably owing to their being kept up and fed
wholly upon vegetables." Cook's First Voyage (Hawkesworth's Voy-
ages, vol. ii, pp. 196-199).
" Their common diet is made up of at least nine-tenths of vege-
table food."
"Of animal food a very small proportion falls at any time to the
share of the lower class of people, and then it is either fish, sea-eggs,
<>r other marine productions." Cook's Third Voyage, vol. ii, pp. 148
and 154.
FEEJEE ISLANDS. " What all voyagers have said of the cocoa-
nut tree we found to be true, only, instead of its uses being exagge-
rated, as some have supposed, they are, in my opinion underrated.
A native may well ask if a land contains cocoanuts, for if it does
he is assured it will afford him abundance to supply his wants."
Wilkes, U. 8. Exploring Expedition, vol. iii, p. 334.
TANNA (one of the New Hebrides). " The produce of the island
is bread-fruit, plantains, cocoanuts, a fruit like a nectarine, yams,
tarra (a sort of potato), sugar-cane, wild figs, and some other fruits
and nuts.
" Hogs did not seem to be scarce, but we saw not many fowls.
These are the only domestic animals they have.
"I believe these people live chiefly on the produce of the land,
and that the sea contributes but little to their subsistence. Whether
this arises from the coast not abounding with fish, or from their being
bad fishermen, I know not; both causes, perhaps, concur." Cook's
Second Voyage, vol. ii, p. 77.
NEW CALEDONIA. The inhabitants "subsist chiefly on roots and
fish and the bark of a tree, which, I am told, grows also in the West
Indies. This they roast and are almost continually chewing. It
has a sweetish, insipid taste, and was liked by some of our people.
Water is their only liquor at least I never saw any other made use
of." Ibid., vol. ii, p. 123.
ISLAND OF SAVU (between Australia and Java). "The food of
these people consists of every tame animal in the country, of which
the hog holds the first place in their estimation, and the horse the
452 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
second; next to the horse is the buffalo, next to the buffalo their
poultry, and they prefer dogs and cats to sheep and goats. They are
not fond of fish."
The fan-palm is at certain times a succedaneum for all other food,
both to man and beast. A kind of wine called toddy is procured
from this tree. Cook's First Voyage (Efawkesworth, vol. iii, pp.
688, 689).
SANDWICH ISLANDS. " The food of the lower class of people con-
sists principally of fish and vegetables, such as yams, sweet potatoes,
tarrow, plantains, sugar-canes, and bread-fruit. To these the people
of a higher rank add the flesh of hogs and dogs, dressed in the same
manner as at the Society Islands. They also eat fowls of the same
domestic kind with ours; but they are neither plentiful nor much
esteemed by them." Cook's Third Voyage, vol. iii (by Capt. King],
p. 141.
"The principal food of the lower class of the population, and, in
fact, the favorite food of all classes, is poi" This " is a sort of paste
made from the root of the kalo (Arum esculentum), a water plant,
cultivated to a great extent throughout all the islands." "The kalo
is much used by the foreign residents as a substitute for potatoes, or
rather for bread, being for this purpose either boiled or fried."
" These (their fish) the natives prefer in a raw state, on the ground
that they lose their flavor in cooking, considering it as the richest
possible treat, when on their aquatic excursions, to haul a fish from
the water and literally eat it to death." Sir George Simpson's Jour-
ney Round the World, 1847, vol. ii, pp. 31-41.
CHINA. "The Chinese, again, have no .prejudice whatever as re-
gards food; they eat anything and everything from which they can
derive nutrition. Dogs, rats, mice, monkeys, snakes, sea-slug, rotten
eggs, putrefied fish, unhatched ducks and chickens." "Both in eat-
ing and drinking the Chinese are temperate, and are satisfied with
two daily meals; the morning rice about 10 A.M., and the evening
rice at 5 P.M. The only repugnance I have observed in China is to
the use of milk." "I never saw or heard of butter, cream, milk, or
whey being introduced at any Chinese table." Bowring (Statistical
Society Journal, vol. xx, p. 47).
" Their famous gin-sing, a name signifying the life of man (the
VARIETIES OF FOOD CONSUMED BY DIFFERENT NATIONS. 453
Panax quinquefolium of Linnaeus), on account of its supposed in-
vigorating and aphrodisiac qualities, was for a length of time weighed
against gold. The sinewy parts of stags and other animals, with the
fins of sharks, as productive of the same effects, are purchased by the
wealthy at enormous prices ; and the nests that are constructed by
small swallows on the coasts of Cochin China, Cambodia, and other
parts of the East, are dearer even than some kinds of gin-sing.
Most of the plants that grow on the seashore are supposed to pos-
sess an invigorating quality, and are, therefore, in constant use as
pickles or preserves, or simply dried and cut into soups in the place
of other vegetables. The leaves of one of these, apparently a spe-
cies of that genus called by botanists fucus, after being gathered, are
steeped in fresh water and hung up to dry. A small quantity of
this weed boiled in water gives to it the consistence of a jelly, and
when mixed with a little sugar, the juice of an orange, or other fruit,
and set by to cool, I know of no jelly more agreeable or refreshing."
" The great officers of state make use of these and various other
gelatinous viands for the purpose of acquiring, as they suppose, a
proper degree of corpulency." Barrow's Travels in China, 1806,
pp. 551-2.
" The food of these people [Chinese laborers] is of the simplest
kind, namely, rice, vegetables, and a small portion of animal food,
such as fish or pork. But the poorest classes in China seem to un-
derstand the art of preparing their food much better than the same
classes at home. With the simple substances I have named the
Chinese laborer contrives to make a number of very savory dishes,
upon which he breakfasts or dines most sumptuously." Fortune's
Residence among the Chinese, p. 42.
JAPAN. Japan surpasses most other countries hitherto known to
us in the multiplicity of the articles of food to be met with in its
islands and the surrounding ocean.
" Rice, which is here exceedingly white and well tasted, supplies,
with the Japanese, the place of bread ; they eat it boiled with every
kind of provisions.
" Miso soup, boiled with fish and onions, is eaten by the common
people, frequently three times a day, at each of their customary
meals. Misos are not unlike lentils, and are small beans gathered
from the Dolichos soja.
454 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
" Fish is likewise a very common dish with the Japanese, both
boiled and fried in oil. Fowls, of which they have a great variety,
both wild and tame, are eaten in great abundance ; and the flesh of
whales, though coarse, is in several places, at least among the poorer
sort, a very common food."
" In preparing their victuals they make use of expressed oils of
several different sorts." " In their victuals they make a very plen-
tiful use of mushrooms, and the fruit of the Solanum melongena (egg
apple), as well as the roots of the Solanum esculentum (batatas), car-
rots, and several kinds of bulbous roots and of beans."
" Of oysters and other shell-fish several different sorts are eaten,
but always boiled or stewed, as likewise shrimps and crabs."
Tkunberg's Travels, 1795, vol. iv, pp. 35-39.
INDIA. From the earliest period the most general food in India
has been rice, which is still the most common food of nearly all the
hottest countries of Asia. It is not, however, so much used in the
south of Hindostan as formerly, and has been replaced by another
grain, called ragi. Buckle's History of Civilization , vol. i, pp. 64, 65.
" The principal food of the people of Hindostan is wheat, and in
the Deckan, jowar and bajra; rice, as a general article of subsis-
tence, is confined to Bengal and part of Behar, with the low country
along the sea all round the coast of the peninsula. In most parts
of India it is only used as a luxury. In the southern part of the
table-land of the Deckan the body of the people live on a small and
poor grain, called ragi (Cynosurus corocanus). Though these grains
each afford the principal supply to particular divisions, they are not
confined to their own tracts." Pulse, roots, and fruits are also
largely eaten. Elphinstone's History of India, vol. i, pp. 12, 13.
CEYLON. " The ordinary diet of the people is very meagre, con-
sisting of rice seasoned with salt, the chief condiment of the East,
and a few vegetables, flavored with lemon-juice and pepper, from
which they will make at any time a hearty meal. Beef is forbidden,
being an abomination. Flesh is scarce, and fish not always plenti-
ful, and when it is they prefer selling it to Europeans to keeping it
for themselves. It is considered anything but a reproach to be
sparing in diet, but rather a credit to live on hard fare and suffer
hunger.
VARIETIES OF FOOD CONSUMED BY DIFFERENT NATIONS. 455
"The houdrew class are rather more luxurious, eating from five
or six sorts of food, one or two of which consist of meat or fish, and
the remainder of vegetable dishes. Their chief food, however, is
rice, the other dishes being used principally for a relish." Prid-
ham's Ceylon, vol. i, p. 263, 1849.
Almost endless cocoanut forests in Ceylon provide the native
with the most important necessary for supporting existence.
Voyage of the Novara, vol. i, p. 366.
EGYPT. Beef and goose constituted the principal part of the
animal food throughout Egypt.
" The advantages of a leguminous diet are still acknowledged by
the inhabitants of modern Egypt. This, in a hot climate, is far more
conducive to health than the constant introduction of meat, which is
principally used to flavor the vegetables cooked with it."
Vegetables form the principal food of the lower orders, and lentils
are a chief article of diet. Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii,
pp. 368-388.
" The usual season for sowing the doura, which constitutes almost
the whole subsistence of the peasantry, is soon after the commence-
ment of the inundation." Hamilton's ^Egyptiaca, 1809, p. 419.
AFRICA. SAHARA. "Dates are not only the principal growth
of the Fezzan oases, but the main subsistence of their inhabitants.
All live on dates men, women, and children, horses, asses, and
camels, and sheep, fowls, and dogs." Richardson's Travels in the
Great Desert, 1848, vol. ii, p. 323.
NUBIA. " We have another example of a race subsisting entirely
on animal food, in the Arabs who inhabit the Nubian desert a dis-
trict which consists principally of hills varying from 1000 to 1800
feet high, and is destitute of all vegetable products suitable for human
food. Their camels subsist on the thorny shrubs growing among
the rocks ; and the milk and flesh of these animals (with salt) con-
stitute their sole ordinary food. On their occasional journeys into
Egypt to sell camels they usually bring home a small quantity of
wheat, which is never ground, but boiled into a kind of frumenty,
and eaten as a luxury, but it must not be reckoned as an ordinary
456 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
element in their diet." Odontological Society Transactions, vol. ii,
new series, p. 45.
ABYSSINIA. " An instinctive feeling, dependent upon the pleas-
ures of a state of warmth, has taught the Abyssinians that flesh of
animals eaten raw is a source of great physical enjoyment by the
cordial and warming effects upon the system produced by its diges-
tion, and to which I am convinced bons vivants more civilized than
the Abyssinians would resort if placed in their situation. Travellers
who have witnessed their ' brunde ' feasts can attest to the intoxicat-
ing effects of this kind of food, and they must have been astonished
at the immense quantities that can be eaten in the raw state com-
pared to that when the meat is cooked, and at the insensibility which
it sometimes produces." This raw meat, however, is considered a
luxury, and is only indulged in at festivals. Johnston's Travels in
Southern Abyssinia, vol. ii, p. 226, 1K44.
" The Abyssinians suffer considerably in their health from the
difficulty of obtaining salt." Ibid., vol. ii, p. 175.
DAHOMEY. "The diet is simple, consisting chiefly of messes of
meat and vegetable, mixed with palm oil and pepper, with which is
eaten a corn-cake, called kankee, or dab-a-dab. There is very little
variety. A mixture of beans, peppers, and palm oil, is made into a
cake and sold to travellers ; yams and cassada form the staples of
food. Foreign liquors are scarce and expensive ; and as palm wine
is forbidden by the king, the chief drinks are a very palatable malt
called pitto, and a sort of burgoo called ah-kah-sar." Forbes' s Da-
homey and the Dahomans, 1851, vol. i, pp. 29, 30.
" THE WARORI are small and shrivelled black savages. Their
diminutive size is, doubtless, the effect of scanty food continued
through many generations." " The principal articles of diet are
milk, meat, and especially fattened dogs 7 flesh, of which the chiefs
are inordinately fond, maize, holcus, and millet. Rice is not grown
in these arid districts." Burton's Lake Regions of Central Africa,
vol. ii, p. 273.
WAMRIMA OR COAST CLANS. "Their food is mostly ugali, the
thick porridge of boiled millet or maize flour, which represents the
VARIETIES OF FOOD CONSUMED BY DIFFERENT NATIONS. 457
' staff of life' in East Africa. They usually feed twice a day, in the
morning and at nightfall. They employ the cocoanut extensively ;
like the Arabs of Zanzibar, they boil their rice in the thick juice of
the rasped albumen kneaded with water, and they make cakes of the
pulp mixed with the flour of various grains. This immoderate use
of the fruit, which, according to the people, is highly refrigerant,
causes, it is said, rheumatic and other diseases. A respectable man
seen eating a bit of raw or undressed cocoanut would be derided by
his fellows." Ibid., 1860, vol. i, p. 35.
EAST AFRICANS. "With the savage and the barbarian food is
the all-in-all of life ; food is his thought by day, food is his dream
by night."
" The principal articles of diet are fish and flesh, grain and vege-
tables; the luxuries are milk and butter, honey, and a few fruits, as
bananas and Guinea-palm dates; and the inebrients are pombe or
millet-beer, toddy, and mawa or plantain wine."
" The Arabs assert that in these latitudes vegetables cause heart-
burn and acidity, and that animal food is the most digestible. The
Africans seem to have made the same discovery. A man who can
afford it almost confines himself to flesh, and considers fat the essen-
tial element of good living." Ibid., vol. ii, pp. 280-287.
CABANGO (a village situated on the banks of the Chihombo).
" The chief vegetable food is the manioc and lotsa meal. These con-
tain a very large proportion of starch, and when eaten alone for any
length of time produce most distressing heartburn. As we ourselves
experienced in coming north, they also cause a weakness of vision,
which occurs in the case of animals fed on pure gluten or amylace-
ous matter only. I now discovered that when these starchy sub-
stances are eaten along with a proportion of ground-nuts, which con-
tain a quantity of oil, no injurious effects follow." Livingstone's Mis-
sionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, 1857, p. 455.
KAFFIRS. "The principal diet of the Kaffir is milk, which he
eats rather than drinks, in a sour and curdled state. One good meal
a day, taken in the evening, consisting of the curdled milk and a
little millet, is almost all that he requires, and with this he is strong,
458 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
vigorous, and robust, proving that large quantities of animal food
are by no means necessary for the sustenance of the human frame."
A Kaffir will never touch pork. Fish is likewise abstained from
by him. He will eat the flesh of an ox, cooked or raw. Simmonds's
Curiosities of Food, p. 39.
BOSJESMANS. "The African Bushmen, who have few or no cattle,
live upon what they can get. Hunger compels them to eat every-
thing roots, bulbs, wild garlic, the core of aloes, the gum of acacias,
berries, the larvae of ants, lizards, locusts, and grasshoppers all are
devoured by these poor wanderers of the desert. Nothing comes
amiss to them." Ibid., p. 38.
HOTTENTOTS. "The victuals of the Hottentots are the flesh and
entrails of cattle, and of certain wild beasts, with fruits and roots of
several kinds."
They "rarely kill cattle for their own eating but when they are at
a loss for other sustenance. The cattle they devour between the
Andersmakens are for the most part such as die naturally, and they
reckon 'em, as I have said, very delicious eating."
"The entrails of cattle, and of such wild beasts as they kill for
food, they look upon as most exquisite eating. They boil 'em in
beast-blood, if they have any, to which they sometimes add milk.
This they look upon as a glorious dish. If they have not blood to
boil 'em in, they broil 'em. And this they do on the bare fire, for
they have no such thing as a gridiron."
" They eat everything in such a hurry, and with so much inde-
cency, that they look extremely wild and ravenous at meals, particu-
larly when they eat flesh, which being always serv'd up to 'em half
raw or more, they make a very furious use of their hands (where
they have no knives) and of their teeth to tear and devour it."
" Many are the sorts of fruits and roots the Hottentots eat, and
the fields up and down for the most part abound with 'em. These,
as I have said, are gather'd wholly by the women. In the choice of
roots and fruits for food they follow the hedgehog and the bavian, a
sort of ape, and will not taste of any sort which those creatures do
not feed upon" [for fear of poison].
"The Hottentots have no set times for their meals. They have no
notion of dividing them, as we do, into breakfast, dinner, and sup-
MIXED FOOD THE NATURAL DIET OF MAN. 459
per, but take 'em at random, as humor or appetite calls, without any
regard to the hour of the day or the night."
They "have traditionary laws, forbidding the eating of certain
meats, which they accordingly abstain from very carefully. Swine's
flesh and fishes that have no scales are forbidden to both sexes. The
eating of hares and rabbits is forbidden to the men, but not to the
women. The pure blood of beasts and flesh of the mole are forbid-
den to the women, but not to the men."
"The Hottentots, when they are in a great strait for food, will
devour the rings of leather which the women wear upon their legs.
They will likewise, in the same strait, eat old cast-off shoes [which
they lay up against a time of want].
" Their manner of dressing 'em is this : They singe off the hair,
then, having soak'd 'em a little in water, broil 'em upon the bare
fire till they begin to wrinkle and run up, and then they devour
'em."
The Hottentots never eat salt among themselves, but " they are
not a little delighted with the salt and otherwise high-season'd
victuals of the Europeans." [Such food, however, disagrees with
them, and those who eat with the Europeans are subject to many
maladies, and don't attain a great age.]
" The ordinary drink of the Hottentots is milk and water."
"Men and women are doatingly fond of tobacco." Kolben's State
of the Cape of Good Hope, 1731, pp. 200-208.
Thus it is seen that a great diversity exists as regards the food
consumed by the human race in different parts of the globe. In-
stances are to be found where life is sustained upon a wholly vege-
table, a wholly animal, and a mixed diet. The mixed diet, however,
may be regarded as that which, in the plan of nature, is designed
for man's subsistence. It is upon this that he appears to attain the
highest state of physical development and intellectual vigor. It is
this which, certainly in temperate climates, he is led to consume by
genera] inclination, when circumstances allow the inclination to guide
him ; and, lastly, it is this which stands in conformity with the con-
struction of his teeth, and the anatomy of his digestive apparatus
in general.
Notwithstanding these considerations, there are those but few in
number, it is true who contend that vegetable food alone is best
460 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
adapted to meet our requirements. Under the style of vegetarians, 1
they act upon the principle they profess. It is true that vegetable
food, with its large proportion of non-nitrogenous matter, yields, in
a simple and direct manner, according to the views now entertained
and fully discussed in an earlier part of this work, the requisites for
force- as well as heat-production ; and in order to show that vege-
table food is better adapted than animal for contributing to the per-
formance of muscular work, reference has been made to our beasts
of burden, which, as is well known, belong almost exclusively to
the herbivorous tribe. That carnivorous animals, however, are not
unsuited for such purpose is proved in the case of dogs, which, in
some northern and other countries, are very extensively employed
for the performance of work. To regard man's maintenance too
closely in association with the mere performance of mechanical work
to look upon him, in other words, as though he were solely de-
signed for the conversion of food into mechanical power, is not, it
may be also said, taking a high view of his position.
Vegetarians, however, as has been remarked, are by no means nu-
merous. Indeed, the prevailing tendency, certainly in the England
of the present day, is to give an undue weight to the value of animal
food, and this has been encouraged by the teachings of Liebig re-
garding the origin of muscular power teachings which, during the
last few years, have been shown to be untenable.
Many people seem to look upon meat almost as though it formed
the only food that really nourished and supplied what is wanted for
work. The physician is constantly coming across an expression of
this view. Undoubtedly, a greater feeling of satiety is produced by
meat than by other food. It forms a greater stay to the stomach,
but this arises from the stomach constituting the seat of its digestion,
and a longer time being occupied before it passes on and leaves the
organ in an empty condition.
Against those who think that a large consumption of meat is a
sine qua non for the maintenance of health and strength, the experi-
1 Payen (Substances Alimentaires, 4me e"d., Paris, 1865, p. 561), after express-
ing himself in condemnation of restriction to vegetable products, pays: " Ce-
pendant en Angleterre, ce pays des excentricites, ou 1'on voit une belle et pro-
gressive civilisation marcher dans presque toutes les directions avec quelque
accompagnement de barbaric, une secte nombreuse tend a exclure la chair des
animaux du regime alimentaire de la population; elle preche d'exemple et fait
quelques proselytes."
DIETETIC VALUE OF MEAT OFTEN OVERESTIMATED. 461
ence of vegetarians may be adduced. In the effects of the Scotch
prison dietaries corroborative testimony is afforded. Dr. J. B. Thom-
son, for instance, resident surgeon to the General Prison for Scotland,
writing in the " Medical Times and Gazette/ 7 vol. i, 1868, speaks in
favor, from ten years' experience, of a diet into which meat entered
very sparingly, and which contained instead a moderate amount of
milk. He says since the employment of the improved dietaries sanc-
tioned by the Secretary of State in 1854, the dietary in the General
Prison for Scotland for all adult male prisoners, under sentence of
nine, and not exceeding twenty-four months, had consisted of bread,
oatmeal, barley, 1 oz. of meat per diem, made into soup, with suc-
culent vegetables, and 20 oz. of skimmed or buttermilk. One day
in the week fish had been substituted for the soup. The health of
the prisoners had been uniformly good. Weighing on admission and
liberation had been carried out, and 88 per cent, were found to have
gained or maintained their weight. Again, as shown by one of Dr.
E. Smith's reports, it is not uncommon to find, amongst the agricul-
tural laborers of Scotland, that no meat is consumed, oatmeal and
milk forming their staple articles of diet. Further, Dr. Guy, 1 from
his observations in the case of English prisons, gives as one of his
deductions, " that we possess conclusive evidence of the sufficiency
of a diet from which meat is wholly excluded, and even of a diet
consisting wholly of vegetable matter."
I have introduced these particulars, not for the purpose of showing
that a diet without meat is to be considered desirable, but for
strengthening the argument that the consumption of meat to the
extent that many persons believe necessary for the maintenance of
health and strength is not in reality so. It has been before stated
that physiological considerations point to a mixed diet as being most
in harmony with our nature, and it may probably be considered that
the most suitable admixture contains about one-fourth, or rather
more, of animal food. With more animal food than this, the excre-
tory organs are unnecessarily taxed, and the system exposed to
contamination with impurities, for the nitrogen of the superfluous
nitrogenous matter has to be eliminated, and is found to escape, in
combination with other elements, under the form of certain excretory
1 " On Sufficient and Insufficient Dietaries, with especial reference to the
Dietaries of Prisoners." Journal of the Statistical Society, vol. xxvi, 1863,
p. 280.
462 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
products, without having contributed to any useful purpose. A de-
fective transformative and eliminative action will lead to a retention
of the products of metamorphosis of this superfluous nitrogenous
matter in the system, and there is reason to believe that gouty affec-
tions, and other morbid states, are sometimes induced in this way.
It has been pointed out, under the head of " Principles of Diet-
etics" (vide p. 441), how an admixture of animal and vegetable food
is better fitted to yield what is wanted than either consumed alone.
It is assumed that, for a man of medium stature and in moderate
work, about 300 grains of nitrogen and 4800 grains of carbon are
daily required to be introduced into the system with the food. Now,
this is yielded, as nearly as possible, in the case of both elements, by
2 Ibs. of bread and f Ib. of meat that is, 44 oz. of solid food, of
which about one-fourth consists of animal matter. If the lean of
meat only were consumed (for the proper adjustment could equally
be made with meat and fat), rather over 6 Ibs. would be needed to
furnish the requisite amount of carbon, and there would be a very
large surplus of nitrogen ; whilst if bread only were taken, the
amount necessary to supply the requisite quantity of nitrogen would
be rather more than 4 Ibs., and this contains nearly double the
amount of carbon demanded.
Whilst speaking of the proper food for man it may be stated that,
for the perfect and prolonged maintenance of health, it is necessary
that a portion of what is consumed should be in the fresh state.
This applies to both animal and vegetable kinds of food. Neither
one nor the other in a salted, cured, or dried state will serve to keep
the body in health. Former experience has but too painfully shown
that disease and death are induced by withholding all fresh articles
of food. There may be no lack of quantity, and yet the body shall
fail to be maintained in a proper state. Affections of the scorbutic
class are produced, which are only to be checked and removed by
the supply of some kind of fresh food, or, what has been found to
equally answer the purpose, the juice of some kind of succulent vege-
table or fruit. The efficacy of lemon and lime juice, for instance, is
well known in the cure and prevention of scurvy.
DIGESTIBILITY OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FOOD. 463
DIETETIC RELATIONS AND EFFECTS OF ANIMAL
AND VEGETABLE FOOD COMPARED.
Animal food, being identical in composition with the structures
to be built up and maintained, contains neither more nor less than
what is required for the growth and renovation of the body. It
might be assumed from this relation that nutrition upon a supply
of animal food would be carried on in a more simple way than nu-
trition upon vegetable food, where no such identity is observable,
and which contains various principles, such as lignin, cellulose,
starch, &c., which have no existence in the animal body. Nutrition,
however, is not effected in this simple manner. "With animal as
well as with vegetable food, a transformation has to take place be-
fore absorption can occur.
It was shown by Mulder, and confirmed by Liebig, that the nitro-
genous alimentary principles of the vegetable agree in composition
with those of the animal kingdom, and it has been ascertained by
physiologists that all alike undergo metamorphosis under the influ-
ence of the digestive process into a certain product, which is charac-
terized by the possession of properties, viz., those of great solubility
and diifusibility, that specially adapt it for transmission by absorp-
tion' from the alimentary canal into the bloodvessels, by which it is
conveyed to organs that elaborate and convert it into the nitrogenous
principles existing in and applied to the purposes of the system.
Thus, we elaborate for ourselves the constituent nitrogenous princi-
ples of our bodies out of a certain product of digestion, instead of
deriving them directly from our food, and this brings alimentation,
as far as these principles are concerned, to the same position, whether
upon animal or vegetable products. There is only this difference to
be noted that animal nitrogenous substances appear to be more
easily digested than vegetable.
With fats the same process occurs, whether they are of animal or
vegetable origin ; but, as with nitrogenous substances, it is believed
that animal fats are more easy of digestion or preparation for absorp-
tion than vegetable.
Nitrogenous substances and fat may be said to comprise the organic
portion of animal food. In vegetable food we encounter, besides,
such principles as starch, sugar, gum, lignin, and cellulose, which
464 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
belong to the group of carbohydrates. The two latter of these are
scarcely, if at all, susceptible of any digestion, certainly by the human
digestive organs, and, therefore, simply traverse the alimentary canal,
and add to the bulk of the alvine dejections. The others are suscep-
tible of utilization, and what digestion is required is, as in the case
also of fat, carried on in the intestine, and not in the stomach. The
physiological application of these principles, which are peculiar to
vegetable food, has previously received attention, and need not be
adverted to here.
Although animal food certainly taxes the stomach more than the
ordinary forms of vegetable food that we consume, as is well known
by those who have weak digestive power, yet, taking digestion and
assimilation as a whole, a more complex process has to be gone
through \vhere vegetable food has to be dealt with. Accordingly
we notice that the digestive apparatus of the herbivora is developed
upon a more extended scale than in the carnivora. The difference,
for instance, in the length of the intestinal canal is exceedingly
marked, and, as already mentioned, it is especially here where the
digestion of the principles that preponderate in vegetable products
occurs. A portion of the large intestine, also, known as the csecum,
which is not developed in the carnivora to any particular extent,
attains, in many of the herbivora, enormous dimensions, and it can
scarcely be doubted that this is designed for affording some kind of
extra assistance in the digestive process.
Looked at now in relation to their effects upon the system, there
are several points that call for consideration.
It is asserted by Lehmann that animal food increases the amount
of fibrin in the blood, and also raises the amount of the phosphates
and of the salts generally. A diet abounding in animal food appears
also to render the blood richer in red corpuscles.
Animal food with its preponderance of nitrogenous matter, tends
to produce firmness of muscle with an absence of superfluous fat.
Vegetable food, on the other hand, tends to increase the deposition of
fat. Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert found in their experiments that
animals consuming food containing an excessive quantity of nitro-
genous matter showed a greater disposition to increase in frame and
flesh. If we direct our attention to the animals around us, it is open
to common observation to notice that the vegetable feeders show a
EFFECTS OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FOOD COMPARED. 465
greater proneness to become fat than animal feeders. The animals
we fatten all belong to the herbivore, and even dogs and eats become
fatter on vegetable food a proof that it is more the nature of the
food than the kind of animal that makes the difference. Mr. Bant-
ing found that limiting his supply of vegetable food enabled him to
reduce his corpulence, and it is upon the application of this principle
that the system of " Bantingism " rests.
It appears from the experiments of Pettenkofer and Voit that
increasing the proportion of nitrogenous matter in the food deter-
mines an increased absorption of oxygen by the lungs. Nitrogenous
matter it is which starts the changes occurring in the system, and
the suggestion presents itself that upon the amount of nitrogenous
matter may to some extent depend the application of oxygen to the
oxidation of fatty matter. Under this view the success of Mr. Bant-
ing's system may be due, not exclusively to a restriction of the prin-
ciples that tend to produce fat, but in part, also, to an increased oxi-
dizing action promoted by the large amount of nitrogenous matter
consumed.
It has been observed that the amount of urine secreted is notably
influenced by the nature of the food. Bischoff and Voit noticed,,
in the case of the dog, that, upon giving a liberal supply of meat
after the animal had been previously subsisting upon vegetable food,
the urine was greatly increased in quantity. A striking example is
also afforded by a series of experiments by Mr. Savory upon rats. 1
Three pairs of rats that had been fed upon wheat were placed, one
pair upon non-nitrogenous food, a second pair upon lean meat, and
the third pair upon mixed food. The urine was collected for the
twenty-four hours upon three occasions, at intervals of a week, and
each time the urine associated with the meat diet was in very large
excess of what it had been previously, and of that derived from the
other animals. The amount of nitrogenous matter passed, in accord-
ance with what might have been expected from the* results that have
been referred to in a previous part of this work, bore a correspond-
ing relation, and it may be that the two stand in the position of cause
and effect. The effete nitrogenous matter, in escaping, may carry
with it a flow of water. The extra quantity of water eliminated was
met by an extra quantity of fluid consumed.
> Laneet, vol. i, 1863, p. 418,
30
466 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
Besides the influence just referred to on the amount of urine, the
solid matter is likewise, to a marked extent, influenced by the nature
of the food. There is a well-known augmentation in urea, &c., pro-
duced by the ingestion of animal food, and, at the same time, an in-
crease in the sulphates and phosphates. The reaction of the urine
is also modified. Under an animal diet it is strongly acid, whilst a
vegetable diet disposes -to alkalinity. During fasting, it is true, the
urine of the herbivora is acid, but after food its reaction is alkaline.
Bernard 1 has dilated upon this point, which must be regarded as
being of considerable importance with reference to the therapeutic
employment of food. He mentions an experiment upon himself, in
which, from previously presenting a strongly acid reaction, his urine
was rendered alkaline in the course of twenty-four hours by restric-
tion to a vegetable diet. In the sucking calf, as in the carnivora,
the urine is acid, whilst it afterwards assumes the character belong-
ing to the herbivora.
Animal food appeases hunger more thoroughly than vegetable,
and satisfies longer. In other words, it gives, as general experience
will confirm, greater stay to the stomach. It also exerts a greater
stimulating effect upon the system generally. Accounts are related
of the stimulant properties of animal food having sufficed, in certain
instances, as after starvation and in those accustomed only to a vege-
table diet, to produce a state resembling intoxication. Dr. Dundas
Thompson 2 quotes a narrative of the effects of a repast of meat on
some native Indians, whose customary fare, as is usual amongst the
tribe, had consisted only of vegetable food. " They dined most
luxuriously, stuffing themselves as if they were never to eat again.
After an hour or two, to his [the traveller's] great surprise and
amusement, the expression of their countenances, their jabbering and
gesticulations, showed clearly that the feast had produced the same
effect as any intoxicating spirit or drug. The second treat was at-
tended with the same result."
Dr. Druitt, in describing the properties of a liquid essence of beef, 3
which had been prepared according to his instructions, speaks of it
as exerting a rapid and remarkable stimulating power over the brain,
1 Physiologie Experimental, tome ii, p. 459. Paris, 1856.
2 Experimental Researches o-n the Food of Animals, p. 24. London, 1846.
3 Trans, of the Obstetrical Society, vol. iii, 1861, p. 143.
AMOUNT OF FOOD REQUIRED. 467
and introduced it to notice as an auxiliary to, and partial substitute
for, brandy, in all cases of great exhaustion or weakness, attended
with cerebral depression or despondency. Correspondingly stimu-
lating properties have also been recognized as an effect of the copious
employment of Liebig's Extractum Carnis.
The general character of an animal is related to its food. Liebig
says 1 it is essentially their food which makes carnivorous animals in
general bolder and more combative than the herbivora which are
their prey. "A bear kept at the Anatomical Museum of Giessen
showed a quiet, gentle nature, as long as he was fed exclusively on
bread, but a few days 7 feeding on meat made him vicious and even
quite dangerous. That swine grow irascible by having flesh food
given them is well known so much so, indeed, that they will then
attack men."
It must be considered as a part of the plan of Nature that this re-
lation should exist. It need not be that the animal food gives
origin to the ferocity, but that the ferocity exists to enable the
animal to obtain its food. In the case where a bloodhound is ren-
dered dangerous by being fed upon flesh, and also in Liebig's cita-
tion, the result need not be attributable to the food otherwise than
by the taste of it arousing the natural instinct of the animal.
PROPER AMOUNT OF FOOD.
The amount of food required depends upon the existing circum-
stances. No fixed quantity can be given as suited to all cases.
Variations in external temperature, the amount of work performed,
and individual peculiarities, occasion a variation in the amount of
material consumed in the body ; and in a properly arranged diet
the food should be adjusted accordingly. For this adjustment
Nature has provided by the instinct or sensation with which we are
endowed. Appetite, or, in its more exalted character, hunger, ap-
prises us that food is required, and produces an irresistible desire to
seek and obtain its supply. By attending to its dictates a knowl-
edge is also afforded of the proper amount to be consumed. We
may ascertain by observation the precise amount by weight that is
necessary to keep the body in a properly nourished condition, but
1 Lancet, vol. i, 1869, p. 186.
468 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
Nature's guide was in operation before weights and scales were in-
vented. Speaking of the natural state, it is only where the strict
margin, on the score of economy, as in the feeding of large bodies
of men, has to be regarded, that a process of weighing need be em-
ployed.
In taking appetite as a guide in regulating the supply of food, it
must not be confounded with a desire to gratify the palate. When
food is not eaten too quickly and the diet is simple, a timely warning
is afforded by the sense of satisfaction experienced as soon as enough
has been taken ; and not only does a disinclination arise, but the
stomach even refuses to allow this point to be far exceeded. With
a variety of food, however, and especially food of an agreeable char-
acter to the taste, the case is different. Satiated with one article,
the stomach is still ready for another, and thus, for the gratification
of taste, and not the appeasement of appetite, men are tempted to
consume far more than is required, and also, it must be said, often
far more than is advantageous to health.
Whatever the precise immediate cause of the sensation constitut-
ing appetite, the source of it is a want of solid matter in the system.
Now, this want will vary with the consumption going on, .which is
greater under exposure to cold and during the performance of work
than under opposite conditions ; and in harmony it is noticeable that
the appetite is sharpened and diminished accordingly. The dic-
tates thus afforded should be obeyed. They are not likely to be
disregarded when the appetite is increased, and they should like-
wise be complied with when it is diminished. Concern is some-
times experienced at the falling off of the appetite that occurs during
the heat of summer in our own climate, and that is noticed by Eu-
ropeans on visiting the tropics, and attempts are sometimes made to
counteract it by the employment of condiments of a stimulating
nature to the stomach. This, however, is clearly an error, and one
which is calculated to lead to baneful results, as in other instances
where Nature's indications are set aside in favor of artificial devices.
Thirst is an expression of the want of liquid matter in the system,
as hunger is of that of solid. It leads us to adjust the supply to
the loss occurring.
Under the head of Principles of Dietetics reference has been made
(vide p. 428 et seq.) to the amount of food found by observation to
be consumed by various classes of persons. As already mentioned,
AMOUNT OF FOOD REQUIRED. 469
no fixed amount can be given as suited to all individuals and condi-
tions. In Moleschott's representation of a model diet (vide p. 422)
the daily quantity of food, estimated in a water-free or anhydrous
state, amounts to about 23 oz. To represent the amount of food in
the ordinary state to which this corresponds, we must allow for the
water present. According to the table at p. 427 bread contains 37
per cent, of water, cooked meat 54 per cent., and vegetables up-
wards of 70 per cent. Say the food consumed contained 45 per
cent, of water probably a low estimate the 23 oz. of water-free
material would correspond to 42 oz. of ordinary food. For people
engaged in laborious occupations, judging from Playfair's tables of
the food actually consumed, this is evidently none too much, and is
even under the amount actually consumed by many. For people,
how r ever, who lead a sedentary and indoor mode of life considerably
less will suffice. I find from observation of my own diet, my height
being rather over 5 ft. 9 in., and weight rather more than 10 stone,
that 30 oz. fully cover what I ordinarily consume, the food consist-
ing of the usual admixture of animal and vegetable articles, and
being weighed in the state in which it is placed on the table ; 8 oz.
for breakfast, 6 for luncheon, and 16 for dinner, give me the out-
side of what I feel I require.
The middle diet at Guy's Hospital, which is the diet on which the
majority of the patients are placed, gives a mean daily allowance of
'2 { .i\ oz. of solid food, apart from the liquids supplied. Taking solids
and liquids together, and calculating from the composition of the
articles according to the table at p. 427, the water-free material
amounts to 16J oz. The food actually supplied consists of 4 oz. of
meat in the cooked state, 12 oz. of bread, 8 oz. of potatoes, 1 oz. of
butter, } oz. of sugar, J oz. of tea, and, say 3 J oz. (8 oz. three times
a week is the exact quantity) of rice pudding made of rice, sugar,
and milk. Besides this solid food there is a daily allowance of half
a pint of porter and 2J oz. of milk, with half a pint of mutton broth
when boiled meat is given, which is four times a week. Experience
shows this diet to be sufficient for bodily maintenance under a con-
dition of freedom from labor. A conclusion may be drawn, as the
subsistence on it often extends over a considerable period, and
amongst the inmates there are many in an ordinary state as far as
their constitutional condition is concerned, some local complaint, un-
affecting their general health, having led to their admission.
470 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
Besides treating of the gross amount of food, attention must be
given to the relative proportion of the constituent alimentary princi-
ples. Unless these are so related as to be adjusted to the demands
of the system, more food is required to be taken than would other-
wise be the case, and waste is the result. As a deduction from a re-
view of the dietaries referred to in a preceding part of this work
(vide p. 428 et seq.), the following summary account may be given of
the respective amounts of the alimentary principles required. The
table furnished at p. 427 will supply the means for determining the
constitution of a given diet in respect of alimentary principles.
The nitrogenous matter should constitute about one-fifth of the
water-free food, and, under medium conditions, from 4 to 5 oz. may
be looked upon as the quantity that should be supplied daily. With
an inactive life much less will suffice, viz., 3 or 3J oz. In Playfair's
subsistence-diet (p. 428) the quantity is rather under 2J oz. Ex-
posure to hard work leads, judging from observation, to the instinc-
tive consumption of food yielding a full supply of nitrogenous mat-
ter. In some of the collected dietaries the nitrogenous matter
amounts to from 5 to 6 oz.
It has been mentioned that about one-fifth of the water-free food
should consist of nitrogenous matter, and this, in the case of bread
and meat, is aiforded by an admixture of about one part of animal
with three parts of vegetable material. Now, such an admixture, as
before shown (p. 441), is also that which is adjusted to replace with-
out waste the carbon and nitrogen passing out of the system. It
was pointed out that if bread alone, or meat alone, were consumed in
order to supply the requisite quantity of both elements, a consider-
able waste of either one or the other would in each case ensue, be-
cause in the articles of food taken separately they are not in the
proper proportion to balance the loss occurring. For example, 2 Ibs.
of bread and f Ib. of lean uncooked beef contain, as nearly as possi-
ble, the amounts of carbon and nitrogen represented as escaping
from the body under average circumstances. In this admixture,
amounting to 44 oz., the meat (12 oz.) forms, with only a slight ex-
cess, a fourth of the whole; and if we look to the composition of it,
we find that in a w^ater-free state about one-fifth consists of nitro-
genous matter. The following representation of the amounts of the
alimentary principles contained in it. calculated from the table fur-
nished at p. 427, will be seen to bear out this statement :
AMOUNT OF FOOD REQUIRED. 471
Bread' 2 Ib, T-.I.
Nitrogenous mutter, . . 2 592 oz. 2.316 oz. = 4.908 oz.
Fat, ...... 0.512 " 0.432 " = 0.944 "
Carbohydrates, . . . 16.320 " = 16.320 "
Mineral matter, . . . 0.736 0.612 " = 1.348 "
23.520 "
It may be noticed, further, that the composition of these 2 Ibs. of
bread and f Ib. of meat agrees pretty closely with that of the model
diet of Moleschott (p. 422), framed upon grounds of quite a different
nature. The only difference of any account is in the respective
amounts of fat and carbohydrates; but what is deficient in the one
is balanced by a surplus in the other, and, in an alimentary point
of view, the two are capable, to a certain extent, of replacing each
other.
Fat appears to influence favorably the assimilation of the other
principles, and to be intimately concerned in tissue formation and
nutrition, besides contributing to force-production ; and it is believed
that a deficiency of it in the food is sometimes the source of the de-
velopment of the scrofulous and strumous states. The supply, it
may be considered, ought not to be less, even with inactivity, than
one ounce daily, and the composition of dietaries usually shows con-
siderably more. About 2J oz. appears to form the average amount
in the diets of various working classes.
The carbohydrates may be looked upon as forming a supplemen-
tary group of principles. They have no existence in an animal diet,
and in a mixed diet should be in such quantity as to fill up what is
defective for force-production heat and mechanical work in the
other principles. Looking at the various dietaries of mixed food to
which the attention of the reader has been already directed, and
leaving out of consideration the lowest or subsistence diet, the supply
of carbohydrates is seen to range in amount from between 14 and 15
to 22 oz. per diem.
. The amount of mineral matter required may be set down at from
f oz. to 1 oz. daily.
Water is needed beyond that contained in our food. It may be
reckoned that we receive from about 15 to 25 oz. of fluid into the
system mixed with the solid food that is consumed ; and besides this,
it is advisable that about 60 to 70 oz. or even in some cases more,
472 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
should be taken. The average amount of urine passed daily may
be said to be about 50 oz., and there is a considerable loss of fluid
from the skin and the lungs. To meet these sources of elimination,
compensation must be effected by a corresponding ingestion, and, as
long as the fluid taken is devoid of noxious properties, a free supply
must be regarded as beneficial, forming, as it does, a means of carry-
ing off impurities from the system. Perhaps the benefit derivable
from a course of water treatment is often, in a great measure, due to
this cause. I am strongly inclined to think so.
Having spoken of the proper amount of food, let me next direct
attention to the effects produced by a deficiency and excess in its
supply. I may commence by saying that there is far more evil to
be encountered attributable to too much food being taken than to
too little. It is only in exceptional cases that the latter kind is met
with ; whilst the amount of disorder, disease, and likewise even cur-
tailment of life, attributable to excess in eating and drinking, is im-
measurably great. Where the living is plain and simple, and the
dictates of Nature are followed, there is no need for weights and
scales, but how many are there who would not be in an infinitely
better state if they lived upon a weighed and measured allowance
of food and drink. Seeking for what is pleasurable instead of
natural, the promptings of instinct are overruled, and it is the in-
clination instead of appetite that regulates what is consumed.
Were it not for the temptation to exceed, induced by the refine-
ments of the culinary art, the physician's aid would be much more
rarely required.
Amongst the effects arising from excess in feeding may be men-
tioned an oppressed stomach, deranged digestion, a loaded tongue,
vitiated secretions, with disordered action of the bowels, a gorged
liver, obesity, plethora and its consequences, a sluggish brain and
troubled sleep, surcharged urine, leading to deposits, perverted nu-
trition from the preternatural accumulation of products of disintegra-
tion in the system, and, as a concomitant, gouty and rheumatijc
affections. Such, and others too, are the ills arising from overfeed-
ing. Excess in animal food is worse than excess in vegetable food,
especially when combined with sedentary habits. It is true, vege-
table food specially leads to the production of obesity, and this may
amount to such as to constitute a serious evil, but, being less charged
EFFECTS OF EXCESS AND DEFICIENCY OF FOOD. 473
with nitrogenous matter, there is less of the nitrogenous products of
disintegration for elimination products which, unless oxidized and
.metamorphosed to a full extent by free exercise, and so placed in a
favorable position for discharge, are apt to accumulate in the system,
and thence impair the performance of the functional operations of
life. Some of the phenomena of gout, for example, are due to this
defective metamorphosis and retention of nitrogenous products within
the system.
The effects of privation and insufficiency of food constitute the
well-known phenomena comprised under the terms inanition and
starvation. As we can have no manifestation of vital properties
without chemical change, a consumption of material must be con-
stantly going on, and, unless a supply equal to the loss is provided,
a progressive wasting of the body and failure of its powers must
ensue. These, therefore, form the necessary concomitants of starva-
tion, and it is only a question of time for the exhaustion of material
to proceed to a point sufficient to render the continuance of life im-
possible.
From the elaborate series of experiments performed by Chossat, 1
it has been shown that the immediate cause of death from starvation
is a decline of the animal temperature. He found during the first
portion of the period a gradual, but not very extensive, fall. Then
it diminished more rapidly, and when it reached about 29 or 30
(Fahr.) below the normal point the animal died. A state of torpor
preceded death, and it was noticed by Chossat that when this stage
was reached a restoration of consciousness and muscular power could
be effected by exposing the subject of experiment to artificial warmth,
and thereby raising its temperature. Some of his animals were thus
rescued from impending death, and afterwards completely restored
by supplying food. In fact, the operations of life can only be carried
on that is, in the case of ourselves and other warm-blooded animals
within a certain range of temperature, and if from any cause, either
external or internal, this range is passed, no matter whether on the
side of excess or deficiency, death is the inevitable consequence.
The usual length of time that life continues under complete absti-
nence from food and drink may be put down at from eight to ten
days. Longer periods, however, in exceptional instances, have been
1 " Recherches Experimentalcs sur 1'Inanition." Paris, 1843.
474 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
noticed, and the duration, indeed, is liable to be influenced by the
surrounding circumstances, such as the amount of available material
accumulated in the system at the commencement of starvation, the
surrounding temperature, and the state of the atmosphere as regards
the amount of moisture present.
It will be readily understood that, other circumstances being equal,
the greater the amount of combustible material to draw upon, the
longer will the capacity exist for maintaining the heat of the body,
and with it life. An instructive instance bearing upon this point is
afforded by the fat pig referred to at p. 101. In Chossat's experi-
ments the animals provided with most fat lived the longest, and it
was, moreover, found that they lived until the fat was nearly ex-
hausted. It seemed, indeed, as though the approach of death was
coincident with the consumption of nearly all the disposable combus-
tible material. The animals lost, as an average, about 40 per cent,
in weight in other words, about two-fifths of their original weight
disappeared before the occurrence of death. In the case of the fat
of the body, taken alone, the loss amounted to upwards of 90 per
cent. The waste of this material, it was found, far exceeded that of
any other.
As regards the surrounding temperature, it is a well-known fact
that exposure to cold in conjunction with starvation very much ac-
celerates death.
The presence of moisture in the atmosphere to some extent favors
the prolongation of life, and evidently by diminishing the exhalation
, j of water from the body. Persons, for instance, have been excavated
alive after confinement in a mine, or have continued alive whilst
placed under suchlike circumstances, for periods considerably longer
than the usual time.
In the absence of both food and drink, the distress from thirst is
far greater than that from hunger. With access to water and a very
small supply of food, life may be prolonged for an extensive period.
The Weigh fasting girl, about whom so much excitement prevailed
in 1869, lived exactly eight days from the time that she was placed
under systematic inspection. The supply of food under which, it
may be assumed, she had for some time previously subsisted had,
doubtless, been very irregular and scanty, but then she lay in bed
and passed her time in a perfectly quiescent state conditions that
would diminish, to the fullest extent, the waste or consumption of
EFFECTS OF DEFICIENCY OF FOOD. 475
material. The deception was so successfully carried out, and it was
so stoutly affirmed by the parents of the girl that she had existed for
many weeks without touching food, that many believed it as a fact,
and she was daily visited by numbers of persons from far and near.
So much wonder and excitement did the case create, that it was
ultimately arranged to place the girl under such supervision as
would secure that no access to food existed. The problem, in reality,
that was thus systematically arranged to solve was tantamount to
whether a fire could continue to burn without being replenished with
fuel. The watching commenced at 4 P.M. on Thursday, December
the 9th, and the girl died at 3 P.M. on Friday, the 17th. She was
cheerful, and nothing extraordinary presented itself during the first
part of the period. As time advanced, it was found that she could
not be kept warm. She then sank into a state of torpor, from which
she could not be roused. This occurred only a short time before
death.
The most prominent symptoms of starvation, says Dr. Carpenter, 1
as they have been noted in the human subject, are as follows : In
the first place, severe pain in the epigastrium, which is relieved on
pressure; this subsides after a day or two, but is succeeded by a feel-
ing of weakness and sinking in the same region ; and an insatiable
thirst supervenes, which, if water be withheld, thenceforth becomes
the most distressing symptom. The countenance becomes pale and
cadaverous; the eyes acquire a peculiar wild and glistening stare;
a general emaciation soon manifests itself. The body then exhales
a peculiar fetor, and the skin is covered with a brownish, dirty-
looking, and offensive secretion. The bodily strength rapidly de-
clines; the sufferer totters in walking; his voice becomes weak, and
he is incapable of the least exertion. The mental powers exhibit a
similar prostration; at first there is usually a state of stupidity, which
gradually increases to imbecility, so that it is difficult to induce the
sufferer to make any effort for his own benefit ; and on this a state
of maniacal delirium frequently supervenes. Life terminates, either
calmly, by gradually increasing torpidity, or, as occasionally hap-
pens, suddenly, in a convulsive paroxysm.
In many respects the effects on the brain have a close resemblance
to those produced by exposure to cold. In consequence of the
1 Principles of Human Physiology, 4th ed., p. 396.
476 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
torpor of the brain and intellectual faculties, it is often difficult to
obtain from the sufferer information regarding his state. Instead of
showing any anxiety to communicate the particulars about himself,
or to relate the privations he has undergone, he generally shows an
unwillingness to be questioned, lies in a listless or lethargic state,
taking but little notice of what is going on, and seeming desirous
only of -not being disturbed. It is of the deepest importance that
such symptoms should be recognized by the medical practitioner in
their proper light, and that they should not be mistaken for the
effects of narcotism produced by drinking.
Sudden transitions are always prejudicial, and where abstinence
has prevailed for some days the return to a supply of food should be
practiced with caution. At first the supply should be very limited,
and then gradually increased. There is reason to believe that death,
which might otherwise have been averted, has been, in some in-
stances, occasioned by the too free ingestion of food and fluid when
succor has been obtained. The system should have time to accom-
modate itself to the new condition. No matter whether a change be
from the natural to the unnatural or from the unnatural to the
natural state, it is always a sudden change that is especially difficult
to be borne.
TIMES OF EATING.
Next to the quality and quantity of food, attention must be given
to the mode of taking it. That the food should be taken with regu-
larity, and at proper periods, is almost as necessary for the main-
tenance of health and a vigorous state of the energies as that it
should be of a proper nature and in proper quantity. Frequently
recurring instances present themselves to the medical practitioner of
evils arising from the non-observance of the precepts that should be
followed in reference to this point.
We know that a certain amount of food is required to be con-
sumed daily in order that the body may be properly maintained.
Discarding for the moment the practices of mankind, let us look at
the evidence that can be adduced to enable us to arrive at a rational
determination of the manner in which it is best that our food should
be taken.
Carnivorous animals appear to thrive best upon food taken at
long intervals. It is the custom in zoological menageries to feed the
TIMES OF EATING. 477
wild animals once a day only, and it is stated that they have been
found, by observation, to do better when fed in this way than upon
the same allowance of food given to them twice daily. Now, if we
look to- the habits of these animals, we notice that their mode of
existence entails the occurrence of more or less protracted intervals
between the times of feeding. Their supply is precarious and irregu-
lar, having to be captured, as the opportunity presents itself; by the
exercise of stealth and cunning. The food obtained is voraciously
devoured to repletion, and then, from the heavy tax imposed upon
the powers by the loaded state of the stomach, the animal remains
for some time in a sluggish or inactive and drowsy condition.
Such is the result where long intervals elapse between the periods
of consumption of food. From the nature of the circumstances, it
is a matter of necessity with these animals that this should be their
mode of feeding. There are those amongst mankind, however, who
have been satisfied with one meal a day. But is it in conformity
with our nature that our food should be taken in this way? In
proportion to the length of the interval, so must be the amount of
food consumed at one time, and in proportion to this so will be the
degree and duration of the inaptitude for the performance of any
bodily or mental work. The feast of the glutton places him for
awhile in the position of the brute, that is by nature compelled to
fill its stomach to repletion when the opportunity occurs. The
monks of the monastery of La Trappe, near Nantes, says Dr. Combe,
make it a part of their religion to eat only once a day. While travel-
ling upon a French diligence journey, Dr. Combe was thrown in
contact for three days with one of the order, and was surprised at
the store of food consumed at each daily meal a store appearing
" sufficient to last a week instead of a day." But, as in the case of
the boa constrictor, under similar circumstances, remarks Dr. Combe,
" a deep lethargy immediately succeeded, and it was not till four or
five hours afterwards that his almost apoplectic features became
again animated and expressive."
Now, looking to our relation to the supply of food, which involves
no necessity for protracted intervals between the times of eating, and
to the fact that our mental capacity constitutes our characteristic at-
tribute, and that this is notably blunted after repletion of the stom-
ach to the extent incurred where only one meal a day is taken, we
478 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
have physiological grounds for dismissing from consideration such a
mode of life as unsuited to our position.
With the vegetable feeders, we pass to an illustration of the other
extreme. These animals, constantly within reach of their food as
they are, pass a considerable portion of their time in feeding. We
do not find that they gorge themselves at a repast so as to become
placed in the same inactive condition as the carnivorous animal, but
that they, instead, leisurely and frequently partake of the food
within their reach.
Is this, it may next be asked, the mode of taking food that is
adapted for mankind ? To consume what is eaten in small quanti-
ties and at frequently repeated intervals would, doubtless, serve our
purpose as far as alimentation is concerned, but experience shows
that it is not necessary, and much of our usefulness would be lost
by the time devoted to the consumption of food. Indeed, as we
are designed by Nature for a mixed diet, so it may be considered
that the most appropriate mode of taking food is something between
that adopted by the animal and the vegetable feeder and this hap-
pens to accord with the general practice of the majority of nations.
The prevailing custom and, doubtless, this has arisen from instinct
and from what has been found by experience to be best suited to
our requirements is for three meals of a substantial nature to be
taken during the day, at intervals of about five or six hours 7 dura-,
tion. Observation has shown that an ordinary meal is digested and
has passed on from the stomach in about four hours 7 time, and thus,
according to the precept laid down, the stomach is allowed to re-
main for a short period in a state of quiescence before it is filled
with food again.
It is important that we should break our fast, or, as the term
goes, " breakfast/ 7 without much delay after rising. The length of
time that has elapsed since the last meal of the previous day leads
to a demand for food for the ordinary purposes of life. The system,
moreover, at a period of fasting as experience has but too plainly,
and it may be said, on some occasions, painfully testified is more
prone to be perniciously influenced by infection, miasmata, exposure
to cold, and other morbid conditions, and less adapted for sustaining
fatigue than at any other time. In any case, therefore, where expo-
sure to influences of this kind has to be undergone, it becomes of the
deepest importance that food should be previously taken.
TIMES OF EATING. 479
The size of the meal should be regulated by collateral circum-
stances. If food has been taken late in the previous evening, the
appetite is not great for food in the morning. Where considerable
exertion has to be afterwards sustained, a substantial meal may be
looked upon as advisable. Otherwise, however, a light meal will
be found most conducive to health and activity. A maid of honor,
it is stated, in the court of Elizabeth, breakfasted upon beef and
drank ale after it. Such may be compatible with plenty of out-
door exercise to carry off the meal, but not so with the indoor life
which is led by so many of the present generation.
Supposing breakfast to be taken at 8 or 9 A.M., the next meal, no
matter by what name it is called, should follow about 1 or 2. A
fairly substantial meal should be taken at this time, and it does not
signify whether it goes under the name of luncheon or dinner.
Some dine in the middle of the day, and make this their heaviest
repast. To many, however, it is inconvenient to give up the
amount of time that is usually devoted to the principal meal of the
day at such a period, and, moreover, the more or less marked dis-
position to inactivity that follows a heavy meal may interfere with
the subsequent engagements. Under these circumstances, the less
ceremonious and lighter repast, designated luncheon, will best fall
in with the daily arrangements. The dejeuner a la fourchette in
France represents our luncheon, but is usually more substantial and
taken rather earlier, the amount of food that has been consumed
previously having been but slight.
The error is often made of omitting to take food in the middle of
the day, or of only taking a biscuit or something of equal insignifi-
cance. There are many business or professional men who, after
leaving home for their office or chambers in the morning, do not
taste food, or, if they do, take only a minute quantity, until they re-
turn in the evening. Actively engaged all day, the system becomes
exhausted, and they arrive home in a thoroughly jaded or worn-out
condition. They expect that their dinner is to revive them. It may
do so for awhile, but it is only a question of time how long this
system can be carried on before evil consequences arise. They begin
to feel heavy, drowsy, and uncomfortable after dinner, and no wonder
from the amount of food that it has been necessary to introduce at
one time into the stomach to supply the requisite material for meet-
ing the wants of the system, and also from the exhaustion of power
480 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
produced by the work performed arid the long abstinence from food.
Vigor is required for digestion, equally as much as for muscular or
any other action, and it is not to be expected that it can properly
proceed under the state that has been described. Added to these in-
dications that the digestive power is not equal to the amount of work
thrown upon it, evidences of disordered action begin to show them-
selves. The sufferer becomes dyspeptic, and the heart and brain may
sympathize with the derangement. The physician is frequently en-
countering instances of the description I have depicted; and when
advice is given that food in proper quantity should be consumed in
the middle of the day, the usual answer met with is that if a lunch-
eon were taken it would have the effect of rendering the person un-
fit for his employment afterwards. It is a sine qua non, however,
that the interval should be broken by a repast between an early
breakfast and a late dinner, and no medical treatment will suffice to
afford relief unless attention is given to this point. When once the
alteration has been made and persevered in a short time, as much
reluctance will be felt in omitting the luncheon upon any single
occasion as was experienced in taking it to begin with. Often, in
cases where indigestion forms the chief complaint, will it be found
to have arisen from some unwitting breach of the principles of diet-
etics, and thence it frequently happens that instruction on the dietetic
precepts requiring to be obeyed for the maintenance of health will
be all that is needed to set matters right.
When the middle of the day is allotted to dinner, the evening meal
is designated supper, and as this is not usually taken till an advanced
hour of the evening an intermediate light repast is generally intro-
duced, under the name of tea. A heavy supper, especially if taken
only a short time before going to bed, is unquestionably bad. Dur-
ing sleep there is a diminished activity of all the bodily functions,
and the condition is not favorable for the due performance of diges-
tion. He who retires to rest with a full stomach is fortunate if he
escape passing a restless night, being troubled with dreams, and
rising in the morning with a foul mouth. The supper, when supper
at all is taken, should be, as far as practicable, made to approach to
the early part of the evening that is, supposing the usual hour for
retiring to rest be observed; and where the engagements of life
render such a course inconvenient, the meal should be light, and
a heavier tea consumed.
TIMES OF EATING. 481
The best arrangement for health is that the third substantial meal
should be taken about six or seven in the evening in other words,
that breakfast, luncheon, and dinner should form the order observed.
The opportunity is thus given for digestion to have approached com-
pletion before the night's sleep is begun. In fashionable society it is
now common to find the dinner postponed till a later hour, bringing
it, in fact, nearly to the old-fashioned period for supper. If the time
of retiring to rest is proportionately late, as is usually the case, there
is nothing seriously objectionable in the course adopted, but if early,
the remark applies with equal force that has been made under the
head of supper. A dinner at eight or half-past eight, however, calls
for an intermediate light repast, under the form of tea, to break the
length of interval that would otherwise occur. But, besides being
customary under these circumstances for tea to be taken about five,
fashion has led to its being also taken when the dinner hour is earlier,
and against a simple cup of tea at this time nothing can be said. It
serves to refresh, although it cannot be considered as needed. Temp-
tation, however, is also offered to partake of food, and when this is
done to any extent it must be looked upon as pernicious, by impair-
ing the appetite for one of the principal meals.
After a late dinner, and with the observance of ordinary hours,
no further food is required. The tea, therefore, which is generally
taken afterwards, should be confined to liquid, and a cup of warm
tea, coffee, or cocoa, has the effect of arousing the energies, and ap-
parently also of favorably influencing digestion.
The error of going to bed upon a full stomach has been alluded
to. It is also equally (inadvisable that the stomach should be in a
perfectly empty condition. Fasting excites restlessness and watch-
fulness, and many a person has needlessly passed sleepless hours
through retiring to rest after too long an interval since the last meal.
The literary man, for example, who carries his labors far into the
night, goes to bed with an empty stomach and finds that he cannot
sleep. Let a little food, however, be taken, and it will be found to
exert a tranquillizing and comforting effect, and so will dispose to
sleep.
I have been speaking of the meals adapted for a state of health.
Three substantial meals morning, midday, and evening should
be taken, and unless the interval between one or the other be con-
siderably prolonged, no intermediate repast of solid food is required.
31
482 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
Indeed, it is not beneficial for a person tp be constantly eating
through the da} 7 . Some are in the habit of taking food at odd times
between the meals, but such a practice is not to be upheld. Eating
should be confined to the meals, otherwise a constant state of reple-
tion is kept up, and the stomach has no opportunity of resting. In
sickness, it is true, advantage is gained by the frequent administra-
tion of food, but then only a small quantity at a time can be taken.
The stomach will not bear, or the invalid cannot take, more than a
very limited amount at once; and to compensate for this, and enable
a sufficiency to be ingested, more frequent administration is required.
In proportion to the limited amount that can be taken at a time, so,
it may be said, should be the frequency of administration.
Infants and young children require food more frequently than
grown-up persons. They dispose of what is taken more rapidly, and
do not bear fasting well. Less lengthy intervals should therefore be
allowed to elapse between the periods of eating. The best arrange-
ment of meals for children that are a little older is breakfast, din-
ner, tea, and supper ; the supper consisting of light but nutritious
food. A late dinner is to be strongly condemned. There are many
children whose delicate health and feeble constitution is owing to
the error of their parents in making them join in a late dinner.
Instead of dining, say at seven or after, it would be better for them
to be going to bed, and the evils of going to bed upon a heavy meal
have already been adverted to.
In connection with these remarks upon the times of taking food,
I may refer to the following collateral points :
A hearty meal should neither immediately follow nor precede
violent exercise. In each case the stomach is rendered unfit for the
vigorous discharge of its office.
A hearty dinner taken in the evening after an unusual day's
exertion is sure to be followed by more or less indigestion, and it
may be, vomiting. Sportsmen and pedestrians are acquainted by
experience with this fact. The depression of general bodily power
occasioned by the fatigue endured, is incompatible with the posses-
sion of full energy by the stomach. By a little repose, however,
time is given for the production of fresh power to raise the system
from its previous state of exhaustion, and render the stomach equal
to the easy digestion of a moderate meal.
STATES OF THE BODY IN RELATION TO TAKING FOOD. 483
The sensation experienced on undertaking any violent bodilv
exertion immediately after a hearty meal, is sufficient to show that
the task imposed is greater than the system is adapted for. With a
loaded stomach, the fullest amount of energy that can be given is
required to enable it to get through its work. We notice, indeed,
under such circumstances, that the energies are so concentrated upon
what the stomach is doing, that an indisposition, and even inca-
pacity, for vigorous and sustained mental or bodily exertion is in-
duced. Whilst after a light meal muscular or mental work can
with ease and comfort be performed, after a heavy meal an effort to
accomplish it so diverts from the stomach the energy required of it,
as to occasion manifest signs of incapacity for the function to be
discharged. The process of digestion fails to be carried on as it
ought to be. The food remains longer than it should within the
stomach, and ultimately, it may be, is rejected by vomiting.
If sharp exercise after a hearty meal is to be avoided, is it desira-
ble, it may be asked, to encourage the inclination for repose, and
allow indulgence in a siesta/ A short and light nap after dinner
will not be sufficient to do any harm, but if the nap is permitted to
pass into a profound and a prolonged sleep, unquestionably a retard-
ing influence is exercised upon digestion, and a prejudicial influence
upon, the stomach. However agreeable, therefore, it may be to
gratify the desire for a nap, if there is danger of its passing into a
lengthy and heavy sleep, it is well to have recourse to some light
mental or bodily employment, whether under the shape of one of
the various games of amusement, as billiards, bagatelle, cards, chess,
&c., or otherwise to obviate its occurrence. But, with a natural
state of things, there ought to be no strong desire for sleep after a
meal. If there be such, it may be concluded that some fault exists :
either the meal has been excessive, in consequence of yielding to
the gratification of the palate, or of eating largely to make up for a
too prolonged fast, or else the digestive power is below the healthy
standard.
A cheerful state of mind is conducive to the easy digestion of a
meal. The influence exerted by states of the mind upon the appetite
and digestion, as well as the nutrition of the body generally, is a
matter of common observation. A person receiving a piece of un-
welcome intelligence just before the commencement of a repast may
484 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
be unable to eat a mouthful, no matter what might have been the
appetite previously
- " Read o'er this ;
And after this and then to breakfast
With what appetite you have."
" Experience," says Dr. Combe, 1 " must have taught every one
with what zest we sit down to enjoy the pleasures of the table, and
how largely we incline to eat, when the mind is free, unburdened,
and joyous, compared with the little attention we bestow on our
meals when we are overwhelmed with anxiety, or have the whole
energies of the mind concentrated on some important scheme."
" Laughter," also says Hufeland, of Berlin, 2 " is one of the greatest
helps to digestion with which I am acquainted; and the custom
prevalent among our forefathers, of exciting it at table by jesters
and buifoons, was founded upon true medical principles. In a word,
endeavor to have cheerful and merry companions at your meals;
what nourishment one receives amidst mirth and jollity will certainly
produce good and light blood."
CULINARY PREPARATION OF FOOD.
Several important purposes are fulfilled by the process of cooking.
By it our food is rendered more pleasing to the eye, agreeable to
the palate, and digestible by the stomach. We all know, for ex-
ample, the influence exerted by the appearance presented by food-
how, if pleasing to the eye, it becomes tempting to the palate, and,
if revolting to the sight, the stomach may turn against it. Again,
food which is savory and cooking has the effect of developing
flavor excites the inclination in a manner peculiar to itself. Lastly,
by the alterations it induces of a physical and chemical nature,
cooking renders our food more easy of digestion, and may remove
an obnoxious property by killing parasites or their germs, where
such exist.
Cooking lessens cohesion and alters the texture in such a manner
as to render a substance more easy of mastication and subsequent
reduction to a fluid state by the stomach.
1 Physiology of Digestion, 2d ed Edinburgh, 1836, p. 300.
2 Art of Prolonging Human Life. English ed. London, 1829, p. 282.
COOKING. 485
The effect upon meat is to coagulate albumen and coloring matter;
to solidify fibrin, and gelatinize tendinous, fibrous, and connective
tissues. A piece of meat, for instance, which before cooking is tough,
tenacious, and stringy, so as to be insusceptible of proper mastica-
tion, has firmness or solidity given to the muscular fibres, whilst the
connective tissue is transformed into a soft gelatinous material. The
connective tissue being softened, the muscular fibres are loosened.
Thus, the whole substance becomes less coherent, and is easily broken
down by the application of pressure. It is thereby rendered more
digestible, for the digestibility of meat may be regarded as standing
in proportion to its tenderness or want of cohesion. Tenderness and
digestibility are influenced by the circumstances antecedent to cook-
ing. If flesh, whether offish, fowl, or any other animal, be cooked
before rigor mortis has set in, its texture is looser, and the article is
thereby more easy of digestion than when cooked after this state has
passed off. It is rare, however seldom practicable indeed for
cooking to be performed at so early a period after death, and when
the flesh has set, its tenderness and digestibility are increased by its
being kept for a time. The flesh of an animal, also, which has been
driven or hunted just prior to death is more tender and digestible
than where it has been previously quiescent. Bruising loosens the
texture of meat, and makes it more tender when cooked : hence the
advantage of the process of beating to which steaks and chops are,
in many households, subjected.
The effect of cooking upon vegetables is to soften their consistence,
and so enable them to be more readily masticated or broken up in
the mouth. It also loosens their intercellular structure, and thereby
facilitates the penetration of digestive juices into their substance. It
further aids, in an important manner, digestibility, by its physical
action on the starch-granule an ingredient which enters more largely
than any other into the constitution of vegetable aliment. It causes
this granule to swell up, and its outer envelope to burst. The diges-
tive fluids are thus permitted to come in contact with the central
part. In the absence of this change, the starch-granule is much less
easily attacked, its outer covering being hard and offering consider-
able resistance to digestive action. Albuminous and fibrinous matters,
as with those in meat, are coagulated ; and, in the case of boiling,
some of the gummy, saccharine, coloring, and saline matters are ex-
tracted. This occurs to a less extent when vegetables are boiled in
486 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
hard water, or water impregnated with salt, than when boiled in soft
water, but the article is, at the same time, less tender and digestible.
The effect of a little salt added to the water in which vegetables are
boiled in preserving their color, is well known to those versed in the
economy of the kitchen, but the eye is pleased at the sacrifice of
tenderness.
The warmth imparted to food by the process of cooking aids the
digestive action of the stomach, and, where fatigue or exposure to
cold has been sustained, exerts a reviving effect upon the system.
With these observations of a general nature, I will now offer some
remarks on the various modes of cooking in common use, which may
be enumerated as follows :
Boiling,
Roasting,
Broiling,
Baking,
Frying,
Stewing.
Boiling. There is an art in cooking food in such a manner as to
avoid as little loss as possible of its nutritive principles.
If the object to be attained should be the extraction of the good-
ness of meat into the surrounding liquid, as in making soups, broths,
&c., the article should be minced or cut up finely, and placed in cold
water. After soaking for a short time, heat should be applied, and
the temperature gradually raised. For broths, no actual boiling is
needed it is desirable, indeed, that it should be avoided, so as not
to consolidate and lose more than possible of the albumen. For
soups, however, prolonged boiling is necessary, in order fully to ex-
tract the gelatin. It is this, in fact, which forms the basis of soup,
for the floating albumen is hardened or condensed and got rid of by
straining.
Thus treated, the principles of the meat, as far as circumstances
will allow, pass out into the surrounding liquid, and as this gains in
flavor and nutritive properties, so the meat becomes impoverished : a
hard, fibrous, and insipid residue being produced.
Where, however, it is desired that the flavor and nutritive proper-
ties should be retained in the meat, an opposite process must be
adopted. The piece of meat should be large, and it should be
COOKING. 487
plunged suddenly into boiling water, and the process of boiling
briskly maintained for about five minutes. This coagulates the al-
buminous matter upon the surface, and leads to the formation of a
more or less impermeable external layer, which precludes the escape
of the juices from the substance of the meat. After this object has
been fulfilled, instead of boiling being continued, a temperature of
between 160 and 170 Fahr., constitutes what is wanted, and this
degree should be maintained until the process of cooking is com-
pleted. Cooked in this way, the central part of the meat remains
juicy and tender, and possesses, in the highest degree, the properties
of nutritiveness and digestibility. Unless exposed throughout to the
temperature named, the albuminous and coloring matters are not
properly coagulated, and the meat presents a raw or underdressed ap-
pearance. If exposed to a temperature much above 170, the mus-
cular substance shrinks and becomes proportionately hard and indi-
gestible. The usual fault committed in cooking meat is keeping the
water in which it is being boiled at too high a temperature after the
first exposure to brisk ebullition is over.
Fish is rendered firm in proportion to the hardness of the water
in which it is boiled. Hence, fish boiled in sea-water or in water to
which salt has been added is firmer, and, at the same time, more
highly flavored, than when boiled in soft water, on account of the
less solvent action exerted.
Upon the principle of endeavoring to retain, as far as practicable,
the soluble constituents of an article of food, potatoes should be
boiled in their skins, and the object aimed at is still further secured
by the addition of a little salt to the water. By steaming, instead
of boiling, the result is still more completely attained.
Boiled food is more insipid than food cooked in other ways.
From the lower temperature employed, no empyreumatic products
are developed. Being more devoid of flavor, it is less tempting to
the palate, but sits more easily on a delicate stomach.
In cooking, meat loses about one-fourth or more of its weight.
The loss varies with the quality of the meat and the process of
cooking employed. According to Dr. Letheby, the ordinary per-
centage of loss is about as follows :
488 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
Boiling. Baking. Roasting.
Boef generally, .... 20 29 31
Mutton generally, .... 20 31 35
Legs of mutton, . . . . 20 32 33
Shoulders of mutton, ... 24 32 34
Loins of mutton, .... 30 33 36
Necks of mutton, 25 32 34
Average of all, ... 23 31 34
Thus, the loss by baking is greater than that by boiling, and by
roasting greater than all. The loss arises chiefly from the evapora-
tion of water and the melting down and escape of fat, although
some is due to the destructive action of the heat and the exudation
of nutritive juice under the form of gravy.
Roasting should be conducted upon the same principle as boiling.
In order, as far as possible, to retain the nutritive juices, meat
should first be subjected to a sharp heat. This leads to the forma-
tion of a coagulated layer upon the surface, which subsequently
offers an impediment to the escape of the fluid matter within.
After a short exposure to a sharp heat, the meat should be removed
to a greater distance from the fire, so as to allow a lower heat
gradually to penetrate to the centre. In this way the albumen and
coloring matters are coagulated without the fibrin being corrugated
and hardened.
As has been already stated, on account of the greater heat em-
ployed, roasted meat is more savory than boiled. The surface also
is more or less scorched, and a portion of the fat is melted, and
drops away under the form of dripping. Some of the fat likewise,
under a prolonged exposure to a strong heat, undergoes decomposi-
tion, attended with a production of fatty acids, and an acrid volatile
product known as acrolein, which may cause derangement of a weak
stomach. In boiling, the temperature is not sufficient to incur the
risk of rendering the fat in a similar way obnoxious.
When properly roasted, the meat is juicy enough within to lead
to the escape of a quantity of red gravy when the first cut is made
into it.
Broiling produces the same effect as roasting, but the proportion
of scorched material is greater, on account of the relatively larger
amount of surface exposed. The principle of cooking should be
the same, in order to retain the central portion juicy.
COOKING. 489
Baking renders meat more impregnated with ernpyreumatic prod-
ucts, and therefore richer or stronger for the stomach than any
other process of cooking. The operation being carried on in a con-
fined space, the volatile fatty acids generated are prevented from es-
caping, and thus permeate the cooked articles. Meat cooked in this
way is ill adapted for consumption where a delicate state of system
exists.
Fi'i/hig is also an objectionable process of cooking for persons of
weak digestive power. The heat is applied through the medium of
boiling fat or oil. The article of food thus becomes more or less
penetrated with fatty matter, which renders it to a greater extent
than would otherwise be the case resistent to the solvent action of
the watery digestive liquid secreted by the stomach. It is apt also
to be impregnated with fatty-acid products arising from the decom-
position of the fat used in the process. These are badly tolerated
by the stomach, and, whether generated in this way or when the
food is in the act of undergoing digestion, appears to form the source
of the gastric trouble known as heartburn.
Stewing places food in a highly favorable state for digestion. The
articles to be cooked are just covered with water, and should be ex-
posed to a heat sufficient only to allow of gentle simmering. A
considerable portion of the nutritive matter passes into the sur-
rounding liquid, which is consumed as well as the solid material.
Properly cooked in this way, meat should be rendered sufficiently
tender to break down under moderate pressure. If boiling be al-
lowed to occur, the meat becomes, instead, tough and hard.
Hashing is the same process applied to previously cooked instead
of fresh meat.
By surrounding the vessel with water in which the article of food
is contained, so as to secure that no burning shall occur, meat may
be stewed in its own vapor. For example, a chop or other piece of
meat taken upon a small scale may be placed in an ordinary preserve
jar, and this tied over at the top, and partially immersed in water
contained in a saucepan. The water in the saucepan is made to sim-
mer or gently boil; and when the proper time has elapsed, the meat
is found perfectly soft and tender, and surrounded by a liquor de-
rived from the juice which has escaped during the process. Meat
thus prepared is in an exceedingly suitable state for the convalescent
and invalid.
490 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
It is upon this principle that the action of Captain Warren's
"cooking-pot" depends. This consists of a kind of double sauce-
pan, the inner vessel containing the joint or other article to be cooked,
and the outer some water, through the medium of which the cook-
ing is effected, but without its coming into actual contact with the
food. The utensil constitutes, in fact, a bain-marie or water-bath.
There need be no loss whatever of any of the solid matter of the
meat, and the loss of weight that occurs in a joint is considerably
less than when cooked by roasting. If it be desired to increase the
flavor, the joint may be first roasted for a short time before being
stewed.
I may refer here to the "Norwegian nest" or "self-acting cooking
apparatus," which was introduced to notice in this country a few
years back. Messrs. Silver & Co., of Cornhill and Bishopsgate
Street, are now the patentees and manufacturers. It consists of a
box constructed upon the principle of a refrigerator, the only differ-
ence in action being that it keeps the heat in instead of keeping it
out. The box, indeed, may be made use of, either as a refrigerator
or for the purpose of cooking. It is padded inside with an non-con-
ducting material, arranged so as to leave a space in the centre for re-
ceiving the movable tin vessel in which the process of cooking is
carried on. This vessel is lifted out from its "nest" and filled with
water and the article to be cooked. Heat is applied, so as to bring
the water to a boiling-point, and afterwards maintain it at this for a
short time. The vessel is then replaced in the box and shut in by
the closure of the lid. The heat being prevented from escaping, the
process of cooking goes on away from the fire, and no matter in what
situation the box may be placed. The contrivance recommends itself
on the score of economy for household use, and the box being easily
carried about, it affords the means of furnishing, without a fire being
needed, hot food out of doors, as in campaigning, travelling, pleasure-
making, &G. It is also susceptible of being turned to useful account
as an appurtenance to the sick-room.
Soups and .Broths. The process of preparation is here directed to
extracting the goodness from the article employed the reverse of
that in the case of boiling. To accomplish what is aimed at in the
most complete manner the article should be chopped or broken into
fine pieces, and placed in cold water. After being allowed to macer-
ate a short time, for the soluble constituents to become dissolved out,
COOKING. 491
it is gradually heated to a point which should vary according to the
product required. In the case of broths and beef tea, which properly
contain only the flavoring principle of meat osmazome and the
soluble constituents with finely coagulated albuminous matter, all
that is required is to produce gentle simmering, and this should be
kept up for about half an hour. In the case of soups a prolonged
gentle boiling is required, in order that the gelatin may be extracted,
this being the principle which gives to good soup its property of
solidifying on cooling. Bones require boiling a longer time than
meat. The chief principle they yield is gelatin, and its extraction
is greatly facilitated by the bones being broken into fine fragments
previous to being used.
Salting, pickling, and smoking, are processes to which articles of
food are sometimes subjected for the purpose of enabling them to be
preserved previous to cooking. The processes have been* already re-
ferred to under the head of " Preservation of Food" (p. 402), but
may be alluded to here for the sake of stating that by their harden-
ing action they give an article difficult digestibility, which cannot
be overcome by cooking. Food, therefore, which has been submit-
ted to these processes should be avoided by the dyspeptic, except, it
may be said, in the case of bacon, which happens, as a rule, to sit
easily on the stomach. Indeed, according to general experience, the
cured article (particularly the fat belonging to it) is here more diges-
tible than the fresh than either pork or p;g meat, that is to say.
DIET OF INFANTS.
THE importance of this branch of dietetics can scarcely be over-
rated. At no period of life is discreet management throughout so
much called for as during the helpless condition of early infancy,
and nothing constitutes so fruitful a source of infantile sickness and
mortality as injudicious feeding.
The proper food during the first period of infancy is that, and
that only, wJiich has been provided by Nature for the young of mam-
mals, viz., milk. General observation and carefully collected sta-
tistics agree in conclusively showing that nothing can adequately
replace this natural food. " The infant," says Dr. West, 1 " whose
mother refuses to perform towards it a mother's part, or who, by
accident, disease, or death, is deprived of the food that Nature des-
tined for it, too often languishes and dies. Such children you may
see with no fat to give plumpness to their limbs, no red particles
in their blood to impart a healthy hue to their skin, their face
wearing in infancy the lineaments of age, their voice a constant
wail, their whole aspect an embodiment of woe. But give to such
children the food that Nature destined for them, and if the remedy
do not come too late to save them, the mournful cry will cease, the
face will assume a look of content, by degrees the features of infancy
will disclose themselves, the limbs will grow round, the skin pure
red and white, and when, at length, we hear the merry laugh of
babyhood, it seems almost as if the little sufferer of some weeks
before must have been a changeling, and this the real child brought
back from fairy-land."
Formed for the special object of constituting the sole nourishment
during the first period of infantile life, milk not only contains the
principles required for the growth and maintenance of the body, but
contains them under such a form as to be specially adapted to the
state of the digestive powers then existing. It must be remembered
that the exercise of the digestive organs only comes into operation
1 Lectures on the Diseases of Infancy and Childhood, 5th ed., 1865, p. 532.
DIET OF INFANTS. 493
after birth. At the time of birth these organs are in a comparatively
immature state of development, and it is only gradually that their
full power becomes evolved. For the first few months, it appears
that no saliva at all is secreted ; and it is true, under natural cir-
cumstances, from the character of the food and the absence of masti-
catory organs, that it is not required. The alimentary canal is short,
and that portion of it called the caecum very small. The teeth, as
is well known, do not appear until after the lapse of several months.
Besides these evidences of immature development, experience shows
that the alimentary canal is in an exceedingly susceptible state, and
most easily deranged by slight deviations in the character of the
food. So strikingly, indeed, is this the case, that the mother, whilst
suckling, knows that, for the sake of her infant's comfort, it is neces-
sary to exercise care over what she herself eats. All this points to
feeble digestive capacity, and suggests a want of power of adaptive-
ness to alien articles of food. It may be considered that, up to
about the eighth month, the infant is designed to be sustained solely
by its parent's milk. The teeth, which about this time begin to
show themselves, indicate that preparation is now being made for
the consumption of food of a solid nature, and the most suitable to
begin with will be one of the fari naceous products. Bread, baked flour,
biscuit powder, oatmeal, or one of the numerous kinds of nursery
biscuits that are made, may be employed for a time as a supplement
to the previous food. Then, at about the tenth month, the maternal
supply, which should have been already lessened, should be alto-
gether stopped, and the child started upon the life of independence
that is to follow. For awhile, milk and the farinaceous products
referred to above still form the most suitable food ; but as the child
advances in its second year, and the teeth become more developed,
meat may be added.
Such forms the natural course to be pursued, but it often hap-
pens, either as the result of choice or of necessity either because
she will not or cannot that the mother's part fails to be fulfilled.
Under these circumstances, the question of the nature of the supply
to be provided as a substitute has to be decided upon.
Undoubtedly, the nearest, approach to the actual food which has
been designed to be given is the milk furnished by another woman,
and amongst the more wealthy classes this is often had recourse to.
Now, in the selection of a wet-nurse there are certain points which,
494 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
in the interest of the infant to be reared, require to be attended to.
It is scarcely necessary to say that the woman should be free from
constitutional taint and in a healthy condition. The most suitable
age is from twenty to thirty. The milk should be sufficient in
quantity and good in quality, and as its composition alters to some
extent as time advances from the date of confinement, it is desirable
that the infant should be nourished by a person who has given birth
about the same time as its own mother. A brunette is considered to
make a better nurse than a blonde. Upon the authority of the analy-
ses of L'Heritier, the milk of the former is said to be richer in solid
constituents than the latter ; but, besides this, the difference in tem-
perament exerts its influence in maintaining a more steady condition
in the one case than in the other. For example, the sanguine tem-
perament, with its associated susceptible organization, belonging to
the blonde, disposes to a greater liability of sudden alterations from
mental causes than the phlegmatic temperament, with its less im-
pressionable organization, of the brunette.
Next in appropriateness to the food supplied by a wet-nurse comes
the milk derived from one of the lower animals ; and this may be
employed either to make up for a deficient supply from the mother,
or as the sole article of nourishment. It is obvious that the milk to
be selected should be that which is readily obtainable, and which
presents the closest approximation to the infant's natural food. The
cow, goat, and ass are the animals which best answer the conditions
required; and reference to the analytical table at p. 188 will show
which of the three furnishes the most appropriate kind of milk. In
the first place, the milk of the ass, although it has had its advocates
as a food for infants, presents considerable disparity in composition
from that of the human subject. Whilst being richer in sugar and
soluble salts, it shows a marked deficiency in both nitrogenous mat-
ter and fat. It may be adapted for the delicate stomach of a person
reduced by illness to a great state of debility, but it can hardly be
looked upon as representing what is most suitable for a growing
child. The milk of the cow gives the nearest approach to what is
wanted, and it happens, also, that this in general is more easily pro-
curable than that of any other animaL In Payen's table (vide p.
188), cow's milk is represented as richer in all its solid constituent
principles than woman's, and slight dilution with water will be all
that is required to bring it to a sufficiently close approximation for
DIET OF INFANTS. 495
serving as a substitute. The analyses given by other authorities,
however, render it presumable that the sugar of woman's milk is
underestimated in the table in question ; and that, whilst the casein
and butter are in less quantity than in cow's milk, the lactin, on the
other hand, is in excess. The practical management of infants shows
that in employing cow's milk it is desirable to sweeten as well as
dilute it. Instead of simply adding water, a solution of sugar, or,
what is more in conformity with the natural state, sugar of milk, in
the proportion of an ounce to three-quarters of a pint, may be used,
and at first mixed to the extent of about one-third with two-thirds
of milk. Later on, the quantity of the diluent may be somewhat
diminished. The milk of the goat is even richer in solid constituents
than that of the cow, and, therefore, stands somewhat further re-
moved from that of the human subject. Goat's milk also possesses
a strong and peculiar odor of its own, but, in the case of infants, this
does not seem to form any serious obstacle to its use, for, if repug-
nant at first, custom soon overcomes the difficulty.
The importance of securing, as far as practicable, that the milk is
derived from an animal in a healthy state, and surrounded by whole-
some conditions, will be readily understood. The alimentary canal
of infants, and particularly of some, is exceedingly impressionable to
unwholesome food, and the milk of cows kept, as cows in large cities
and owns not unfreqtiently are, in an unnatural state may prove the
source of violent irritation of the stomach and bowels, and lead, if
persevered in, to serious impairment of the health, terminating ulti-
mately, it may be, in a fatal result.
There can be little doubt of the desirability of always obtaining
the supply from the same animal, instead of indiscriminately from
any cow, and arrangements for this are generally made in dairies.
In the case of the goat, the animal is often kept solely for the
purpose under consideration, and has before now been domesticated,
and tutored to discharge its office in the manner of a wet-nurse.
Respecting the use of condensed milk as food for infants, the
reader's attention is directed to the footnote at p. 194. The milk, as
sold, is already in a highly sweetened condition.
Articles of a farinaceous nature, such, for instance, as bread, bis-
cuit powder, baked flour, rusks, and the variety of biscuits and
preparations sold at different establishments, which enter so exten-
sively into general nursery use, must be looked upon as foreign to
4:96 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
the diet of infants of tender age. Constituted in great part, as these
articles are, of a principle starch which has no existence in milk,
and which requires to undergo a special kind of digestion to fit it for
absorption, it is presumable that the digestive organs are not adapted
at this stage properly to meet the demand that is made when these
substances are consumed. From the fact that they are light and
nourishing for older children, there is a popular tendency to regard
them as forming suitable food for early infancy; but all authorities
concur in condemning them as improper for use at such a period. It
is true, later on they represent the most appropriate solid material
to begin with; but this is when the digestive organs have reached a
more advanced stage of development. Liebig, in his pamphlet 1 on
the " Food for Infants " devised by himself, goes as far as to assert
that the usual farinaceous foods are the cause of most of the diseases
and of half of the deaths of infants.
Looking at its composition, the sweet almond has properties which
furnish a food more analogous to milk than the farinaceous products.
Pounded and made into an emulsion, a liquid is obtained which, as
regards the chemical nature of its constituents and the physical con-
dition in which the fatty matter exists, presents a close alliance to milk.
Liebig has introduced a food for infants, devised upon chemical
principles, to form a substitute for the mother's milk. It is prepared
from malt flour, wheat flour, cow's milk, bicarbonate of potash, and
water. For further particulars regarding it vide p. 195. It appears
to be extensively used in Germany, and has been brought promi-
nently into notice in England. It possesses the disadvantage of
forming a somewhat complex article, designed for use where, it
must be considered, simplicity is desirable.
The amount of milk consumed by a child fed naturally at the
breast has been determined by weighing immediately before and im-
mediately after suckling. Dr. West, upon the authority of M. Guil-
lot's results obtained at the Foundling Hospital in Paris, says that
the increase in weight has been found to vary from 2 to 5 oz. in in-
fants under a month old, and that 2 J Ibs. avoir, has been concluded to
form the smallest quantity that will suffice for the daily nourishment
of a healthy infant during the first month of its existence. It is
suggested, however, that the observations made were not numerous
enough to furnish more than a rough approximation to the truth.
1 Food for Infants. Walton, Gower Street, 1867.
DIET FOE TRAINING.
THE object of training is the preparation of the system for some
unusual feat of exertion, and the results which the art aims at pro-
ducing are (1) increased muscular strength, (2) increased power of
endurance, and (3) " improvement of the wind." It is principally
by attention to diet and exercise that these results are attained, and
about six weeks is the time usually devoted to the process when fully
carried out. Under a successful progress the muscles increase in
bulk, grow firmer, and become more subordinate to the influence of
the will, thereby leading to the production of a feeling of freedom
and lightness, or " corkiness," as it has been termed, of the limbs.
The muscular tissue, in fact, increases in quantity, and improves in
quality. There is a removal of superfluous fat and water, and, by
" overtraining," the body may become so completely deprived of fat,
or the muscles so finely drawn, as to lead to a loss instead of gain of
power of enduring prolonged exertion. The skin becomes clear,
smooth, fresh-colored, and elastic. There is no part of the body, it
is said, on which training produces a more conspicuous effect than
on the skin, and by its state a criterion is afforded, which enables an
experienced person to judge of the fitness of the individual for the
task in view.
The rule as regards exercise is to begin with a moderate amount,
and gradually increase it, and the muscles which are to be specially
called into play require to be systematically trained in excess of the
others. Running is the kind of exercise which most " improves the
wind," and, whatever the feat to be performed, it is usual to enforce
a certain amount of running daily, for the special object of making
the person " longer winded."
There is a general agreement regarding exercise, but respecting
diet and other measured most fanciful notions have been held.
Emetics, purgatives, and sometimes diaphoretics, were formerly
32
498 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
recognized as forming an essential part of the process of training.
Sir John Sinclair/ in his article on "Training," says, "With a view
of clearing the stomach, and getting rid of all superfluities, either of
blood or anything else, and also to promote good digestion afterwards,
medicines are given when the training is commenced. They begin
with an emetic, and in about two days afterwards give a dose of
Glauber's salts, from one to two ounces ; and, missing about two
days, another dose, and then a third. It is supposed that one
emetic and three doses of physic will clear any man of all the nox-
ious matter he may have had in his stomach and intestines." It is
scarcely necessary to state that no such heroic measures are now
deemed advisable, and, if our present ideas are correct, considerable
harm must have frequently resulted from their employment.
The tendency of the present day is not to attach so much import-
ance to strictness of diet as formerly, and perhaps the latitude given
is sometimes beyond what is desirable. There can be no doubt that,
to begin with, there should be no sudden deviation of a marked
nature from the accustomed diet, and afterwards that the restriction
should not be so severe as to excite any repugnance. Sudden changes
always incur the risk of a disturbance of health, and, unless the food
subsequently allowed proves grateful to the palate, the dietetic scheme
may fail to secure the fully nourished condition that is needed.
Lean meat has always entered largely into the diet for training,
and experience shows that it contributes in a higher degree than
other food to the development of strength and energy. If we look
to the lower animals, and compare the carnivora with the herbivora,
we notice a striking contrast in their muscular vigor and activity.
It has been ascertained physiologically that animal food disposes to
the removal of superfluous water (vide the effect in increasing the
flow of urine, p. 465) and fat, and makes the muscles firm and rich
in solid constituents. The accounts that are furnished by travellers
point to the aptitude of a meat diet for increasing the power of per-
forming muscular exertion. Dr. Livingstone 2 says, " When the
Makololo go on a foray, as they sometimes do, a month distant,
many of the subject tribes who accompany them being grain-eaters,
perish from sheer fatigue, while the beef-eaters scorn the idea of ever
1 The Code of Health and Longevity, 4th ed., 1818, p. 32.
2 Livingstone's Zambesi, p. 272.
DIET FOR TRAINING. 499
being tired." Sir Francis Head, 1 when crossing the Pampas, got
tired at first with the constant galloping, and was obliged to ride in
a carriage after passing five or six hours on horseback ; but after, he
says, " I had been riding for three or four months, and had lived on
beef and water, I found myself in a condition which I can only de-
scribe by saying that I felt no exertion could kill me. . . . This
will explain the immense distances which people in South America
are said to ride, which/' adds Sir Francis Head, " I am confident
could only be done on beef and water." The Guachos, belonging to
South America, are a race of people well known for the extraordi-
nary number of hours they pass in active exercise on horseback, and
they are observed to subsist entirely on animal food. It will thus
be seen that evidence is not wanting to substantiate the position ac-
corded to meat in the trainer's regimen.
Roasting and broiling are considered to be the best modes of cook-
ing. All are agreed that the meat should not be overcooked, but
some have advocated that it should be eaten very much underdone.
Perhaps in the latter state it possesses higher stimulating properties,
but reason calls for its being cooked sufficiently to be palatable and
susceptible of mastication. There can be no doubt that, by over-
cooking, its digestibility and virtue are lessened.
Beef and mutton are the meats to be preferred, and it is not neces-
sary that all the fat should be excluded. Stale bread or dry toast,
potatoes, and some kind of green vegetable in moderation, are the
appropriate articles to be taken in conjunction. Water-cresses are
considered good. Pastry, flour puddings, sweets, and made dishes,
should find no place in the dietary of the man in training. The
farinaceous articles, as rice, sago, &c., are allowable, but should only
be taken to a moderate extent. To avoid too great sameness is an
important point, especially with those who have been previously ac-
customed to a liberal diet; at the same time it is not desirable that
the person should be tempted to eat to satiety. A full stomach, as is
well known, disposes to inactivity. Condiments, as pickles, sauces,
&c., are objectionable, on account of their effect being to force the
appetite, which should be simply allowed to have its natural play.
In former times it was the practice to rigorously restrain the con-
sumption of liquids to the lowest point that could be borne. Sir
1 Journeys Across the Pampas, 1828, p. 51.
500 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
John Sinclair 1 states, "There is no circumstance which seems to be
more essential in training up persons to the acquisition of athletic
strength than to permit them to take only a small quantity of liquid
food. . . . The ancient athletce were allowed but a very small quan-
tity of fluid. This dry diet, as it is termed, seems to have formed an
essential and important part of their regimen." Such a course of
procedure must evidently be wrong in principle. The exercise
undertaken involves an extensive loss of fluid, and it is only natural
that this should be replaced in proportion as thirst indicates its re-
quirement. In proof of the actual amount of loss occurring during
active exercise, Maclaren says, 2 "In one hour's energetic fencing, I
found the loss by perspiration and respiration, taking the average of
six consecutive days, to be about 3 Ibs., or, accurately, 40 oz., with
a varying range of 8 oz." The sensation of thirst may be taken as
affording a correct guide upon the point of the amount of liquid to
be consumed, but, instead of drinking freely at a draught to satiety,
the liquid should be sipped in small quantities, to give time for ab-
sorption, and thus satisfy thirst, without incurring the risk of intro-
ducing a surplus amount into the stomach. In this way the error
is not likely to be committed of drinking too much. The liquids
consumed must be of a simple and unexciting nature. Beer and the
light wines are allowable, but spirits should be scrupulously avoided.
Tea, coffee, and cocoa may be taken according to inclination, and, as
a simple diluent, nothing is better than toast and water, or barley-
water.
The proper number of meals to be taken during the day consists
of three, viz., one about 9 A.M., the second between 1 and 2 P.M.,
and the third in the early part of the evening.
It has been mentioned that, at the commencement of training,
instead of plunging suddenly into a severe system of diet and exer-
cise, a gradual advance should be made. The same equally applies
to the cessation of training, and there is reason to believe that the
seeds of more or less serious mischief are often sown by the sudden
retreat that is customarily made from the life of discipline that has
been practiced.
Subjoined are the training tactics employed for rowing at Oxford
1 Op. cit , p 33.
2 Training in Theory and Practice, by A. Maclaren, 1866, p. 89.
DIET FOR TRAINING. 501
and Cambridge, according to the tables contained in the appendix to
the work of Maclaren already referred to.
THE OXFORD SYSTEM.
A Day's Training for the Summer Races.
Rise about 7 A.M. A short walk or run. Breakfast at 8.30 of
meat (beef or mutton, underdone) ; bread (the crust only recom-
mended), or dry toast, and tea (as little as possible recommended).
Dinner at 2 P.M., of meat (much the same as for breakfast) ; bread,
and no vegetables (a rule, however, not always adhered to), with
one pint of beer. About 5 P.M.. a row twice over the course on the
river, the speed being increased with the strength of the crew.
Supper at 8.30 or 9 of cold meat and bread with perhaps a jelly or
watercresses, and one pint of beer. Retire to bed about 10.
A Day's Training for the Winter Races.
Rise about 7.30 A.M. A short walk or run. Breakfast at 9, as
for the summer races. Luncheon about 1 of bread or a sandwich,
and half a pint of beer. About 2 a row twice over the course.
Dinner at 5 of meat, as for the summer races ; bread ; vegetables,
the same rule as for the summer races ; pudding (rice) or jelly ; and
half a pint of beer.
It is particularly impressed on men in training that as little liquid
as possible is to be drunk, water being strictly forbidden.
THE CAMBRIDGE SYSTEM.
A Day's Training for the Summer Races.
Rise at 7 A.M. A run of 100 or 200 yards as fast as possible.
Breakfast at 8.30 of meat beef or mutton underdone ; dry toast ;
tea two cups, or towards the end of training a cup and a half only ;
and watercresses occasionally. Dinner about 2 of meat beef or
mutton ; bread ; vegetables potatoes, greens ; and one pint of beer.
(Some colleges have baked apples, or jellies, or rice puddings.)
Dessert oranges, or biscuits, or figs, with two glasses of wine.
About 5.30 a row to the starting-post and back. Supper about 8.30
502 PRACTICAL DIETETICS.
or 9 of cold meat ; bread ; vegetables lettuce or watercresses ; and
one pint of beer. Retire to bed at 10.
A Day's Training for the Winter Races.
Rise about 7 A.M. Exercise as for the summer races. Breakfast
at 8.30, as for the summer races. Luncheon about 1 of a little cold
meat, bread, and half a pint of beer ; or biscuit with a glass of
sherry perhaps the yolk of an egg in the sherry. At 2 a row
over the course and back. Dinner about 5 or 6, as for the summer
races. Retire to bed about 10.
THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
HOLDING the position that food does in relation to the operations
of life, the art of dietetics not only bears on the maintenance of
health, but is capable of being turned to advantageous account in
the treatment of disease.
Under natural circumstances, instinct guides us in the selection
and consumption of food and drink. Whilst keeping to simple
articles of diet, it may be left to the sensations of hunger and thirst
to regulate the amount of solids and liquids taken. In many dis-
ordered conditions, however, there is such a perverted state existing
that the promptings of nature fail to be evoked, and it devolves
upon reason to assume the initiative and dictate the supply to be
furnished. Under these circumstances, the nature and amount of
food administered will often exert a most potent influence for good
or evil, and the art of dietetics thus comes into great importance.
Skill and attention are called into requisition ; indeed, it is not too
much to say that success in the treatment of disease is largely de-
pendent upon a display of judicious management with regard to
food.
It frequently happens that the difficulty encountered in the sick-
room is to get what may be considered a proper amount of food
taken. The inclination to eat depends upon the state both of the
body and the mind. The food must be rendered pleasing to the eye
and agreeable to the palate ; and in order to rouse and keep in action
a flagging appetite, a suitable variety in what is provided must be
secured. Herein lies a great point in catering for sick people, and
but too often the error is committed of allowing an excess of same-
ness to prevail.
It must be borne in mind that the demand for food is dependent
upon its proper application, and failure of the appetite is often due
to the defective manner in which nutrition is performed. It is not
504 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
what we eat, but what we digest, assimilate, and apply, that concerns
us as regards nutrition. Food introduced into the stomach, but not
digested, assimilated, and employed, is calculated to prove a source
of irritation, and to do harm. It is not, therefore, to be thought
that because it is got down it must needs prove of service. Judicious
persuasion should be exercised ; but I believe that much needless
worry is often inflicted by the incessant solicitation, however well
meant, that is frequently made by those around a patient to get
food taken. The disinclination, indeed, for taking food is sometimes
such that the thought of it is sufficient to excite a feeling of repul-
sion, which, more powerful over the muscles concerned than the
will, overcomes any effort that may be made to swallow it.
The quantity of food administered at a time should be in pro-
portion to the power of digesting it, and to properly compensate for
a diminished quantity, there should be a corresponding increase in
the frequency of administration. " Little and often," is the maxim
upon many occasions to be followed, and much will sometimes de-
pend upon the strictness with which it is carried out; for, apart
from complying with what is wanted upon the principle that has
been just referred to, it meets the defective aptitude that exists in
sickness for sustaining any lengthened duration of absence of food.
As a natural result of the administration of food at short inter-
vals, no appetite is at any time experienced, even although the
circumstances may be such as would otherwise allow it to become
developed. The fact must not be lost sight of, that the return of a
feeling of desire for food may be kept back in this way ; and the
expediency must always be held in view of conforming as soon and
as far as is allowable with what is natural. Under all circumstances,
it may be said, the rule should be to follow, alike as to quality,
quantity, and periods of taking food, as closely as the conditions to
be dealt with will permit, the course that is natural in health.
It devolves upon the physician, in the dietetic management of his
case, to point out the suitable kinds and quantities of food to be
taken, but it depends upon the system of his patient whether his
recommendations can be carried out. It is no good to lay down and
attempt to enforce, as may be done in health, rigid dietetic regula-
tions, founded upon the number of grains of carbon and nitrogen
required for carrying on the operations of life. The difficulty with
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 505
which the practitioner is more often than not assailed, is as to what
can, and not as to what should, be taken.
As the principles of dietetics have become better understood, we
do not hear of those disastrous consequences of improper dieting,
affecting large numbers of people, that were formerly from time to
time recorded. There is still, however, a large amount of scattered
evil to be met with, in many instances directly dependent on the
food that is taken, and in others, if not directly occasioned by the
food, at all events removable by an altered system of dieting. It
may happen that this evil arises out of poverty or ignorance, but
more frequently it is the fruits of indiscretion. Much of the de-
ranged health which the physician is called upon to treat stands as
the offspring of some kind of error in eating or drinking, and his
first concern should be to find out what is wrong, in order that he
may know how to shape his advice advantageously.
In speaking of the appropriate diets to be employed in various
morbid conditions, attention will require to be directed to the partic-
ular diatheses or states of the body which different kinds of food
tend to induce, for it may be considered that the information thus
supplied often directs us to a rational mode of procedure in thera-
peutic dietetics.
It may be premised, to start with, that our natural diet consists
of an admixture of animal and vegetable food ; that different combi-
nations of alimentary principles are best suited for particular modes
of life; and that, if the combination supplied be wrongly adjusted, a
tendency to the development of an unhealthy state will exist.
The effect of a highly nitrogenized diet and it is animal food
which is characterized by richness in nitrogenous matter is to
throw upon the system a large amount of eliminative work. The
nitrogenous matter in excess of that which is directly applied to the
growth and renovation of the structures of the body undergoes a
process of retrograde metamorphosis, and is resolved in part into
certain useless nitrogenous products which have to be cast out by
the agency of the glandular organs with which we are provided.
Now, as long as free exercise is taken and the circulation is kept in
an active state, favorable circumstances exist for the absorption of
oxygen and the proper occurrence of metamorphosis and elimina-
tion. Thus circumstanced, a diet into which animal food enters
506 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
largely a diet, that is, rich in nitrogenous matter is borne with
ease, and indeed may be said to conduce to increased tissue forma-
tion and the development of a high state of bodily health and
strength. Conjoined with sedentary habits, however, a different
result is observed. The sluggish circulation which such habits tend
to occasion naturally entails defective oxygenation. This, in its
turn, leads to imperfect metamorphosis, and the two together con-
spire to induce deficient eliminative action. Thus the system be-
comes more or less clogged with effete products, which act perni-
ciously in various ways upon the body. For instance, there is
reason to believe that they may sometimes in a direct manner con-
stitute the source of gouty deposits in the joints. They undoubtedly
give rise to the presence of a preternatural amount of solid matter
in the urine, manifesting a proneness to become deposited under the
form of sand, gravel, or stone. They likewise disturb the action of
the liver, producing a disposition to the occurrence of bilious de-
rangement. Besides these effects, evidence is not wanting to show r
that through their influence the other functions of life are to a
greater or less extent interfered with. To obviate, therefore, the
production of these disordered actions, those who lead an inactive
life should not allow their diet to contain a preponderance of nitro-
genous food that is, they should abstain from partaking largely of
animal products.
Gout has been enumerated above amongst the evils that may
arise from the consumption of a highly nitrogenized diet, and the
present opportunity may be taken for referring to the appropriate
dietetic course to be pursued by those who are suffering from, and
those who desire to avert the invasion of, the disorder. Cullen re-
marked that gout seldom attacks persons employed in constant
bodily labor, or those who live principally upon vegetable diet, and
general observation confirms the truth of this statement. If not
completely proved, it is nevertheless highly probable, that gout is
the offspring of an undue accumulation of imperfectly metamor-
phosed nitrogenous products within the body, and that either an
excess of nitrogenous matter in the food, a deficiency on the part of
the metamorphosing capacity of the system (such as may be pro-
duced by an inactive life), or the ingestion of certain alcoholic
drinks which appear to contain extractive matter prone to undergo
DIET FOR GOUT. 507
imperfect metamorphosis (vide p. 361), and perhaps to impede the
metamorphosis of other substances, may be the source of this condi-
tion. Whether or not the above reasoning is correct, it is known
as the result of experience that a highly animalized diet, sedentary
habits, and indulgence in the use of the richer varieties of wine and
beer, individually and conjointly tend to encourge the development
of gout. It has been previously stated, that a diet rich in animal
food may be consumed with advantage where much muscular work
is performed. It seems, under these circumstances, to be both pro-
motive of health and bodily vigor. Not so, however, where seden-
tary habits prevail, and particularly is this the case where a gouty
disposition exists. With those who have already experienced symp-
toms of gout, and those also who have grounds for apprehending
its invasion, it is important that an excess of nitrogenous food
should be avoided. The diet should be simple, in order to escape
the temptation of eating too much, and at the same time it should
be adjusted to the mode of life, the principle to observe being, that
the higher the degree of inactivity the greater ought to be the pre-
ponderance of food derived from the vegetable kingdom.
Even of more importance than what is eaten is what is drunk,
where the question of gout is concerned, and observation shows that
it is not distilled spirits, but the stronger wines and malt liquors
which favor the production of the disorder. Nothing is more potent
than port wine in leading to the production of gout, and a few years'
liberal indulgence in it has often been known to be instrumental in
bringing it on where no family predisposition had existed. Dry
sherry and the light wines, as claret, burgundy, hock, champagne,
<fec., may be drunk, certainly in moderation, with comparatively
little or no fear of inducing the disease, although any kind of wine
appears capable of sometimes acting as the exciting cause of a par-
oxysm where the gouty disposition is already established. Stout,
porter, and the stronger ales, aspecially those which have be<jome
hard from age, rank next to port wine in their power of predispos-
ing to gout. As regards the light bitter beers, which are so exten-
sively used at the present time, the same must be said of them as of
the light wines, viz., that with little, if any, disposition to induce
the disease, they nevertheless appear capable of sometimes exciting
its manifestation in a gouty subject. A pure spirit, as whisky, hoi-
lands, or brandy, diluted with water, often forms the only kind of
508 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
alcoholic drink that is found to agree with those who are suffering
from gout.
The effect of a deficiency of nitrogenous matter is to tell prejudici-
ally upon nutrition and vigor. Forming, as it does, the essential
basis of living structures, a definite quantity is indispensable for the
proper development and maintenance of the body. However freely
the other elements of food may be supplied, an ill-nourished and
feeble condition, such as was formerly noticeable amongst the potato-
eating Irish, must necessarily follow a scanty allowance of nitrogen-
ous matter. As the instrument of living action, power will be pro-
portionate, other circumstances being equal, to the amount of nitro-
genous matter existing in operation.
Fatty matter occupies a position of considerable importance as an
alimentary agent. Apart from its high capacity as a force-produc-
ing agent, its presence seems to be essential to tissue formation, and,
rightly or wrongly, the belief is entertained that the existence of a
deficiency for application in this way furnishes a source of diseased
action in the direction of scrofula and tubercle. Experience shows
the beneficial effect that is often derivable from the administration of
cod-liver oil in the scrofulous and tubercular diatheses. Now, it is
probably to the increased systematic employment of fatty matter that
this effect is to a large extent due, and it is only reasonable to infer
that a measure which proves of efficacy in removing an unhealthy
condition would also tend to prevent its development.
Taken in excess, fatty matter is apt to derange the alimentary canal.
It is always more or less trying to the stomach, and particularly so
when it has undergone change from keeping or from prolonged
exposure to heat. Reaching the bowels beyond the capacity that
exists for effecting its digestion and absorption, it is liable to set up
diarrhoea.
Starchy and saccharine matters form advantageous constituents of
our food, and serve to take the place that would otherwise require to
be filled by an extra amount of fat. Consumed in moderate amount,
they are utilized by application to the operations of life ; but taken
to a large extent, and in association with a proper proportion of albu-
minous and fatty matter, they lead to an advancing deposit of fat,
which may proceed to a point to prove a source of serious evil. They
possess the convenient quality of taxing lightly the digestive organs,
PRINCIPLES OF DIETING FOR THINNESS AND STOUTNESS. 509
and thereby usefully contribute to afford appropriate food for sick
and delicate persons. Used in excess and too exclusively, however,
they are liable to give rise to acidity of stomach and flatulence.
The present may be looked upon as forming the most fitting op-
portunity for referring to the kind of food best suited for increasing
and diminishing stoutness. The condition of the body is to a large
extent dependent on the quality and quantity of food consumed. It
is not, however, wholly the question of food that is concerned, but
also the temperament or nervous organization belonging to the indi-
vidual. It is well known that, whatever and however much some
people may eat, they always remain thin, whilst others grow stout
although eating comparatively little. The same holds good in the
case of the lower animals, and fatteners of animals for the table are
practically made aware that a restless disposition is unfavorable to
successful fattening. "A restless pig," states Liebig, 1 upon the
strength of practical information furnished to him, " is not adapted
for fattening, and, however great the supply of food, it will not grow
fat. Pigs which are fit for fattening must be of a quiet nature ; after
eating they must sleep, and after sleeping must be ready to eat
again."
From what is contained in the foregoing pages we learn that the
increase of muscle is most promoted by a diet which is rich in nitro-
genous matter conjoined with exercise. It is simply, however, a
growth of muscular tissue which occurs under these conditions. The
fat undergoes no increase. Indeed, the effect of such a regimen is
to lead to a reduction of fat if a superfluity has existed at the com-
mencement. These are facts which have long been known, and are
constantly being attested by the results obtained by training. It
has been equally well known that the conditions most conducive to
the accumulation of fat are a diet which is rich in either fat or
carbohydrates (provided the requisite amount of nitrogenous mat-
ter be present for affording what is wanted for the operations of
life), exposure to a warm atmosphere, and inactive habits. The food
used for the fattening of domestic animals by those who have ac-
quired the knowledge by experience of what is best is of the nature
described. The efficacy of sugar in promoting fatness is displayed
by the change that occurs in the condition of the negro during the
1 Animal Chemistry, 2d ed., p. 312.
510 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
sugar-making season in the West Indies. The ordinary food of
these people, I was informed by a plantation proprietor belonging to
Barbadoes, consists of Indian corn meal, rice, butter, and salt, with,
during a portion of the year, the sweet potato, which is grown as a
succession-crop to the sugar cane. I learned from the same source, in
confirmation of what has been mentioned by others, that during the
season for gathering the sugar-cane, which extends through March,
April, and May, the workpeople are noticed to grow conspicuously
stouter, and they attribute (doubtless correctly) this change to the
habit that prevails of constantly chewing pieces of the succulent cane
whilst they are working amongst it.
That a supply of fat should tend to augment the accumulation of
fat in the body is simple and intelligible enough. Digestion, absorp-
tion, and accumulation, when in excess of the immediate require-
ments of the body, follow its ingestion as natural sequences. With
the carbohydrates, however, an elaborating process has to be carried
out they necessarily require, in the first place, to become converted
by assimilative action into fat before they can lead to the accumula-
tion of this principle. Although the point was at one time disputed,
precise experimental evidence is now adducible (vide p. 127 et seq.)
showing that this assimilative power is enjoyed by the animal sys-
tem, and common observation affords confirmatory testimony. For
the conversion to take place, the food must contain a due proportion
of nitrogenous matter. Without this, nutrition suffers, and the car-
bohydrates fail to produce an increase of fat. The presence of a
certain proportion of fatty matter seems also to promote the conver-
sion of the carbohydrates into fat. I have found, for example, in
experimenting upon the subject, that the addition of a moderate
amount of fat to a fixed daily allowance of barley meal and potatoes,
which had previously maintained a dog without any material varia-
tion in weight, caused an increase in weight beyond the amount of
fat administered. The food employed, also, for fattening the goose
and obtaining the/oie gras consists of Indian corn, which is charac-
terized amongst farinaceous seeds by the large proportion of fatty
matter it contains.
Guided, then, by the information we possess, the dietary to be
prescribed, where tne aim is to produce increased stoutness, should
comprise such articles as fat meats, butter, cream, milk, cocoa, choco-
late, bread, potatoes, peas, parsnips, carrots, beet-root, farinaceous
REDUCTION OF CORPULENCY. 511
and flour puddings, pastry, almond puddings and biscuits, custard,
frumenty, oatmeal porridge, sugar and sweets, sweet wines, porter,
stout, sweet ales, and liqueurs. Women in the Bey's seraglio at
Tripoli, we are told (Mrs. Walker's "Female Beauty"), "are fat-
tened against a certain day by means of repose and baths, assisted by
a diet of Turkish flour mixed with honey."
For reducing stoutness just the converse mode of dieting is natu-
rally dictated ; and that there is nothing new in applying dietetics
to this purpose is shown by the subjoined extract from the writings
of Sir John Sinclair. Amongst the remedies for corpulency the fol-
lowing dietary rules are given: " Liquid food. Acid wines, like
hock, ought to be preferred to sweet wines, and cider to malt liquors;
for when the former is the usual beverage the people are leaner than
when the latter is usually drunk. Plain water, or mixed with a
small proportion of the best vinegar, may be taken. Vinegar is
better than the juice of lemons, having passed through the process
of fermentation. Tea and coffee should be taken by corpulent people
without cream. Solid food. The bread should have the bran in it,
so as to be more digestible. Vegetable diet to be preferred ; hard
dumplings excellent. If any animal food is taken, let it be fish, or
lean and dry meat. No eggs or butter, and the less sugar the better." 1
We cannot now, it is true, subscribe in their entirety to the recom-
mendations here furnished, for, in some respects, owing to the imper-
fect knowledge of physiology which prevailed in Sir John Sinclair's
time, they stand at variance with the precepts founded on the teach-
ings of modern science.
A few years ago a great stir was made about the treatment of cor-
pulency by the publicity given by Mr. Banting to his own case, in
which, after unsuccessfully trying other means, he reduced himself
from cumbersome to comely dimensions by dietetic measures. His
original dietary table, Mr. Banting tells us, consisted of "bread and
milk for breakfast, or a pint of tea with plenty of milk, sugar, and
buttered toast ; meat, beer, much bread, and pastry for dinner ; the
meal of tea similar to that of breakfast; and generally a fruit tart or
bread and milk for supper." For this he substituted Breakfast at
9 A.M. : five to six ounces of either beef, mutton, kidneys, broiled
fish, bacon, or cold meat of any kind except pork or veal ; a large
1 The Code of Health and Longevity, 4th ed., 1818, p. 530.
512 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
cup of tea or coffee (without milk or sugar), a little biscuit, or one
ounce of dry. toast : making together six ounces of solids and nine of
liquids. Dinner at 2 P.M : five or six ounces of any fish except
salmon, herrings, or eels ; any meat except pork or veal ; any vege-
table except potato, parsnip, beet-root, turnip, or carrot ; one ounce
of dry toast; fruit out of a pudding not sweetened; any kind of
poultry or game ; and two or three glasses of good claret, sherry, or
Madeira champagne, port, and beer forbidden : making together
ten to twelve ounces of solids and ten of liquids. Tea at 6 P.M : two
or three ounces of cooked fruit, a rusk or two, and a cup of tea with-
out milk or sugar : making two to four ounces of solids and nine of
liquids. Supper at 9 P.M. : three or four ounces of meat or fish,
similar to dinner; with a glass or two of claret or sherry and water:
making four ounces of solids and seven of liquids.
With this change of diet Mr. Banting states that he fell in weight
from 14 stone 6 Ib. to 11 stone 2 Ib. in about a year. Such is
nothing more than, without the aid of the experience afforded by his
case, would have been physiologically looked for. If he had been
trying before the change to increase his corpulence he could scarcely
have selected a more appropriate diet. The transition, having in
view the object to be obtained, and speaking upon the strength of
previously acquired physiological knowledge, was from an errone-
ously to a properly constructed dietary.
No new principle of action was brought to light, but there is this
to be said, that before the introduction of "Bantingism" it was not
sufficiently realized that dietetics might be turned to such practical
account as it is really susceptible of for the reduction of corpulency.
It must not be lost sight of that the quantity of food in Mr. Bant-
ing's dietary is such as would be calculated to contribute its share of
influence towards reducing the weight of the body ; and it certainly
must not be looked upon as safe to be indiscriminately followed
indeed, there is reason to believe that, when the popular rage for
" Bantingism " prevailed, many persons incurred a serious impair-
ment of health by keeping too strictly to the letter of the recommen-
dation given. The dietary provides twenty-two to twenty-six ounces
of solid food, with thirty-five ounces of liquids, per diem. The
twenty-two to twenty-six ounces of solid food may be taken as rep-
resenting about eleven to thirteen ounces of water-free material, and
if reference be made to Playfair's dietaries (vide ante, p. 428), it will
DIET FOR CORPULENCY. 513
be seen that this fails to come up to what is classed as only a " sub-
sistence diet." The middle diet of Guy's Hospital, which forms the
general diet upon which the inmates of the institution are placed,
and which experience shows can scarcely be regarded as furnishing
much, if anything, beyond what is really required for the support of
life under a quiescent state, furnishes 29J ounces of solid food, and
represents 16f ounces of water- free material (vide p. 469). With
these comparisons the reader is supplied with data for forming his
own judgment upon the point in question.
Dr. Parkes, after remarking that an excess of albuminates causes
a more rapid oxidation of fat, says, 1 " It is now generally admitted
that the success of Mr. Banting's treatment of obesity is owing to
two actions : the increased oxidizing effect of fat consequent on the
increase of meat (especially if exercise be combined), and the lessened
interference with the oxidation of fat consequent on the deprivation
of starches." Whether or not an increase of meat produces the
alleged effect of promoting the oxidation of fat, it is practically cer-
tain that enough is to be found to account for what occurs in the
spare allowance of food and the restraint imposed in the use of fat
and fat-forming principles.
As a resum6 for the guidance of the corpulent, if may be said that
the fat of meat ; butter ; cream ; sugar and sweets ; pastry ; puddings ;
farinaceous articles, as rice, sago, tapioca, &c. ; potatoes ; carrots ;
parsnips ; beet-root ; sweet ales ; porter ; stout ; port wine, and all
sweet wines, should be avoided, or only taken to the most sparing
extent. The articles allowable, and they should be taken to the ex-
tent of satisfying a natural appetite, are lean meat ; poultry ; game ;
eggs ; milk moderately ; green vegetables ; turnips ; succulent fruits ;
light wines, as claret, Burgundy, hock, &c. ; dry sherry ; bitter ale
in moderation; and spirits. Wheaten bread should be consumed
sparingly, and brown bread is to some extent better than white. The
gluten biscuits which are prepared for the diabetic may, on account
of their comparative freedom from starch, be advantageously used as
a substitute for bread in the treatment of obesity.
In Diabetes mellitus a morbid condition exists attended with a
want of assimilative power over the starchy and saccharine principles
of food ; and in order to keep down the symptoms of the disease, the
1 On Hygiene, 3d ed., p. 161.
33
514 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
dietary requires to be framed so as to secure as far as practicable an
exclusion of these principles. The following is the dietary plan for
this complaint, introduced into my work " On the Nature and Treat-
ment of Diabetes."
DIETARY FOR THE DIABETIC.
MAY EAT
Butcher's meat of all kinds, except liver.
Ham, bacon, or other smoked, salted, dried, or cured meats.
Poultry. Game.
Shell-fish and fish of all kinds, fresh, salted, or cured.
Animal soups not thickened, beef tea, and broths.
The almond, bran, or gluten substitute for ordinary bread. 1
Eggs dressed in any way.
Cheese. Cream cheese.
Butter. Cream.
Greens. Spinach. Turnip tops. ^Turnips.
^French beans. ^Brussels sprouts.
^Cauliflower. ^Broccoli. *Cabbage.
^Asparagus. *Seakale. ^Vegetable marrow. Mushrooms.
Water-cress. Mustard and cress. Cucumber. Lettuce.
Endive. Radishes. Celery.
Vinegar. Oil. Pickles.
Jelly, flavored, but not sweetened.
Savory jelly.
Blanc-mange made with cream, and not milk.
Custard made without sugar.
Nuts of any description, except chestnuts. Olives.
NOTE. Those marked with an asterisk (*) may only be eaten in moderate quantity, and should
be boiled in a large quantity of water.
MUST AVOID EATING
Sugar in any form.
"Wheaten bread and ordinary biscuits of all kinds.
Rice. Arrowroot. Sago. Tapioca. Macaroni. Vermicelli.
Potatoes. Carrots. Parsnips. Beet-root.
Peas. Spanish onions.
Pastry and puddings of all kinds.
Fruit of all kinds, fresh and preserved.
i These substitutes may be obtained at Mr. Blatchley's, 362 Oxford Street ;
Mr. Van Abbot's, of 5 Princes Street, Cavendish Square; and Mr. Bonthron's,
106 Regent Street.
DIET FOR DIABETES. 515
MAY DRINK
Tea. Coffee. Cocoa from nibs.
Dry sherry. Claret. Dry Sauterne. Burgundy. Chablis. Hock.
Brandy, and spirits that have not been sweetened.
Soda-water.
Burton bitter ale, in moderate quantity.
MUST AVOID DRINKING
Milk, except sparingly.
Sweet ales mild and old. Porter and stout. Cider.
All sweet wines. Sparkling wines. Port wine, unless sparingly.
Liqueurs.
Experience has shown that, for the proper maintenance of health,
a certain proportion of the food must be consumed in the fresh state.
The ill effects that are producible by a too exclusive restriction to
salted and dried provisions, are now recognized in their true light ;
and with the knowledge that has been obtained, means have been
placed at our command for averting those calamitous results due to
scorbutic affections, which were formerly so common, particularly
amongst the maritime classes. Without being able to give the pre-
cise reason for what occurs, it is evident that there is something
absent from dried and salted food which the system requires, for
under restriction to its use for a lengthened period a state of poverty
of blood is induced, which leads to the various manifestations of
defective nutrition that accompany scurvy ; and, moreover, by the
employment of a certain amount of fresh or succulent vegetable
food, and even of vegetable juices (lemon-juice and lime-juice are
specially used for the purpose), not only may the evils of scurvy be
averted, but the diseased condition when established may be cured.
It is generally considered that the antiscorbutic virtue of the articles
named is owing to the vegetable acids which they contain ; but it
must be remarked, that the pure acids cannot be efficaciously used
as a substitute.
A beneficial influence may be exerted in certain states of the sys-
tem by regulating the amount of fluid taken.
The supply of a certain amount of fluid is as indispensable as
that of solid matter for the performance of the operations of life.
One use of the fluids taken is to furnish the requisite liquid material
516 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
for carrying the effete products from the body. "With increased
water-drinking there is an increased discharge of urine, and with it
an increased removal of solid matter ; and there can be no doubt
that, in certain states, a powerful influence for good may be exerted
by putting this principle of action into force. With those, for in-
stance, who lead a sedentary mode of life, and are accustomed to full
living, the effect of the free consumption of a watery fluid may be to
rid the system of impurities which might otherwise lead to evils,
such as liver disorder, gout, gravel, &c. Probably much of the
benefit, in many instances, derived from undergoing the course of
treatment pursued at a watering resort, is in great part due to the
eliminative effect of the water drunk.
The restriction of fluids is also sometimes capable of effecting
good. It constitutes a recognized therapeutic agency that is occa-
sionally employed in certain cases under the denomination of the
"dry treatment." It has been recommended for cutting short a
common head cold, and when so employed must be put in force at
the very commencement of the attack. No liquid of any kind is
to be drunk until the disorder is gone, the object being to avoid
supplying fluid for discharge from the inflamed mucous membrane
of the nose. The treatment is affirmed to be less distressing to bear
than might be thought, and to be capable of effecting a cure in forty-
eight hours. In pleurisy, with serous effusion, feeding the patient
upon the driest possible diet, and withholding liquids as far as prac-
ticable, has in some cases proved successful in leading to an absorp-
tion of the fluid. The restriction of fluids likewise forms a part of
Mr. Tuffnell's plan of treatment of internal aneurisms by "position
and diet." The treatment is specially advocated for aneurisms of
the thoracic and abdominal aorta, which cannot be otherwise treated,
and several examples of successful issue have been placed on record.
The points aimed at are to diminish the volume of blood and re-
duce the activity of the circulation, so that coagulation of fibrin
within the sac may be favored. Conjoined with a strict maintenance
of rest in the recumbent position for eight or ten weeks, the daily
diet recommended for use consists of two ounces of white bread with
butter, and two ounces of cocoa or milk, for breakfast ; three ounces
of broiled or boiled meat, with three ounces of potatoes or breadj and
four ounces of water or light claret, for dinner ; and two ounces of
bread and butter, with two ounces of milk or tea, for supper :
REGULATION OF AMOUNT OF FLUIDS. 517
making, altogether, ten ounces of solid and eight ounces of fluid food
in the twenty-four hours.
The nature of the food exerts a marked influence on the urine, and
the effect may be turned to useful account therapeutical ly.
Physiology teaches us that the kidneys perform an eliminative
office. The water which they remove in regulating the amount of
fluid in the system is made the vehicle for carrying off solid matter,
consisting of useless products of metamorphosis of the food and
effete materials resulting from the disintegration of the tissues, which
poison and produce death if allowed to accumulate in the blood. As
long as the kidneys are acting healthily, these matters are discharged
as fast as they are formed, and no danger of their undue retention
within the body is incurred. The kidneys, however, are liable to
become the seat of disease of a character to lead to their eliminative
capacity being interfered with. Bright's disease is of this nature, and
one mode of fatal termination in this affection is by ursemic poison-
ing in other words, by coma attributable to the imperfect removal
of urinary products.
Now, the amount of urinary matter to be discharged is largely
dependent upon the nature of the food. The fats and carbohydrates
throw no work upon the kidneys. The products of their utilization
carbonic acid and water pass off through another channel. The
nitrogenous ingesta, on the other hand, as explained in a previous
section of this work (vide p. 76), in great part undergo metamorpho-
sis, and yield their nitrogen to be carried off in combination with a
portion of their other elements, under the form of urinary products.
In this way the kidneys become taxed by the food. Under an ordi-
nary mixed diet, indeed, the chief part of the solid matter of the
urine consists of nitrogenous products, and observation has shown
that it is to the nitrogenous matter ingested that these stand related.
Upon the principle, therefore, of endeavoring to lighten the work of
an affected organ, it is reasonable to infer that good may be done in
Bright's disease by arranging the diet so as not to lead to the intro-
duction of more nitrogenous matter into the system than is absolutely
needed, and this may be effected by allowing vegetable food to pre-
ponderate.
It must not be lost sight of that the escape of albumen might be
brought forward as affording an argument in favor of an extra amount
518 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
of nitrogenous matter being required in order to compensate for the
waste occurring. In the form of Bright's disease, however, where
the greatest impairment of functional capacity of the kidney is en-
countered, viz., in the contracted kidney, the amount of albumen
escaping is frequently insignificant, and sometimes, even, there may
be none. It may be presumably considered, in fact, that the effect
of the mere loss of albumen is not so much to be dreaded as the
danger of uraemia, which is constantly impending, and which is the
most likely to be staved oif for a time by the dietetic measures that
are calculated to lead to a limited production of urinary matter for
discharge.
The reaction of the urine is also susceptible of being influenced by
the character of the food, and this likewise may be turned to account
therapeutical ly. The effect of animal food is to increase the acidity,
whilst that of vegetable food is to diminish it, and even to produce
alkalinity. The urine of the dog, like that of the carnivora generally,
is strongly acid, but it may be rendered alkaline by a diet of potatoes.
The urine of the herbivora, although acid during fasting, or during
the intervals of digestion, tends to become alkaline and to remain so
for a certain period after feeding. The ordinary reaction of the urine
of man a mixed feeder is acid, but after fruits and other vegetable
articles partaken of largely it has been observed to present an alka-
line behavior. Bernard conducted an observation upon himself
bearing on this point, and obtained a strongly marked attestation.
His urine, to start with, was examined, and found to possess its ordi-
nary acid character; and, moreover, was sufficiently loaded with
lithates to throw down a deposit on cooling. He began in the morn-
ing, and confined himself throughout the day to vegetables, fruit,
and butter. The urine remained acid till night, but on the follow-
ing morning it was decidedly alkaline, and no longer threw down the
lithate deposit that had been noticed before. He partook at 8 A.M.
of coffee and milk and bread ; and at noon of meat, eggs, cheese, and
wine. At 2 P.M. the urine was still alkaline, but at 4 P.M. it had
become neutral, and at 6 P.M. acid, in which state it afterwards re-
mained, and again threw down the lithate deposit.
Dr. Bence Jones pointed out that the effect of the ingestion of food,
without reference to any special kind, is to diminish for a time the
acidity of the urine. He found, as the result of an examination
conducted at short intervals, that a notable falling oif in its acidity
ALTERATION OF THE URINE. 519
was discoverable after a meal; and that in numbers of healthy
persons it became neutral or alkaline for two or three hours after
breakfast and dinner. Dr. Bence Jones regarded this result as de-
pendent on the witlidrawl of acid from the blood into the stomach
for the purpose of digestion, the blood being thereby left for the time
less capable of yielding acid to the urine. Dr. Roberts 1 has discussed
the subject, and refers the phenomenon to the effect of the entrance
of the newly digested food into the blood. He says, " If, as is be-
lieved, the normal alkalescence of the blood is due to the preponder-
ance of alkaline bases in all our ordinary articles of food, a meal is
pro tanto a dose of alkali, and must necessarily, for a time, add to
the alkalescence of the blood ; and as the kidneys have delegated to
them the function of regulating the reaction of the blood, the urine
immediately reflects any undue addition to, or subtraction from, the
blood's proper alkalescence." Without detracting from the validity
of the explanation suggested by Dr. Bence Jones for the abstrac-
tion of acid from the blood by the stomach may help to produce the
result Dr. Roberts's view is in harmony with the circumstance,
that the effect of food in the way mentioned is most strikingly appar-
ent in the vegetable-feeder, where the saline matter ingested has the
greatest capacity for giving alkalescence. In the rabbit, for instance,
the urine, which is acid and clear during fasting, becomes, as an
everyday occurrence, opaque and milky after the ingestion of food,
in consequence of the deposition of earthy phosphates resulting from
the marked degree of alkalescence acquired.
From what -has preceded, it is seen that an excess of acidity and
of solid matter may be reduced by means of a preponderance of
vegetable food in the diet. With those suffering from the lithic acid
diathesis those in whom the urine may throw down red sand, or
simply be unduly loaded and acid a most beneficial effect may be
produced by arranging the diet so that a limited allowance only of
animal food is consumed, and that succulent vegetables and fruits,
with the light wines, as claret, hock, &c., obtain a conspicuous place.
On the other hand, where there is a tendency to alkalinity and the
deposition of the earthy phosphates, exactly the opposite course
should be adopted ; but it must be remarked that the same degree of
success is not always in this case to be obtained ; and, where the
1 On Urinary and Kenal Diseases, 2d ed., p. 50.
520 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
urine is alkaline from the presence of ammonia, no decided effect
must be looked for*
I have hitherto been speaking of the therapeutic application of
dietetics through influences exerted upon the system, and have shown
that various morbid conditions are capable of being beneficially af-
fected by appropriately regulating the nature of the food consumed.
I will pass now to the consideration of the application of dietetics to
the treatment of diseased and disordered conditions of the digestive
organs, and, here, dealing with the immediate reciprocity that is ob-
served to exist, the character of the food forms an all-important
matter in the management of the case ; indeed, it is not too much to
say, that there is usually more to be done by proper dieting than by
the agency of drugs ; and, without some attention to dietetics, drugs
will rarely be found to prove efficacious in affording relief.
It is as organs in the exercise of their functional capacity that the
digestive organs are brought into relation with food ; and it may be
remarked, as a preliminary point of consideration, that, besides the
absolute character of the food, there are conditions of a collateral
nature connected with its ingest ion which exert their influence for
good or evil and demand attention. In the first place, much depends
upon the state in which the food reaches the stomach. Thorough
mastication affords great assistance to the performance of digestion,
and derangement of the digestive system is not unfrequently attrib-
utable to the food being swallowed in an imperfectly masticated
state. The dental art may here prove of incalculable service, a.nd
sometimes it may be found advisable to recommend that the food
should be finely minced before being eaten an operation which may
be most effectually achieved by having recourse to the aid of a
mincing apparatus, and small mincing machines have been specially
constructed for the purpose. Taking the food at regular periods also
tends to promote the orderly working of the digestive organs, and
where derangement has to be rectified, should be carefully attended
to. The amount of food that can be taken at a time should form
'the guide for regulating the frequency of taking it. The smaller
the amount tolerated at once, the more frequent should be its admin-
istration. An interval of more than four or five hours' duration be-
tween the meals is to be avoided. It acts perniciously in more ways
.than one. By inducing an exhausted state of the system, it dimin-
FOOD FOR WEAK DIGESTION. 521
ishes the energy of the digestive organs, and, whilst having this ef-
fect, it at the same time calls for the exercise of increased energy, on
account of the larger amount of food which requires to be taken at
each meal, as a compensation for the duration of the interval that
has elapsed. It is with digestion as with other kinds of work : the
effect of allowing it to be leisurely accomplished, as by taking mode-
rate-sized meals at intervals of jiioderate duration, instead of crowd-
ing it into limited periods, as by taking larger meals with intervals
of longer duration, is to render it more easily performed.
In giving attention now to the kind of food best adapted for em-
ployment in different disordered states of the alimentary canal, the
rational course will be to take the influence exerted by the various
groups of alimentary articles as affording a guiding principle of ac-
tion.
The office of the stomach is to dissolve nitrogenous matter, and
as animal food is characterized by a preponderating amount of such
matter, it specially taxes the powers of the organ in question. Peas,
beans, and other leguminous seeds, are, amongst vegetable articles,
the richest in nitrogenous matter, and hence, as common experience
testifies, prove more trying than other vegetable products to gastric
digestion.
In febrile, acute inflammatory, and other conditions where an ab-
sence of digestive power prevails, it is not only useless to introduce
food of the nature above referred to into the stomach, but absolutely
pernicious, as, from its remaining undigested, it can only prove a
source of irritation and disturbance. Whatever is given should be
susceptible of passing on without requiring the exercise of functional
activity on the part of the stomach. Hence the food in such cases
should be confined to such articles as beef tea; mutton, veal, or
chicken broth ; whey ; calf's foot and other kinds of jelly ; arrow-
root and such like farinaceous articles ; barley-water; rice mucilage;
gum-water; fruit jelly; and the juice of fruits, as lemons, oranges,
&c., made into drinks. Besides its.objectionable nature as concerns
the stomach, it may be presumed that, if nitrogenous food were di-
gested and absorbed, it would be calculated afterwards to prove ob-
noxious to the system, on account of the products it gives rise to
creating the demand they do for the performance of glandular elimi-
native work. With articles of the carbohydrate group, on the
other hand, no such glandular work is called into requisition.
522 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
Where a little latitude is allowable, the employment of milk, and
of eggs in a fluid form, may be sanctioned. Bread jelly, which is
made by steeping bread in boiling water and passing through a
sieve whilst still hot, is also an article that may be used under
similar circumstances, either alone or boiled with milk. From this,
as the circumstances permit, an advance may be made to solid sub-
stances which do not throw much work on the stomach, such as
rice, sago, tapioca, bread and custard puddings, and stale bread or
toast sopped. Next may be allowed fish ; and the varieties to select
are whiting, sole, flounder, or plaice, which should be boiled or
broiled, and not fried. Whiting, of all fish, is that which proves
the lightest to the stomach. As power becomes restored, calves'
feet, chicken, game, and butcher's meat mutton to begin with
may be permitted to follow. The exciting action of animal food
upon the system of the invalid is exemplified by its liability to oc-
casion a relapse in cases of rheumatic fever when administered at
too early a period in convalescence.
I have been referring to the appropriate food to be made use of
where defective digestive power depends upon the general state ;
but cases are frequently presenting themselves where the source of
defect primarily belongs to the stomach, and equal care is required
in adapting the food to the amount of power that exists.
It may be advisable, in some cases, to refrain altogether for a
time from introducing any kind of food into the stomach, and here
recourse should be had to the employment of enemata, consisting of
articles fitted to undergo absorption into the bloodvessels. Amongst
these, in the foremost rank as a desirable agent for use in such
cases, is a preparation that has been made at my suggestion by
Messrs. Darby & Gosden, of 140 Leadenhall Street, London, and
called " Fluid Meat." It constitutes meat that has been reduced to
a fluid state by artificial digestion ; and, representing, as it does, a
product of digestion, it furnishes a material in identically the same
favorable state for absorption as that which naturally passes on from
the stomach. It may be mixed with sugar and thickened with
mucilage of starch or arrowroot ; and, if necessary, a little brandy
may be added. In the absence of this, the usual agents employed
as nutritive enemata are concentrated beef tea, eggs, and milk.
In cases of ulcer of the stomach, acute gastric catarrh, and vomit-
ing, whether from these or from some other cause, the food must be
FOOD FOR DYSPEPSIA. 523
selected from that which is nutritious, and which, at^the same time,
taxes least the digestive powers. Milk and this is often better
borne after being boiled milk and lime-water, or milk and soda-
water, will frequently be found to be tolerated when other articles
excite irritation and are returned. Sometimes the milk may be ad-
vantageously mixed with isinglass, arrowroot, ground rice, or biscuit
powder. The addition of agents like the three last-named articles
increases the consistence and improves the alimentary value of the
food. They at the same time, by virtue of their presence, lessen
the cohesiveness of the mass which is formed by the process of curd-
ling which the milk undergoes on arriving in the stomach.
Where chronic impairment of power exists, as in ordinary dys-
pepsia, the patient must be guided by what it is found from experi-
ence will agree. Whilst avoiding that which is known to be of an
indigestible nature, and whatever, through idiosyncrasy, may happen
in particular instances to upset the stomach, the rnaxim of manage-
ment should be to keep the diet as closely to what is natural as the
circumstances of the case will permit. Frequently, because a person
is suffering from dyspepsia, he is recommended to leave off this and
that article, and may, perhaps, soon be reduced to taking exclusively,
or almost exclusively, liquid food. Such in itself is sufficient to
lower the already weak power of the stomach. The organ, getting
no employment, becomes weaker and weaker, and is also prejudicially
influenced by the defectively nourished state of the system. The
aim of the physician in these cases should be : rather to look to rais-
ing by appropriate treatment the digestive capacity to the level of
digesting light but ordinary food, than to reducing the food to a low
standard of power. The food for the dyspeptic cannot be too simple
or too plainly dressed. Of meats, mutton is almost invariably found
to be the most suitable, and will often sit lightly on the stomach
when even beef lies heavily. Chicken and game are allowable, also
white fish (boiled or broiled), as whiting, sole, &c. (but not cod).
Stale bread and dry toast, floury potatoes, rice, and the various far-
inaceous articles, form the kind of food derived from the vegetable
kingdom to be selected.
The fatty constituents of food pass through the stomach to undergo
em unification or preparation for absorption in the small intestine.
AN' hen fats are in a perfectly fresh state, and unless taken in excess,
they pass on without giving signs of producing any effect upon the
524 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
stomach. If taken in excess, however, they are apt to excite nausea
and sickness, and also subsequently, from their influence in the
bowels, diarrhoea. From their proneness to undergo change, and to
give rise to the production of volatile fatty acids, they are likewise
liable, under certain circumstances, to excite derangement. When
delayed, for instance, for a long time in the stomach, this change
becomes induced, and acrid eructations, with a burning sensation in
the stomach and throat phenomena constituting heartburn are apt
to follow. If the fat has been exposed to a strong heat before being
consumed, it is already partially decomposed, and now with great
facility leads to the gastric trouble that has been referred to. It is
for this reason that anything containing fatty matter which has been
baked, as pastry, &c., and fried articles, prove obnoxious to the
stomach unless the digestive power is strong. Dishes consisting of
meats, &c., cooked a second time, are similarly unsuited for the dys-
peptic, on account of the effect of the prolonged exposure to heat that
has occurred. Apart from exposure to heat, butter, or any other
fatty article that has undergone change turned rancid, as it is
termed by keeping, is also particularly prone to upset the stomach
and occasion heartburn. It is unnecessary, therefore, to say, that
fatty matter in the least degree rancid should be scrupulously avoided
by the dyspeptic.
As with fatty matter, the principles of the carbohydrate group are
not digested in the stomach. Similarly, also, they are liable to
undergo change, during their sojourn in the organ, that may prove
the source of discomfort. Starchy and saccharine matters, in certain
states of the stomach, seem to be transformed into lactic acid to such
an extent as to give a highly preternatural acidity to its contents.
Acid eructations that may set the teeth on edge are apt to occur ; and,
as though the acid diffused itself along the mucous tract, a constantly
sour taste is often experienced in the mouth. Sweet things are more
likely than starchy to give rise to acidity. Amongst the latter, oat-
meal and potatoes seem the most, and rice the least, disposed to prove
obnoxious.
A result not unfrequently arising from impaired digestion is the
production of an inordinate quantity of gas and its accumulation, so
as to give rise to an inconvenient distension of the stomach and
bowels. Vegetable food, it is found, is more apt to create flatulence
than animal, and articles belonging to the cabbage tribe are particu-
FOOD FOR DISORDERED STATES OF INTESTINAL CANAL. 525
larly to be regarded as objectionable by those who have a tendency
to this form of derangement.
Common observation suffices to show that the bowels are suscepti-
ble of being in a marked manner influenced by different kinds of
food : diarrhoea, constipation, flatulence, and colic, constituting the
effects by which the influence is betrayed.
In the healthy state no particular effect is observed to be produced
by ordinary animal food ; but, as previously stated, the ingestion of a
large quantity of fat is apt, not only to derange the stomach, but like-
wise the bowels, and thus to produce diarrhoea.
The tendency of eggs is well known to very decidedly favor cos-
tiveness.
The alimentary products derived from the farinaceous seeds, and
also other dried farinaceous articles, are more easily borne by the
bowels than any other kind of food. They pass with ease through
the whole digestive tract, but, whilst their freedom from exciting
action renders their employment advantageous in irritable states of
the canal, they fail to supply the stimulus that is needed to keep
the bowels adequately moved where a sluggish disposition exists.
Succulent vegetable food, on the other hand, whether consisting
of fruit or vegetables, has the effect of encouraging alvine evacua-
tions, and thereby of promoting a free state of the intestinal canal.
A liberal employment of food of this kind is thus indicated where a
costive habit prevails; and it is not unfrequently found that, by par-
taking to a special extent of fruit, particularly in the early part of
the day, persons otherwise troubled with constipation may succeed
in procuring a proper activity of the bowels. Carried too far, an
actual state of looseness may be established ; and, from the excited
muscular action brought about, griping or colicky pains may also be
induced. As an extensive use of succulent vegetable food is indi-
cated in cases of costiveness, so it is contraindicated where a tendency
to looseness prevails. With some persons it very easily occasions
colic and diarrhoea ; and it is well known how readily, even without
such a tendency, fruit in an unripe or overripe state gives rise to
these phenomena.
The leguminous seeds, peas and beans, &c., and the products de-
rived from the cabbage tribe, seem to be the most prone of all ali-
mentary articles to give rise to intestinal flatulence.
526 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
A dietetic measure that has long met with extensive employment
for rendering assistance in overcoming habitual constipation is the
use of brown instead of white bread. The particles of bran con-
tained in it, being of an indigestible nature, produce a certain
amount of mechanical irritation, which is often found to supply the
requisite stimulus to glandular and muscular action to correct the
effects of a sluggish intestine where the want of activity is not very
great.
In dysentery, and other forms of ulcerative disease of the intes-
tine, scrupulous attention requires to be paid to diet. The object to
be held in view is to keep the intestine in as tranquil a state as prac-
ticable. The food should consist of articles, which are known to
exert the least stimulant and irritant action on the mucous mem-
brane and muscular fibres, and those which best meet the demand
in question are such as milk; isinglass; and the various farinaceous
products, amongst which rice is pre-eminently valuable. Next to
these come eggs ; white fish, particularly whiting and sole ; white-
fleshed poultry ; fresh game ; and fresh meat mutton in preference
to all other kinds. Salted and dried meats are highly objectionable.
Their pernicious effect is quickly felt, and apparently arises from
their difficult digestibility in the stomach, leading to an undue ex-
citement of the circulation throughout the alimentary canal. Fruits
and succulent vegetables, with the exception of a floury potato, which
is often easily borne, should be strictly shunned.
DIETETIC PREPARATIONS FOR THE
INVALID.
PANADA.
TAKE the white part of the breast and wings, freed from skin,
of either roasted or boiled chicken ; or the under side of cold sir-
loin of roasted beef; or cold roasted leg of mutton, and pound in a
mortar with an equal quantity of stale bread. Add either the water
in which the chicken has been boiled, or beef tea, until the whole
forms a fluid paste, and then boil for ten minutes, stirring all the
time.
BEEF TEA.
Mince finely one pound of lean beef, and pour upon it, in a pre-
serve jar, or other suitable vessel, one pint of cold water. Stir, and
allow the two to stand for about an hour, that the goodness of the
meat may be dissolved out. Next, stand the preserve jar or other
vessel in a saucepan of water, and place the saucepan over the fire
or a gas-stove, and allow the water in it to gently boil for an hour.
Remove the jar, and pour its contents on to a strainer. The beef
tea which runs through contains a quantity of fine sediment, which
is to be drunk with the liquid, after being flavored with salt at dis-
cretion. The jar or other vessel in which the beef tea is made may
be introduced into an ordinary oven for an hour, instead of being
surrounded by the water in the saucepan.
Beef tea, thus prepared, represents a highly nutritive and restora-
tive liquid, with an agreeable, rich, meaty flavor. It is a common
practice, however, amongst cooks, to make it by putting it into
a saucepan and subjecting it to prolonged boiling or simmering
over the fire ; but the product then yielded constitutes in reality a
soup or broth instead of a tea. The prolonged boiling leads to the
extraction of gelatin, and the liquid gelatinizes on cooling (which is
528 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
not the case when prepared as above directed), but, at the same time,
the albuminous matter becomes condensed and agglomerated in such
a manner as to subsequently form a part of the solid rejected residue.
The liquid also loses in flavor and invigorating power. All that is
wanted is that the cold infusion should be heated to about 170
Fahr. This just suffices to coagulate the albumen and coloring
matter, and thus deprive the product of its character of rawness.
The difficulty is often experienced of getting beef tea made in the
kitchen in a careful and proper manner ; and to render the patient,
as far as this is concerned, independent of the cook, Messrs. Darby
& Gosden, of 140 Leadenhall Street, London, have arranged, at my
suggestion, a contrivance for conducting the process without the
aid of fire or lamp, in the sick-chamber or anywhere that may be
desired. The contrivance consists of the Norwegian box or " nest,"
referred to at page 490, and a double tin case provided with a suit-
able-sized central space for receiving the vessel containing the article
to be cooked. The tin appliance is removed from the box and sent
into the kitchen for the outside chamber to be filled with water,
which is then to be made to boil over a gas-stove or fire. The boiling
water thus provided furnishes the heat which is subsequently re-
quired. The apparatus, with its store of heat, is carried back and
deposited in the non-conducting box, and the vessel containing the
article to be cooked is placed in the central chamber. The lid of
the box being closed, the heat is retained and communicated to the
contents of the central chamber. About an hour suffices for cooking
a pint of beef tea, but the beef tea may be retained in the apparatus
as long as may be desired for several hours or all night if neces-
sary and will keep hot all the while. Other articles, as a chop,
pigeon, &c., may be likewise cooked by the store of heat contained
in the boiling water; and there is this advantage in the use of the
apparatus, that, after sufficient time has been allowed for the process
of cooking, it does not signify whether the food is eaten at once or
not for several hours: it is always hot and ready whenever it may
happen to be required.
The apparatus is also susceptible of being turned to account for
preserving a moderate store of ice in the apartment of a sick person.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 529
SAVORY BEEF TEA.
Take three pounds of lean beef chopped up finely ; three leeks ;
one onion with six cloves stuck into it; one small carrot; a little
celery seed; a small bunch of herbs, consisting of thyme, marjoram
and parsley; one teaspoonful of salt; half a teacupful of mushroom
ketchup; and three pints of water. Prepare according to the direc-
tions already furnished.
Take half a pound of raw lean beef (chicken or any other meat
may be similarly used) and mince it finely. Pour on to it, in a glass
or any kind of earthenware vessel, three-quarters of a pint of water
to which has been added four drops of muriatic acid, and about half
a saltspoonful of salt. Stir well together, and allow it to stand for
an hour. Strain through a hair sieve and rinse the residue with a
quarter of a pint of water. The liquid thus obtained contains the
juice of the meat with the albumen in an uncoagulated state, and
syntonin, or muscle fibrin, which has been dissolved by the agency
of the acid. It is to be taken cold, or, if warmed, must not be
heated beyond 120 Fahr. It will be observed that no cooking is
here employed, and, although much richer in nutritive material and
more invigorating than ordinary beef tea, the raw-meat color, smell,
and taste that it possesses sometimes cause it to be objected to.
CHICKEN, VEAL, OR MUTTON TEA.
To be prepared like beef tea, substituting either of the meats
referred to.
If broths instead of a tea are required, boil the article in a sauce-
pan for two hours and strain.
Pearl barley, rice, vermicelli, or semolina, may sometimes be ad-
vantageously added to give increased nourishing power.
The fleshy part of the knuckle of veal is the best for veal broth.
For chicken broth the bones should be used as well as the flesh,
and all chopped up. The feet strongly add to the characteristic
flavor.
LIEBIG'S EXTRACTUM CARNIS.
This article is largely sold, and, from the prestige afforded by its
34
530 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
inventor's name, has obtained a world-wide notoriety. Its true po-
sition, as I pointed out in my work on " Digestion, its Disorders and
their Treatment/ 7 in 1867, is scarcely that of an article of nutrition,
and this is now beginning to be generally recognized. The fact that
from thirty-four pounds of meat only one pound of extract, as stated
by Liebig, is obtained, shows how completely the substance of the
meat which constitutes its real nutritive portion must be excluded.
The article, indeed, is free from albumen, gelatin, and fat, and may
be said to comprise the salines of the meat, with various extractive
principles, a considerable portion of which, doubtless, consists of
products in a state of retrograde metamorphosis and of no use as
nutritive agents. If not truly of alimentary value, the preparation
nevertheless appears to possess stimulant and restorative properties
which render it useful in exhausted states of the system. It may
be given in extreme cases in combination with wine. Being rich in
the flavoring matter (termed osmazome) of meat, it is often used for
imparting additional flavor to soups.
FLUID MEAT.
This article forms a complete representative of lean meat. Acting
upon my suggestion, Messrs. Darby & Gosden, of 140 Leadenhall
Street, undertook its preparation, and since 1867, when it was first
introduced, it has steadily advanced in public favor. It consists
of meat which has been liquefied by artificial digestion, and, there-
fore, not only includes all the elements of the meat, but contains them
in the same state as they are naturally placed by the stomach that
is, in a fit state for absorption, without requiring any further aid from
digestion. It resembles in character a fluid extract, and is used in
various ways, either alone pr in combination with other articles of
food.
From the properties it possesses as a product of artificial digestion,
it may be spoken of as forming exactly what is wanted where re-
course requires to be had to the employment of nutrient enemata.
Used for this purpose, two tablespoonfuls, which about correspond
with a quarter of a pound of meat, may be mixed with two ounces
of white sugar, and dissolved in six ounces of mucilage of starch or
arrowroot.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 531
ESSENCES AND SOLID EXTRACTS OF MEAT, AND MEAT LOZENGES.
These are sold at various establishments. They may be obtained,
as well as a number of other articles for the sick-room, at Mr. Van
Abbott's special dietetic depot for the invalid, No. 5 Prince's Street,
Cavendish Square, London; and of Messrs. Brand & Co., at No. 11
Little Stanhope Street, Hertford Street, May fair. Brand's " Essence
of Beef" has obtained a high reputation, and is very extensively
employed.
MILK AND SUET.
Boil one ounce of finely-chopped suet with a quarter of a pint of
water for ten minutes, and press through linen or flannel. Then
add one drachm of bruised cinnamon, one ounce of sugar, and three
quarters of a pint of milk. Boil again for ten minutes, and strain.
A wineglassful to a quarter of a pint forms the quantity to be taken
at a time. It constitutes a highly nutritive and fattening article,
but if given in excess is apt to derange the alimentary canal, and
occasion diarrhoea.
FLOUR AND MILK.
Fill a small basin with flour and tie it over with a cloth, or, if
preferred, simply tie the flour up tightly in a cloth. Immerse it in
a saucepan of water, and boil slowly for ten or twelve hours. The
flour becomes agglomerated into a hard mass, and is only wetted on
the surface. After drying, add one grated tablespoonful to a pint
of milk, and boil. A nourishing and useful article of food for
irritable states of the stomach and bowels, and particularly suitable
in dysentery and diarrhoea.
Plain biscuit powder, may be substituted, if thought proper, for
the cooked flour.
EGG AND BRANDY (BRANDY MIXTURE).
Take four ounces of brandy, the same quantity of cinnamon-water,
the yolks of two eggs, and half an ounce of loaf sugar. Rub the
yolks of the eggs and sugar together, and add the cinnamon-water
and brandy. Given in two to four tablespoonful doses as a restor-
ative and stimulant.
532 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
BREAD JELLY.
Steep stale bread in boiling water, and pass through a fine sieve
while still hot. A light nourishing article for a weak stomach,
which may be taken alone, or after being mixed and boiled with
milk.
OATMEAL PORRIDGE.
Mix a large tablespoonful of oatmeal with two tablespoonfuls of
cold water. Stir well, to bring to a state of uniformity, and pour
into a pint of boiling water in a saucepan. Boil and stir well for
ten minutes. Flavor either with salt or sugar, as preferred. Milk
may be used instead of water, or the boiling may be continued for
half an hour, and the porridge turned out into a soup-plate, and cold
milk poured over it : thus prepared, the porridge sets and acquires
a solid consistence ; and the milk and porridge are mixed together
little by little as they are eaten with a spoon.
If the coarse Scotch oatmeal is used and this is generally con-
sidered the best two tablespoonfuls may be sprinkled into a pint
of boiling water, and stirred and boiled for half an hour. At the
end of this time the oatmeal is sufficiently cooked, but many allow
the porridge to continue simmering for two or three hours. It may
be turned out into a soup-plate and eaten with milk, after the manner
mentioned above.
Porridge is a nourishing article of food, but is sometimes apt to
give rise to waterbrash and acidity, and from its slightly irritant
properties, whilst advantageous for constipation, must be looked
upon as objectionable where diarrhoea, or a tendency to it, exists.
OATMEAL GRUEL.
Mix thoroughly one tablespoonful of groats with two of cold
water, and pour over them one pint of boiling water, stirring all the
while. Boil for ten minutes, and still continue to stir. Sweeten
with sugar, and add, if desired, a little sherry or brandy. A sooth-
ing and nutritive food, holding a totally different position, on account
of the nitrogenous matter present, from the farinaceous preparations,
as arrowroot, &c. Milk may be used, if required, instead of water.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 533
ARROWROOT.
Mix thoroughly two teaspoonfuls of arrowroot with three table-
spoonfuls of cold water, and pour on them half a pint of boiling
water, stirring well during the time. If the water is quite boiling,
the arrowroot thickens as it is poured on, and nothing more is neces-
sary. If only warm water is used, the arrowroot must be after-
wards boiled until it thickens. Sweeten with loaf sugar, and flavor
with lemon-peel or nutmeg, or add sherry or brandy if required.
Milk may be employed instead of water, but when this is done no
wine must be added, as it would be otherwise curdled.
Tous-les-mois, another farinaceous preparation, may be substituted
for arrowroot.
BARLEY-WATER.
Take two ounces of pearl barley and wash well with cold water,
rejecting the washings. Afterwards boil with a pint and a half of
water for twenty minutes, in a covered vessel, and strain. The prod-
uct may be sweetened and flavored with lemon-peel, or lemon-peel
may be introduced \vhilst boiling is carried on. Lemon-juice is also
sometimes added to flavor. A bland, demulcent, and mildly nutri-
tive -beverage.
ORGEAT.
Blanch two ounces of sweet almonds and four bitter almond seeds.
Pound with a little orange-flower water into a paste, and rub this
with a pint of milk, diluted with a pint of water, until it forms an
emulsion. Strain and sweeten with sugar. A demulcent and nutri-
tive liquid.
RICE-WATER, OR MUCILAGE OF RICE.
Thoroughly wash one ounce of Carolina rice with cold water.
Then macerate for three hours in a quart of water kept at a tepid
heat, and afterwards boil slowly for an hour, and strain. A useful
drink in dysentery, diarrhoea, and irritable states of the alimentary
canal. When circumstances permit, it may be sweetened and flavored
in the same way as barley-water.
534 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
GUM-WATER.
Take half an ounce to an ounce of gum arable and wash with cold
water. Afterwards dissolve by maceration in two pints of cold water.
Lemon-peel may be added to impart flavor.
LINSEED TEA.
Place one ounce of bruised linseed and two drachms of bruised
liquorice-root into a jug, and pour over them one pint of boiling
water. Lightly cover, and digest for three or four hours near a fire.
Strain through linen to render fit for use. A mucilaginous liquid,
possessing demulcent properties. Frequently used as a drink in
pulmonary and urinary affections. It is rendered more palatable by
the addition of sliced lemon and sugar-candy.
DECOCTION OF ICELAND MOSS.
Wash one ounce of the moss in cold water to remove impurities.
Then heat with water up to nearly the boiling-point, and reject the
liquid, which has extracted much of the bitter principle. Next boil
with a pint of water for ten minutes in a covered vessel, and strain
with gentle pressure while hot. A mucilaginous demulcent liquid,
with mild bitter tonic properties. It may be flavored with sugar,
lemon-peel,, white wine, or aromatics ; or milk may be used instead
of the water, by which a nourishing liquid is obtained.
DECOCTION OF CARRAGEEN MOSS.
Macerate half an ounce of Carrageen moss in cold water for ten
minutes. Remove and boil in three pints of water for a quarter of
an hour, and strain through linen. It possesses the same kind of
properties as, and may be flavored like, the decoction of Iceland moss.
Milk, also, may be substituted for the water. By doubling the quan-
tity of the moss a mucilage is obtained, and when in a highly con-
centrated state the product solidifies into a jelly on cooling.
WHEY.
Curdle warm milk with rennet, and strain off the opalescent
liquid for use. It acts as a sudorific and diuretic, and forms a useful
PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 535
drink in febrile and inflammatory complaints. Holding a little
nitrogenous matter in solution, and containing the lactin and saline
matter of the milk, it possesses mildly nutritive properties.
WHITE WINE WHEY OR POSSET.
To half a pint of milk, whilst boiling in a saucepan, add one wine-
glassful of sherry, and afterwards strain. Sweeten with pounded
sugar, according to taste. A useful drink in colds and mild febrile
disorders.
TREACLE WHEY OR POSSET.
Pour two to three tablespoonfuls of treacle into a pint of boiling
milk, and afterwards let it boil up well and strain. Drunk hot, it
is frequently used as a diaphoretic for a common cold.
TAMARIND WHEY.
Stir two tablespoonfuls of tamarinds into a pint of milk whilst
boiling, and afterwards strain. It forms a refrigerant and slightly
laxative drink.
CREAM OF TARTAR WHEY.
Stir a quarter of an ounce of cream of tartar (a large teaspoonful
piled up) into a pint of boiling milk, and strain. A refrigerant and
diuretic drink, which is rendered more agreeable by the addition of
sugar.
ALUM WHEY.
Add a quarter of an ounce of powdered alum to a pint of boiling
milk, and strain. An astringent drink. May be flavored with
sugar and nutmeg if desired.
CREAM OF TARTAR DRINK.
(Potus Imperialis Imperial.)
Dissolve a drachm or a drachm and a half of cream of tartar in a
pint of boiling water, and flavor with lemon-peel and sugar. When
cold, may be taken ad libitum, as a refrigerant drink and diuretic.
536 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
LEMON-PEEL TEA.
Pare the rind thinly from a lemon which has been previously
rubbed with half an ounce of lump sugar. Put the peelings and
the sugar into a jug and pour over them a quart of boiling water.
When cold decant the liquid, and add one tablespoonful of lemon-
juice.
LEMONADE.
Pare the rind from a lemon thinly and cut the lemon into slices.
Put the peel and sliced lemon into a jug, with one ounce of white
sugar, and pour over them one pint of boiling water. Cover the
jug closely, and digest until cold. Strain or pour off the liquid.
Citron may be used instead of lemon, and likewise furnishes a
grateful and refreshing refrigerant beverage.
TOAST-AND-WATER.
Toast thoroughly, short of burning, a- slice of stale bread (or,
what is better, a piece of crust), or a biscuit, and pour over it, in a
jug, a quart of boiling water. Cover it over, and place aside to cool.
A small piece of orange- or lemon-peel put into the jug with the
toast greatly improves the beverage.
HOSPITAL DIETAEIES.
GUY'S HOSPITAL.
FULL OR EXTRA DIET.
14 oz. of bread. 1 pint of porter, for males ; $ pint of porter, for females. 6 oz.
of dressed meat, roasted and boiled, alternately, with potatoes (8 oz). Ib. of
rice pudding 1 tbree times a week. pint of mutton broth in addition on days
when boiled meat is given (which is four times a week). Or, occasionally, 1
pint of strong vegetable soup, with meat and rice pudding, 1 twice a week. 1 oz.
of butter each day. Porridge, gruel, and barley-water, as required.
MIDDLE OR ORDINARY DIET.
12 oz. of bread. $ pint of porter. 4 oz. of dressed meat, roasted and boiled,
alternately, with potatoes (8 oz). Ib. of rice pudding 1 three times a week.
J pint of mutton broth, in addition, on days when boiled meat is given (which is
four times a week). Or, occasionally, 1 pint of strong vegetable soup, with meat
and rice pudding, 1 twice a week ; with the full diet allowance of bread. 1 oz. of
butter each day. Porridge, gruel, and barley-water, as required.
MILK OR PUDDING DIET.
12 oz. of bread. 2 pints of milk ; or, 1 pint of milk, with rice, sago, or arrow-
root, boiled, or made into light pudding. pint of beef tea, when ordered. 1
oz. of butter. Gruel and barley-water, as required.
LOW DIET.
10 oz. of bread: pint of beef tea, mutton broth, rice, arrowroot, or sago,
when specially ordered, oz. of butter. Gruel and barley-water, as required.
Tea, J oz. ; sugar, oz. ; and milk, 2 oz., daily, with all diets.
Fish, chops, steaks, chicken, and chicken soup, eggs, and other extras, are to
be specially ordered by the medical attendant, and will be given with the low
diet. Wines and spirits, if continued, must be mentioned each time the physi-
cian or surgeon attends.
1 Formula for the rice pudding Rice, 2 Ibs. ; milk, 6 quarts; sugar, 12 oz. ;
butter, 1 oz. ; spice, 1 drachm loss of water in cooking, say 37 oz.
538 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL.
FULL DIET (MEAT).
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of tea. Bread and butter.
DINNER. % Ib. of meat when dressed. ^ Ib. of potatoes. Bread and beer.
TEA. 1 pint of tea. Bread and butter.
SUPPER. Bread and butter. Beer.
DAILY ALLOWANCES TO EACH PATIENT.
2 pints of tea. 14 oz. of bread. Ib. of ^ieat when dressed. J Ib. of pota-
toes. 2 pints of beer (men); 1 pint of beer (women). 1 oz. of butter.
HALF DIET (MEAT).
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of tea. Bread and butter.
DINNER. \ Ib. of meat when dressed. Ib. of potatoes. Bread and beer.
TEA. 1 pint of tea. Bread and butter.
SUPPER. Bread and butter. Beer.
DAILY ALLOWANCES TO EACH PATIENT.
2 pints of tea. 12 oz. of bread. Ib. of meat when dressed. J Ib. of pota-
toes. 1 pint of beer. oz. of butter.
BROTH DIET.
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of tea.
DINNER. 1 pints of broth. 6 oz. of potatoes (mashed). Bread.
TEA. 1 pint of tea. Bread and butter.
SUPPER. Bread and butter. Gruel.
DAILY ALLOWANCES TO EACH PATIENT.
2 pints of tea. 12 oz. of bread. 1J pints of broth. 6 oz. potatoes (mashed).
| oz. of butter. Gruel.
MILK DIET.
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of tea.
DINNER. 1^ pints of milk, or 1 pint of milk with arrowroot, rice, or sago.
Bread.
TEA. 1 pint of tea. Bread and butter.
SUPPER. Bread and butter. Gruel.
DAILY ALLOWANCES TO EACH PATIENT.
2 pints of tea. 12 oz. of bread. 1J pints of milk, or 1 pint of milk with
arrowroot, rice, or sago, oz. of butter. Gruel.
LOW DIET.
Bread, broth, gruel, or barley-water, as may be ordered.
Children under 9 years to receive half allowances.
HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 539
EXTRAS TO BE SPECIALLY ORDERED.
Mutton chops, beef steaks, beef for beef tea, fish, eggs, pudding, jelly, porter,
ale, wine, or spirits.
Each patient, on admission, to be placed on milk diet until a diet is ordered by
the physician or surgeon.
ST. THOMAS'S HOSPITAL.
DAILY ALLOWANCE.
FULL DIET.
12 ox. of bread, f oz. of butter. pint of tea with milk and sugar for break-
fast. The same for tea. 4 oz. of beef or mutton when dressed ; roast or boiled,
alternately. \ Ib. potatoes or fresh vegetables. $ pint of milk in the forenoon.
Porter, &c., if ordered.
MIXED DIET.
12 oz. of bread, f oz. of butter. \ pint of tea with milk and sugar for break-
fast. The same for tea. 4 oz. for men, and 3 oz. for women of mutton when
dressed ; roast or boiled alternately. \ Ib. of potatoes or fresh vegetables. 8 oz.
of rice or bread pudding, alternately. \ pint of milk. "When fish is ordered,
meat to be omitted.
MILK DIET.
12 oz. of bread, oz. of butter, pint of tea with milk and sugar for break-
fast. The same for tea. 8 oz. of rice or bread pudding alternately. \\ pints of
milk.
FEVER DIET.
4 oz. of bread. 2 pints of barley-water or gruel. 2 pints of milk.
CHILDREN'S DIET.
(Intended for all children under 10 years of age.)
MIXED. 12 oz. of bread. , oz. of butter. \ pint of milk for breakfast. The
same for tea. 2 oz. of mutton when dressed; roast or boiled, alternately. \ Ib.
of potatoes or fresh vegetables. 6 oz. of rice or bread pudding. \ pint of milk.
MILK. 8 oz. of bread. \ oz. of butter. pint of milk for breakfast. The
same for tea. 6 oz. of rice or bread pudding. \ pint of milk.
Wine, brandy, gin, porter, mutton chops, fish, eggs, beef tea, soda water,
lemonade, and other extras, to be served when specially ordered, such order being
renewed at each regular visit of the physician or surgeon.
Each patient, on admission into the hospital, to be placed on milk or fever diet
until the proper diet is ordered by the physician or surgeon.
540 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
LONDON HOSPITAL.
FULL DIET FOR MEN AND WOMEN.
DAILY 12 oz. of bread. 8 oz. of potatoes. 1 pint of porter.
BREAKFAST. Gruel.
DINNER. Sunday and Thursday. 6 oz. of boiled mutton. 1
Monday, "Wednesday, and Saturday. 6 oz. of roast mutton. 1
Tuesday and Friday. 6 oz. of roast beef. 1
SUPPER. 1 pint of broth.
MIDDLE DIET FOR MEN.
The same as full diet, except 4 oz. of meat instead of 6 oz., and pint of
porter instead of 1 pint.
ORDINARY DIET FOR WOMEN.
The same as middle diet for men.
MILK DIET FOR MEN AND WOMEN.
DAILY. 12 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. Gruel.
DINNER. 1 pint of milk.
SUPPER. 1 pint of milk.
LOW DIET FOR MEN AND W T OMEN.
DAILY. 8 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. Gruel.
DINNER. Broth.
SUPPER. Gruel or broth.
DIET FOR CHILDREN.
(Under 7 years of age.)
DAILY. 12 oz. of bread. pint of milk.
2 oz. of meat and 8 oz. of potatoes live times a week, and rice pudding twice a
week.
EXTRAS.
(To be discontinued unless order renewed by the physician or surgeon at each visit.)
Mutton chops, beef steaks, fish, beef tea, strong broth, puddings (rice, light,
and batter, alternately: Recipe for four diets: Rice pudding 4 oz. of rice, 2 oz.
of sugar. Light pudding 6 eggs, 2 oz. of sugar, 1 oz. of flour. Batter pud-
ding 4 eggs, 2 oz. of sugar, 6 oz. of flour. Milk in each case sufficient to make
up 1 quart of the mixture), eggs, bread, green vegetables, watercresses, wine,
spirit, porter.
1 Weighed when cooked and free from bone.
HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 541
ST. GEORGE'S HOSPITAL.
BREAD At discretion, to be served to the nurses at the rate of 10 oz. daily for
each patient, and to be cut up by them. If more is required, this will be
supplied by the steward.
BUTTER. 1 oz. daily to each patient, to be served out three times a week.
TEA. To be served weekly to the nurses at the rate of J oz. daily for each pa-
tient.
SUGAR. To be served twice a week to the nurses at the rate of 1 oz. daily for
each patient.
MILK. J pint daily for each patient, for both breakfast and tea, to be served to
the nurses every morning.
EXTRA DIET.
DINNER. 6 oz. of cooked meat, and J Ib. of potatoes. 1 pint of porter to men
above 16 years of age.
SUPPER. J pint of milk, or 1 pint of soup if ordered.
ORDINARY DIET.
DINNER. 4 oz. of cooked meat for men 3 oz. for women. J Ib. potatoes.
pint of porter to men above 16 years of age.
SUPPER. pint of milk, or 1 pint of soup if ordered.
FISH DIET.
DINNER. 4 oz. plain boiled white fish (as whiting, plaice, flounders, or had-
dock). Ib. of potatoes.
SUPPER. J pint of milk.
BROTH DIET.
DINNER. 1 pint of broth and 6 oz. of light pudding (such as tapioca, sago, rice,
corn flour, or such other pudding as the superintendent of nurses shall ar-
range).
SUPPER. J pint of milk.
MILK DIET.
DINNER. Four days 1 pints of rice milk.
Three days J Ib. of bread or rice pudding.
SUPPER. pint of milk.
Beef tea, Yorkshire pudding, arrowroot, &c., to be specially directed.
Ordinary diet for children under 7 years of age to consist of 2 oz. of meat, 4
oz. of potatoes, and some light pudding.
542 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL.
CONVALESCENT DIET.
DAILY. 10 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. $ pint of milk.
DINNER. 12 oz. of undressed meat 1 (roast and boiled alternately) for males, 8
oz. for females, and \ Ib. of potatoes.
SUPPER. 1 pint of gruel or 1 pint of broth.
HALF CONVALESCENT DIET.
DAILY. 10 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. \ pint of milk.
DINNER. 4 oz. of undressed meat 1 (roast and boiled alternately). \ Ib. of
potatoes.
SUPPER. 1 pint of gruel or 1 pint of broth.
PUDDING AND OKDINAEY DIET.
DAILY. 10 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. \ pint of milk.
DINNER. 6 oz. of undressed meat 1 (roast and boiled alternately). \ Ib. of pota-
toes. 1 oz. of beef suet and 2 oz. of flour for pudding.
SUPPER. 1 pint of gruel or 1 pint of broth.
ORDINARY DIET.
DAILY. 10 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. \ pint of milk.
DINNER. t> oz. of undressed meat 2 (roast and boiled alternately) and Ib. of
potatoes.
SUPPER. 1 pint of gruel or 1 pint of broth.
HALF ORDINARY DIET.
DAILY. 10 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. \ pint of milk.
DINNER. 3 oz. of undressed meat 2 (roast and boiled alternately) and \ Ib. of
potatoes.
SUPPER. 1 pint of gruel or 1 pint of broth.
MUTTON BROTH DIET.
DAILY. 10 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. \ pint of milk.
1 Leg and shoulder of mutton only, except on Sundays, when the same quan-
tity of roast sirloin and best round of beef is issued.
2 Leg and shoulder of mutton only, weighed with the bone before it is dressed.
HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 543
DINNER. 8 oz. of undressed meat (neck of mutton only), weighed with bone
before it is dressed served in 1 pint of broth with barley.
SUPPER. 1 pint of gruel.
FISH DIET.
DAILY. 10 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. pint of milk.
DINNER. 8 oz. of fish (whiting, sole, haddock, cod, plaice, or brill). Ib. of
potatoes.
SUPPER. 1 pint of gruel.
MILK DIET.
DAILY. 10 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. pint of milk.
DINNER. Alternate days rice pudding, containing 2 oz. of rice, half an egg,
oz. of sugar; sago pudding, containing 1 oz. of sago, half an egg, and oz.
of sugar ; and bread pudding, containing bread, with one and a half eggs,
and f oz. sugar. EXTRA. custard, oz.
SUPPER. 1 pint of milk.
SIMPLE DIET.
DAILY. 10 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. J pint of milk.
DINNER. 1 pint of gruel.
SUPPER. pint of milk.
EXTRAS.
For supper, meat when cooked, 3 oz. Chops, Ib. each when trimmed. Or-
dinary beef tea, Ib. of clod and sticking of beef, without bone, to a pint. Strong
beef tea, 1 Ib. of ditto, ditto. Broth, without meat : Ib. of neck of mutton with
bone, 'to a pint; this broth is made with that for the patients on mutton broth
diet. Steaks: rump steak, Ib., without bone. Tripe. Chicken. Oysters.
Greens. Eggs. Arrowroot. Sago. Jellies. Porter. Wine. Spirits.
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL.
FULL DIET.
12 oz. of bread. 8 oz. of potatoes. 6 oz. meat, dressed (rpast or boiled leg or
neck of mutton, or roast beef), pint of broth or pea-soup four times a week on
alternate days. 4 oz. boiled rice or rice pudding made with rnilk. 1 pint of
milk. 1 pint of beer. 1
MIDDLE DIET.
12 oz. of bread. 8 oz. of potatoes. 4 oz. of meat or 8 oz. of fish (white). 1
pint of milk. Soup with barley, 1 oz. ; or beef tea, 1 pint. Rice pudding made
with milk, instead of soup. pint of beer. 1
1 To medical cases beer is only to be supplied when ordered.
544 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
SPOON DIET.
2 pints of milk. 1 pint of beef tea. 12 oz. of bread. 2 oz. of arrowroot and
1 oz. of sugar made into a jelly.
The resident assistants to the physicians and surgeons are empowered, during
the absence of their superior officers, to order the following extras, subject to the
general supervision of the resident medical officer : Malt liquors, spirits, port,
sherry, eggs, strong beef tea, milk, fish, chops, steaks, custard puddings, vegeta-
bles, and bread. Such orders to stand good for twenty-four hours only.
KING'S COLLEGE HOSPITAL.
MEAT DIET (MEN).
Bread, 12 oz. Milk, pint. Meat, 1 4 oz. cooked. Potatoes, Ib. Porter or
ale, 1 pint. Eice or other pudding, Ib.
MEAT DIET (WOMEN).
Bread, 8 oz. Milk, f pint. Meat, 1 4 oz. cooked. Potatoes, Ib. Porter or
ale, pint. Rice or other pudding, Ib.
MILK DIET (MEN)
Bread, 8 oz. Milk, 1 pints. Eggs, 2. Eice or other pudding, Ib.
MILK DIET (WOMEN).
Bread, 6 oz. Milk, 1 pints. Eggs. 2. Eice or other pudding, \ Ib-
Children under 10 years of age same as milk diet for women.
Beef tea (on milk diet only), wine, and spirits, may be ordered by the resident
medical officers.
Fish or mince may be added to milk diet ; such addition to be authorized by
the signature of the visiting physician or surgeon, to be renewed once in each
week at the least.
i Sunday. Roast beef. Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Eoast
mutton. Tuesday. Boiled mutton.. Wednesday.. Soup.
HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 545
ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL.
FULL DIET.
BREAKFAST. Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. J pint of milk.
DINNER. 6 oz. of meat (cooked). Ib. of potatoes.
TEA. Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. pint of milk.
SUPPER. Gruel.
DAILY ALLOWANCE TO EACH PATIENT.
2 pints of tea with sugar, and J pint of milk. 15 oz. of bread. 6 oz. of meat
when dressed. Ib. of potatoes, oz. of butter.
ORDINARY DIET.
BREAKFAST. Tea with sugar. Bread and Butter. pint of milk.
DINNER. 4 oz. of meat (cooked). Ib. of potatoes.
TEA. Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. J pint of milk.
SUPPER. Gruel.
DAILY ALLOWANCE TO EACH PATIENT.
2 pints of tea with sugar, and pint of milk. 12 oz. of bread. 4 oz. of meat
when dressed. Ib. of potatoes. oz. of butter.
HALF DIET.
BREAKFAST. Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. pint of milk.
DINNER. 2 oz. of meat (cooked). Ib. of potatoes.
TEA. Tea with milk. Bread and butter. pint of milk.
SUPPER. Gruel.
DAILY ALLOWANCE TO EACH PATIENT.
2 pints of tea with sugar, and 1 pint of milk. 12 oz. bread. 2 oz. of meat
when dressed. Ib. potatoes, oz. of butter.
BROTH DIET.
BREAKFAST. Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. \ pint of milk.
DINNER. Ib. of meat before dressed. 1 pint of broth.
TEA. Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. pint of milk.
SUPPER. Gruel.
DAILY ALLOWANCE TO EACH PATIENT.
2 pints of tea with sugar, and J pint of milk. 12 oz. of bread. About 4 oz.
of meat when dressed. 1 pint of broth, oz. of butter.
SIMPLE DIET.
2 pints of tea with sugar, and 1 pint of milk. 12 oz. of bread. | oz. of butter.
SUPPER. Gruel.
35
546 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
No extras, except porter, allowed on full diet.
No extras to be. ordered by the resident medical officers in the absence of the
phj'sician or surgeon, unless in cases of great urgency, a special report of which
must be made to the physician or surgeon at his next visit. J
WESTMINSTER HOSPITAL.
FULL DIET.
DAILY. 14 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. Tea ($ oz.) with milk (J pint) and sugar (f oz.).
DINNER. ^ Ib. of meat, roasted, boiled, or chops. J Ib. of potatoes.
SUPPER. Tea ( oz.) with milk (| pint) and sugar (Joz.).
MIDDLE DIET.
DAILY. 10 oz. of bread.
BREAKFAST. Tea ($ oz.) with milk (J pint) and sugar (J oz.).
DINNER. \ Ib. meat, roasted, boiled, or chops. Ib. of potatoes.
SUPPER. Tea (^ oz.) with milk (\ pint) and sugar ( oz.).
LOW DIET (FIXED).
DAILY. Ib. of bread.
BREAKFAST. Tea (^ oz.) with sugar (^ oz.) and milk (\ pint).
DINNER. No fixed diet.
SUPPER. Tea (| oz.) with sugar (| oz.) and milk (\ pint).
LOW DIET (CASUAL).
1 pint of broth (from 2 oz. of meat), or J Ib. of bread or rice pudding, or 1
pint of beef tea (from 4 oz. of beef), or a chop, or fish.
Composition of Bread Pudding. Bread, f Ib. Milk, \ pint. Sugar, J oz.
Flour, \ oz. 1 egg for every 2 Ib.
Composition of Rice Pudding. Rice, 1^ oz. Milk, pint. Sugar, \ oz.
SPOON OK FEVEK DIET.
DAILY. \ Ib. of bread.
BREAKFAST. Tea ($ oz.) with sugar (f oz.) and milk (\ pint).
DINNER. Barley-water (from 2 oz. of prepared barley).
SUPPER. Tea ($ oz.) with sugar (f oz.) and milk (J pint).
EXTKAS.
Porter, or wine, or spirits. No other extras to be allowed with full or
middle diet.
HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 547
Every patient admitted into the hospital is to be placed upon low diet until a
diet is ordered by the physicians or surgeons.
No extras to be placed on the diet roll by the apothecary, or to be provided
by the steward or matron, other than those specified as above.
NOTE. Arrowroot, sago, vermicelli, or coffee, allowed as extras to low and
spoon diet, on the written order of the medical officers, communicated to the
matron.
INCURABLES' DIET.
Bread, f Ib. Meat, Ib. Potatoes, Ib. Milk, pint. Porter, 1 pint.
Each, daily, when not otherwise ordered.
SEAMEN'S HOSPITAL.
FULL DIET.
1 Ib. of bread, Ib. of meat viz., two days roast mutton, one day boiled
mutton, four days boiled beef, f Ib. potatoes; 1 pint of soup (on boiled-meat
days).
MUTTON (OR EXTRA) DIET.
1 Ib. of bread, f Ib. of roast mutton (boiled on Tuesdays), f Ib. of potatoes.
1 pint of soup (on boiled-meat day).
ORDINARY DIET.
1 Ib. of bread. Ib. of meat viz., two days roast mutton, one day boiled
mutton, four days boiled beef. Ib. of potatoes. 1 pint of soup (on boiled-
meat days).
LOW DIET.
Ib. of bread. 1 pint of beef tea.
MILK DIET.
1 Ib. of bread. 1 quart of milk. 1 pint of beef tea.
Tea with milk and sugar, morning and evening, with all diets.
LEEDS GENERAL INFIRMARY.
LOW DIET (ADULTS).
BREAKFAST. 8 oz. of buttered bread. 1 pint of tea.
DINNER. 4 oz. of bread. 1 pint of broth.
TEA. 8 oz. of buttered bread. 1 pint of tea.
SUPPER. 1 pint of rice milk.
548 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
LOW DIET (CHILDREN).
BREAKFAST. 4 oz. of buttered bread. ^ pint of tea.
DINNER. 2 oz. of bread. pint of broth. 4 oz. of rice pudding.
TEA. 4 oz. of buttered bread. pint of tea.
ORDINARY DIET (ADULTS).
BREAKFAST. 8 oz. of buttered bread. 1 pint of tea.
DINNER. Meat, 4 oz. (Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday, boiled beef; Mon-
day, roast beef; Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, roast mutton). 8 oz.
potatoes.
TEA. 8 oz. of buttered bread. 1 pint of tea.
SUPPER. 1 pint of rice milk.
ORDINARY DIET (CHILDREN).
BREAKFAST. 4 oz. of buttered bread. pint of tea.
DINNER. Meat 2 oz. (Sunday and Friday, boiled beef; Monday and Wednes-
day, roast beef; Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, roast mutton). 4 oz. of
potatoes.
TEA. 4 oz. of buttered bread. ^ pint of tea.
FULL DIET (ADULTS).
BREAKFAST. 8 oz. of buttered bread. 1 pint of tea.
DINNER. Meat, 5 oz. (Sunday and Friday, boiled beef; Monday and Wednes-
day, roast beef; Tuesday and Saturday, roast mutton; Thursday, boiled
mutton). 8 oz. of potatoes. $ pint of broth.
TEA. 8 oz. of buttered bread. 1 pint of tea.
SUPPER. 1 pint of rice milk.
MANCHESTER ROYAL INFIRMARY AND
DISPENSARY.
GENEROUS DIET.
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of tea or coffee. 6 oz. of bread, f oz. of butter. Or
boiled bread and milk ; or porridge with milk.
DINNER. Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. 6 oz. of beef, roasted.
4 oz. of bread. 8 oz. of potatoes.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 6 oz. of mutton, boiled. 4 oz. of
bread. 8 oz. of potatoes.
This diet to be changed on the alternate weeks, i. e., on one week, four days
the beef is to be roasted, and three days the mutton boiled ; 011 the other week,
four days the mutton is to be roasted, and three days the beef boiled, as indicated
above.
SUPPER. The same as breakfast, except that no coffee is allowed.
HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 549
COMMON DIET.
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of tea or coffee. 5 oz. of bread. oz. of butter. Or boiled
bread and milk ; or porridge with milk.
DINNER. Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. 6 oz. of beef, roasted. 4 oz. of
bread. 8 oz. of potatoes.
Monday. 1 pint of good soup. 2 oz. of roast meat and potatoes. 4
oz. of bread.
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Potato hash, with 4 oz. of bread ;
or the option of having cold meat, with 8 oz. of potatoes and 4 oz.
of bread.
SUPPER. The same as breakfast, except that no coffee is allowed.
MILK DIET.
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of tea or coffee. 5 oz. of bread. J oz. of butter. Or boiled
bread and milk, with porridge and milk.
DINNER. Sunday and Wednesday. pint of milk. 12 oz. of semolina pud-
ding.
Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. pint of milk. 12 oz. of rice
pudding.
Tuesday and Friday. J pint of milk. 12 oz. of bread pudding.
At the option of the medical and surgical officers, pint of beef tea may be
substituted for the pint of milk.
SUPPER. The same as breakfast, except that no coffee is allowed.
LOW DIET.
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of tea. 3 oz. of bread.
DINNER. 1 pint of gruel. 2 oz. of bread.
SUPPER. Water gruel or tea. 3 oz. of bread.
BIRMINGHAM GENERAL HOSPITAL,
LOW DIET (MEN AND WOMEN).
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of milk.
DINNER. 8 oz. of rice or sago pudding. I pint of broth for lunch, 12 ez. of
bread.
SUPPER. 1 pint of broth or gruel.
LOW DIET (CHILDKEN).
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of milk.
DINNER. 8 oz. of rice or sago pudding. 6 oz, of bread.
SUPPER. J pint of broth or gruel.
550 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
MILK DIET (MEN AND WOMEN).
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of milk.
DINNER. 12 oz. of bread. 1 J pints of milk.
SUPPER. 1 pint of broth or gruel.
MILK DIET (CHILDKEN).
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of milk.
DINNER. 6 oz. of bread. 1 J pints of milk.
SUPPER. J pint of broth or gruel.
HOUSE DIET (MEN AND WOMEN).
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of milk.
DINNER. Cooked meat (4 oz. men, 3 oz. women). 8 oz. of potatoes. 12 oz. of
bread.
SUPPER. 1 pint of broth or gruel.
HOUSE DIET (CHILDREN).
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of milk.
DINNER. 2 oz. of cooked meat. 6 oz. of potatoes. 6 oz. of bread.
SUPPER. pint of broth or gruel.
MUTTON DIET (MEN AND WOMEN).
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of milk.
DINNER. Cooked mutton (4 oz. men, 3 oz. women). 8 oz. of potatoes. 12 oz.
of bread.
SUPPER. 1 pint of broth or gruel.
MUTTON DIET (CHILDKEN).
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of milk.
DINNER. 2 oz. of cooked mutton. 6 oz. of potatoes. 6 oz. of bread.
SUPPER. pint of broth or gruel.
FULL DIET (MEN AND WOMEN).
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of milk.
DINNER Cooked meat (6 oz. men, 4 oz. women). 8 oz. of potatoes. 12 oz. of
bread.
SUPPER. 1 pint of broth or gruel.
FULL DIET (CHILDREN).
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of milk.
DINNER. 2 oz. of cooked meat. 6 oz. of potatoes. 6 oz. of bread.
SUPPER. pint of broth or gruel.
HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 551
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE INFIRMARY.
COMMON DIET.
BREAKFAST.! pint of porridge and 1 gill of milk, or 1 pint of tea.
LUNCHEON. pint of soup.
DINNER. 6 oz. of beef or mutton (roast Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and
Saturday; boiled Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), and potatoes.
TEA. 1 pint of tea.
SUPPER. Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 1 gill of milk. Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday 1 gill of boiled rice and milk.
Every male to have 14 oz. of bread, and every female 12 oz., daily. Every
male to have 6 oz. of meat, and every female 5 oz., daily.
MILK DIET.
BREAKFAST. 1 pint of porridge and 1 gill of milk, or 1 pint of tea.
DINNER. Sunday and Thursday Rice pudding and 1 gill of milk. Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday 1 pint of broth mixed with barley. Tuesday and
Saturday 1 pint of boiled rice and milk.
TEA. 1 pint of tea.
SUPPER. Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 1 gill of milk. Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday 1 gill of boiled rice and milk.
Every male to have 12 oz. of bread, and every female 10 oz., daily.
All extras, only, by order of the medical officers.
EDINBURGH ROYAL INFIRMARY.
LOW DIET.
BREAKFAST. Bread, 3 oz. Tea, pint (tea, oz. ; milk, 1 oz. ; sugar, ^ oz.).
DINNER. Panada (bread, 3 oz. ; milk, 2 oz. ; sugar, J oz.).
SUPPER. Bread, 3 oz. Tea, pint (tea, oz. ; milk, 1 oz. ; sugar, J oz.).
HICE DIET.
BREAKFAST Bread, 3 oz. Coffee, pint (coffee, J oz. ; milk, 2 oz. ; sugar,
oz.). One egg.
DINNER. Beef tea (from 8 oz. of meat), pint. Rice pudding (rice, 1 oz.
sugar, oz. ; milk, 2 oz. ; half an egg ; essential oil of lemon, 1 drop).
SUPPER. Bread, 3 oz. Tea, pint (tea, oz. ; milk, 1 oz.; sugar, oz.).
552 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
STEAK DIET.
BREAKFAST. Bread, 6 oz. Coffee, J pint (coffee, J oz. ; milk, 2 oz. ; sugar,
oz.).
DINNER. Potatoes, 16 oz. Beef steak, 1 4 oz. Broth, 1 pint (barley, 1 oz. ;
vegetables, oz. ; meat, 2 oz.).
SUPPER. Bread, 6 oz. Tea, pint (tea, -J oz. ; milk, 1 oz. ; sugar, J oz.).
STEAK DIET WITH BREAD.
This is the same as " Steak Diet," except that 6 oz. of bread are substituted at
dinner for potatoes, and f of a pint of beef tea for broth.
COMMON DIET.
BREAKFAST. Bread, 6 oz. Coffee, pint (coffee, oz. ; milk, 2 oz. ; sugar,
oz.).
DINNER. Potatoes, 16 oz. Broth, 1 pint (barley, 1 oz. ; vegetables, f oz. ;
meat, 2 oz.).
SUPPER. Bread, 6 oz. Tea, \ pint (tea, oz. ; milk, 1 oz. ; sugar, \ oz.).
COMMON DIET WITH BREAD.
The same as " Common Diet," except that 6 oz. of bread are substituted at
dinner for potatoes.
FULL DIET.
BREAKFAST. Porridge, \\ pints made of oatmeal, 4 oz. Buttermilk, 1 pint
(20 oz.).
DINNER. Boiled meat, 6 oz. Potatoes, 16 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Broth (barley, 1
oz. ; vegetables, f oz. ; meat, 2 oz.).
SUPPER. Potatoes, 16 oz. New milk, pint (10 oz.).
FULL DIET WITH BREAD.
The same as "Full Diet," except that bread, 8 oz., is substituted for potatoes
and bread at dinner; and bread, 6 oz., for potatoes at supper.
EXTRA DIET.
BREAKFAST. Porridge, 2 pints made of oatmeal, 6 oz. Buttermilk, 1 pint
(20 oz.).
DINNER. Boiled meat, 8 oz. Potatoes, 20 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Broth, 1 pint
(barley, 1 oz. ; vegetables, f oz. ; meat, 2 oz.).
SUPPER. Potatoes, 20 oz. New milk, 15 oz.
1 In this and all the other diets, the weight is to be understood as applying to
the food before being cooked.
HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 553
GLASGOW ROYAL INFIRMARY.
ORDINARY DIET.
BREAKFAST. Bread, 4 oz. Butter, salt (or fresh, if specially ordered), oz.
Tea, 4 gills.
DINNER. Bread, 6 oz. Broth or soup, 2 pints. Beef or mutton, boiled (cooked
weight, free of bone), 4 oz. ; or beef steak (uncooked weight, trimmed, and
free of bone), 4 oz. ; or, mutton chop (uncooked weight, bone included), 6
oz. ; or, chicken, one-fifth part of a fowl ; or, fresh fish (cleaned weight), 8
oz. Potatoes, when in season, instead of bread, 1 Ib. Beef tea may be
specially ordered instead of broth or soup, but, as a rule, beef tea with bread
is a dinner without beef or mutton.
SUPPER. Bread, 4 oz. Butter, oz. Coffee, 4 gills.
MILK DIET.
BREAKFAST. Bread, 4 oz. Milk, 4 gills.
DINNER. Rice, 2 oz. Milk, 4 gills.
SUPPER. Bread, 4 oz. Milk, 4 gills.
ROTATION OF BROTH OR SOUPS.
Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday broth. Monday and Thursday rice soup.
Tuesday and Saturday pea soup.
Chicken soup. Beef tea.
EXTRAS, WHICH CAN BE HAD TO ORDER.
Porridge and buttermilk 4 oz. meal and 4 gills milk. Milk, sweet, to por-
ridge, 2 gills. Milk, for drink, 2 gills. Milk, warm, 2 gills. 1 egg. Sago,
arrowroot, corn flour, 2 oz. Biscuits. Strong beef tea. Dry tea, 2 oz., and 8
oz. sugar, for a week's supply.
RICHMOND, WHITWORTH, AND HARDWICKE
HOSPITALS (DUBLIN).
LOW DIET (RICHMOND AND WHITWORTH).
BREAKFAST. Bread, 4 oz. Tea, pint.
DINNER. Bread, 4 oz. New milk, pint.
SUPPER. Bread, 4 oz. Tea, f pint. Whey, 1 pint.
LOW DIET (HARDWICKE).
BREAKFAST. Bread, 4 oz. Tea, pint.
DINNER. Bread, 4 oz. New milk, pint.
SUPPER. Tea, pint. Whey, 1 pint.
554 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
EXTRAS ALLOWED.
1 egg. Arrowroot, pint ; or beef tea, pint ; or new milk, pint ; or rice
milk, | pint. Wine ; or brandy ; or gin ; or whisky ; or porter, J pint, as spe-
cialty ordered.
MIDDLE DIET.
BREAKFAST. Bread, 6 oz. Tea, pint.
DINNER. Bread, 6 oz. Beef, boiled (exclusive of bone), lb., with broth,
f pint.
SUPPER. Bread, 4 oz. Tea, f pint.
EXTRAS ALLOWED.
1 egg. New milk, pint ; or porter, J pint ; or gin or wine, not exceeding 4 oz.
MUTTON DIET.
BREAKFAST. Bread, 6 oz. Tea, f pint.
DINNER. Bread, 6 oz. Mutton, broiled (exclusive of bone), lb.
SUPPER. Bread, 4 oz. Tea, pint.
EXTRAS ALLOWED.
1 egg. New milk, pint; or porter, pint; or wine, not exceeding 4 oz.
Fresh vegetables as ordered.
FULL DIET.
BREAKFAST. Bread, 8 oz. Tea, f pint.
DINNER. Bread, 8 oz. ; or potatoes, 1 lb. Beef, boiled (exclusive of bone),
$ lb., with broth, f pint.
SUPPER. Bread, 4 oz. Tea, f pint.
EXTRAS ALLOWED.
New milk, f pint ; or porter, pint.
Beef, with broth, to be given for dinner on five days in each week to patients
on middle diet. On Wednesdays and Fridays pint of gruel to be substituted.
Potatoes, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays to patients on full diet in-
stead of bread.
Formularies.
TEA (6 pints). Tea, 1 oz. Sugar, 4 oz. New milk, f pint.
BEEF WITH BROTH (6 pints). Beef (exclusive of bone), 4 lb. Barley, lb.
Oatmeal, 2 oz. Parsley, 1 oz. Thyme, oz. Onions or leeks, lb. Pepper
and salt to taste.
BEEF TEA (6 pints). Beef (lean, without bone), 4 lb. Pepper and salt to taste.
WHEY. New milk, 1 quart. Buttermilk, 1 pint.
GRUEL (6 pints). Oatmeal, 12 oz. Sugar, 3 oz. Ginger to flavor. Steep
the meal from night before ; boil for two hours.
ARROWROOT ( pint). Arrowroot, J oz. Sugar, oz. New milk, | pint.
HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 555
BETHLEM LUNATIC HOSPITAL.
BREAKFAST. Every day Tea, with 7 oz. of bread and butter for males, and 6
oz. for females.
DINNER. Every day, except Saturday 4 oz. of bread, Ib. of vegetables, and
1 pint of beer, with 6 oz. for males, and 5 oz. for females, of boiled beef (free
from bone) on Sunday ; roast mutton on Monday and Thursday ; boiled
mutton on Tuesday and Friday ; and roast beef on Wednesday. Saturday
Meat pie (16 oz. males, 14 oz. females). 4 oz. of bread. 1 oz. of cheese.
Beer (males 1 pint, females pint).
SUPPER. Males, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, same as at
breakfast; Wednesday and Saturday, 7 oz. of bread; 2 oz. of cheese, 1 pint
of beer. Females, every day, same as at breakfast.
Patients in employment in the grounds, workshops, or laundry, to be allowed
4 oz. of bread, 1 oz. of cheese or J oz. of butter, and pint of beer for luncheon ;
and pint of beer in the afternoon.
Every patient to be allowed If oz. of tea, 8 oz. of sugar, 8 oz. of butter, and H
pints of milk, weekly.
On Christmas Day the dinner to be roast beef and plum pudding. On New
Year's Day a mince pie to be added to the usual fare. On Good Friday, a bun.
On Easter and Whit Monday 6 oz. of roast veal to be allowed instead of the usual
meat for the day.
The dinners to be further varied by the occasional substitution of pork and
bacon, when peas and beans are in season ; and also b} r the occasional substitu-
tion of fish, and fruit pies, when fish and fruit are plentiful and good.
The sick to be dieted at the discretion of the resident physician.
The attendants to have at all times the means of obtaining gruel for such
patients as may require it.
The above to be considered maximum allowances, and all quantities uncon-
sumed are to be taken in diminution of the next supply from the stores of the
Hospital.
ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL FOR LUNATICS.
MALE DIETARY.
BREAKFAST. Cocoa, oz. Milk, pint. Sugar, oz. Bread, 8 oz. Butter,
i oz.
DINNER.
Sunday. Cooked meat, with bone, 6 oz. Potatoes, 12 oz. Bread, 6 oz.
Beer, 1 pint. Pudding (farinaceous or fruit), 6 oz.
Monday. Meat pie, with potatoes, 12 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, 1 pint.
Tuesday. Cooked meat, with bone, 8 oz. Bread, 6 oz. Beer, 1 pint.
556 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
DINNER (continued) .
"Wednesday. Meat pudding, 12 oz. Potatoes, 8 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer,
1 pint.
Thursday. Same as Tuesday.
Friday. Cooked meat, with bone, 8 oz. Potatoes, 12 oz. Bread, 6 oz.
Beer, 1 pint.
Saturday. Same as Tuesday and Thursday.
TEA. Tea, \ oz. Sugar, J oz. Milk, pint. Bread, 8 oz. Butter, J oz.
FEMALE DIETARY.
BREAKFAST. Same as for males, less 2 oz. of bread.
DINNER.
Sunday. Same as for males, less 2 oz. of meat, 4 oz. of potatoes and pint
of beer.
Monday. Same as for males, less 2 oz. of pie and \ pint of beer.
Tuesday. Same as for males, less 2 oz. of meat and pint of beer.
Wednesday. Same as for males, less 2 oz. of meat pudding, 2 oz. of potatoes,
and pint of beer.
Thursday. Same as Tuesday.
Friday. Same as for males, less 2 oz. of meat, 4 oz. of potatoes, and \ pint
of beer.
Saturday. Same as for Tuesday and Thursday.
TEA. Same as for males.
1 pint of beer, 8 oz. of bread, and 2 oz. of cheese, may be had for supper in
the place of the ordinary tea, by those male patients for whom the medical officer
shall think it desirable.
Patients employed in work for the Hospital to be allowed 4 oz. of bread, 1 oz.
of cheese, and ^ pint of beer for lunch.
The dinners may be varied by the occasional substitution of pork, bacon, salt
beef, or veal, when in season ; and also the occasional substitution of fish, and
fruit pies, when either are plentiful and good.
Lettuce during the summer months may be substituted occasionally for other
vegetables.
The sick to be dieted at the discretion of the medical officers.
The above to be considered maximum allowances ; and all quantities uncon-
sumed to be returned to the kitchen.
HANWELL LUNATIC ASYLUM.
DIET TABLE FOB PATIENTS EMPLOYED.
BREAKFAST.
Males. Cocoa, 1 pint. Bread, 6 oz. Butter, \ oz.
Females. Tea, 1 pint. Bread, 5 oz. Butter, J oz.
HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 557
LUNCHEON.
Males. Bread, 3 oz. Cheese, 1 oz. Beer, $ pint.
Females. Bread, 3 oz. Cheese, 1 oz. Beer, pint.
DINNER.
Males
Sunday. Cooked meat, free from bone (roast pork, beef, or mutton), 5
oz. Vegetables, 9 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, pint.
Monday. Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled bacon or pickled pork),
5 oz. Vegetables, 16 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, pint.
Tuesday. Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled Australian beef or mut-
ton), 5 oz. Vegetables, 9 oz. Dumplings, 4 oz. Beer,
pint.
Wednesday. Cooked meat, free from bone (meat pies), 3 oz. Pie, 4 oz.
Vegetables, 12 oz. Beer, pint.
Thursday. Fish (fried or boiled, with melted butter), 10 oz. Vegetables,
9 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, pint.
Friday. Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled bacon or pickled pork), 5
oz. Vegetables, 16 oz. Dumplings, 4 oz. Beer, pint.
Saturday. Cooked meat, free from bone (Irish stew), 2 oz. Stew, 16 oz.
Bread, 6 oz. Beer, J pint.
Females
Sunday. Same as for males, less 1 oz. of meat and 1 oz. of vegetables.
Monday. Same as for males, less 1 oz. of meat and 4 oz. of vegetables.
Tuesday. Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled beef or mutton), 4 oz.
Vegetables, 12 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, pint.
Wednesday. Same as for males.
' Thursday. Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled Australian beef or mut-
ton), 4 oz. Vegetables, 8 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, pint.
Friday. Fish (fried or boiled, with melted butter), 8 oz. Vegetables, 8
oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, pint.
Saturday. Same as for males, less 2 oz. of bread.
SUPPER.
Males. Tea, 1 pint. Bread, 6 oz. Butter, oz.
Females. Tea, 1 pint. Bread, 5 oz. Butter, ^ oz.
DIET FOK PATIENTS NOT EMPLOYED.
BREAKFAST.
Males. Cocoa, 1 pint. Bread, 6 oz. Butter, oz.
Females. Tea, 1 pint. Bread, 5 oz. Butter, oz.
DINNER.
Males
Sunday. Cooked meat, free from bone (roast pork, beef, or mutton), 5
oz. Vegetables, 9 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, pint.
Monday. Soup, thickened with oatmeal, rice, and peas, and containing 2
oz. of meat for each patient, with a proportion of Ka-
mornie Extract, 1 pint. Bread, 6 oz. Beer, J pint.
558 THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS.
DINNER. Males (continued).
Tuesday. Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled Australian beef or mut-
ton), 5 oz. Vegetables, 9 oz. Dumplings, 4 oz. Beer,
pint.
Wednesday. Cooked meat, free from bone (meat pies), 3 oz. Pie, 4 oz.
Vegetables, 12 oz. Beer, pint.
Thursday. Fish (fried or boiled, with melted butter), 10 oz. Vegetables,
9 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, pint.
Friday. Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled bacon or pickled pork), 5
oz. Vegetables, 16 oz. Dumplings, 4 oz. Beer, pint.
Saturday. Cooked meat, free from bone (Irish stew), 2 oz. Stew, 16 oz.
Bread, 6 oz. Beer, pint.
Females
Sunday. Same as for males, less 1 oz. of meat and 1 oz. of vegetables.
Monday. Same as for males, less 2 oz. of bread.
Tuesday. Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled bacon or pickled pork), 4
oz. Vegetables, 12 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, ^ pint.
"Wednesday. Same as for males.
Thursday. Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled Australian beef or mut-
ton), 4 oz. Vegetables, 8 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, pint.
Friday. Fish (fried or boiled, with melted butter), 8 oz. Vegetables, 8
oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, pint.
Saturday. Same as for males, less 2 oz. of bread.
SUPPER.
Males. Tea, 1 pint. Bread, 6 oz. Butter, J oz.
Females. Tea, 1 pint. Bread, 5 oz. Butter, oz.
2 oz. of cheese and 1 pint of beer given to male patients for supper in lieu of 1
pint of tea and oz. of butter, if requested.
Formularies.
For 1 pint of cocoa oz. of cocoa, 1 oz. of treacle, and ^ pint of milk.
For 1 pint of tea \ oz. of tea, oz. of sugar, and pint of milk.
Irish stew (liquor of the meat cooked the previous day), with 2 oz. cooked
Australian meat (and a proportion of Kamornie Extract), with 12 oz. of vege-
tables, for each patient.
Currant dumplings (made with dripping or suet) are given every third Satur-
day, in lieu of stew, 12 oz. to the males and 11 oz. to the females. pint beer
at 4 P.M., and tobacco and snuff, for working patients.
HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 559
COLNEY HATCH LUNATIC ASYLUM.
MALES.
BREAKFAST. 6 oz. of bread, and oz. of butter. 1 pint of cocoa.
DINNER.
Monday. 9 oz. of pie (containing 4 oz. of meat). 9 oz. of vegetables.
pint of beer.
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. 5 oz. of cooked meat. 9 oz. of
vegetables. 4 oz. of bread. pint of beer.
Wednesday. 1 pint of stew, and 6 oz. of bread, as on Saturday or, 8 oz. of
fish, 9 oz. of vegetables, and 4 oz. of bread. pint of beer
(with either dinner).
Saturday. 1 pint of Irish stew (made with 3 oz. of meat and the liquor
from meat of previous day, 12 oz. of potatoes and other
vegetables, and 1 oz. dumpling). 6 oz. of bread. pint
of beer.
TEA OR SUPPER. 6 oz. of bread. 2 oz. of cheese or oz. of butter. pint of
beer or 1 pint of tea.
FEMALES.
BREAKFAST. 5 oz. of bread, and J oz. of butter. 1 pint of tea.
DINNER.
Monday. 9 oz. of pie (containing 4 oz. of meat). 8 oz. of vegetables.
pint of beer.
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. 4 oz. of cooked meat. 8 oz. of
vegetables. 4 oz of bread. pint of beer.
"Wednesday. 1 pint of soup (made with 4 oz. of meat and the liquor from
meat of previous day, peas, rice, Scotch barley, herbs, &c.),
and 5 oz. of bread or, 8 oz. of fish, 8 oz. of vegetables, and
4 oz. of bread or, 12 oz. of currant dumpling. J pint of
beer (with either dinner).
Saturday. 1 pint of Irish stew (made with 3 oz. of meat and the liquor from
meat of previous day, 12 oz. of potatoes and other vege-
tables, and 1 oz. dumpling). 5 oz. of bread. pint of
beer.
TEA. 5 oz. of bread. J oz. of butter. 1 pint of tea.
INDEX.
Absinthe, 395
Abstinence from food, 473
Abutilon esculentum. flowers of, 285
Abyssinia, raw meat eaten in, 456
Acajou nut, 263
Acarus domesticus, or cheese mite, 205
farina;, or flour mite, 240
Acetic acid, 122, 136
Acorn coffee, 350
Acorns, 259
Acrolein, 488
Adipocere, production of, 91
Aerated bread, 234
Africa, food in the different parts of, 455-
459
Africans (East) food of, 457
Agaricus campestris, 287
Agouti, 210
Air, preservation of food by exclusion of,
399
Alaria esculenta, 280
Albatross, 215
Albumen, 42, 51
Mulder's analysis of, 84
as a force-producing agent, 87
insufficient to sustain life, 405
vegetable, 44
Albuminose, or peptone, 45, 46
production of, 26, 51, 52
Albuminous group of alimentary principles,
41
Alcohol, 137-141 357, 376
Alcoholic beverages, 357-395
Ale, 362
Alimentary principles : their classifications,
chemical relations, digestion, assimi-
lation, and physiological uses, 37-146
substances, 147-396
Alkaline secretions, effect of, 47
Allium cepa, 283
Almond, 260-262 ; composition of sweet, 261
composition of bitter, 261
sweet, furnishes a food analogous to
milk, 496
Alum in bread, 234
Alum whey, 535
Amblyrhyncus (a genus of lizard), 216
American cheese, 203
American (North) Indians, food of, 446
Ammonia in the atmosphere, 32
Amygdalin, 260
Amygdalus communis, 260
persica, 299
Amylic alcohol, 394
Amyloid substarce, 118, 120, 121, 125
Anacardium occidentale, 263
Ananassa saliva, or pineapple, 311
Animal alimentary substances, 147-223
foods, exceptional, 206-223
system and a steam-engine, analogy
between, 22, 23
Animals, effect of different foods upon their
character, 466
and plants, reciprocal relation of, 34, 35
Anisette, 395
Anomin ephippium, 21 9
Anstie's experiments on the effect of alcohol,
138, 358
Antiseptics, preservation of food by the use
of. 402
Ants (white), 218
Apiura graveolens, 281
Appetite a guide in regulating the supply of
food, 468
a measure of capacity for work, 419
Apple, 292, 293 ; composition of, 293
Apricot, 300 ; composition of, 301
Arabs of the Nubian desert, 455
Arachis hypogoea, or earth-nut, 357
Araucaria imbricata, 314
Arctic food, 412, 444
Armadillo, 214
Arracacha esculenta, root of, 272
Arrack, 394
Arrowroot, 325-326, 533
Brazilian, 324, 326
British. 266
East Indian, 326
English. 326
Portland, 326
Tahitan, 325
Artichoke, 282
Jerusalem, 271 ; composition of, 271
Artocarpus incisa and integrifolia, 314
Arum esculentum, root of, 275
maculatum, 326
Asparngin, 282
Asparagus, 282
Aspergillus glaucus, or cheese mould, 205
Ass's flesh eaten by the Romans, 212
Astralagus Boeticus, 350
Atriplex hortensis, 279
36
562
INDEX.
Attacotti, cannibals of ancient Scotland,
206
Aube-gine, or egg-apple, 285
Australia, food of the natives of, 449
Avena sativa, 242
Avenin. 243
Axolotl of Mexico, 217
Bacon, 154; composition of, 155
Baked flour, 230
Baking, 489
Baking powder, 232, 234
Baly, Dr., 268
Bandicoot, 209
Banana, 313; composition of, 314
Banting's, Mr., diet, 465. 511-513
Bantingism, danger of, 512
Barberry, 307
Barcelona nuts, 263
Bark, 315
Barley, 245, 246 ; composition of, 245
Scotch, milled or pot, 245
pearl, 245
patent, 245
sugar, 319
water, 533
Barral, on the elimination of nitrogen, 55
Barrow on the gluttony of the Hottentots
and Bosjesir.ans, 425
Basilisk, crested, 216
Batatas edulis, or sweet potato, 265, 269,
270
Baudot's experiment on the effect of alcohol,
138
Beans, 255 ; composition of, 256
French, 256 ; composition of, 256
Bear, 208, 444
Beaujolais wine, 383
Becker, von, 117
Beef, 152 ; composition of, 152
essence of, 531
Beef tea, 527
savory, 529
Liebig's, 529
Beer, 3fi2-365
Bees, 218
experiments on, 128
Beet (sea), leaves of, 279
white. 279
chard, 283
Beet-root, 274
sugar from, 318
Beetles, 218
Berberis vulgaris, or barberry, 307
Bernard's discovery of glycogen, 120
experiments on the assimilation of
sugar, 123
Bernard on the acidification of fat, 99
on the action of food on the urine, 51,
466, 518
Bertholletia excelsa, 263
Beta vulgaris and altissima, 274, 275
cicla, 279, 283
marititna, 279
Bethlem Lunatic Hospital, dietary at, 555
Beverages, 328-395
Beverages, non-alcoholic, exhilarating, and
restorative, 335-357
Bicknell, Mr., on the use of horseflesh,
211
Bidder's experiment on the solvent influ-
ence of the intestinal juice, 48
Biffins, 293
Bigarreau cherry, 299
Bilberry, 307 ; composition of, 307
Bile, action of, in digestion, 47, 50
power of, to emulsify the fatty acids,
99
Birds' nests, soup made from, 215
Birmingham General Hospital dietary, 549
Bischoff. 465
his opinion that gelatin has a nutritive
value, 95
Biscuits, 230. 238, 242 ; composition of, 239
Bison, 210; its hump, 210
Bitters, 395
Black pudding, 156
Blackberry, 309 ; composition of, 310
Bladder-lock, 280
Blaeberry, 307
Blaps sulcata, 218
Blood of the pig and bullock, 156
Blubber, 209
Boiling of food, 486, 487
Boiling of water for purification, 334
Bole, an earth eaten by the Ottom;ics, 220
Bologna sausages made of asses' flesh, 212
Bone, relative amount of, in animals, 155
nutritive character of, 155
Bordeaux wines, 382
Borecole, 277
Bosjesmans, food of, 458
gluttony of, 425
Bourtree, or elder, 308
Boussingault on the production of fatty
matter, 25, 128, 130, 409
researches on the free nitrogen of the at-
mosphere, 32
Brandy, 392
Brandy mixture, 531
Brank, or buckwheat, 253
Brassica napus, 284
oleracea, 276
rapa, or turnip, 274
Brazil-nut, 263
Bread, 231-237 ; composition of, 236
from unbolted flour, 145
in times of famine, 315
Bread jelly, 522, 532
brown, 231, 236 ; use of in overcoming
constipation, 526
rye, 247
Indian, 248
Bread-fruit, 314
meal, a kind of earth, 220
Breakfast, 479
Brewing, 362
Brie cheese, composition of, 204
Bright's disease, diet for, 517
Brill, 174
Brinjal, 286
Broccoli, 278
sprouts, 278
INDEX.
563
Broiling, 488
Brose, beef and kale, 244
Broths, 490
Brown, Horace T. , on the estimation of am-
monia in atmospheric air, 32
Brown bread, 231, 236, 526
Brunner's glands, secretion of, 99
Brussels sprouts, 278
Bucelhis wine. 387
Budrum (oatmeal), 243
Buckwheat, 253 ; composition of, 253
Buffalo, 210. 446
Bugong, an Australian moth, 218
Bullace, 297
Burgundy wines, 382
Bustard, 215
Butter, 200-202
Buttermilk, 193 ; composition of, 193
Butternut, 263
Cabango, food used at, 457
Cabbage tribe, products of, 276
red, 277
white garden, 277
Cacao butter, 355
Caffein, 336
Cagliari paste, 239
Cakes, 230
Caladium seguinum, rhizomes of, 272
Calorifacient group ef alimentary principles.
38
Cambridge system of training, 501
Camel, 210 ; its hump, 211 ; its milk, 210
Camembert cheese, composition of, 21)4
Canna edulis, 326
Cannibalism, 206, 207
Capraria biflora, 343
Caramel, 3 19
Carbohydrates, 114-136, 510
amount in dietaries, 471
assimilation and utilization of, 123
conversion into fat, 130-134
Carbon, amount required in food, 440
Carbonic acid a measure of muscular work,
107
in the air, 30
Carbuncles caused by eating diseased meat,
164
Cardoon, 282
Carlina caulescens^282
Carlisle, Sir Anthony, on Arctic food, 412
Carnivorous animals fed once a day, 476
Carob tree, 314
Carpenter, Dr., on starvation, 475
Carrageen moss, 280
decoction of, 518
Carrion eaten by the Zulus, 214
Carrots, 272, 273 ; composition of, 273
Carya alba, 263
Casein, 43, 52, 143, 185, 188, 202
vegetable, 44
Cashew nut, 263
Cassava, 323-324
bread, 324
Castanea vesca, 258
Castration improves the animal for edible
purposes, 149, 168
Caterpillars, 219
Catha edulis. 344
Cuts. 208
Cauliflower, 278
Caviare, 177
Celery, 281
Cellulose. 122
Cerasus duracina, or common cherry, 299
Ceratonia silique, 314
Cerealia, 225-254
Cerealin, 227
Ceylon, food of the inhabitants of, 454
Chaat, or Abyssinian tea, 344
Chalazae of the egg, 183
Champagnes, 383
Chard, the leafstalks of artichoke, 282
Charqui, or dried beef, 399
Chartreuse, liqueur, 395
Chateau d'Yquem wine, 382
Cheddar cheese, composition of, 204
Cheese, 202-205 ; composition of, 203
poisoning by. 205
Chenopodiuin quinoa, 254 ; leaves of, 279
Cherry, 299 ; composition of, 299
Cheshire cheese, 203
Chester cheese, 203 ; composition of, 204
Chestnut, earth, 357
Spanish, 258
Chiccory, 350, 351
Chicken tea, 529
Children require food more frequently than
grown-up persons, 482
China, food of the inhabitants of, 452
Chlorophyll, action of, in plants, ,27
Chocolate, 354
Chondrin, 44, 94
Chondrus crispus, 280
Chossat's experiments on death from starva-
tion, 473
Christison, Sir R., on unwholesome meat,
164, 165
on the laxative action of oatmeal, 244
on poisoning by darnel grass. 240
on test of poisonous fungi, 288
Chromic acid test for alcohol, 138
Chrysalis of the silkworm, 219
Chyme, the product of gastric digestion, 47
Cicada, an insect eaten by Greeks, 219
Cichorium endivia, 284
intybus, 350
Cider, 292, 365, 366
Citric acid, 136
Citron, 296
Citrus acida, or lime, 296
aurantium, or orange, 295
decumana, or shaddock, 296
limetta, or sweet lime, 296
limonium, or lemon, 296
medica, or citron, 296
pompelmoos, or pomelo. 297
vulgaris, or Seville orange, 290
Claret wines, 382
action of, on the human body, 139
Clark's process for the purification of water,
334 '
564
INDEX.
Clay eaten in Africa, 220
Clitnate, variety of diet required according
to difference of, 412
Cob-nut, 263
Cochlearia officinalis et Danica, 445
Cockatoos, 214
Cockles, 181
Cocoa, 352-357, composition of, 355, 356
fictitious, 357
Brazilian, or guarana, 351
Cocoanut, 262,
value of, as food, 451, 455, 456
Cqpos nucifera, 262
Codfish, 173 : cod sound?, 177
Coffee, 344-350; composition of, 347
leaves, infusion made from, 343
fictitious, 350
Swedish, 350
Cold, or catarrh, dry treatment for cure of,
516
Cold as a sharpener of the appetite, 424
influence of, in preserving food, 398
Colewort, 277
Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, dietary at,
559
Colostrum, 189
Combe, Dr., on the food of the monks of La
Trappe, 477
Condiments, 396
Cones, or cones flour, 230
Constipation removed by brown bread, 236
Convolvulus batatas, 269
Cooking, effects of, 485
Cooking-pot, 490
Cooper, London, 364
Cormorant, 215
Corn, pop, 248
lob, or maize porridge, 249
flour, 249
Cornaro's limited diet, 436, 437
Corpulency, diet for the reduction of, 51 1513
"Correlation," Grove's definition of, 17
Corvisart's (Lucien) views as to the action
of the pancreas, 48
Corylus avellana, tubulosa, and grandis, 263
Cossus of the ancients, 219
Couscous, or couscousou of the Arabs, 239
Crab fish, 178
Crab apple, 292
Cracknells, 238
Crake, spotted, 214
Crambe maritima, 281
Cranberry, 306
Crane, 214
Crawfish, river or fresh-water, 179
sea, 178
Cream, 190, 192; composition of, 192
Devonshire or clotted, 192
Cream cheese, 203
Cream of tartar whey. 535
drink, 535
Cress, garden, 284
Crimping offish, 173
Crocodile, 216 ; its eggs, 216
Crumpets, 237
Cucumber, 285
Cuckoo, 214
Cucumis citrullus, or watermelon, 311
melo, or melon, 311
sativus, or cucumber, 285
Cucurbita ovifera, pepo and melopepo, 285
Curacoa, 295, 395
Curcuma angustifolia, 326
Curd, 193
Currants, dried, 303
red and black, 305
composition, 306
Cuttle-fish, 219
Cye.is, seeds of, 259
Cydonia vulgaris, 294
Cynara carduncellus, 282
scolymus, 282
Cynips, fat in the larva of. 133
Cyperus esculentus, or earth chestnut, 357
Cysticercus cellulosse, 159
Dahomey, food of the inhabitants of, 456
Daisy, leaves of, 285
Damson, 297
Darnel grass, 240
Date, 302, 455
Date plum, 314
Daucus carota, 272
Dauglish's, Dr., process of bread-making,
232-234
Bavy, Dr., on the value of fish as food, 171,
175
Deckan, food in the, 454
Dextrin, an artificial gum, 122
Dewberry, or gray bramble, 310
Dhurra, or Dhoora grass, 252
Diabetes uiellitus, sugar and urea, 127
diet for, 513-515
Dicotyles labiatus and torquatus, 213
Dietaries
hospital, 469, 537-559
prison, 431-436, 461
workhouse, 430
subsistence diet, 428
diet of adult in full health, 428
diet of active laborers. 428
diet of hard-working laborers, 429
diet of the English soldier, 429
diet of the English sailor, 430
Dietetic preparations for the invalid, 527-535
Dietetics, principles of, 403-442
practical, 443-502
Digestion, nature of, 45 %
states influencing, 483
of nitrogenous matter in the intes-
tine, 50
Digestive organs of infants, 492
Dinner, 479, 480, 482
Dioscorea saliva, alata, and batatas,' 270
Diospyros kaki, 314
Virginiana, 314
Dirt-eating, 219-221
Dogs, 208
Dogfish, 217
Dolichos, a pulse, 258
Donders on the feeding of the Arab's horse,
420
Donkeys, 212
INDEX.
565
Doura, the chief food in India, 455
Drink included in food, 37, 38
Druitt, Dr., on the stimulating qualities of
liquid essence of beef, 466
Drying, preservation of food by, 399
Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica, 327
Dublin hospitals' dietary, 553-554
Ducks, experiments in the fattening of, 131
Dugong, Indian, 210
Dumas on the production of fatty matter,
25, 128
experiments on bees, 128
Duodenum, action of, in digestion, 49
Dupie's, Dr., experiments on the action of
alcohol, 140
Duroy's observations on alcohol, 137
Dutch cheese, 203 ; composition of, 204
Dynamic relations of food, 17-24
Dysentery, diet for, 526
Dyspepsia, food for, 520-524
Earth-eating, 219-221
Earth-nut, 341
Echinus sphwra, 219
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary dietary, 551-552
Edwards's (Milne) experiments on bees, 128
Eels, 172 ; composition of, 172
Eel, mud, 217
Egg, 181-185; composition of the entire
contents, 144, 182; of the white, 182;
of the yolk, 182; dry constituents,
183
as a typical illustration of natural food,
403
and brandy, 531
Egg-apple, 286
Egypt, food in, 455
Elderberry, 308
Elder rob, 308
wine, 308
Elephant, 213; its foot, trunk, and tongue,
213
Embden groats, 242
Emulsin, 260
Endive, 284
Energy, actual and potential, 18
conservation of, 19
and force, distinction between, 18
Entrails of animals eaten, 214
Ergotized or spurred corn, 240, 247
Ervalenta, 258, 326
Ervum lens, 257. 326
Esquimaux, food of, 424, 444
Faba vulgaris, 257
Fagopyrum esculentum, 253
Fagots, 158
Farinaceous preparations, 322-327
seeds, 224-259
Fasting (Welsh) girl, 474
Fat in relation to muscular force-production,
105-110
actual force value of, 111, 112
uses of, 100-102
Fat as a heat-producing agent, 103-106,
136, 419
amount required in diet, 471
insufficient to sustain life, 409
nitrogenous matter as a source of, 91-93
conversion of carbohydrates into, 130-
134
Fats, or hydrocarbons, 97-113
Fatty degeneration, explanation of, 90
matter as an alimentary agent, 508
Faulhorn, ascent of, byFickand Wislicenus,
58, 110, 414
Fea berry, 304
Feejee Islands, food of the inhabitants of,
451
Fibrin, 42, 52
insufficient to sustain life, 405
vegetable, 44
Fick and Wislicenus on the origin of mus-
cular power, 53-61, 109, 414
Ficus carica, or common fig, 312
Fig, common, 312
Indian, 312
key fig of Japan, 314
Filbert, 263
Filtration of water, 334
Fish, 169-177
composition of white, 171
boiling of, 487
dried and ground into powder in Si-
beria, 169
prejudice against, 170
poisonous, 170
healthiness of the fish-eating class, 171
edible qualities of, 175
shell, 177-181
Flies, 219
Flint, Dr. Austin, on elimination of nitrogen
in relation to work, 6872
Flounder, 173
Flour, wheaten, 228-230 ; composition of,
229
and milk, 531
Fluid, regulation of amount of, 515-517
Flummery, 242
Foie gras, 156; production of, 129; com-
position of, 156
Food, dynamic relations of, 17-24
origination of, 25-35
constituent elements of, 36
classification of, 39
preservation of, 397-402
mixture of animal and vegetable, the
best for man, 441, 462
proper proportion of fresh, necessary,
462
dietetic relations and effects of animal
and vegetable, compared, 463-467
proper amount of. 467-476
in relation to work, 418-421
adaptation of, to demand, 411
nutritive value of, 413
force-producing value of, 416
animal, stimulant properties of, 466
evils caused by excess of, 472
proper of man, 443-462
I Food for infants, Liebig's, 195, 246
566
INDEX.
Foods, animal, sometimes but not ordinarily
eaten, 206-223
Force, conservation of, 18
neither created nor destroyed, 17
and energy, distinction between, 18
Fourcroy's discovery of adipocere, 91
Fragaria collina and vesca, 308
Frankland's calculations of the force-pro-
ducing value of various articles of
food, 414-416, 423 (note)
experiments on the amount of energy
producible from nitrogenous matter,
61, 88
Franklin, Sir John, 425
Fremy's formula for pectin, 136
Friendly Islands, food of the natives of, 450
Frogs, 217
Fruit, preserved, 400
Fruits, 290-314
Frumenty, 228
Frying, 489
Fungi, growth of, exceptional, 30
esculent, 286-289 ; composition of, 287
Gages, green and purple, 297
Game, 168
Gamgee's, Prof., report on the diseases of
live stock, 162, 165
Garraway, Thomas, 338
Gasparin on the action of coffee, 349
Gastric juice, action of, 45, 46
Gelatin, 44, 94, 156
no existence in vegetable food, 25
in the urine after injection into the ves-
sels, 52
question of its nutritive value, 405, 406
Gelatin Commision of the Institute of Am-
sterdam, 406
Paris Commission, French Academy,
conclusions arrived at, 95, 404-406
Gelatinous principles, alimentary value of,
93-96
"Geophagie," or dirt-eating, 221
Gherkins, 285
Gilberts observations on the feeding of
cattle, 75, 92, 132, 464
Gin, or Geneva, 393
Gingerbread, 238
Ginseng root. 275
Glasgow Royal Infirmary dietary, 553
"Globulin, or albuminoid matter, in the
blood-corpuscle, 43
Gloucester double cheese, 203
single cheese, 203
Glucose, or grape-sugar, 317, 318
Gluten, 225, 227
sustaining life, 406
Glycerin, 98
Glycogen, or amyloid substance, 120
Gmelin, 409
Golden syrup, 319
Goose, enlarged liver of the, 129, 156
Gooseberry, 304 ; composition of, 304, 305
Goose grass, root of, 276
Gout promoted by the consumption of a
highly nitrogenized diet, 506
Graham, 121
Grape, 302-304, 368-371 ; composition of,
303
American, young shoots of, 284
Grasshoppers, 218
Greengage, 297
Greenland food, 425, 445
Greens, 277
Grits (maize), 248
Groats, or grits, 242
Groundnut, 357
Grove's "Correlation of the Physical
Forces," 17, 19
Grubs, 219
Gruel, oatmeal, 244, 532
Grundlach's experiments on bees, 128
GruySre cheese, composition of, 204
Guachos, food of the, 448
Guarana, 336, 351. 352
as a remedy for sick headache, 352
Guaranin identical with thein, 336, 351
Guinea grass, 252
Gull eaten during Lent, 215
Gum, 120-122
insufficient to sustain life, 409
Gum-water, 534
Guy, Dr., on the diet of English prisons, 461
Guy's Hospital dietary, 469, 537
Gyrophora, 281
Haddock, 173
Hanwell Lunatic Asylum, dietary at, 556-
557
Hare, 169
Haricots, or French beans, 256
blanos, 256
Hashing, 489
HassalTs analysis of revalenta, 327
examination of milk, 196, 197
Hazelnut, 263
Head's. Sir Francis, experience of food in
the Pampas, 448-499
Heart, 157
Heat, equivalent of, in mechanical motion,
18, 111
Hedgehog, 209
Helianthus tuberosus. 271
Helmholtz's researches on energy, 18, 22, 28
on the size of the sun, 27
Herbaceous articles, 276-285
Herring, 172
Hickory nut, 263
Hindostan, food in, 454
Hippophagy, 211
Hippopotamus, 213
Histogenetic or tissue-forming materials, 39
Hock wine, 385
Hoe-cake, 249
Hoffmann, H., 107
Hog, earth, 214
Hollands, 393
Holothuriae, 219
Hominy, 248
Honey, 128, 148, 320, 321 ; poisonous effects
of, 321
Hordeum distichon, 245
INDEX.
567
Horseflesh, 211-213, 448
Horses, food of, 420
Hospital dietaries, 537-559
Hottentots, food of the, 458, 459
gluttony of the, 425
Huber's experiments on bees, 128
Hum us, 32
Hiineffld on cheese poisoning, 205
Hurtleberry, 307
Hydrates of carbon, or carbohydrates, 114
Hydrocarbons, or fats, 97-113
Iceland moss, 280 ; decoction of, 534
Icelanders, food of, 445
Ichthyophagi, 169
Iguana, 216
Ilex Paraguayensis, gongonha, and theae-
zans, 343
Imperial, potus imperialis, 535
India, food in, 454
Indians of New Spain, 447
North American, 446
Pampas, 448
Indian tribes of the interior of Oregon, 447
Indian corn, or maize, 248-250
sugnr from, 318
bread. 249
Indigestion caused by food taken after un-
usual exertion, 482
food for. 520-524
Infants, diet of, 492-496
Inorganic alimentary principles, 142-146
matter essential to satisfy the require-
ments of life, 410
Inosite, or muscle sugar, 120
Inulin, 271
Invalids, dietetic preparations for, 527-536
Irish moss, 280, 534
Isinglass, 177
Italian or Cagliari paste, 239
, 318
Jak fruit, 314
Jakuts, food of the, 424, 446
Japan, food of the inhabitants of, 453
Jatropha manihot, 323
Jerome, St., on cannibalism, 206
Jerusalem artichoke, 271 ; composition of,
271
Johnny cake, 249
Jones, Dr. Bence, on the digestion of starch
in the stomach, 1 16
on influence of food on the urine, 518
Joule's researches on heat, 18, 112
Juglans regia, cinerea, and nigra, 262, 263
Juniper, berries and tops of, 445
Juvia tree, 263
Kaffirs, food of the, 457
Kale, green, 277
sea, 281
Kalo, root of, 275
Kalong, or edible roussette, 207
Kangaroos, 209 ; soup from the tail, 209
Keith's, Mr., case of poisoning by diseased
meat, 163
Ketchup, tomato, 286
Kidney, 156; composition of sheep's kid-
neys, 157
Kidneys, eliminative office of, 517
King's College Hospital dietary, 544
Kirschwasser, 299, 395
Knol-kohl, 278
Kohl-rabi. 278
Kolyma, Lower, food in, 446
Koumiss, a spirituous liquor from mare's
milk, 188, 394
Kous-kous of the Arabs, 239
Kreutzer, Dr.. on poisoning by unwholesome
meat, 165
Kuiuuiel, a Russian liqueur, 395
Lacaze Duthiers on the fat in the larva of the
cynips, 133
Lactic acid, 119, 122, 136
Lactin, or sugar of milk, 120, 186
Lactometer. 197
Lactoscope, 198
Lactuca sativa, 283
Laotucariura, or lettuce opium, 283
Lallemand's observations on alcohol, 137
Lamb, 153
Lamballe, Princess, 207
Laminaria digitata and saccharina, 280
Langham Hoiel, hippophagic banquet at,
212
Larvae of ants, 219
La Trappe, monks of, eat once a day only,
477
Laughter a help to digestion, 484
Laver, 280
Lawes and Gilbert, their observations on the
feeding of animals, 75, 92, 132, 464
Ledum palustre and latifolium, 344
Leeds General Infirmary dietary, 547-548
Legumin. 255
Leguminosse, 254-257
Lehmann, 43, 135, 137, 407, 464
on the action of coffee, 349
view that fat assists digestion, 102
on the gastric juice, 46
on the absorption of gum, 121
observations on the escape of nitrogen
by the urine, 56, 57, 75-77
on peptone, 45
experiments on sugar, 1 17, 119, 120, 124
on the action of tea on the body, 342
Lemon, 296
Lemon-peel tea, 536
Lemonade, 536
Lentils, 257 ; composition of, 258
Lepidiuin sativura, 284
Lepidosiren, 217
Leprosy common in Iceland, 445
Letheby, table of analyses of foods, 427
on the comparative costliness of food
and fuel, 421
on bread-making, 235
on the strength of coffee, 348
characteristics of good meat, 158
568
INDEX.
Letheby, on the cooking of potatoes, 267
on the use of seaweeds, 280
on the strength of tea, 340
Lettuce, 283
Leucin, 96
Lexias, 303
L'Heritier, his analysis of woman's milk,
189, 494
Lichen, 281
Lieben, M. , 141
Liebig. 25, 128, 132, 134, 417, 425
table of the relative nutritive value of
various articles of food, 413
views regarding nitrogenized and non-
nitrogenized principles, 38
view that nitrogenous matter alone con-
stitutes the source of muscular and
nervous power, 54, 73, 74, 87, 413
classification of fat as an element of res-
piration, 103, 104
on the value of saline matter in food,
145
food influencing the character of ani-
,mals, 467
view of the destination of alcohol in the
animal economy, 137
discovery of ammonia in the atmosphere,
32
on the assimilation of sugar, 123
Liebig's discovery of syntonin, 43
beef tea, 529
extractura carnis, 467, 529
food for infants, 195, 246, 496
Life, results of animal and vegetable, 34, 35
Lights, pig's, 158
Lignin, or woody fibre, 122
Lime, common and sweet, 296
Lime, phosphate of, in the animal body, 143
Liuae-water used in bread-making, 235
Limpets, 181
Lindsay, of Pitscottie, on cannibalism, 207
Linseed tea, 534
Lion eaten in Africa, 207
Liqueurs, 394
Lisbon wine, 388
Liver, 156 ; composition of calves' liver and
of foie gras, 156
fatted, of the goose, 129
relation to sugar formation, 124
Livingstone, Dr., on the relative strength of
grain-eaters and beef-eaters, 498
notice of carbuncle caused by eating
diseased animals, 164
Lizards, 216
Lobster, 178 ; composition of the edible por-
tions, 178
thorny, or sea crawfish, 178
Locusts, 218
Lolium temulentem, 240
London Hospital dietary, 540
Lotus edulis, 258
Love-apple, 286
Luncheon, should form a substantial meal,
479
Lungs of animals (lights), 158
Lupine, Egyptian white, 258
Lynx, Canadian, 208
Macaroni, 239
Mackerel, 172
Maclaren on training, 500
Madeira, 389
Magendie, his food experiments on dogs, 145,
409
conclusion of the Gelatin Commission of
the French Academy, 95
Mahomed's, Mr., results on the elimination
of urea, 78-82
Maize, or Indian corn, 248-250
sugar from, 318
Maizena, 249
Malic acid, 136
Mallow, leaves of, 279
Malt, 246
Manatee, or sea cow, 210
Manchester Royal Infirmary and Dispensary
dietary, 548-549
Mangoldwurzel, 275
Manihot utilissima, 323
Manna, 321, 322
Manna-croup, 239
Mannite, 321
Mantell's case of extraordinary prolongation
of life in a fat animal under absence of
food, 101
Maple, sugar from, 318
Maranta arundinacea, 325
Maraschino, 395
Marcet, Dr., 99
Margarin, 98
Marmalade, quince, 294
Marmelo, 294
Marsala wine, 389
Marusca cherry, 299
Marusquin, 299
Mate, or Paraguay tea, 343
Matlametlo, a large frog, 217
Mavor, Dr. Wm., on the fattening of ducks,
131
Mayer's doctrine of the conservation offeree,
18
Mead, 390
Meals, best times for, 476-484
Meat, 148-157
when the various kinds are in season,
149, 150
effect of the food eaten by animals upon
the character of, 150
effect of the mode of slaughtering upon,
151
overestimation of its dietetic value'
460
raw, 444, 456
cooked, composition of, 152
loss by boiling, baking, and roasting,
488
putrid flesh eaten by various nations,
165-167
unwholesome, 158-167
solid extracts of, 531
fluid, 522, 530
Meat lozenges, 531
Meat preserving establishments in Austra-
lia, 400, 401
INDEX.
569
Mechanical work from fuel less costly than
from food, 421
Medlar, 294
Melon, 311
Mercurialis annua, leaves of, 279
Mespilus germanica, 294
Mexico, food in, 447
Mialhe on albuminose, 45
on oxidation of sugar, 135
Mice, 210
Middlesex Hospital dietary, 542
Milk, 144, 185-199; composition of cow's
milk, 187; solid constituents, 187;
composition of the milk of various
animals, 188
examination of, 196-199 ; specific grav-
ity, 196
the proper food of infants, 492
as a typical illustration of natural food,
403
blue, poisonous effects of, 191
buttermilk, 193 ; composition of, 193
concentrated, 401
condensed, 194, 495 ; composition of, 194
skimmed, 192; composition of, 193
sugar of, 120
and suet. 531
Millet, 252
Milt, 158
Mineral matter in food, 33, 34
Misos, small beans, 258
Molasses, 319
Moleschott's model diet, 422, 440, 468, 471
Monkeys, 207
Morchella esculenta, 288
Morelle. common, 288
Morello cherry, 299
Morus nigra, 310
Mosler, Prof., on the poisonous effects of
blue milk, 191
Moths, 218
Mountain meal, a kind of earth. 220
Muffins, 237
Mulberry, 310 ; composition of, 311
Mulder's analysis of albumen, 84
discoveries relating to albuminous com-
pounds, 25
on the acids in humus, 32
discovery of protein, 42
Mules, 212
Musa paradisiaca, or plantain, 313
sapientutn, or banana. 313
Muscatel raisins, 303
Muscovado, or raw sugar, 317
Muscular action, according to Liebig, de-
stroys muscular tissue, 72, 73
Mush, or Indian corn porridge, 249
Mushrooms, 287, 288
Musk ox, 211
Mussels, 181 ; composition of, 181
Must of the grape. 371
Mustard, white, 284
Mutton, 152 ; composition of, 153
Mutton tea, 529
Narwhal, 209, 444
Nasturtium officinale, 284
Nectarine. 300
Neufchatel cheese, composition of, 204
New Caledonia, food of the inhabitants of,
451
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Infirmary dietary,
551
Newtown pippin, 292
New Zealand, food of the natives of, 449,
450
Nitrogen an element of vegetable as well as
animal life, 32
amount of, required in food, 440
elimination of. 55
Nitrogenized diet, effect of, 505
Nitrogenous alimentary principles, 41-96
(non-) alimentary principles, 97-141
matter, dietetic value of, 419, 420, 470
Normandy pippins, 293
Norwegian nest, 490, 528
Noyaux, eau de, 301, 395
Nubia, food of the Arabs in, 455
Oats, 242-244 ; composition of, 243
Oatmeal, 242 ; composition 'of, 243
porridge, 242, 244, 532
gruel, 533
Olea Europaea, 301
Oleaginous seeds, 259-263
Olein, 98
Olive, 301
Onion, 283
Opossum, 209
Opuntia vulgaris, or prickly pear, 312
Orache, garden, 279
Orange, 295
Organic compounds, formation of, 33, 34
transformation of one into another
in the animal body, 25, 26
Orgeat, 533
Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, flower-stalks of,
282
Orobus tuberosus, 272
Orycteropus Capensis, 214
Oryza sativa, 250
Ostrich, 214
Oswego starch, 249
Otaheite, food of the inhabitants of, 450
Otter, 208
Oxalis crenata and tuberosa, 272
Oxford system of training, 501
Oxycoccus macrocarpus and palustris, 306
Oyster-plant, 275
Oysters, 179; composition of, 180
Paddy fields, 250
Palm, fan, 452
Palm wine, 394
Palms, sugar from, 318
Pampas Indians, food of, 448
Pan;id:i, 527
Panax, 275
Pancreatic juice, action of, 47-50
Pauicum miliaceutu and jurnentorurn, 252
Pappenheitu on the action of the pancreas, 48
570
INDEX.
Paraguain identical with thein, 336, 343
Parasites in meat, 159
Parfait amour, liqueur, 395
Parkes's analytical representations of foods,
427, 432
observations on the elimination of nitro-
gen, 56, 57, 62-68, 77, 110
on the nitrogen and carbon in the typi-
cal alimentary principles, 440
on the action of alcohol on the human
body, 139, 358
on the oxidation of fat, 513
Parmesan cheese, 203 ; composition of, 204
Parrots, 214
Parrot fish, 217
Parry, Sir W., on the large amount of food
eaten by the Esquimaux, 424
Parsnip, 273, 274 ; composition of, 273
Pasquil's Palinodia, 367
Passover cakes, 238
Pastinaca sativa, 273
Pastry, 230
Paullinia sorbilis, 351
Payen's table of the percentage value of
food in nitrogen and carbon, 438, 439
on the keeping of butter, 201
on the dietetic value of coffee, 349
on vegetarianism, 460 (note)
on sugar as a constituent of wheaten
flour, 228
Pea, sugar, 257
sea, 257
Peas, 256, 257 ; composition of dried peas,
257
Peach, 299 ; composition of, 300
Peach nut oil, 262
Peanut, 357
Pear, 293 ; composition of, 294
Pear, prickly, 312
Peafowl, 215
Pecari, collared, 213
Pectin, 136
Pelican, 215
Pemmican, 399
Penguin, 215
Penicillium oidium, the mould of bread, 241
Pepsin, 185
a neutral nitrogenized principle, 46
Peptone, or albuminose, 45, 46
Pereira on alum in brend, 235
on the action of coffee, 349
Periwinkles, 181
Perrin's observations on alcohol, 137
Perry, 293, 365, 366
Persimmon tree, 314
Persoz on the production of fatty matter
from the carbohydrates, 130
Pettenkofer, 465
experiments on the elimination of car-
bonic acid, 108
Phlornis tuberosa, 272
Phoenix ductylifera, 302
Phosphorus in fibrin and albumen, 33
Phytolacca decandra, 284
Pickling, 491
Pig, in a restless state, not adapted for fat-
tening, 509
Pig, experiments on the fattening of, 132,
133
Pigeon, 169
Pilchard, 172
Pine, Chilian, 314
Pineapple, 31 1
Piophila casoi, 205
Pipperidge, or piprage bush, 307
Pistachio nut, 264
Pisum arvense and sativum, 256, 257
Plantain, 313
Plants, absorption of carbon by, 30
and animals, reciprocal relation of, 34, 35
Playfair's dietaries, 426, 428, 435
subsistence diet, 428, 470
experiments on fat, 122 "
on the elimination of urea, 105, 106
Plum, 297, 298; composition of, 298
Poi, a paste made from the root of the kalo,
276
Poke, common young shoots of. 284
Polenta, or porridge of Indian corn, 249
or maize meal, 249
Pomegranate, 297
Pomelo, 297
Pompelraoos, 297
Pondweed, rhizomes of, 272
Popcorn, 248
Porcupine, 210
Pork, 154; composition of, 154
measly, 159
Porphyra vulgaris and laciniata, 280
Porpoise, 209
Porridge, on t meal, 243, 244, 532
Port wine, 286, 287
Porter, 361, 364
Posset, 535
Potamogeton natans, rhizomes of, 272
Potato, sweet, 265, 269 ; composition of,
270
Potatoes, 264-269 ; composition of, 266
Potentilla anserina, root of, 276
Pone, 240
Poultry, game, and wild fowl, 167-169
Prawns, 179
Prickly pear, 312
Prison (Scotch) dietaries, 461
Protein compounds, 41, 42
Prout's classification of food, 39
case of mutton acting as a poison, 153
Prunes, 298
Prunus armeniaca, 300
domestica, or common plum, 297
insititia, or bullace, 297
spinosa, or wild sloe, 297
Psoralea glandulosa, 343
Puddings, flour, 230
Pulled bread, 237
Pulque, an intoxicating liquor, 447
Pulse tribe, 254-257
Pumpkin, 286
Punica granata, 297
Purkinje on the action of the pancreas, 48
Pyrus communis, or pear, 293
cydonia, or quince, 294
domestica, or service, 294
malus, or apple, 292, 293
INDEX.
571
Quince, 294
Quinoa, 254 ; analysis of, 254
Rabbit, 169
Radishes, 275
Raisins, 303
Rana bombina, 217
esculenta and taurina, 217
Ranke's analysis of cooked meat, 152
Rape, 284
Raphanus sativus, 275
Raspberry, 309 ; composition of, 309
Rats, 210
Savory's experiments on, 465
Reindeer, 211/445
Reine Claude, or greengage, 297
Rennet, 202
Revalenta Arabica, 258, 326
" Revet " wheat, 230
Rheum hybridum. palmatum, and rhaponti
cum, 280
Rhinoceros, 213
Rhubarb, 280
Ribes grossularia, or gooseberry, 304
nigrum, or black currant, 305
rubrurn, or red currant, 305
Rice, 250-252; composition of, 251
Rice-water, 533
Riche on the fat in the larva of the cynips,
Richmond, Whitworth, and Hardwicke
Hospitals dietary, 553-554
Ringer, Dr. Sidney, on elimination of urea
and sugar in diabetes, 127
Roasting, 488
Roberts, Dr., on the urine after food, 519
Robur, or tea-spirit, 394
Roe of fish, 176
Roquefort cheese, composition of, 204
Ross, Sir John, on the large amount of food
eaten by the Esquimaux, 424
Roussette, edible, 207
Roussillon wine, 384
Rubus arctlcus, or northern raspberry, 309
caesius, or dewberry, 310
fruticosus. or blackberry, 309
idseus, or raspberry, 309
procumbens, or dewberry of North
America, 310
Rum, 392
pineapple, 393
Rumex acetosa, 279
Runnet, see Rennet.
Running, its place in training systems, 497
Rusks, 237. 242
Rust or smut of wheat, 240
Rye, 246, 247 ; composition of, 247
Saccharine preparations, 316-322
Sack, 367, 388
Sago, 323
Sago bread, 323
Sahara, dates the chief food in the Fezzan
oases, 455
St. Bartholomew's Hospital dietary, 538,
5*59
St. George's Hospital dietary, 541
St. John's bread, 314
St. Luke's Hospital for Lunatics, dietary
at, 555-556
St. Mary's Hospital dietary, 545
St. Thomas's Hospital dietary, 539
Salep, 326
Otaheite, 325
Saline matter, 142
Salmon, 171, 176 ; composition of, 172
putrid, eaten by the Indian tribes of
Oregon, 447
Salsify, 275
stalks of, 283
Salting diminishes the nutritive value of
meat, 402
pickling, and smoking, 491
Sambucus nigra, 308
Samp, 248
Sandwich Islands, food of the inhabitants
of. 452
Sauerkraut, 277
Sausages, German, 160
Saussure on carbonic acid in the air, 30
Savory's experiments on the feeding of rats,
407, 408, 409, 465
Savoy cabbage, 278
Savu, food of the inhabitants of, 451
Sawdust, 315
Scallops, 181
Scarabseus sacer, 218
Scarus, or parrot fish, 217
scharling, 107
Scherer, 120
Schiedam. 393
Schmidt's experiment on the solvent influ-
ence of the intestinal juice, 48
on the amount of urea, 76
Scurvy common in Iceland, 445
potatoes a preventive of, 268
ea-cucumbers, 219
Sea girdle, 280
Sea-kale, 281
ea-urchin, or sea-egg, 219
seaweed, 281
Seal, 209, 444'
leamen's Hospital dietary, 547
secale cereale, or rye, 246
lecretions, nitrogenous matter essential to
the constitution of, 53
effect of the, 48
ieeds or flummery, 242
emolina, 239
emoule, 239
ervice, 294
eville orange, 295
haddock, 296
harks, 217 ; fins, 218 ; edible sharks, 217
Shell-fish, 177-181
Sherry, 367, 388
Shrimps, 179
Siberia, food in, 446
Simon's, Mr., report on diseased meat, 163
Simpson, Sir George, on the large amount
of food eaten by the Yakuti, 424
572
INDEX.
Sinapis alba, 284
Sinclair, Sir John, on training, 498, 500
Skunk, Hudson's Bay, 208
Sleep after dinner, 483
Sloe, wild. 297
Sloths, 214
Slugs eaten in China, 219
Smallage, 281
Smith, Dr. E., on the food of Scotch agri-
cultural laborers, 461
experiments on alcohol, 137, 138
on the nutritive material extracted
from bone, 155
experiments on the elimination of car-
bonic acid, 58, 65
on the consumption of potatoes by the
Irish, 265
on the comparative weights of tea, 340
on the action of tea on the body, 342
Smoothhound, or mustellus antarcticus, 217
Smut of wheat, 240
Snail, vineyard, 219
common garden, 219
Snakes, 216
Snowberry, 307
Solanin, 268
Solanum lycopersicum and melongena, 286
tuberosum, 264
Sole, 173
Somersetshire cheese, 203
Sorbus domestica, 294
Sorgho grass, sorghum, 252
Sorghum saccharatum, 318
Sorrel, 279
Soujee, 239
Soup, bisque, 179
Soups and broths, 490
Sowans, 242
Spawning offish, 174
Spaying improves the animal for edible pur-
poses, 149, 168
Spiders, 218
Spinacea oleracea, 279
Spinach, 279
mountain, 279
Spirits, 390-394
Spleen, 158
Sporendonema casei, 205
Sprat, 172
Squash, 286
Squirrel; 210
Stags, 2 1 1
Starch, 114-117
insufficient to sustain life, 409
from potato, 266
Starchy matter as a constituent of food, 508
Starvation, 473
Stearin, 98
Stenhouse's researches on thein, 336, 339,
351
Stewing, 489
Stilton cheese, 203
Stirabout, or porridge, 244
Stout, 361, 364
Strasburg/b/e gras, 129
Strawberry, 308 ; composition of, 308
Sturgeon, 174
Sucan, or flummery, 242, 243
Succotash, 248
Suffolk cheese, 203
Sugar, 316-319
insufficient to sustain life, 409
its efficacy in producing fatness, 509
assimilation of, 123-126
oxidation of, in the animal system, 135
eating by the negroes, 509
beet, 318
cane. 117, 118, 317, 318
its conversion into grape-sugar, 117
grape, 118-120
maize, 318
maple, 318
Sugar candy, 319
Sulphur in casein, fibrin, and albumen, 33
Sultanas, 303
Sun, colored rays of, influence on vegetation,
28
influence of the solar force, 20, 26-29
Suppers, late, unwholesome, 480
Swans, 215
Sweetbread, 157
Syntonin, or muscle-fibrin, 43
Tacca oceanica, 325
Taenia solium, 159
mediocanellata, 159
Tajacu, or collared pecari, 213
Tamarind, 312, 313
Tamarind whey, 535
Tanaampo, thin cake of earthy matter, 220
Tanna, food of the inhabitants of, 451
Tannese, cannibals, 207
Tannic acid, 338
Tapeworm, source of, 159
Tapioca, 323, 324
Tapir, 213
Tarragona, or Spanish port, 389
Tartaric acid, 136
Tea, 336-342 ; composition of, 339
black, 337
brick, 338
green, 337
lie, 337
representatives of, 343, 344
Abyssinian, 344
Brazilian, 343
Labrador, 344
Mexican, 343
Paraguay, 343
Tea, one of the daily meals, 481
Tent, Rota, 380
Thea bohea, viridis, and sasangua, 336
Thein, 336, 338
Theobroma cacao, 352
Theobrornin, 336, 355
Therapeutic dietetics, 503-559
Thirst, 468
Thistle, carline, 282
Thompson, Dr. Dundas, on the intoxicating
effect of meat, 466
Thomson, Dr. J. B., on Scotch prison die-
tary, 461
Tiedeinann, 409
INDEX.
573
Times of eating, 476-482
Tissues, development and renovation of, 53
Toads, 217
Toadstools, 288
Toast, 227
Toast-and-water, 334, 536
Toddy, or paltn wine, 394
Tokay, 385
Tomato, 286
ketchup, 286
Tope, or galens canis, 217
Tops and bottoms, 237
Tortilla, a cake made of maize meal, 249,
447
Tortoise, 216
Torula cerevisiae, 233
Toucans, 214
Tous-les-mois, 326
Tragopogon porrifolius, 275
Training, diet for, 497-502
Traube on the non-nitrogenous principles
and force-production, 417
view of the source of muscular and ner
vous power. 54, 106
Treacle, 319
whey, 535
Trefoil, 445
Trichina spiralis in the pig and other ani-
mals, 159-162
Trionyx ferox, 216
Tripe, 157; composition of, 157
Tripe de roche, 281
Tropoeolum tuberosum, 272
Trout, 176
Truffles, 289
Tubers and roots, 264-276
Tuffnell's treatment of aneurism, 516
Tull', Mr., operation of castration and
spaying fish, 174
Turbot, 173, 176
Turnip, 274 ; composition of, 274
Turnip cabbage, 278
Turtle (marine and freshwater), 216
Typhn, young shoots of, 283
Typhoid fever caused by polluted milk, 192
(note)
Ubomi, 214
Ullucus tuberosus, 272
Ulva latissima. 280
University College Hospital dietary, 543
Urea the unutilizable portion of nitrogenous
matter, 85, 86
elimination of, 75, 78-83, 418
not a measure of muscular work, 106
Urine, passing off of nitrogen by the, 55
influence of different foods on, 466. 517-
519
albumen, casein, and gelatin in, 51, 52
Vaccinium myrtillis, or bilberry, 307
ozycoccus, or cranberry, 306
uliginosum, or bog whortleberry, 307
vitis idaen, or red whortleberry, 307
Veal, 151-153; composition of, 154
Veal tea, 529
Vegetable alimentary substances, 224327
Vegetable food, effects of, 524
life, action of, 29, 32
Vegetable marrow, 285
Vegetables, cooking of, 485
preserved. 400
Vegetarians, 460, 461
Venison, 155
Verjuice. 292
Vermicelli, 239
Vetch, tuberous bitter, 272
Vierordt. 107
Villi, the organs through the agency of
which fat is absorbed, 99
Virchow on fatty degeneration, 91
Vital principle, 19
Vitality, dormant, 23
Vitellin, or albumen in the yolk of the egg,
43
Vitis vinifera, 302
Voit, 465
experiments on the elimination of car-
bonic acid, 108
on the elimination of nitrogen. 68
on the nutritive value of gelatin, 95
Wallabies, 209
Walnut, 262
Walrus, 209, 444
Wainrima, or East African Coast clans, 456
Warori, food of the. 456
Warren's, Captain, cooking-pot, 490
Water, 142, 328-335
needed beyond that in food, 471
distilled. 331
rain, 330
river, 331
spring, 330
well or pump, 330
unwholesome, 332
purification of, 333
Watercress, 284
Weevil, a wheat-eating insect, 240
West, Dr., on the feeding of infants, 492
Westminster Hospital dietary, 546
Weston's walking feats and elimination of
nitrogen, 68-72
Westrumb on cheese poisoning, 205
Wet nurse, selection of, 494
Whale, 209
Wharton's ervalenta, 327
Wheat, 226-242 ; composition of, 225
unwholesome, 240-242
Whelks, 182
Whey, 193,535
Whitky, 393
Whiting, 172
Whortleberry, 307
Wild fowl, 169
Windsor, or broad bean, 255
Wine, 360-390
Wines (Australian), 386
Cape or South African, 389
French, 381-384
fruit, 390
574
INDEX.
Wines, German, 384
Greek and Itnlian, 386
Hungarian, 385
Wislicenus on the origin of muscular power,
58-61, 109, 414
Witheringia montana, 272
Wohler, 136
Wollowicz (Count) on the action of alcohol
on the human body, 139
Wolves, 208
Wombat, 209
Wood, Thomas, small amount of food taken
by. 436
Woody fibre, 315
Wyntoun, Andrew, on cannibalism, 207
Xema ridibunda, 215
Yakuti, gluttony of the, 424
Yam, 270
Yeast, 233
Yutien, an early tea, 337
Zea curagua, or Chili maize, 248
mays, or Indian corn, 248
Zenker, Prof., 160
PAVY ON DIGESTION Lately Issued.
A TREATISE ON THE FUNCTION OF DIGESTION,
ITS DISORDERS AND THEIR TREATMENT.
BY F. W. PAVY, M.D.
In one handsome volume, small octavo, cloth, $2.00.
We need scarcely say that no English physician has greater right to speak with physio-
logical authority on matters of digestion. British Medical Journal.
Dr. Pavy's work will be read with interest both by the physiologist and the physician.
It contains an excellent and very complete summary of the state of our knowledge re-
garding the physiology of digestion. To this subject the author has himself made import-
ant contributions, and the present volume contains a considerable amount of original
matter, the fruit of his own observation and experiments. . . . We can heartily recom-
mend this work as giving a clear, simple, and thoroughly scientific account of the subject
of which it treats, to every one who wishes to become familiar with the latest advances in
the physiology of digestion. Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science.
A special interest is imparted to it from its containing the results of his own researches.
Mrdico- Chirurgical Review.
There is one very commendable feature which we trace in almost every page of the work
before us : before forming an opinion Dr. Pavy not only avails himself of the investiga-
tions of the most celebrated authorities which the present day can boast of, but, whenever
practicable, he endeavors to satisfy himself by actual experiment as to the accuracy of the
conclusions at which they have from time to time arrived. Dr. Pavy's work deserves our
highest commendation, not only for the elegance of diction, but for the modesty of its
style.- Glasgow Medical Journal.
It is quite a first-rate book, and gives indications of original thought and research,
worthy not only to be read by dyspeptics out of the profession, but by students in it.
AthencEitm.
It is a model of its kind. The author has a happy faculty of entertaining as well as
instructing his reader, combining, so to speak, pleasure with profit. Accustomed as a
teacher to present salient points, he succeeds admirably in outlining his subject. New
York Medical Record.
In the field thus defined, Dr. Pavy has given us the most satisfactory essay yet pub-
lished. New York Medical Gazette.
We know no better guide to the study of digestion and its disorders than this little work
of Dr. Pavy. St. Louis Medical and Surgic.nl Journal, July 10, 1869.
A thoroughly good book, being a careful systematic treatise, and sufficiently exhaustive
for all practical purposes. Lcavenworth Medical Herald, July, 1869.
The author sustains in this brief resume his high reputation. His monograph is a model
of condensation, yet a perspicuous view of a most important subject. It is aphoristic, yet
eminently practical ; a worthy companion to Chambers's excellent treatise. Chicago
Medical Journal, October, 1869.
Well worthy careful perusal, and should be in the library of every practitioner. St.
Louis Medical Archives. September. 1869.
A very valuable work on the subject of which it treats. Small, yet it is full of valuable
information. Ciminnati Mtdical Repertory, June, 1869.
HENRY C. LEA, PHILADELPHIA.
WORKS ON DISEASES OF THE STOMACH.
CHAMBERS ON INDIGESTION.
THE INDIGESTIONS; OK, DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS
FUNCTIONALLY TREATED. By THOMAS KING CHAMBERS, M D., Honorary
Physician to H. R. H., the Prince of Wales, &c. Third American Edition, revised
and enlarged by the Author. In one very handsome octavo volume of 382 pp., cloth,
$3.00.
In short, with respect to the matter, we commend the work most cordially, as containing
an excellent summary of our present knowledge in this department of medicine, and
abounding in sound, practical precepts. We consider that the work is eminently calculated
to do much good, by substituting correct views respecting dietetics, in the place of errone-
ous and injurious notions which have been, and are still prevalent, both in and out of the
profession. We take great pleasure in commending the work as regards its manner. It is
written in a sprightly, colloquial style, which arrests and engages the attention. It is not
often that one can say of a medical treatise that it is as interesting as a novel. We may
say this of Dr. Chambers's work without any disparagement of its matter. It is a book
which may be taken up with pleasure when heavier reading would prove tiresome. The
busy practitioner who wishes to make available for improvement his irregular moments of
leisure, knows how to appreciate an excellence of this kind. Amer. Jour. Med. Sciences,
July, 1870.
We have in this little work all the elements which make it a model of its sort. We have
perused it carefully ; have studied every page ; our interest in the subject has been inten-
sified as we proceeded, and we are enabled to lay it down with unqualified praise. N. Y.
Med. Record.
BRINTON ON THE STOMACH.
LECTURES ON THE DISEASES OF THE STOMACH, with an Introduction
on its Anatomy and Physiology. By WILLIAM BRINTON, M.D., F.R.S., Physician
to St. Thomas's Hospital. From the second and enlarged London edition. With
illustrations on wood. In one handsome octavo volume ; cloth, $3.25.
The book will be read by all classes of medical men. " Practical men," as they delight
to call themselves, will be pleased with its decided verdict on all the usual remedies, and
the absence of all eccentricity in prescription. Men of a physiological turn and most
men are turning to physiology now will find Dr. Brinton's physiology at once recent and
sound, and his histology clear, accurate, and minute. Physicians will accord the author
the right of speech on the ground of the immense clinical labor which is implied, but not
paraded, in the volume. The work is an important one, and we augur for it a great place
in medical literature. We should add that a good index facilitates a prompt reference to
every part of the book. London Lancet.
[Publishing in the Medical News and Library for 1874.]
FOX ON THE STOMACH.
THE DISEASES OF THE STOMACH : Being the third edition of the "Dingnosis
and Treatment of the Varieties of Dyspepsia." By WILSON Fox, M.D , Holme Prof,
of Clinical Medicine, University College, London. Revised and enlarged. With
Illustrations.
This work will be completed in the number for December, 1874, and will then be issued
in one handsome octavo volume.
For want of space we are compelled to omit any notice of the other subjects treated of
in this admirable work ; and in what we have written we have not been able, for the same
reason, to give the author's remarks on the etiology, symptoms, and diagnosis of the vari-
ous forms of dyspepsia, which to the student will prove the most interesting and useful
part of his treatise. American Practitioner, March, 1873.
The pathological and anatomical conditions in the different affections are usually well
described, the lines of distinction being nicely drawn. The differentiation of the obscure
affections is well considered, and the treatment recommended is judicious. No space is
devoted to the full report of cases, which recommends the work to the busy practitioner.
N. Y. Medical Journal, August, 1873.
HENRY C. LEA, PHILADELPHIA.
C.
(LATE LEA k BLANCHARD's)
OF
MEDICAL AND SUKGICAL PUBLICATIONS.
In asking the attention of the profession to the works advertised in the following
pages, the publisher would state that no pains are spared to secure a continuance of
the confidence earned for the publications of the house by their careful selection and
accuracy and finish of execution.
The printed prices are those at which books can generally be supplied by booksellers
throughout the United States, who can readily procure for their customers any works
not kept in stock. Where access to bookstores is not convenient, books will be sent
by mail post-paid on receipt of the price, but no risks are assumed either on the
money or the books, and no publications but my own are supplied. Gentlemen will
therefore in most cases find it more convenient to deal with the nearest bookseller.
An ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE, of 64 octavo pages, handsomely printed, will be for-
warded by mail, postpaid, on receipt of ten cents.
HENRY C. LEA.
Nos. 706 and 708 SANSOM ST., PHILADELPHIA, April, 1874
ADDITIONAL INDUCEMENT FOR SUBSCRIBERS TO
THE AMERICAN JOURNAU)F_THE MEDICAL SCIENCES
TWO MEDICAL JOUKNALS, containing over 2000 LAKGE PAGES,
Free of Postage, for SIX DOLLAES Per Annum,
TERMS FOR 1874:
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THE MEDICAL NEWS AND LIBRARY, both free of postage, j in advance.
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OP THE MEDICAL SCIENCES, published quar- f . T\
terly (1150 pages per annum), with
THE MEDICAL NEWS AND LIBRARY, monthly (384 pp. per annum), and { per annum
THE SUIM'LKMENT TO THE MEDICAL NEWS AND LIBRARY, monthly (592 j . advnnpp
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SEPARATE SUBSCRIPTIONS TO
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES, subject to postage when not paid
for in advance, Five Dollars.
THE MEDICAL NEWS AND LIBRARY, free of postage, in advance, One Dollar.
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It is manifest that only a very wide circulation can enable so vast an amount of
valuable practical matter to be supplied at a price so unprecedentedly low. The pub-
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in the subscription list promises to render the enterprise a permanent one, and it is
with especial pleasure that he acknowledges the valuable assistance spontaneously
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able to maintain the unexampled rates at which these works are now offered, and to
(For "THE AMERICAN CHEMIST," see p. 11.)
(For " THB OBSTETRICAL JOURNAL, " see p. 22 )
2 HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Am. Journ. Med. Sciences).
succeed in his endeavor to place upon the table of every reading practitioner in the
United States the equivalent of three large octavo volumes, a the comparatively
trifling cost of Six DOLLARS per annum.
These periodicals are universally known for their high professional standing in their
several spheres.
I.
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES,
EDITED BY ISAAC HAYS, M. D.,
is published Quarterly, on the first of January, April, July, and October. Each
number contains nearly three hundred large octavo pages, appropriately illustrated,
wherever necessary. It has now been issued regularly for over FIFTY years, during
almost the whole of which time it has been under the control of the present editor.
Throughout this long period, it has maintained its position in the highest rank of
medical periodicals both at home and abroad, and has received the cordial support of
the entire profession in this country. Among its Collaborators will be found a large
number of the most distinguished names of the profession in every section of the
United States, rendering the department devoted to
ORIOINAL COMMUNICATIONS
full of varied and important matter, of great interest to all practitioners. Thus, during
1873, articles have appeared in its pages from nearly one hundred gentlemen of the
highest standing in the profession throughout the United States.*
Following this is the "REVIEW DEPARTMENT," containing extended and impartial
reviews of all important new works, together with numerous elaborate "ANALYTICAL
AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES" of nearly all the medical publications of the day.
This is followed by the "QUARTERLY SUMMARY OF IMPROVEMENTS AND DISCOVERIES
IN THE MEDICAL SCIENCES," classified and arranged under different heads, presenting
a very complete digest of all that is new and interesting to the physician, abroad as
well as at home.
Thus, during the year 1873, the "JOURNAL" furnished to its subscribers Seventy-seven
Original Communications, One Hundred and Twenty-five Reviews and Bibliograph-
ical Notices, and Two Hundred and Ninety-four articles in the Quarterly Summaries,
making a total of about FIVE HUNDRED articles emanating from the best profes-
sional minds in America and Europe.
That the efforts thus made to maintain the high reputation of the " JOURNAL" are
successful, is shown by the position accorded to it in both America and Europe as a
national exponent of medical progress :
Dr. Hays keeps his great American Quarterly, in
which he is now assisted by Dr. Minis Hays, at the
head of his country's medical periodicals. Dublin
Medical Press and Circular,, March 8, 1871.
Of English periodicals the Lancet, and of American
the Am. Journal of the Medical Sciences, are to be
regarded as necessities to the reading practitioner.
N. Y. Medical Gazette, Jan. 7, 1871.
The American Journal of the Medical Sciences
yields to none in the amount of original and borrowed
reputation in every country where medicine is cul-
tivated as a science. Brit, and For. Med.-Chirurg.
Review, April, 1871.
This, if not the best, is one of the best-conducted
medical quarterlies in the English language, and the
present number is not by any means interior to its
predecessors. London Lancet, Aug. 23, 1873.
Almost the only one that circulates everywhere,
all over the Union and in Europe. London Medical
Time*, Sept. 5, 1868.
matter it contains, and has established for itself a
And by the fact, that it was specifically included in the award of a medal of merit to
the publisher at the Yienna Exhibition in i73.
The subscription price of the "AMERICAN JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES" has
never been raised, during its long career. It is still FIVE DOLLARS per annum ; and
when paid for in advance, the subscriber receives in addition the "MEDICA.L NEWS AND
LIBRARY," making in all about 1500 large octavo pages per annum, free of postage.
II.
THE MEDICAL NEWS AND LIBRARY
is a monthly periodical of Thirty-two large octavo pages, making 384 pages per
annum. Its "N T Ews DEPARTMENT" presents the current information of the day, with
Clinical Lectures and Hospital .Gleanings; while the "LIBRARY DEPARTMENT ' is de-
voted to publishing standard works on the various branches of medical science, paged
* Communications are invited from gentlemen in all part of the country. Elaborate articles inserted
by the bailor are paid for by the Publisher.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Am. Journ. Med. Sciences}. 3
separately, so that they can be removed and bound on completion. In this manner
subscribers have received, without expense, such works as " WATSON'S PRACTICE,"
"TooD AND BOWMAN'S PHYSIOLOGY," "WKST ON CHILDREN," "MALGAIGNE'S SURGERY,"
&c. <fcc. In July, 1873, was commenced the publication of Dr. WILSON Fox's valu-
able work " ON THK DISEASES OK THE STOMACH" (see p. 16). New subscribers, commenc-
ing with 1874. can obtain the portion printed in 1873 by a remittance of 50 cents, if
promptly made.
As stated above, the subscription price of the " MEDICAL NEWS AND LIBRARY" is
ONE DOLLAR per annum in advance ; and it is furnished without charge to all advance
paying subscribers to the "AMERICAN JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES."
III.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE MEDICAL NEWS AND LIBRARY.
The publication in England of Banking's "HALF-YEARLY ABSTRACT OF THE ME-
DICAL SCIKNCKS" having ceased with the volume for January, 1874, its place will be
supplied in this country by a monthly SUPPLEMENT to the "MEDICAL NEWS AND
LIBRARY," containing forty-eight large octavo pages each mouth, thus furnishing
in the course of the year about six hundred pages, the same amount of matter as
heretofore embraced in the Half-Yearly Abstract. As the discontinuance of the
Abstract arose from the multiplication of journals appearing more frequently and
] i resenting the same character of material, it has been thought that this plan of
monthly issues will better meet the wants of subscribers who will thus receive earlier
intelligence of the improvements and discoveries in the medical sciences. The aim
of the SUPPLEMENT will be to present a careful abstract of all that is new and impor-
tant in the medical journalism of the world, and all the prominent professional peri-
odicals of both hemispheres will be at the disposal of the Editors.
Subscribers desiring to bind the SUPPLEMENT, will receive on application at the end
of each year, a cloth cover, gilt lettered, for the purpose, or it will be sent free by
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The subscription to the "MEDICAL NEWS" and its "SUPPLEMENT," free of postage,
will be Three Dollars and a Half a year, in advance, containing in all nearly a thou-
sand pages per annum.
As stated above, however, they will be supplied in conjunction with the "AMERICAN
JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES," making in all about TWENTY-ONE HUNDRED pages
per annum, the whole free of pontage, for Six DOLLARS a year, in advance.
As the .January volume of the ' HALF-YEARLY ABSTRACT" has supplied to subscri-
bers what is due to them for half of the year 1874, the Supplement to the Ne^s and
Library will be commenced with July, 1874.
In this effort to bring so large an amount of practical information within the reach
of every member of the profession, the publisher confidently anticipates the friendly
aid of all who are interested in the dissemination of sound medical literature. He
trusts, especially, that the subscribers to the "AMERICAN MEDICAL JOURNAL" will call
the attention of their acquaintances to the advantages thus offered, and that he will
be sustained in the endeavor to permanently establish medical periodical literature on
a footing of cheapness never heretofore attempted.
PREMIUM FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS.
Any gentleman who will remit the amount for two subscriptions for 1874, one of
which must be for a new subscriber, will receive as a PREMIUM, free by mail, a copy of
STURGES' CLINICAL MEDICINE (for advertisement of which see p. 14), or of the new edi-
tion of SVVAYNE'S OBSTETRIC APHORISMS (see p. 24), or of TANNER'S CLINICAL MANUAL
(see p. 5), or of CHAMBERS' RESTORATIVE MEDICINE (see p. lo), or of WEST ON NERV-
OUS DISORDERS OF CHILDREN (see p. 21).
%* Gentlemen desiring to avail themselves of the advantages thus offered will do
well to forward their subscriptions at an early day, in order to insure the receipt of
complete sets for the year 1874, as the constant increase in the subscription list almost
always exhausts the quantity printed shortly after publication.
l^iT The safest mode of remittance is by bank check or postal money order, drawn
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HENRY C. LEA,
Nos. 706 and 708 SA.NSOM ST., PHILADELPHIA PA.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Dictionaries).
JJUNGLISON (ROBLEY), M.D.,
Late Professor of Institutes of Medicine in Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia.
MEDICAL LEXICON; A DICTIONARY OF MEDICAL SCIENCE: Con-
taining a concise explanation of the various Subjects and Terms of Anatomy, Physiology,
Pathology, Hygiene, Therapeutics, Pharmacology, Pharmacy, Surgery, Obstetrics, Medical
Jurisprudence, and Dentistry. Notices of Climate and of Mineral Waters; Formulae for
Officinal, Empirical, and Dietetic Preparations; with the Accentuation and Etymology of
the Terms, and the French and other Synonymes; so as to constitute a French as well as
English Medical Lexicon. A New Edition. Thoroughly Revised, and very greatly Mod-
ified and Augmented By RICHARD J. DUNGLISON, M.D. In one very large and hand-
some royal octavo volume of over 1100 pages. Cloth, $6 50; leather, raised bands, $7 50.
(Just Ready.)
The object of the author from the outset has not been to make the work a mere lexicon or
dictionary of terms, but to afford, under each, a condensed view of its various medical relation's,
and thus to render the work an epitome of the existing condition of medical science. Starting
with this view, the immense demand which has existed for the work has enabled him, in repeated
revisions, to augment its completeness and usefulness, until at length it has attained the position
of a recognized and standard authority wherever the language is spoken.
Special pains have been taken in the preparation of the present edition to maintain this en-
viable reputation. During the t*n years which have elapsed since the List revision, the additiors
to the nomenclature of the medical sciences have been greater than perhaps in any similar period
of the past, and up to the time of his death the author labored assiduously to incorporate every-
thing requiring the attention of the student or practitioner. Since then, the editor has been
equally industrious, so that the additions to the vocabulary are more numerous than in any pre-
vious revision. Especial attention has been bestowed on the accentuation, which will be found
marked on every word. The typographical arrangement has been much improved, rendering
reference much more easy, and every care h?is been taken with the mechanical execution. The
work has been printed on new type, small but exceedingly clear, with an enlarged page, so that
the additions have been incorporated with an increase of but little over a hundred pages, and
the volume now contains the matter of at least four ordinary octavos.
A book well known to our readers, and of which
every American ought to be proud. When the learned
author of the work passed away, probably all of us
feared lest the book should not maintain its place
in the advancing science whose terms it defines. For-
tunately, Dr. Richard J. Dunglison, having assisted his
father in the revision of several editions of the work,
and having been, therefore, trained in the methods and
imbued, with the spirit of the book, has been able to
edit it, not in the patchwork manner so dear to the
heart of book editors, so repulsive to the taste of intel-
ligent book readers, but to edit it as a work of the kind
should be edited to carry it on steadily, without jar
or interruption, along the grooves of thought it has
travelled during its lifetime. To show the magnitude
of the task which Dr Dunglison has assumed and car-
ried through, it is only necessary to state that more
than six thousand new subjects have been added in the
present edition. Without occupying more space with the
theme, we congratulate the editor on the successful
completion of his labors, and hope he may reap the well-
earned reward of profit and honor. Pkila. Med. Times,
Jan 3, 1874.
About the first book purchased by the medical stu-
dent is the Medical Dictionary. The lexicon explana-
tory of technical terms is simply a sine qua non. In a
science so extensive, and with such collaterals as medi-
cine, it is as much a necessity also to the practising
physician. To meet the wants of students and most !
physicians, the dictionary must be condensed while j
comprehensive, and practical while perspicacious. Jt
was because Dunglison's met these indications that it
became at once the dictionary of general use wherever j
medicine was studied in the Knglisb language. In no |
former re\ision have the alterations and additions beeu I
so great. More than six t housand new subjects and terms |
have been added. The chief terms have been set in black |
letter, while the derivatives follow in small caps: an j
arrangement which greatly facilitates reference. We |
may safely confirm the hope ventured by the editor I
" that the work, which possesses for him a filial as well j
a an individual interest, will be found worthy a con
W : e are glad to see a new edition of this invaluable
work, and to find that it has been so thoroughly revised,
and so greatly improved. The dictionary, in its pre-
sent form, is a medical library in itself, and one of
which every physician should be possessed. N. Y. Med.
Journal, Feb. 1874.
With a history of forty years of unexampled success
and universal indorsement by the medical profession of
the western continent, it would be presumption in any
living medical American to essay its review. No re-
viewer, however able, can add to its fame; no captious
critic, however cau>tic. can remove a single stone from
its firm and enduring foundation. It is destined, as a
colossal monument, to perpetuate the solid and richly
deserved fame of Kobley Dunglison to coming genera-
tions. The large additions made to the vocabulary, \ve
think, will be welcomed by the profession as supplying
the want of a lexicon fully up with the march of sci-
ence, which has been increasingly felt for some years
past. The accentuation of terms is very complete, and,
as far as we have been able to examine it. very excel-
lent. We hope it may be the means of securing greater
uniformity of pronunciation among medical men. At-
lanta Med. and Surg. Journ., Feb. 1874.
It would be mere waste of words in us to express
jnr admiration of a work which is BO universally
and deservedly appreciated. The most admirable
work of its kind in the English language. Glasgow
Medical Journal, January, IStiti.
A work to which there is no equal in the English
language. Edinburgh Medical Journal.
Few worKs oi the class exnibit a, grander monument
jf patient research and of scientific lore. The extent
of the sale of this lexicon is sufficient to testify to its
usefulness, and to the great service conferred by Dr.
Robley Dunglison on the profession, and indeed on
others, by its issue. London Lancet, May 13, 1865.
It has the rare merit that it certainly has no rival
in the English language for accuracy and extent of
tinuance of the position so long accorded to it as a I references London Medical Gazette.
standard authority." Cincinnati, Clinic, Jan. 10, 187-1. '
T.JOBLYN (RICHARD D.), M.D.
A DICTIONARY OF THE TERMS USED IN MEDICINE AND
THE COLLATERAL SCIENCES. Revised, with numerous additions, by ISAAC HAYS,
M.D., Editor of the "American Journal of the Medical Sciences." In one large royal
12mo. volume of over 500 double-columned pages ; extra cloth, $1 50 ; leather, $2 00.
It ie the best book of definitions we have, and ought always to be apontae tudect'8 table. Southern
Mtd. and Surg. Journal.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Manuals).
T^TEILL (JOHN], M.D., and &MITH (FRANCIS G.}, M.D.,
-* Pro/, of the Institutes of Medicine in the Univ. of Penna.
AN ANALYTICAL COMPENDIUM OF THE VARIOUS
BRANCHES OF MEDICAL SCIENCE; for the Use and Examination of Students. A
new edition, revised and improved. In one very large and handsomely printed royal 12mo.
volume, of ahout one thousand pages, with 374 wood outs, extra cloth, $4; strongly bound
in leather, with raised bands, $4 75.
The Compendof Drs. Neilland Smith is int-ompara- i clous factstreasnred up in this little volume. A com-
bly themost valuableworkofitsclasHeverpublished plete portable library so condensed that the student
In this country. Attempts have been made in various may make it his constant pocket companion. West-
tiarters to squeeze Anatomy, Physiology, Surgery, urn Lancet.
the Practice of Medicine, Obstetrics, Materia Medica,
and Chemistry into a single manual; but the opera-
tion has signally failed in the hands of all up to the
In the rapid course of lectures, where work for the
students is heavy, and review necessary for an exa-
mination, a compend is not only valuable, but it is
advent of " Neilland Smith's" volume, which is quite a i m08 t a sine qua. non. The one before us is, in most
a miracle of success. The outlines of the whole are O f the divisions, the most unexceptionable of all books
admirably drawn and illustrated, and the authors
are eminently entitled to the grateful consideration
of the student of every class. N. 0. Med. and Surg.
Journal.
There are but few students or practitioners of me-
dicine unacquainted with the former editions of this
unassuming though highly instructive work. The
whole science of medicine appears to have > been sifted,
fcs the gold-bearing sands of El Dorado, and the pre-
of the kind that we know of. Of course it is useless
for us to recommend it to all last course students, but
there is a class to whom we very sincerely commend
this cheap book as worth its weight in silver that
class is the graduates in medicine of more than ten
years' standing, who have not studied medicine
since. They will perhaps find out from it that the
science is not exactly now what it was when they
left it off. The Stethoscope.
TTARTSHORNE (HENRY], M. D.,
Professor of Hygiene in the University of Pennsylvania.
A CONSPECTUS OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES; containing
Handbooks on Anatomy, Physiology, Chemistry, Materia Medica, Practical Medicine,
Surgery, and Obstetrics. Second Edition, thoroughly revised and improved. In one large
royal 12mo. volume of more than 1000 closely printed pages, with over 300 illustrations on
wood. (Preparing.)
The favor with which this work has been received has stimulated the author in its revision to
render it in every way fitted to meet the wants of the student, or of the practitioner desirous to
refresh his ncquaintance with the various departments of medical science. The various sections have
been brought up to a level with the existing knowledge of the day, while preserving the condenea
tion of form by which so vast an accumulation of facts have been brought within so narrow a
compass.
This work is a remarkably complete one in its way,
and comes nearer to our idea of what a Conspectus
should be than any we have yet seen. Prof. Harts-
borne, with a commendable forethought, intrusted
the preparation of many of the chapters on special
subjects to experts, reserving only anatomy, physio-
logy, and practice of medicine to himself. As a result
we have every department worked up to the latest
date and in a refreshingly concise and lucid manner.
There are an immense amount of illustrations scat-
tered throughout the work, and although they have
often been seen before in the various works upon gen-
eral and special subjects, yet they will be none the
less valuable to the beginner. Every medical student
who desires a reliable refresher to his memory when
the pressure of lectures and other college work crowds
to prevent him from having an opportunity to drink
deeper in the larger works, will find this one of the
greatest utility. It is thoroughly trustworthy from
beginning to end; and as we have before intimated,
a remarkably truthful outline sketch of the present
state of medical science. We could hardly expect it
should be otherwise, however, under the charge of
such a thorough medical scholar as the author has
roug
ved
already proved himself to be. N. York Med. Record,
March 15, 1869.
T UDLOW (J. L.), M.D.
A MANUAL OF EXAMINATIONS upon Anatomy, Physiology,
Surgery, Practice of Medicine, Obstetrics, Materia Medica, Chemistry, Pharmacy, and
Therapeutics. To which is added a Medical Formulary. Third edition, thoroughly revised
and greatly extended and enlarged. With 370 illustrations. In one handsome royal
12tno. volume of 816 large pages, extra cloth, $3 25; leather, $3 75.
The arrangement of this volume in the form of question and answer renders it especially suit-
able for the office examination of students, and for those preparing for graduation.
/TANNER (THOMAS HA WKES), M. />., frc.
A MANUAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE AND PHYSICAL DIAG-
NOSIS. Third American from the Second London Edition. Revised and Enlarged by
TILBURY Fox, M D., Physician to the Skin Department in University College Hospital,
Ac. In one neat volume small 12mo., of about 375 pages, extra cloth. $150. ( Just Issued.)
*#* By reference to the " Prospectus of Journal" on page 3, it will be seen that this work is
offered as a premium for procuring new subscribers to the "AMERICAN JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL
SCIENCES."
The objections commonly, and justly, urged againat
the general run of "compends," "conspectuses," and
other aids to indolence, are not applicable to this little
volume, which contains in concise phrase just tho*e
practical details that are of most use in daily diag-
Taken as a whole, it is the most compact vade me-
cinn fr the use of the advanced student and junior
practitioner with which we are acquainted. Boston
Med. and Surg. Journal, Sept. 22, 1870.
It contains so much that is valuable, presented in
so attractive a form, that it can hardly be spared
even in the presence of more full and complete works.
The additions made to the volume by Mr. Fox very
materially enhance its value, and almost make it a
new work. Its convenient size makes it a valuable
nosis, but which the young practitioner finds it diffi-
cult to carry always in his memory without some
quickly accessible means of reference. Altogether,
the book is one which we can heartily commend to
those who have not opportunity for extensive read-
stantly carried by him, would often render him good 5v n lft - n
service, and relieve many a doubt and perplexity 1U> 13/u -
Leavenworth Med. Herald, July, 1870.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Anatomy).
(HENRY), F.R.S.,
Lecturer on Anatomy at St. George's Hospital, London.
ANATOMY, DESCRIPTIVE AND SURGICAL. The Drawings by
II. V. CARTER, M. D., late Demonstrator on Anatomy at St. George's Hospital ; the Dissec
tions jointly by the AUTHOR and DR. CARTER. A new American, from the fifth enlarged
and improved London edition. In one magnificent imperial octavo volume, of nearly 900
pages, with 465 large and elaborate engravings on wood. Price in extra cloth, $6 00 .
leather, raised bands, $7 00. (Just Issued.)
The author has endeavored in this work to cover a more extended range of subjects than is cus-
tomary in the ordinary text-books, by giving not only the details necessary for the student, but
also the application of those details in the practice of medicine and surgery, thus rendering it both
a guide for the learner, and an admirable work of reference for the active practitioner. The en
gravings form a special feature in the work, many of them being the size of nature, nearly alJ
original, and having the names of the various parts printed on the body of the cut, in place of
figures of reference, with descriptions at the foot. They thus form a complete and splendid series,
which will greatly assist the student in obtaining a clear idea of Anatomy, and will also serve to
refresh the memory of those who may find in the exigencies of practice the necessity of recalling
the details of the dissecting room; while combining, as it does, a complete Atlas of Anatomy, with
a thorough treatise on systematic, descriptive, and applied Anatomy, the work will be found of
essential use to all physicians who receive students in their offices, relieving both preceptor and
pupil of much labor in laying the groundwork of a thorough medical education.
Notwithstanding the enlargement of this edition, it has been kept at its former very moderate
price, rendering it one of the cheapest works now before the profession.
The illustrations are beautifully executed, and ren- I From time to time, as successive editions have ap-
der this work an indispensable adjunct to the library peared, we have had much pleasure in expressing
of ihe furgeon. This remark applies with great force the general judgment of the wonderful excellence of
to those surgeons practising at a distance from our
large cities, as the opportunity of refreshing their
memory by actual dissection is not always attain-
able. Canada Mr.d Journal, Aug. 1870.
The work is too well known and appreciated by the
profession to need any comment. No medical man
can afford to be without it, if its only merit were to
serve as a reminder of that which so soon becomes
forgotten, when not called into frequent use, viz., the
relations and names of the complex organism of the
human body. The present edition is much improved.
California Med. Gazette, July, 1870.
Gray's Anatomy has been so long the standard of
perfection with every student of anatomy, that we
need do no more than call attention to the improve- I has learned as a tradition of the elders, and verified
ment in the present edition. Detroit Review of Med. \ by personal experience. N. . Med. Gazette, Dec.
and Pharm., Aug. 1870. I 17, 1870.
Gray's Anatomy. Cincinnati Lancet, July, 1870.
Altogether, it is unquestionably the most complete
and serviceable text-book in anatomy that has ever
been presented to the student, and forms a striking
contrast to the dry and perplexing volumes on the
same subject through which their predecessors strug-
gled in days gone \>y.2f. Y. Med. Record, June 15,
1870.
To commend Gray's Anatomy to the medical pro-
fession Is almost as much a work of supererogation
as it would be to give a favorable notice of the Bible
in the religious press. To say that it is the most
complete and conveniently arranged text book of its
kind, is to repeat what each generation of students
VMITH (HENRY H.), M.D., and TJORNER ( WILLIAM E.), M.D.,
Prof, of Surgery in the Univ. o/Penna., &c. Late Prof, of Anatomy in the Univ. ofPenna., Ac.
AN ANATOMICAL ATLAS, illustrative of the Structure of the
Human Body. In one volume, large imperial octavo, extra cloth, with about six hundred
and fifty beautiful figures. $4 50.
The plan of this Atlas, which renders it so pecu- I the kind that has yet appeared; and we must add,
liarly convenient for the student, and its superb ar- | the very beautiful manner in which it is "got up,"
tistical execution, have been already pointed out. We j is so creditable to the country as to be flattering to
must congratulate the student upon the completion our national pride. American MedicalJournal.
of this Atlas, as it is the most convenient work of I
UHARPEY ( WILLIAM), MJL, nd QUAIN (JONES & RICHARD).
HUMAN ANATOMY. Revised, with Notes and Additions, by JOSEPH
LEIDT, M.D., Professor of Anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania. Complete in two
large octavo volumes, of about 1300 pages, with 511 illustrations; extra cloth, $6 00.
The very low price of this standard work, and its completeness in all departments of the subject,
should command for it a place in the library of all anatomical students.
JffODGES (RICHARD M.), M.D.,
Late Demonstrator of Anatomy in the Medical Department of Harvard University.
PRACTICAL DISSECTIONS. Second Edition, thoroughly revised. In
one neat royal 12mo. volume, half-bound, $2 00.
The object of this work is to present to the anatomical student a clear and concise description
of that which he is expected to observe in an ordinary couise of dissections. The author has
endeavored to omit unnecessary details, and to present the subject in the form which many years'
experience has shown him to be the most convenient and intelligible to the student. In the
revision of the present edition, he has sedulously labored to render the volume more worthy of
be favor with which it has heretofore been received.
EARNER'S SPECIAL ANATOMY AND HISTOLOGY. | In 2 vols. Svo , of over 1000 pages, with more tha*
li#hth adition, extensively revised *nd modified. I 300 wood-cuts : extra cloth. * flO.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Anatomy).
WILSON (ERASMUS], F.R.S.
A SYSTEM OP HUMAN ANATOMY, General and Special. Edited
by W. H. GOBRECHT, M. D., Professor of Geueraland Surgical Anatomy in the Medical Col-
lege of Ohio. Illustrated with three hundred and ninety-seven engravings on wood. In
one large and handsome octavo volume, of over 600 large pages; extra cloth, $4 00; lea-
ther, $6 00.
The publisher trusts that the well-earned reputation of this long-established favorite will be
more than maintained by the present edition. Besides a very thorough revision by the author, it
has been most carefully examined by the editor, and the efforts of both have been directed to in-
troducing everything which increased experience in its use has suggested as desirable to render it
a complete text-book for those seeking to obtain or to renew an acquaintance with Human Ana-
tomy. The amount of additions which it has thus received may be estimated from the fact that
the present edition contains over one-fourth more matter than the last, rendering a smaller type
and an enlarged page requisite to keep the volume within a convenient size. The author has not
only thus added largely to the work, but he has also made alterations throughout, wherever thert
appeared the opportunity of improving the arrangement or style, so as to present every fact in its
most appropriate manner, and to render the whole as clear and intelligible as possible. The editor
has exercised the utmost caution to obtain entire accuracy in the text, and has largely increased
the number of illustrations, of which there are about one hundred and fifty more in this edition
than in the last, thus bringing distinctly before the eye of the student everything of interest or
importance.
HEATH (CHRISTOPHER); F.R. c.s.,
*-*- Teacher of Operative Surgery in University College, London.
PRACTICAL ANATOMY: A Manual of Dissections. From the
Second revised and improved London edition. Edited, with additions, by W. W. KEEN,
M. D., Lecturer on Pathological Anatomy in the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia.
In one handsome royal 12uio. volume of 578 pages, with 247 illustrations. Extra cloth,
$3 50 ; leather, $4 00. (Lately Published.)
Dr. Keen, the American editor of this work, in his j taining its hold upon the slippery slopes of anatoi
editor we deem is lully justified, alter an exaniina- i , omplete . Thi J Work Contaia8) a ' lbO> very perfect
Uou ot its contents, for u is really an excellent work, i ^lustrations O f parts which can thus be more easily
Indeed we do not hesitate to say, the best of its class lnderstood and 8lu died; ii this respect it compares
with which we are acquainted ; resembling Wilson avorab l y with works of much greater pretension
in terse and clear description, excelling most of the Such mauual8 of auat0 my are always favorite worn*
so-called practical anatomical dissectors m the scope ] wilu medical Btude uts. We would earnestly recorn-
of the subject and practical selected matter. ... meu d this one to their attention; it has excellences
In reading this work, one is forcibly impressed with | whlch make it Vttluable aa a gui ' de iu dib8e cting as
the great pains the author takes to impress the sub- well as ia studviag *n*torny .-Huffalo Medical and
ject upon the mind ot the student. He is full ot rare -
and pleasing little devices to aid memory in maiii-
Surgical Journal, Jan. Is 71.
THE STUDENT'S GUIDE TO SURGICAL ANATOMY: A Text-
Book for Students preparing for their Pass Examination. With engravings on wood. In
ono handsome royal 12iuo. volume. Cloth, $2 25. (Just Ready.)
We welcome Mr. Bellamys work, as a contribu- , We cannot too highly recommend it. Student's
Journal.
Mr. Bellamy has spared no pains to produce a real-
ly reliable student's guide to surgical anatomy one
which all candidates for surgical degreed may c in-
sult with advantage, and which posseses much ori
$i nal matter Med. Press and Circular.
tion to the study of regional anatomy, of equal value
to i If student and the surgeon. It is written in a
clear and concise style, and its practical suggestions
add Ivirgely to the interest attaching to its technical
details Chicago Med. Lxamtiirr, March 1, 1874.
We cordially congratulate Mr. Bellamy upon hav-
ing produced it. Mtd. Ti'ines and Cfaz.
MACLISE (JOSEPH).
SURGICAL ANATOMY. By JOSEPH MACLISE, Surgeon. In one
volume, very large imperial quarto; with 68 large and splendid plates, drawn in the best
style and beautifully colored, containing 190 figures, many ot them the size ot life; togethei
with copious explanatory letter-press. Strongly and handsomely bound in extra cloth.
Price $14 00.
We know ot no work on surgical anatomy which < (ions have hitherto, we think, been given. While
oan compete with it. Lancet. j ;he operator is shown every vessel and nerve where
i'he work of Maclise on surgical anatomy is of the { J.D operation is contemplated, the exact anatomist is
highest value. In some respects it is the best publi- refreshed by those clear ana distinct dissections,
cation of its kind we have seen, and is worthy of a I which every one must appreciate who has a particle
place in the libiary of any medical man, while the [ of enthusiasm. The English medical press has quite
student could scarcely make a better investment than | exhausted the words of praise, in recommending thia
this. The Western Journalof Mtdifintiind Surgery. \ admirable treatise. Boston Med. and tiurg. Journ.
No such lithographic illustrations of surgical re |
LJARTSHORNE (HENRY], M.D.,
-**- Professor of Hygiene, etc , fa the Univ. ofPenna.
HANDBOOK OF ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. Second Edi-
tion, revised. In one royal 12rno. volume, with numerous illustrations. (Preparing.)
8 HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Physiology).
MARSHALL (JOHN], F. R. S.,
ML Professor of Surgery in University College, London, &c.
OUTLINES OF PHYSIOLOGY, HUMAN AND COMPARATIVE.
With Additions by FRANCIS GURNEY SMITH, M. D., Professor of the Institutes of Medi-
cine in the University of Pennsylvania, &c. With numerous illustrations. In one large
and handsome octavo volume, of 1026 pages, extra cloth, $6 50; leather, raised bands,
In fact, in every respect, Mr. Marshall has present- , tive, with which we are acquainted. To speak ol
us with a most complete, reliable, and scientific ; this work in the terms ordinarily used ou such occa-
rk, and we feel that it is worthy our warmest j sions would not be agreeable to ourselves and would
commendation. St. Louis Med. Reporter, Jan. 1869. : fail to do justice ;o its author. To write such a book
We doubt if there is in the English language any r ?? uil ?f a varied ? nd T d range of k . no , wled g e ' COD
compend of physiology more useful to the student ! ? ldei ' able P " f analysis, correct judgment, skil
6d u
wo
th,n this work. St. Louis Med. and Surg. Journal, \ ^ a *cgf "j^b 22*
1868.
kill
conscientious spn-n.-Londor,
It quite fulfils, in our opinion, the author's design ! >->^< ^an y, more accomplished anatomists
ofmakingittruly^catt^/nnitscbaracter-which | aad physiologists than the distinguished professor of
is. perhaps, the highest commendation that can be ! ?argery at University College; and h< has long en
asked.-^m. Journ. Med. Sciences, Jan. 1869. I Jy d the hl . he8t Deputation as a techei of physiol-
i ogy, possessing remarkable powers of clea- exposition
We may now congratulate him on having com- ! and graphic illustration. We have rareb the plea-
pleted the latest as well as the best summary of mod- \ sure of being able to recommend a text-boo! so unre-
em physiological science, both human and coiupara ' servedlyasthis. British Med. Journal, Jar 25,1868.
flARP ENTER (WILLIAM B.}, M. D., F. R. S.,
^ Examiner in Physiology and Comparative Anatomy in the University of London.
PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY; with their chief appli-
cations to Psychology, Pathology, Therapeutics, Hygiene and Forensic Medicine. A new
American from the last and revised London edition. With nearly three hundred illustrations.
Edited, with additions, by FRANCIS GURNET SMITH, M. D., Professor of the Institutes of
Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, Ac. In one very large and beautiful octavo
volume, of about 900 large pages, handsomely printed; extra cloth, $5 50 ; leather, raised
bands, $6 50.
We doubt not it is destined to retain a strong hold
on public favor, and remain the favorite text-book in
our colleges. Virginia Medical Journal.
With Dr. Smith, we confidently believe "that the
present will more ihan sustain the enviable reputa-
tion already attained by former editions, of being
one of the fullest and most complete treatises on the
subject in the English language." We know of none
from the pages of which a satisfactory knowledge of
the physiology of the human organism can be as well
obtained, none better adapted for the use of such as
take up the study of physiology in its reference to
the institutes and practice of medicine. Am. Jour.
Med. Sciences.
The above is the title of what is emphatically the
great work on physiology ; and we are conscious that
it would be a useless effort to attempt to add any-
thing to the reputation of this invaluable work, and
can only say to all with whom our opinion has any
influence, that it is our authority. Atlanta Med.
Journal.
DY THE SAME AUTHOR.
PRINCIPLES OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. New Ameri-
can, from the Fourth and Revised London Edition. In one large and handsome octavo
volume, with over three hundred beautiful illustration? Pp. 752. Extra cloth, $5 00.
As a complete and condensed treatise on its extended and important subject, this work becomes
a necessity to students of natural science, while the very low price at which it is offered places it
within the reach of all.
JflRKES (WILLIAM SENHOUSE), M.D.
A MANUAL OF PHYSIOLOGY. Edited by W. MOBRANT BAKER,
M.D., F.R.C.S. A new American from the eighth and improved London edition With
about two hundred and fifty illustrations. In one large and handsome royal 12mo. vol-
ume. Cloth, $3 25; leather, $3 75. (Now Ready.)
Kirkes' Physiology has long been known as a concise and exceedingly convenient text-book,
presenting within a narrow compass all that is important for the student. The rapidity with
which successive editions have followed each other in England has enabled the editor to keep it
thoroughly on a level with the changes and new discoveries made in the science, and the eighth
edition, of which the present is a reprint, has appeared so recently that it may be regarded as
the latest accessible exposition of the subject.
On the whole, there is very little in the book
which either the student or practitioner will not nnd
of practical value aud consistent with our present
knowledge of this rapidly changing tcience ; and we
have no hesitation in expre>sing our opinion that
this eighth edition is one of the best handbooks on
physiology which we have in our language. N. Y.
Med. Record, April 15, 1873.
This volume might well be used to replace many
of the physiological text-books in use in this coun-
try. It represents more accurately than the works
of Dalton or Flint, the present state of our knowl-
edge of most physiological questions, while it is
mueh less bulky and far more readable than the lar-
ger text-books of Carpenter or Marshall. The book
is admirably adapted to be placed in the hands of
students. Boston Med. and Surg. Journ., April 10,
1873.
In its enlarged form it is, in our opinion, still the
best book on physiology, most useful to the student.
Phil a. Med. Times, Aug. 30, 1873.
This is undoubtedly the best work for students of
physiology extant. Cincinnati Med. Ntws, Sept. '73
It more nearly represents the present condition of
physiology than any other text-book on the subject.
Detroit Rtv. of Med. Pharm., Nov. 1873.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Physiology).
f) ALTON (J. C.), M. D.,
U Professor of Physiology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, &c.
A TREATISE ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. Designed for the use
of Students and Practitioners of Medicine. Fifth edition, revised, with nearly three hut*
dred illustrations on wood. In one very beautiful octavo volume, of over 700 pages, extia
cloth, $5 25; leather, $6 25. (Late/y Issued.)
Preface to the Fifth Edition.
In preparing the present edition of this work, the general plan nnd arrangement of the previous
editions have been retained, so far as they have been found useful and adapted to the purposes of
a text-book for students of medicine. The incessant advance of all the natural and physical
sciences, never more active than within the last five years, has furnished many valuable aids to
the special investigations of the physiologist; and the progress of physiological research, during
the same period, has required a careful revision of the entire work, and the modification or re-
arrangement of many of its parts. At this day, nothing is regarded as of any value in natural
science which is not based upon direct and intelligible observation or experiment; and, accord-
ingly, the discussion of doubtful or theoretical questions has been avoided, as a general rule, in
the present volume, while new facts, from whatever source, if fully established, have been added
and incorporated with the results of previous investigation. A number of new illustrations have
been introduced, and a few of the older ones, which seemed to be no longer useful, have been
omitted. In all the changes imd additions thus made, it has been the aim of the writer to make the
book, in its present form, a faithful exponent of the actual conditions of physiological science.
NEW YORK, October, 1871.
In this, the standard text-book on Physiology, all that is needed to maintain the favor with which
it is regarded by the profession, is the author's assurance that it has been thoroughly revised and
brought up to a level with the advanced science of the day. To accomplish this has required
some enlargement of the work, but no advance has been made in the price.
The fifth edition of this truly valuable work on
Human Physiology comes to us with rnauy valuable
improvements and additions. As a text-hook of
physiology the work of Prof. Dalton has long been
well known as one of the best which could be placed
In the hands of student or practitioner. Prof. Dalton
has, in the several editions of his work heretofore
published, labored to keep step with the advancement
in science and the last edition shows by its improve-
ments on former ones that he is determined to main-
tain the high standard of his work. We predict for
the present edition increased favor, though this work
has long been the favorite standard. Buffalo Med.
and Surg. Journal, April, 1872.
An extended notice of a work so generally and fa-
vorably known as this is unnecessary. It is justly
regarded a* one of the most valuable text-books on
the subject in the English language. St. Louit Med.
Archives, May, 1872.
We know no treatise in physiology so clear, com-
plete, well assimilated, and perfectly digested, as
Dalton's. He never writes cloudily or dubiously, or
in mere quotation. He assimilates all his material,
and from it constructs a homogeneous transparent
argument, whicli is always honest and well informed,
and hides neither truth, ignorance, nor doubt, so far
as either belongs to the subject in hand Brit. Med.
Journal, March 23, 1872.
Dr. Dalton's treatise is well known, and by many
highly esteemed in this country. It is, indeed, a t,'""<l
elementary treatise on the subject it professes to
teach, and may safely be put into the hands of Eng-
lish students. It has one great merit it is clear, and,
on the whole, admirably illustrated. The part we
have always esteemed most highly is that relating
to Embryology. The diagrams given of the various
stages of development give a clearer view of <he sub-
ject than do those in general use in this country ; and
the text rnay be said to be, upon the whole, equally
clear. London Med. Times and Gazette, March 23
1872.
Dalton's Physiology is already, and deservedly,
the favorite text-book of the majority of American
medical students. Treating a most interesting de-
partment of science in his own peculiarly lively and
fascinating style, Dr. Dalton carries his reader along
without effort, and at the same time impresses upon
his mind the truths taught much more succes..fully
than if they were buried beneath a multitude of
words. Kansas City Med. Journal, April, 1872.
Professor Dalton is regarded justly as the authority
in this country on physiological subjects, and the
tifth edition of bis valuable work fully justifies the
exalted opinion the medical world has of his labors.
This hi^teditionisgreatly enlarged. Virginia Clin-
ical Record, April, 1872.
J)UNGLISON (ROBLEY], M.D.,
U Professor of Institute..? of Medicine in Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia.
HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. Eighth edition. Thoroughly revised and
extensively modified and enlarged, with five hundred and thirty-two illustrations. In two
large and handsomely printed octavo volumes of about 1500 pages, extra cloth. $7 00.
TEHMANN(C. O.).
J PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. Translated from the second edi-
tion by GEORGE E DAY, M. D., F. R. S., Ac., edited by R. E. ROGERS, M. D., Professor of
Chemistry in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, with illustrations
selected from Funke's Atlas of Physiological Chemistry, and an Appendix of plates. Com-
plete in two large and handsome octavo volumes, containing 1200 pages, with nearly two
hundred illustrations, extra cloth. $6 00.
J)T THE SAME AUTHOR.
MANUAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSIOLOGY. Translated from the
German, with Notes and Additions, by J CHESTON MORRIS, M. D., with an Introductory
Es?ay on Vital Force, by Professor SAMUEL JACKSON, M. D., of the University of Pennsyl-
vania. With illustrations on wood. In one very handsome octavo volume of 336 pages,
extra cloth. $225.
10
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Chemistry}.
ATTFIELD (JOHN), Ph.D.,
"^ Professor of Practical Chemistry to the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, *c.
CHEMISTRY, GENERAL, MEDICAL, AND PHARMACEUTICAL;
including the Chemistry of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. A Manual of the General Principles
of the Science, and their Application to Medicine and Pharmacy. Fifth Edition, revised
by the author. In one handsome royal 12mo. volume ; cloth, $2 75 ; leather, $3 25.
(Just Issued.)
We commend the work heartily as one of the best
text-books extant for the medical student. Detroit
KC.V. of Med. and Pharm., Feb. 1872.
The best work of the kind in the English language.
N. T. Psychological Journal, Jan. 1872.
The work is constructed with direct reference to
the wants of medical and pharmaceutical students ;
and, although an English work, the points of differ-
ence between the British and United States Pharma-
copoeias are indicated, making it as useful here as in
England. Altogether, the book is one we can heart-
ily recommend to practitioners as well as students.
N. T. Med. Journal, Dec. 1871.
It differs from other text-books in the following
particulars : first, in the exclusion of matter relating
to compounds which, at present, are only of interest
to the scientific chemist; secondly, in containing the
chemistry of every substance recognized officially or
in general, as a remedial agent. It will be found a
most valuable book for pupils, assistants, and others
engaged in medicine and pharmacy, and we heartily
commend it to our readers. Canada Lancet, Oct.
1871.
When the original English edition of this work was
published, we had occasion to express our high ap-
preciation of its worth, and also to review, in con-
siderable detail, the main features of the book. As
the arrangement of subjects, and the main part of
the text of the present edition are similar to the for-
mer publication, it will be needless for us to go over
the ground a second time ; we may. however, call at-
tention to a marked ad vantage possessed by the Ame-
rican work we allude to the introduction of the
chemistry of the preparations of the United States
Pharmacopoeia as well as that relating to the British
authority. Canadian
Nov. 1871.
Pharmaceutical Journal,
Chemistry has borne the name of being a hard sub-
ject to master by the student of medicine, and
chiefly because so much of it consists of compounds
only of interest tothe scientific chemist ; in this work
such portions are modified or altogether left out, and
in the arrangement of the subject matter of the work,
practical utility is sought after, and we think fully
attained We commend it for its clearness and order
to both teacher and pupil. Oregon Med. and Surg.
Reporter, Oct. 1871.
1DLOXAM (C. /,.),
*-* Professor of Chemistry in King 1 8 College, London.
CHEMISTRY, INORGANIC AND ORGANIC. From the Second Lon-
don Edition. In one very handsome octavo volume, of 700 pages, with about 300 illustra-
tions. Cloth, $4 50; leather, $5 50. (Now Ready.)
It has been the author's endeavor to produce a Treatise on Chemistry sufficiently comprehen-
sive for those studying the science as a branch of general education, and one which a student
may use with advantage in pursuing his chemical studies at one of the colleges or medical schools.
The special attention devoted to Metallurgy and some other branches of Applied Chemistry renders
the work especially useful to those who are being educated for employment in manufacture.
It would be difficult for a practical chemist and
teacher to find any material fault with this most ad-
mirable treatise. The author has given us almost a
cyclopedia within the limits of aeon venient volume,
and has done so without penning the useless para-
graphs too commonly making up a great part of the
bulk of many cumbrous works. The progressive sci-
entist is not disappointed when he looks for the record
of new and valuable processes and discoveries, while
the cautions conservative does not find its pages mo-
nopolized by uncertain theories and speculations. A
peculiar point of excellence is the crystallized form of
expression in which great truths are expressed in
very short paragraphs. One is surprised at the brief
space allotted to an important topic, and yet, after
reading it, he feels that little, if any more, should
have been said. Altogether, it is seldom you see a
text-book so nearly faultless. Cincinnati Lancet,
Nov. 1873.
Pofessor Bloxam has given us a most excellent
and usefiil practical treitise. His 666 pages are
crowded with facts and experiments, nearly all well
chosen, and many quite new, even to scientific men.
. . . It is astonishing how much information he often
conveys in a few paragraphs. We might quote fifty
instances of this. Chemical News.
DLING ( WILLIAM],
Lectrtrer on Chemistry at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Ac.
A COURSE OF PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY, arranged for the Use
of Medical Students. With Illustrations. From the Fourth and Revised London Edition.
In one neat royal 12mo. volume, extra cloth. $2. (Lately Issued.)
{7ALLOWAY (ROBERT], F.C.S.,
^Jf~ Prof, of Applied Chemistry in the Royal College of Science for Ireland, &c.
A MANUAL OF QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. From the Fifth Lon-
don Edition. In one neat royal 12mo. volume, with illustrations ; extra cloth, $2 50. (Just
Isszted.)
The success which has carried this work through repeated editions in England, and its adoption
as a text-book in several of the leading institutions in this country, show that the author has suc-
ceeded in the endeavor to produce a sound practical manual and book of reference for the che-
mical student.
Prof Galloway's books are deservedly in nigh
esteem, and this American reprint of the fifth edition
(1869) of his Manual of Qualitative Analysis, will be
acceptable to many American students to whom the
English edition is not accessible. Am. Jour, of Sci-
ence and Arts, Sept. 1S72.
We regard this volume as a valuable addition to
the chemical text-books, and as particularly calcu-
lated to instruct the student in analytical researches
of the inorganic compounds, the important vegetable
acids, and of compounds and various recretions and
excretions of animal origin. Am. Journ. of P/iarm.,
Sept. 1S72.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Chemistry). 11
/^HANDLER (CHARLES F.), and /^HANDLER (WILLIAM H.),
V/ Prof, of Chemistry in the N. . Coll. of Prof ,>f Chemistry in the Lehigh
Pharmacy University.
THE AMERICAN CHEMIST: A Monthly Journal of Theoretical,
Analytical, and Technical Chemistry. Each number averaging forty large double col-
umned pages of reading matter. Price $5 per annum in advance. Single numbers, 50 cts.
0^- Specimen numbers to parties proposing to subscribe will be sent to any address on receipt
of 25 cents.
*#* Subscriptions can begin with any number.
The rapid growth of the Science of Chemistry and its infinite applications to other sciences
and arts render a journal specially devoted to the subject a necessity to those whose pursuits
require familiarity with the details of the science. It has been the aim of the conductors of "THE
AMERICAN CHEMIST" to supply this want in its broadest sense, and the reputation which the
periodical has already attained is a sufficient evidence of the zeal and ability with which they
have discharged their tusk.
Assisted by an able body of collaborators, their aim is to present, within a moderate compass,
an abstract of the progress of the science in all its departments, scientific and technical. Import-
ant original communications and selected papers are given in full, and the standing of the " CHEM-
IST" is such as to secure the contributions of leaUin'r m^ in all portions of the country. Besides
this, over one hundred journals and transactions of learned societies in America, Great Britain,
France, Belgium, Italy, Russia, and Germany are carefully scrutinized, and whatever they offer
of interest is condensed and presented to the reader. In this work, which forms a special feature
of the "CHEMIST," the editors have the assistance of M. Alsberg, Ph.D., Prof. G. F. Barker, T.
M. Blossom, E.M., H. C. Bolton, Ph.D., Prof. T. Egleston, E.M , H. Endemann, Ph.D., Prof. C.
A. Goessmann, Ph.D., S. A. Goldschmidt, A.M., E.M., E. J. Hallock, Prof. C. A. Joy, Ph.D.,
J. P. Kimball, Ph.D., 0. G. Mason, H. Newton, E.M., Prof. Frederick Prime, Jr., Prof. Paul
Schweitzer, Ph.D., Wnldron Shapleigh, Rorayn Hitchcock, and Elwyn Waller, E.M. From the
thoroughness and completeness with which this department is conducted, it is believed that no
periodical in either hemisphere more faithfully reflects the progress of the science, or presents a
larger or more carefully garnered store of information to its readers.
(GEORGE), Ph.D.
A MANUAL OF ELEMENTARY CHEMISTRY; Theoretical and
Practical. With one hundred and ninety-seven illustrations. A new American, from the
tenth and revised London edition. Edited by ROBERT BRIDGES, M. D. In one large
royal 12mo. volume, of about 850 pp., extra cloth, $2 75 ; leather, 33 25. (Lately Issued.)
This work is so well known that it seeins almost >ther work that has greater chums on the physician,
superfluous for us to speak about it. It has been a pharmaceutist, or student, than this. We cheerfully
favorite text-book with medical students for years, recommend it as the best text-book on elementary
and its popularity has iu no respect diminished, chemistry, and bespeak for it the careful attention
Whenever we have been consulted by medical stu- of students of pharmacy. Chicago Pharmacist, Aug.
dents, as ha frequently occurred, what treatise on 1869.
chemistry they should procure, we have always re-
eomrnend.'d Fowues', for we regarded it as the best. Here 18 a new e dl tiQ which has been long watched
There is no work that combines so many excellen- for *>? ea 8 er teachers of chemistry. In its new garb,
ces. It is of convenient size, not prolix, of plain and under the editorship of Mr. Watts, it has resumed
pnrspicnous diction, contains all the most recent ^^ place as the most successful of text-books.
discoveries, and is of moderate price. Cincinnati .*<* Xedieal Gazette, Jan. 1. 1869
Med. Repertory, Aug. 1869. It wlu coatiaafti a8 heretofore, to hold the first rank
Large additions have been made, especially in the is a text-book for studeuts of medicine. Chicago
department of organic chemistry, and we know of no Hfed. Examiner, Aug. 1869.
TfTOSLER AND FfTTfG.
OUTLINES OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. Translated with Ad-
ditions from the Eighth German Edition. By IRA. REMSEN, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of
Chemistry and Physics in Williams College, Mass. In one handsome volume, royal 12mo.
of 550 pp. extra cloth, $3. (Just Issued.)
As the numerous editions of the original attest, this work is the leading text-book and standard
authority throughout Germany on its important and intricate subject a position won for it by
the clearness and conciseness which are its distinguishing characteristics. The translation hag
been executed with the approbation of Profs. Wohler and Fittig, and numerous additions and
alterations have been introduced, so as to render it in every respect on a level with the most
advanced condition of the science.
WMAN (JOHN E.),M. D.
PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF MEDICAL CHEMISTRY. Edited
by C. L. BLOXAM, Professor of Practical Chemistry in King's College, London. Sixth
American, from the fourth and revised English Edition. In one neat volume, royal 12mo.,
pp. 351, with numerous illustrations, extra cloth. $2 25.
JftY THE SAME AUTHOR. (Xmo Rw'y )
INTRODUCTION TO PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY, INCLUDING
ANALYSIS. Sixth American, from the sixth and revised London edition. With numer-
ous illustrations. In one neat vol., royal 12mo., extra cloth. $2 25.
KNAPP'S TECHNOLOGY ; or Chemistry Applied to I very handsome octavo volumes, with 600 wood
hhp Arts, and to Manufactures. With American engravings, extra cloth. $6 00
addiii >as, by Prof. WALTER K. JOHHHON. ID two I
12 HENRY 0. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Mat.Med.and Therapeutics).
PARRISH (EDWARD],
Late Professor of Materia Medica in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.
A TREATISE ON PHARMACY. Designed as a Text-Book for the
Student, and as a Guide for the Physician and Pharmaceutist. With many Formulae and
Prescriptions. Fourth Edition, thoroughly revised, by THOMAS S. WIEGAND. In one
handsome octavo volume of 977 pages, with 280 illustrations; cloth. $5 50; leather, $6 50.
(Now Ready.)
The delay irrthe appearance of the new U. S. Pharmacopoeia, and the sudden death of the au-
thor, have postponed the preparation of this new edition beyond the period expected. The notes
and memoranda left by Mr. Parrish have been placed in the hands of the editor, Mr. Wiegand,
who has labored assiduously to embody in the work all the improvements of pharmaceutical sci-
ence which have been introduced during ohe last ten years. It is therefore hoped that the new
edition will fully maintain the reputation which the volume has heretofore enjoyed as a standard
text-book and work of reference for all engaged in the preparation and dispensing of medicines.
We have examined this large volume with a good ( not wish it to be understood as very extravagant
deal of care, and find that the author has completely
exhausted the subject upon which he treats ; a more
complete work, we think, it would be impossible to
find. To the student of pharmacy the work is indis-
pensable ; indeed, so far as we know, it is the only one
of its kind in existence, and even to the physician or
medical student who can spare five dollars to pur-
chase it, we feel sure the practical information he
will obtain will more than compensate him for the
outlay. Canada Med. Journal, Nov. 1864.
The medical student and the practising physician
will find the volume of inestimable worth for study
and reference. San Francisco Med. Press, July,
1864.
When we say that this book is in some respects
the best which has been published on the subject in
the English language for a great many years, we do
praise. In truth, it is not so much the best as the
only book. The London Chemical News.
An attempt to furnish anything like an analysis of
Parrish' s very valuable and elaborate Treatise on
Practical Pharmacy would require more space than
<ve have at our disposal. This, however, is not so
much a matter of regret, inasmuch as it would be
difficult to think of any point, however minute and
apparently trivial, connected with the manipulation
if pharmaceu'ic substance* or appliances which has
not been clearly and carefully discussed in this vol-
ume. Want of space prevents our enlarging further
on this valuable work, and we must conclude by a
.simple expression of our hearty appreciation of its
merits. Dublin Quarterly Jour, of Medical Science,
August, 1864.
&TILLE (ALFRED], M.D.,
A3 Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine in the University of Penna.
THERAPEUTICS AND MATERIA MEDICA; a Systematic Treatise
on the Action and Uses of Medicinal Agents, including their Description and History
Fourth edition, revised and enlarged. In two large and handsome 8vo. vols. (Pn paring.)
Dr. Stille's splendid work on therapeutics and ma- abroad its reputation as a .standard treatise on Mau.ii.-
teria medica. London Med. Times, April 8, 1865. Medica is securely established. It is second to no
Dr. Stille stands to-day one of the best and most ! work on the subject in the English tongue, and, in-^
honored representatives at home and abroad, of Ame- I deed, is decidedly superior, in some respects, to any
rican medicine; and these volumes, a library in them- j other. Pacific Med. and Surg Journal, July, 1868.
selves, a treasure-house for every studious physician, i Still6's Therapeutics is incomparably the best work
assure his fame even had he done nothing more. The
Western Journal of Medicine, Dec. 1868.
We regard this work as the best one on Materia
Medica in the English language, and as such it de-
serves the favor it has received. Am. Journ. Medi-
cal Sciences, July 1868.
We need not dwell on the merits of the third edition
of this magnificently conceived work. It is the work
on Materia Medica, in which Therapeutics are prima-
rily considered the mere natural history of drugs
being briefly disposed of. To medical practitioners
this is a very valuable conception. It is wonderful
how much of the riches of the literature of Materia
Medica has been condensed into this book. The refer-
ences alone would make it worth possessing. But it
is not a mere compilation. The writer exercises a
good judgment of his own on the great doctrines and
points of Therapeutics For purposes of practice,
Still6's book is almost unique as a repertory of in-
formation, empirical and scientific, on the actions and
nses of medicines. London Lancet. Oct. 31, 1868.
Through the former editions, the professional world
Is well acquainted with this work. At home and
on the subject. N. Y. Med. Gazette, Sept, 26, 1868.
Dr Stilli's work is becoming the best known of any
of our treatises on Materia Medica. . . . One of the
most valuable works in the language on the subjects
of which it treats.^. T. Med. Journal, Oct. 1868.
The rapid exhaustion of two editions of Prof. Stille''*
scholarly work, and the consequent necessity for a
third edition, is sufficient evidence of the high esti-
mate placed upon it by the profession. It is no exag-
geration to say that there is no superior work upon
the subject in the English language. The present
edition is fully up to the most recent advance in the
science and art of therapeutics. Leavenworth Medi-
cal Herald, Aug. 1868.
The work of Prof. Still6 has rapidly taken a high
place in professional esteem, and to say that a third
edition is demanded and now appears before us, suffi-
ciently attests the firm position this treatise has made
for itself. As a work of great research, and scholar-
ship, it is safe to say we have nothing superior. It ia
exceedingly full, and the busy practitioner will find
ample suggestions upon almost every important point
of therapeutics. Cincinnati Lancet, Aug. 1868.
p>EREIRA (JONATHAN], M.D., F. R.S. and L.S.
MATERIA MEDICA AND THERAPEUTICS; being an Abridg-
ment of the late Dr. Pereira's Elements of Materia Medica, arranged in conformity with
the British Pharmacopoeia,, and adapted to the use of Medical Practitioners, Chemists and
Druggists, Medical and Pharmaceutical Students, <fcc. By F. J. FARRE, M.T , Senior
Physician to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and London Editor of the British Pharmacopoeia ;
assisted by ROBERT BENTLEY, M.R.C.S., Professor of Materia Mediea and Botany to the
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain; and by ROBERT VVARINSTON, F.R.S., Chemical
Operator to the Society of Apothecaries. With numerous additions and references to the
United States Pharmacopoeia, by HORATIO C. WOOD, M.D., Professor of Botany in the
University of Pennsylvania. In one large and handsome octavo volume of 1040 closely
printed pages, with 236 illustrations, extra cloth, $7 00; leather, raised bands, $8 00
It will fill a place which no other work can occupy I ed in the thape of a complete treatise on materia med-
in the library of the physician, student, and apothe- | ica, and the medical student has a text-book which,
ca,ry. Boston Med. and Surg. Journal, Nov. 8, 1866. for practical utility and intrinsic worth, stands un-
The Ame rican physician now has all that is need' I paralleled. tf. Y. Med. Record, Nov. 15, 1866.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS ( Mat. Mrfl. and Therapeutics}. 1 3
/GRIFFITH (ROBERT E.), M.D.
A UNIVERSAL FORMULARY, Containing the Methods of Pri par-
ing and Administering Officinal and other Medicines. The whole adapted to Physician and
Pharmaceutists. Third edition, thoroughly revised, with numerous additions, b? JOHN M.
MAISCU, Professor of Materia Medica in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. In one large
and handsome octavo volume of about SOOpages : cloth, $4 50; leather, $5 50. (Just Ready )
This work has long been known for the vast amount of information which it presents in a con
densed form, arranged for easy reference. The new edition has received the most careful revi-
sion at the competent hands of Professor Maisch, who has brought the whole up to the standard of
the most recent authorities. More than eighty new headings of remedies have been introduced,
the entire work has been thoroughly remodelled, and whatever has seemed to be obsolete has been
omitted. As a comparative view of the United States, the British, the German, and the French
Pharmacopoeias, together with nn immense amount of unofficinal formulas, it affords to the prac-
titioner and pharmaceutist an aid in their daily avocations not to be found elsewhere, while three
indexes, one of "Diseases and their Remedies," one of Pharmaceutical Names, and a (ieneral
Index, afford an easy key to the alphabetical arrangement adopted in the text.
The youug practitioner will find the work invalu- i Directions, Poisons. Antidotes, and Treatment, and
abl<- in suggesting eligible modes of administering | copious indices, which afford ready access to all parts
many remedies. Am. Journ. of Pharm., Feb. 1874.
Our copy of Griffith's Formulary, after long use,
first in the dispensing shop, and afterwards in our
medical practice, had gradually fallen behind in the
onward march of raateria medica, pharmacy, and
therapeutics, until we had ceased to consult it as a
daily book of reference. So completely has Prof.
JMaisch reformed, remodelled, and rejuvenated it in
the new edition, we shall gladly welcome it back to
our table again beside Duuglison, Webster, and Wood
& Bache. The publisher could not have been more
fortunate iu the selection of an editor. Prof. Maisch
Is eminently the man for the work, and he has done
it thoroughly anil ably. To enumerate the altera-
tions, amendments, and additions would be an eud-
-k ; everywhere we are greeted with the evi-
dence* of his labor. Following the Formulary, is an
addendum of useful Recipes, Dietetic Preparations,
List of Incorapatibles, Posological table, table of
Pharmaceutical Names, Officinal Preparations and I iner, March 15, 1874.
of the work. We unhesitatingly commend the book
as being the best of its kind, within our knowledge.
Atlanta Me.ft. and Surg. Journ. , Feb. 1874.
To the druggist a good formulary is simply indis-
pensable, and perhaps no formulary has been more
extensively used than the well-known work before
us. Many physicians have to officiate, also, as drug-
gists. This is true especially of the country physi-
cian, and a work which shall teach him the means
by which to administer or combine his remedies in
the most efficacious and pleasant manner, will al-
ways hold its place upon his shelf. A formulary of
this kind is of benefit also to th city physician in
largest practice. Cincinnati Clinic, Feb. 21, 1874.
The Formulary has already proved itself accepta-
ble to the medical profession, and we do not hesitate
to say that the third edition is much improved, and
of greater practical value, in consequence of the care-
ful revision of Prof Maisch. Chicago Med. Exam-
JjJLLIS (BENJAMIN], M.D.
THE MEDICAL FORMULARY: being a Collection of Prescriptions
derived from the writings and practice of many of the most eminent physicians of America
and Europe. Together with the usual Dietetic Preparations and Antidotes for Poisons. The
wh'ole accompanied with a few brief Pharmaceutic and Medical Observations. Twelfth edi-
tion, carefully revised and much improved by ALBERT H. SMITH, M.D. In one volume 8va.
of 376 pages, extra cloth, $3 00. (Lately Published.)
This work has remained for some time out of print, owing to the anxious care with which the
Editor has sought to render\he present edition worthy a continuance of the very remarkable
favor which has carried the volume to the unusual honor of a TWBLPTH EDITION. He has sedu-
lously endeavored to introduce in it all new preparations and combinations deserving of confidence,
besides adding two new classes, Antemetics and Disinfectants, with brief references to the inhalation
of atomized fluids, the nasal douche of Thudichum, suggestions upon the method of hypodermic
injection, the administration of anaesthetics, Ac. Ac. To accommodate these numerous additions,
he has omitted much which the advance of science has rendered obsolete or of minor importance,
notwithstanding which the volume has been increased by more than thirty pages. A new feature
will be found in a copious Index of Diseases and their remedies, which cannot but increase the
value of the work a* a suggestive book of reference for the working practitioner. Every precaution
has been taken to secure the typographical accuracy so necessary in a work of this nature, and it
is hoped that the new edition will fully maintain the position which " ELLIS' FORMULARY" has
long occupied.
SI ARSON (JOSEPH}, M.D.,
\J Professor of Maturia IT^Uc.a a nd Pharmacy in the University of Pennsylvania, Ac.
SYNOPSIS OF THE COURSE OF LECTURES ON MATERIA
MEDICA AND PHARMACY, delivered in the University of Pennsylvania. With three
Lectures on the Modus Operandi of Medicines. Fourth an d revised edition, extra cloth $3
DUNGLISON'S NEW REMEDIES, WITH FORMT'L.K
FOR THEIR PREPARATION AND ADMINISTRA-
TION. Seventh edition, with extensive additions
EOLESPELD GRIFFITH, M.D. One vol.Svo., pp.1000;
extra cloth. $4 00.
CARPENTER'S PRIZE ESSAY ON THE USE OF
One vol. Svo., pp. 770; extra cloth. $400. ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE. New
BOYLE'S MATERIA MEDICA AND THERAPEU- j edition, with a Preface by D. F. CONDIE, M.D. , and
TICS. Edited by JOSEPH CARSON, M.D. With explanations of scientific words. In one neat 12mo.
ninety-eight illustrations. 1 vol. Svo. , pp. 700, ex- volume, pp. 178, extra cloth. 60 cents.
tra cloth. $3 00. i DE JONGH ON THE THREE KINDS OF COD-LIVEB
GHRISTISON'S DISPENSATORY. With copious ad- ; OIL, with their Chemical and Therapeutic Pro-
ditions, and 213 large wood-eagraviugs. By B. parties 1 vol. 12mo., cloth. 75 cents.
14 HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Pathology, &c.).
PEN WICK (SAMUEL], M.D.,
Assistant Physician to the London Hospital.
THE STUDENT'S GUIDE TO MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS. From the
Third Revised and Enlarged English Editiot With eighty-four illustrations on wood.
In one very handsome volume, royal ]2mo., cloth, $2 25. (Now Ready.)
The very great success which this work has obtained in England, shows that it has supplied an
admitted want among elementary books for the guidance of students and junior practitioners.
Taking up in order each portion of the body or class of di.eape. the author has endeavored to
present in simple language the value of symptoms, so as to lead the student to a correct appreci-
ation of the pathological changes indicated by them. The latest investigations have been care-
fully introduced into the present edition, so that it may fairly be considered as on a level with
the most advanced condition of medical science. The arrangement adopted may be seen from the
subjoined
OOINIDIEllSrSEID STJ3VT3VT AIR^T OF COHSTTElSrTS-
CHAPTEB I. Introductory. II. Diseases of the Heart and Pericardium. III. Diseases of the
Lungs. IV. Diseases of the Throat and Larynx. V. Diseases of the Kidneys. VI. Diseases of
the Liver. VII. Diseases of the Stomach. VIII. Diseases of the Peritoneum and Intestines.
IX. Abdominal Tumors. X. Diseases of the Brain. XI. Fevers. XII. Rheumatism and Gout.
XIII. Diseases of the Skin.
SCREEN (T. HENRY), M.D.,
Lecturer on Pathology and Morbid Anatomy at Charing-dross Hospital Medical School.
PATHOLOGY AND MORBID ANATOMY. With numerous Illus-
trations on Wood. In one very handsome octavo volume of over 250 pages, extra cloth,
$2 50. (Lately Published.)
We have been very much pleased by our perusal of j thology and morbid anatomy. The author shows that
thiis little volume. It is the only one of the kind with he has been not only a student of the teachings of his
which we are acquainted, and practitioners as well confreres in this branch of science, but a practical
as students will find it a very useful guide; for the and conscientious laborer in the post-mortem cham-
information is up to the day, well and compactly ar
ranged, without being at all scanty. London Lan
cet, Oct. 7, 1871.
It embodies in a comparatively small space a clear
statement of the present state of our knowledge of pa-
ber. The work will prove a useful one to the great
mass of students and practitioners whose time for de-
votiou to this class of studies is limited. Am. Journ.
of Syphilography, April, 1872.
GLTJGE'S ATLAS OF PATHOLOGICAL HISTOLOGY | vation. From the second London edition. 1 vo
Translated, with Notes and Additions, by JOSEPH royal 12mo., extra cloth. $1 00.
LEIDY, M. D. In one volume, very large imperial
quarto, with 320 copper-plate figures, plain and
colored, extra cloth. $4 00.
LA ROCHE ON YELLOW FEVER, considered in its
Historical, Pathological, Etiological, and Therapeu-
tical Relations. In two large and handsome octav*
volumes of nearly 1500 pages, extra cloth. $7 00
HOLLAND'S MEDICAL NOTES AND REFLEC-
TIONS. 1 vol. 8vo., pp. 500, extra cloth. $3 50
WH ATTO OBSERVE ATTHE BEDSIDE AND AFTEi
DEATH IN MEDICAL CASES. Published under tht
authority of the London Society for Medical Obser
LAYCOCK'S LECTURES ON THE PRINCIPLES
AND METHODS OF MEDICAL OBSERVATION AND RE-
SEARCH. For the use of advanced students and
junior practitioners. In one very neat royal 12mi
volume, extra cloth. $1 00.
3ARLOWS MANUAL OF THE PRACTICE OF
MEDICINE. With Additions by D. F. CONDIE,
* D 1 vol 8vo., pp 600. cloth 2 50
TODD'S CLINICAL LECTURES ON CERTAIN ACUTE
DISEASES. In one neat octavo volume, of 320 pages,
extra, cloth. $2 50.
S1ROSS (SAMUEL />.), M - #>
Professor of Surgery in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia.
ELEMENTS OF PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY. Third edition,
thoroughly revised and greatly improved. In one large and very handsome octavo volume
of nearly 800 pages, with about three hundred and fifty beautiful illustrations, of which a
large number are from original drawings ; extra cloth. $4 00.
TONES (C. HANDFIELD], F.R.S., and SIEVEKING (ED. H.), M.D.,
^ Assistant Physicians and Lecturers in St. Mary's Hospital
A MANUAL OF PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY. First American
edition, revised. With three hundred and ninety-seven handsome wood engravings. In
one large and beautifully printed octavo volume of nearly 750 pages, extra cloth, $3 50.
(OCTAVIUS], M.D. Cantab.
* Fellow of We Roynl dollege of Phytticianft. &c. &c.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF CLINICAL MED-
ICINB. Being a Guide to the Investigation of Disease, for the Use of Students. In one
handsome 12mo. volume, extra cloth, $1 25. (Now Ready.)
TABLE OF CONTENTS. I. The Sort of Help needed by the Student at the Bedside. II. Some
General Rules with Reference to the Examination of Patients. III. The Family and Personal
History of the Patient. IV. Examination of the Functions. V. Examination of the Phenomena
connected with the Brain and Cord VI. The Physical Examination of the Chest, its Inspection
and Palpation. VII. Percussion Applied to the Heart and Lungs. VIIL Auscultation of the
Cheft. IX. Examination of the Abdomen and of the Secretions. X. The Diagnosis. XI. The
Treatment.
HENRY C LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Practice of Medicine).
15
T T (AUSTIN), M.D.,
*-' Professor of the Principles and Practice of Medicine in Bellevut Med. College, X }'
A TREATISE ON THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF
MEDICINE; designed for the use of Students and Practitioners of Medicine. Fourth
edition, revise^ and enlarged. In one large and closely printed octavo volume of ahout 1 1 00
pages; handsome extra cloth, $6 00; or strongly bound in leather, with raised bands, $7 00.
(Just Issued.)
By common consent of the English and American medical press, this work has been assigned
to the highest position as a complete and compendious text-book on the most advanced condition
of medical science. At the very moderate price at which it is offered it will be found one of the
cheapest volumes now before the profession.
axcellently printed and bound and we encounter
that luxury of America, the ready-cut pages, which
che Yankees are 'cute enough to insist upon nor are
these by any means trifles ; but the contents of the
book are astonishing. Not only is it wonderful that
my one man can have grasped in his mind the whole
icope of medicine with that vigor which Dr. Flint
hows, but the condensed yet clear way in which
;his is done is a perfect literary triumph. Dr. Flint
.s pre-eminently one of the strong men, whose right
:o do this kind of thing is well admitted ; and we say
10 more than the truth when we affirm that he is
<rery nearly the only living man that could do it with
iuch results as the volume before us. The London
Practitioner, March, 1869.
This is in some respects the best text-book of medi-
jine in our language, and it is highly appreciated on
,he other side of the Atlantic, inasmuch as the first
edition was exhausted in a few months. The second
edition was little more than a reprint, but the present
das, as the author says, been thoroughly revised.
Much valuable matter has been added, and by mak-
ing the type smaller, the bulk of the volume is not
much increased. The weak point in many American
works is pathology, but Dr. Flint has taken peculiar
pains on this point, greatly to the value of the book.
London Med. Times and Gazette, Feb. 6, 1869.
Admirable and unequalled. Western Journal of
Mi:ili<-ine, Nov. 1869.
Dr. Flint's work, though claiming no higher title
than that of a text-book, is really more. He is a man
of large clinical experience, and his book is full of
nch masterly descriptions of disease as can only be
drawn by a man intimately acquainted with their
various forms. It is not so long since we had the
pleasure of reviewing his first edition, and we recog-
nize a great improvement, especially in the general
part of the work. It is a work which we can cordially
recommend to our readers as fully abreast of the sci-
ence of the day. Edinburgh Med. Journal, Oct. '69.
One of the best works of the kind for the practi-
tioner, and the most convenient of all for the student.
Am. Journ. Med Sciences, Jan. 1869.
This work, which stands pre-eminently as the ad-
vance standard of medical science up to the present
time in the practice of medicine, has for its author
one who is well and widely known as one of the
leading practitioners of this continent. In fact, it is
seldom that any work is ever issued from the press
more deserving of universal recommendation. Do-
minion Med Journal, May, 1869.
The third edition of this most excellent book scarce-
ly needs any commendation from us. The volume,
as it stands now, is really a marvel : first of all, it is
DAVY(F. W.), M.D.,F.R.S.,
-* Senior Asst. Physician to and Lecturer on Physiology, at Guy's Hospital, Ac.
A TREATISE ON THE FUNCTION OF DIGESTION; its Disor-
ders and their Treatment. From the second London edition. In one handsome volume,
small octavo, extra cloth, $2 00. (Lately Published.)
The. work before us is one which deserves a wide i treatise, and sufficiently exhaustive for all practical
Irculation. We know of no better guide to the study | purposes. Lravenioorth Med. Herald, July, 1869.
of digestion and its disorders. St. Louis Med. and
Surg. Journal, July 10, 1869.
A thoroughly good book, being a careful systematic
A very valuable work on the subject of which it
treats. Small, yet it is full of valuable information.
Cincinnati Med. Repertory, June, 1869.
THE SAME AUTHOR. (Nearly Ready.)
A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS, PHYSIOLOGI-
CALLY AND TIIERAPEUTICALLY CONSIDERED. In one handsome octavo volume
of nearly 600 pages.
SUMMARY OP CONTENTS.
Introductory Remarks on the Dynamic Relations of Food On the Origination of Food The
Constituent Relations of Food Alimentary Principles, their Classification, Chemical Relations,
Digestion, Assimilation, and Physiological Uses Nitrogenous Alimentary Principles Non-Ni-
trogenous Alimentary Principles The Carbo-Hydrates The Inorganic Alimentary Principles
Alimentary Substances Animal Alimentary Substances Vegetable Alimentary Substances
Beverages Condiments The Preservation of Food Principles of Dietetics Practical Dietetics
Diet of Infants Diet for Training Therapeutic Dietetics Dietetic Preparations for the Inva-
lid Hospital Dietaries.
/ CHAMBERS (T. K.}, M.D.~
Consulting Physician to St. Mary's Hospital, London, Ac.
THE INDIGESTIONS; or, Diseases of the Digestive Organs Functionally
Treated. Third and revised Edition. In one handsome octavo volume of 333 pages, extra
cloth. $3 00. (Lately Published.)
From this purely mate- rial point of view, setting I tents to his memory would flnd its price an invest-
aside its higher claims to merit, we know of no more | ment of capital that returned him a most usurious
desirable acquisition to a physician's library than I rate of interest. N. . Medical Gazette, Jan. 28,
the book before us. He who should commit its con- | 1871
J)Y THE SAME AUTHOR. (Lately Published.)
RESTORATIVE MEDICINE. An Harveian Annual Oration, deliv-
ered at the Royal College of Physicians, London, on June 24. 1871. With Two Sequels.
In one very handsome volume, small 12mo., extra cloth, $1 00.
16
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Practice of Medicine).
fTARTSHORNE (HENRY], M.D.,
AJ. Professor of Hygiene in the University of Pennsylvania.
ESSENTIALS OF THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF MEDI-
CINE. A handy-book for Students and Practitioners. Fourth edition, revised and im-
proved. In one handsome royal 12mo. volume. (Preparing.)
This little epitome of medical knowledge has al- [
ready been noticed by us. It is a vade mecum of
value, including in a short space most of what is es- i
sential in the science and practice of medicine. The j
third edition is well up to the present day in the ;
modern methods of treatment, and iu the use of newly ;
discovered drugs. Boston Med. and Surg. Journal,
Oct. 19, 1871.
Certainly very few volumes contain so much pre-
cise information within so small a compass. N. Y.
Med. Journal, Nov. 1871.
The diseases are conveniently classified; symptoms,
causation, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment are |
carefully considered, the whole being marked by j
briefness, but clearness of expression. Over 250 for- j
mulas are appended, intended as examples merely,
not as guides for unthinking practitioners. A com-
plete index facilitates the use of this little volume, in
which all important remedies lately introduced, such
as chloral hydrate and carbolic acid, have received
their full s'hareof attention. Am. Journ. ofPharm.,
Nov. 1871.
It is an epitome of the whole science and practice
of medicine, and will be found most valuable to the
practitioner for easy reference, and especially to the
student in attendance upon lectures, whose time is
too much occupied with many studies, to consult the
larger works. Such a work must always be in great
demand. Cincinnati Med. Repertory, Nov. 1871.
"WATSON (THOMAS), M. D., c.
r LECTURES ON THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF
PHYSIC. Delivered at King's College, London. A new American, from the Fifth re-
vised and enlarged English edition. Edited, with additions, and several hundred illus-
trations, by HENRY HARTSHORNE, M.D., Professor of Hygiene in the University of Penn-
sylvania. In two large and handsome Svo.vols. Cloth, $9 00; leather, $11 00. (Just Issued.)
advantages of great culture and a ripe experience
combined with the soundest judgment and sin-
cerity of purpose. The author's rare combination
of great scientific attainments combined with won-
derful forensic eloquence has exerted extraordinary
At length, after many months of expectation, we
have the satisfaction of finding ourselves this week in
possession of a revised and enlarged edition of Sir
Thomas Watson's celebrated Lectures. It is a sub-
ject for congratulation and for thankfulness that Sir
Thomas Watson, during a period of comparative lei-
sure, after a long, laborious, and most honorable pro-
fessional career, while retaining full possession of his
high mental faculties, should have employed the op-
portunity to submit his Lectures to a more thorough
revision than was possible during the earlier and
busier period of his life. Carefully passing in review
some of the most intricate and important pathological
and practical questions, the results of his clear insight
and his calm judgment are now recorded for the bene-
fit of mankind, in language which, for precision, vigor,
and classical elegance, has rarely been equalled, and
never surpassed The revision has evidently beeu
most carefully done, .and the results appear in almosl
every page. Brit. Med. Journ., Oct. 14, 1871.
The lectures are so well known and so justly
appreciated, that it is scarcely necessary to do
more than call attention to the special advantages
of the last over previous editions. In the revi-
sion, the author has displayed all the charms and
influence over the last two generations of physicians
His clinical descriptions of most diseases have never
been equalled ; and on this score at least his work
will live long in the future. The work will be
sought by all who appreciate a great book. Amer.
Journal of Syphilography, July, 1872.
We are exceedingly gratified at the reception of
this new edition of Watson, pre-eminently the prince
of English authors, on "Practice." We, who read
the first edition as it came to us tardily and in frag-
ments through the "Medical News and Librarv, : '
shall never forget the great pleasure and profit 'we
derived from its graphic delineations of disease, its
vigorous style and splendid English. Maturity of
years, extensive observation, profound research,
and yet continuous enthusiasm, have combined to
give us in this latest edition a model of professional
excellence in teaching with rare beauty iu the mode
of communication. But this classic needs no eulo-
gium of ours. Chicago Med. Journ., July, 1872.
JJUNGLISON, FORBES, TWEED IE, AND CO NOLLY.
THE CYCLOPAEDIA OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE: comprising
Treatises on the Nature and Treatment of Diseases, Materia Medica and Therapeutics,
Diseases of Women and Children, Medical Jurisprudence, &c. &c. In four large super-royal
octavo volumes, of 3254 double-columned pages, strongly and handsomely bound in leather
$15; extra cloth. $J1.
*#* This work contains no less than four hundred and eighteen distinct treatises, contributed
sixty-eight distinguished physicians.
( WILSON), M.D.,
Holme Prof, of Clinical Med., University Coll., London.
THE DISEASES OF THE STOMACH: Being the Third Edition of
the "Diagnosis and Treatment of the Varieties of Dyspepsia." Revised and Enlarged.
With illustrations. In one handsome octavo volume.
*%* Publishing in the " MEDICAL NEWS AND LIBRARY" for 1873 and 1874.
The present edition of Dr. Wilson Fox's very admi-
rable work differs from the preceding in that it deals
with other maladies than dyspepsia only. London
Med. Times, Feb. 8, 1873.
Dr. Fox has put forth a volume of uncommon ex-
cellence, which we feel very sure will take a high
rank among works that^ treat of the stomach. Am.
Practitioner, March, 1873.
jyRINTON (WILLIAM), M.D., F.R.S.
^LECTURES ON THE DISEASES OF THE STOMACH; with an
Introduction on its Anatomy and Physiology. From the second and enlarged London edi-
tion. With illustrations on wood In one handsome octavo volume of about 300 paces
extra cloth. $3 25.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Diseases of Lungs and Heart). If
FLINT (AUSTIN], M.D.,
* Professor of the Principles and Practice of Medicine in Bellevue Hospital Med. College, N. T.
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE DIAGNOSIS, PATHOLOGY,
AND TREATMENT OF DISEASES OF THE HEART. Second revised and enlarged
edition. In one octavo volume of 550 pages, with a plate, extra cloth, $4.
The author has sedulously improved the opportunity afforded him of revising this work. Portions
of it have been rewritten, and the whole brought up to a level with the most advanced condition of
science. It must therefore continue to maintain its position as the standard treatise on the subject.
Dr. Flint chosea difficult subject for his researches, able for purposes of illustration, in connection with
and has shown remarkable powers of observation
and reflection, as well as great industry, in his treat-
ment of it. His book must be considered the fullest
and clearest practical treatise on those subjects, and
should be in the hands of all practitioners and stu-.
dents. It is a credit to American medical literature.
cases which have been reported by other trustworthy
observers. Brit, and For, Med.-Chirurg. Review.
Amer. Journ. of the Med. Sciences, July, I860.
We question the fact of any recent American author
In our profession being more extensively known, or
more deservedly esteemed in this country than Dr.
Flint. We willingly acknowledge his enoeeflB, more
particularly in the volume on diseases of the heart,
In making an extended personal clinical study avail-
In regard to the merits of the work, we have no
hesitation in pronouncing it full, accurate, and judi-
cious. Considering the present state of science, such
a work was much needed. It should be in the hands
of every practitioner. Chicago Med. Journ.
With more than pleasure do we hail the advent of
this work, for it fills a wide gap on the list of text-
books for ourschools, and is, for the practitioner, the
most valuable practical work of its kind. N. 0. Med.
News.
>F THE SAME AUTHOR.
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE PHYSICAL EXPLORA-
TION OF THE CHEST AND THE DIAGNOSIS OF DISEASES AFFECTING THE
RESPIRATORY ORGANS. Second and revised edition. In one handsome octavo volume
of 595 pages, extra cloth, $4 50.
Dr. Flint's treatise is one of the most trustworthy
guides which he can consult. The style is clear and
distinct, and is also concise, being free from that tend-
eucy to over-refinement and unnecessary minuteness
which characterizes many works on the same sub-
ject. Dublin Medical Press, Feb. 6, 1867.
The chapter on Phthisis is replete with interest ;
and his remarks on the diagnosis, especially in the
early stages, are remarkable for their acumen and
great practical value. Dr. Flint's style is ciear and
elegant, and the tone of freshness and originality
which pervades his whole work lend an additional
force to its thoroughly practical character, which
cannot fail to obtain for it a place as a standard work
on diseases of the respiratory system. London
Lancet, Jan. IP, 1867.
This is an admirable book. Excellent in detail and
execution, nothing better could be desired by the
practitioner. Dr. Flint enriches his subject with
much solid and not a little original observation.
Ranking' s Abstract, Jan. 1867.
FULLER (HENRY WILLIAM), M. D.,
-*- Physician to St George's Hospital, London.
ON DISEASES OF THE LUNGS AND "AIR-PASSAGES. Their
Pathology, Physical Diagnosis, Symptoms, and Treatment. From the second and revised
English edition. In one handsome octavo volume of about 500 pages, extra cloth, $3 50.
Dr. Fuller's work on diseases of the chest was so accordingly we have what might be with perfect jus-
tice styled an entirely new work from his pen, the
portion of the work treating of the heart and great
vessels being excluded. Nevertheless, this volume is
of almost equal size with the first. London Medical
favorably received, that to many who did not know
the extent of his engagements, it was a matter of won-
der that it should be allowed to remain three years
out of print. Determined, however, to improve it,
Dr. Fuller would not consent to a mere reprint, and ! Times and Gatette, July 2C, 1867.
w
'ILLIAMS (C. J. B.), M.D.,
Senior Consulting Physician to the Hospital for Consumption, Brompton, and
LLIAMS (CHARLES T.), M.D.,
Physician to the Hospital for Consumption.
PULMONARY CONSUMPTION; Its Nature, Varieties, and Treat-
ment. With an Analysis of One Thousand cases to exemplify its duration. In one neat
octavo volume of about 350 pages, extra cloth. (Just Issued.) $2 50.
He can still speak from a more enormous experi-
ence, and a closer study of the morbid prod
volved iu tuberculosis, than .most living men. He
owed it to himself, and to the importance of the sub-
ject, to embody his views in a separate work, and
we are glad that he has accomplished this duty.
After all, the grand teaching which Dr Williams has
for the profession is to be found in his therapeutical
chapters, and in the history of individual cases ex-
tended, by dint of care, over ten, twenty, thirty, and
e\vu forty years. London Lancet, Oct. 21, ^71.
His results are more favorable than those of any
i previous author; but probably there is no malady,
j the treatment of which has been so much improved
I within the last twenty year.- a* pulmonary consump-
tion. To ourselves, Dr. Williams's chapters on Treat-
I ment are amongst the most valuable and attractivein
the book, and would alone render it a standard work
of reference. In conclusion, we would record our
opinion that Dr. Williarns's great reputation is fully
maintained by this book. It is undoubtedly one of
the most valuable works in the language upon any
special disease. Land. Med. Times and Gaz., Nov.
4, 1871.
LA ROCHE ON PNEUMONIA. 1 vol. Svo., extra SMITH ON CONSUMPTION; ITS EARLY ANDRE-
cloth, of 500 pages Price $3 00. MEDIABLE STAGES. 1 vol. 8vo., pp. 254. $2 25.
BUCKLER ON FIBRO-BRONCHITIS AND RHED
MATIC PNEUMONIA. 1 vol. Svo. ft) 25.
FISKE FUND PRIZE ESSAYS ON CONSUMPTION
1 vol 8vo,, extra cloth. $1 00.
WALSHE ON THE DISEASES OF THE HEART AND
GREAT VESSELS. Third American edition. ID
1 vol. Svo.. 420 pp., cloth. $3 00.
18 HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Practice of Medicine).
ROBERTS ( WILLIAM], M. D.,
* ^ Lecturer on Medicine in the Manchester School of Medicine. &c.
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON URINARY AND RENAL DIS-
EASES, including Urinary Deposits. Illustrated by numerous cases and engravings. Sec-
ond American, from the Second Revised and Enlarged London Edition. In one Inrge
and handsome octavo volume of 616 pages, with a colored plate ; extra cloth, $4 50. (Just
Issued.)
The author has subjected this work to a very thorough revision, and has sought to embody in
it the results of the latest experience and investigations. Although every effort has been made
to keep it within the limits of its former size, it has been enlarged by a hundred pages, many
new wood-cuts have been introduced, and also a colored plate representing the appearance of the
different varieties of urine, while the price has been retained at the former very moderate rate.
The plan, it will thus be seen, is very complete, 'diseases we have examined It is peculiarly adapted
an 1 the manner in which it lias been carried out is
in the highest degree satisfactory. The characters
of the different deposits are very well described, and
the microscopic appearances they present are illus-
trated by numerous well executed engravings. It
only remains to us to strongly recommend to our
readers Dr. Roberts's work, as confining an admira-
ble resume of the present state of knowledge of uri-
nary discuses, and as a safe and reliable guide to the
clinical observer. Edin. Med. Jnur.
The most complete and practical treatise upon renal
to the wants of the majority of American practition-
ers from its clearness and simple announcement of the
facts in relation to diagnosis and treatment of urinary
disorders, and contains in condensed form the investi-
gations of Bence Jones, Bird, Beale, Hassall. Prout,
and a host of other well-known writers upon this sub-
ject. The characters of urine, physiological and pa-
thological, as indicated to the naked eye as well as by
microscopical and chemical investigations, are con-
cisely represented both by description and by well
executed engravings. Cincinnati Journ. of Med.
DASHAM (W. R.}, M.D.,
*-* Senior Physician to the Westminster Hospital, Ac.
REN AL DISEASES : a Clinical Guide to their Diagnosis and Treatment.
With illustrations. In one neat royal 12mo. volume of 304 pages. $2 00.
The chapters on diagnosis and treatment are very
good, and the student and young practitioner will
find them full of valuable practical hints. The third
part, on the urine, is excellent, and >we cordially
recommend its perusal. The author has arranged
his matter in a somewhat novel, and, we think, use-
ful form. Here everything can be easily found, and,
what is more important, easily read, for all the dry
details of larger books here acquire a new interest
from the author's arrangement. This part of the
book is full of good work. Brit, and For. Medico-
Vhirurgical Review, July, 1870.
The easy descriptions and compact modes of state-
ment render the book pleasing and convenient. Am.
Journ. Med. Sciences, July, 1S70.
TONES (C. HANDFIELD), M. D.,
*J Physician to St. Mary's Hospital, &c.
CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS ON FUNCTIONAL NERVOUS
DISORDERS. Second American Edition. In one handsome octavo volume of 348 pages,
extra cloth, $3 25.
Taken as a whole, the work before us furnishes a
hort but reliable account of the pathology and treat-
ment of a class of very common but certainly highly
obscure disorders. The advanced student will find it
a rich mine of valuable facts, while the medical prac-
titioner will derive from it many a suggestive hint to
lid him in the diagnosis of "nervous cases," and in
determining the true indications for their ameliora-
tion or cure. Amer. Journ. Med. Sci., Jan. 1867.
T INCOLN (D. F.}. M.D.,
-*-* Phwfatan to the Department of Nervous Diseases, Boston Dispensary.
ELECTRO THERAPEUTICS; 4 Concise Manual of Medical Electri-
city. In one very neat royal 12mo. volume, with Illustrations.
The chief aim cf the present volume has been the analysis of the principles which ought to
govern our use of Electricity. The portions describing the practical applications which have been
ma.de of it in various disorders, may be found incomplete, but it is hoped that enough has been
said to satisfy the needs of the general practitioner. PREFACE.
CHAPTER I. Physical Laws. II. Modes of Generating Electricity. III. Physiology TV.
Diagnosis. V. Methods of Applying Electricity. VI. Medical and Surgical Practice. VII.
Cautions. VIII. Apparatus.
gLADE (D. D.), M.D.
DIPHTHERIA; its Nature and Treatment, with an account of the His-
tory of its Prevalence in various Countries.
royal 12mo. volume, extra cloth. $1 25.
Second and revised edition. In one neat
TTUDSON (A.}, M. Z>., M. R. 1. A.,
1-*- Physician to the Meath Hospital.
LECTURES ON THE STUDY OF FEVER.
Cloth, $2 50.
T YONS (ROBERT D.}, K. C. C.
A TREATISE ON FEVER.
cloth. $2 25.
In one vol. 8vo., extra
In one octavo volume of 362 pages ;
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Venereal Diseases, etc.). 19
f>UMSTEAD (FREEMAN J.}, M.D.,
JL) prnftiMtnr of Venereal Di*ea*es at the Col. of Phys and Surg., New York, Ac.
THE PATHOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF VENEREAL DIS-
EASES. Including the results of recent investigations upon the subject. Third edition,
revised and enlarged, with illustrations. In one large and handsome octavo volume of
over 700 pages, extra cloth, $5 00 ; leather, $fi 00. (Just Issued.)
In preparing this standard work again for the press, the author has subjected it to a very
thorough revision. Many portions have been rewritten, and much new matter added, in order to
bring it completely on a level with the most advanced condition of syphilograpby, but by careful
compression of the text of previous editions, the work has been increased by only sixty-four pages.
The labor thus bestowed upon it, it is hoped, will insure for it a continuance of its position as a
complete and trustworthy guide for the practitioner.
It is the most complete book with which we are ao much special commendation as if its predecessors had
quainted in the language. The latest views <>f the not been published. As a thoroughly practical book
best authorities are put forward, and the information on a class of diseases which form a large share of
is well arranged a great point for the student, and nearly every physician's practice, the volume before
still more for the practitioner. The subjects of vis-
c-M-al syphilis, syphilitic affection* of the eyes, and
the treatment of syphilis by repeated inoculations, are
very fully discussed. London Lano-t. Jan 7. 1871.
Dr. Bumstead's work is already so universally
us is by tar the best of which we have knowledge.
N. T. Medical Gazette, Jan. 28, 1871.
It is rare in the history of medicine to find any one
book which contains all that a practitioner needs to
know; while the possessor of "Bumstead on Vene-
known as the best treatise in the English language on real" has uo occasion to look outside of its covers for
venereal diseases, that it may seem almost -uperflu- anything practical connected with the diagnosis, his-
ous to say more of it than that a new edition has been tory, or treatment of these affections. A 1 ". Y Mnli<-al
issued. But the author's industry has rendered this Journal. March, 1871.
new edition virtually a new work, and so merits a<
CULLERIER (A.}, and
*S Surgeon to the Hdpital du Midi
f>OMSTEAD (FREEMAN J.].
*-* Professor of Venereal Diseases in the College of
Physiciana and Surgeons. N. Y
AX ATLAS OF VENEREAL DISEASES. Translated and Edited by
FREEMAN J. BUMSTEAD. In one large imperial 4to. volume of 328 pages, double-columns,
with 2fi plates, containing about 150 figures, beautifully *olored, many of them the size of
life; strongly bound in extra cloth, $17 00; also, in five parts, stout wrappers for mailing, at
$3 per part. (Lately Published.)
Anticipating a very large sale for this work, it is offered at the very low price of THREE DOL-
LARS a Part, thus placing it within the reach of all who are interested in this department of prac-
tice. Gentlemen desiring early impressions of the plates would do well to order it without delay.
A specimen of the plates and text sent free by mail, on receipt of 25 cents.
which for its kind is more necessary for them to have.
-California Med. Gazette, March, 1869.
The most splendidly illustrated work in the lan-
guage, and in our opinion far more useful than the
We wish for once that our province was not restrict-
ed to methods of treatment, that we might say some-
thing of the exquisite colored plates in this volume.
London Practitioner, May, 1869. ^ ^^ ^ ^^ ^
As a vhole, it teaches all that can be taught by French original. Am.Journ. Med. Sciences, Jan. '69.
means of plates and print. London Lancet, March j The fifth and couc i u ding number of this magnificent
work has reached us, and we have no hesitation in
Superior to anything of the kind ever before issued | saying that its illu>trations surpass those of previous
on this continent'. Canada Men. Journal, March, '69. numbers. Boston Med. and Surg. Journal, Jan. 14,
The practitioner who desires to understand this 1869.
branch of medicine thoroughly should obtain this, | Other writers besides M. Cullerier have given us a
the most complete and best work ever published.
ni,ti,n'n Med. Journal, May, 1869.
This is a work of master hands on both sides. M.
Cullerier is scarcely second to, we think we may truly
say is a peer of the illustrious and venerable Ricord,
good account of the diseases of which he treats, but
no one has furnished us with such a complete series
of illustrations of the venereal diseases. There i,
however, an additional interest and value posse
,
ssed
by the volume before us ; for it is an American reprint
while in this country we do not hesitate to say that land translation of M. Cullerier's work, with inci-
Dr. Bumstead, as an authority, is* without a rival | dental remarks by one of the most eminent American
Assuring our readers that these illustration* tell the syphi'ographers, Mr. Bumstend. Brit, and For.
whole history of venereal disease, from its inception Medico-Chir . Review, July, 1869.
to its end, we do not know a single medical work,
ffILL (BERKELEY],
Surgeon to the Lock Hospital, London.
ON SYPHILIS AND LOCAL CONTAGIOUS DISORDERS.
one handsome octavo volume ; extra cloth, $3 25. (Lately Published.)
Bringing, as it does, the entire literature of the dis- i to whom we would most earnestly recommend its
ease down to the present day, and giving with great study ; while it is no less useful to the practitioner.
ability the results of modern research, it is in every i St. Louis Med. and Surg. Journal, May. 1869.
respect a most desirable work, and one which should
find a place in the library of every surgeon. Cali-
fornia Med. Gazette, June, 1869.
Considering the scope of the book and the careful
attention to the manifold aspects and details of its
In
The most convenient and ready book of reference
we have met with. N. Y. Med. Record, May 1,1869.
Most admirably arranged for both student and prac-
titioner, no other work on the subject equals it ; it is
subject, it is wonderfully concise Allthese qualities , more simple, more easily studied. Buffalo Med. and
render it an especially valuable book to the beginner, Surg. Journal, March, 1S69.
7EISSL (//.), M.D.
^A COMPLETE TREATISE OX VENEREAL DISEASES. Trans-
lated from the Second Enlarged Germiin Edition, by FREDEUIC R. STUKGIS, M.D In one
octavo volume, with illut-trations. (Preparing.)
20
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Diseases of the Skin).
WILSON (ERASMUS], F.R.S.
ON DISEASES OF THE SKIN. With Illustrations on wood. Sev-
enth American, from the sixth and enlarged English edition. In one large octavo volume
of over 800 pages, $5.
A SERIES OF PLATES ILLUSTRATING "WILSON ON DIS-
EASES OF THE SKIN;" consisting of twenty beautifully executed plates, of which thir-
teen are exquisitely colored, presenting the Normal Anatomy and Pathology of the Skin,
and embracing accurate representations of about one hundred varieties of disease, most of
them the size of nature. Price, in extra cloth, $5 50.
Also, the Text and Plates, bound in one handsome volume. Extr|, cloth, $10.
and acceptable help. Mr. Wilson has long been held
as high authority in this department of medicine, and
his book on diseases of the skin has long been re-
garded as one of the best text-books extant on the
subject. The present edition is carefully prepared,
ind brought up in its revision to the present time In
;his edition we have als<uncluded the beautiful series
of plates illustrative of the text, and in the last edi-
No one treating skin diseases should be without
a copy of this standard work. Canada Lancet.
We can safely recommend it to the profession as
the best work on the subject now in existence ir
the English language. Medical Times and Gazette
Mr. Wilson's volume is an excellent digest of tht
actual amount of knowledge of cutaneous diseases ;
it includes almost every fact or opinion of importance
connected with the anatomy and pathology of thf
skin. British and Foreign Medical Review.
Such a work as the one before us is a most capital
ion published separately. There are twenty of these
plates, nearly all of them colored to nature, and ex-
hibiting with great fidelity the various groups of
diseases. Gin nnnati Lancet.
Y THE SAME AUTHOR.
THE STUDENT'S BOOK OF CUTANEOUS MEDICINE and DIS-
EASES OF THE SKIN. In one very handsome royal 12mo. volume. $3 50. (Lately Issued.)
JtfELIGAN (J. MOORE], M.D., M.R.I. A.
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON DISEASES OF THE SKIN.
Fifth American, from the second and enlarged Dublin edition by T. W. Belcher, M. D.
In one neat royal 12mo. volume of 462 pages, extra cloth. $2 25.
Fully equal to all the requirements of students and
young practitioners. Dublin Me.d. Press.
;heir value justly estimated ; in a word, the work is
fully up to the times, and is thoroughly stocked with
Of the remainder of the work we have nothing be- j most valuable information. New York Med. Record,
yond unqualified commendation to offer. It is so far
the most complete one of its size that has appeared,
and for the student there can be none which can com-
pare with it in practical value. All the late disco-
veries in Dermatology have been duly noticed, and
Y THE SAME AUTHOR.
Jan - 15 ' 1867 -
The most convenient manual of diseases of the
skin that can be procureo by the student. Chicago
Med. Journal, Dec. 1866.
ATLAS OF CUTANEOUS DISEASES. In one beautiful quarto
volume, with exquisitely colored plates, Ac., presenting about one hundred varieties of
disease. Extra cloth, $5 50.
The diagnosis of eruptive disease, however, under I inclined to consider it a very superior work, corn-
all circumstances, is very difficult. Nevertheless,
Dr. Neligan has certainly, "as far as possible,' 1 given
a faithful and accurate representation of this class of
diseases, and there can be no doubt that these plates
will be of great use to the student and practitioner in
drawing a diagnosis as to the class, order, and species
to which the particular case may belong. While
looking over the "Atlas" we have been induced to
examine also the "Practical Treatise," and we are
bining accurate verbal description with sound views
of the pathology and treatment of eruptive diseases.
Glasgow Med. Journal.
A compend which will very much aid the practi-
tioner in this difficult branch of diagnosis Takoa
with the beautiful plates of the Atlas, which are 19-
ma.rkable for their accuracy and beauty of coloring,
it constitutes a very valuable addition to the library
of a practical man. Buffalo Med. Journal.
TJILLIER (THOMAS), M.D.,
*-* Physician to the Skin Department of University College Hospital, &c.
HAND-BOOK OF SKIN DISEASES, for Students and Practitioners.
Second American Edition. In one royal 12mo. volume of 358 pp. "With Illustrations.
Extra cloth, $2 25.
We can conscientiously recommend it to the stu-
dent; the style is clear and pleasant to read, the
matter is good, and the descriptions of disease, with
the modes of treatment recommended, are frequently
illustrated with well-recorded cases. London Med.
Times and Gazette, April 1, 1865.
It is a concise, plain, practical treatise on the vari-
ous diseases of the skin ; just such a work, indeed,
as was much needed, both by medical students and
practitioners. Chicago Medical Examiner, May,
1865.
A NDERSON (McCALL], M.D.,
-*-*- Physician to the Dispensary for Skin Diseases, Glasgow, &'C.
ON THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES OF THE SKIN. With an
Analysis of Eleven Thousand Consecutive Cases. In one vol. 8vo. $1. (Just Ready.)
GUERSANT'S SURGICAL DISEASES OF INFANTS DKWEES ON THE PHYSICAL AND MBnVAL
AND CHILDREN. Translated by R. J. DUXULI- TREATMENT OT? CHILD VW.N Eleventh edition.
SON, M.D. 1 vol. 8vo. Cloth, $2 50. 1 TO), ^o. of 548 pages. $2 80.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Diseases of Children}. 21
VMITH (J. LE WIS), M. D.,
A--) Professor of Morbid Anatomy in the Bellevue Hospital Mf.d. College, N T.
A COMPLETE PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE DISEASES OP
CHILDREN. Second Edition, revised and greatly enlarged. In one handsome octavo
volume of 742 pages, extra cloth, $5; leather, $6. (Just Issued.)
FROM THE PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
In presenting to the profession the second edition of his work, the author gratefully acknow-
ledges the favorable reception accorded to the first. He has endeavored to merit a continuance
of this approbation by rendering the volume much more complete than before. Nearly twenty
additional diseases have been treated of, among which may be named Diseases Incidental to
Birth, Rachitis, Tuberculosis, Scrofula, Intermittent, Remittent, and Typhoid Fevers, Chorea,
and the various forms of Paralysis. Many new formulae, which experience has shown to be
useful, have been introduced, portions of the text of a less practical nature have been con-
densed, and other portions, especially those relating to pathological histology, have been
rewritten to correspond with recent discoveries. Every effort has been made, however, to avoid
an undue enlargement of the volume, but, notwithstanding this, and an increase in the size of
the page, the number of pages has been enlarged by more than one hundred.
227 WEST 49TH STREET, NEW YORK, April, 1872.
The work will be found to contain nearly one-third more matter than the previous edition, and
it is confidently presented as in every respect worthy to be received as the standard American
text-book on the subject.
Eminently practical as well as judicious in its
teachings. Cincinnati Lancet and Obs., July, 1872.
A standard work that leaves little to be desired.
Indiana Journal of Medicine, July, 1872.
We know of no book on this subject that we can
more cordially recommend to the medical student
and thepractitioner. Cincinnati Clinic, June 29, '72.
We regard it as superior to any other single work
on the diseases of infancy and childhood. Detroit
Rev. of Med. and Pharmacy, Aug. 1^72.
We confess to increased enthusiasm in recommend-
ing this second edition. St Louis Med. and Surg.
Journal, Aug. 1872.
rtONDIE (D. FRANCIS], M.D.
^ A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE DISEASES OF CHILDREN.
Sixth edition, revised and augmented. In one large octavo volume of nearly 800 closely-
printed pages, extra cloth, $5 25 ; leather, $6 25. (Lately Issued.)
The present edition, which is the sixth, is fully up I teachers. As a whole, however, the work is the best
to the time* in the discussion of all those points in the | American one that we have, and in its special adapta-
pathology and treatment of infantile diseases which tion to American practitioners it certainly has no
have been brought forward by the German and French | aqaal. New York Med. Record, March 2, 1868.
WEST (CHARLES), M.D.,
Physician to the Hospital for Sick Children, Ac.
LECTURES ON THE DISEASES OF INFANCY AND CHILD-
HOOD. Fifth American from the sixth revised and enlarged English edition. In one large
and handsome octavo volume of 678 pages. Cloth. $4 50 ; leather, $5 50. (Just Ready.)
The continued demand for this work on both sides of the Atlantic, and its translation into Ger-
man, French, Italian, Danish, Dutch, and Russian, show that it fills satisfactorily a want exten-
sively felt by the profession. There is probably no man living who can speak with the authority
derived from a more extended experience than Dr. West, and his work now presents the results of
nearly 2000 recorded cases, and 600 post-mortem examinations selected from among nearly 40,000
cases which have passed under his care. In the preparation of the present edition he has omitted
much that appeared of minor importance, in order to find room for the introduction of additional
matter, and the volume, while thoroughly revised, is therefore not increased materially in size.
Of all the English writers on the diseases of chil- I living authorities in the difficult department of medl-
dren, there is no one so entirely satisfactory to us as | cal science in which he is most widely known.
Dr. West. For years we have held his opinion as Boston Med. and Surff. Journal.
judicial, and have regarded him as one of the highest |
fiY THE SAME AUTHOR. (Lately Issued.)
ON SOME DISORDERS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IN CHILD-
HOOD; being the Lumleian Lectures delivered at the Royal College of Physicians of Lon-
don, in March, 1871. In one volume, small 12mo., extra cloth, $1 00.
GMITH (EUSTACE), M. D.,
Physician to the Northwest London Free Dispensary for Sick Children.
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE WASTING DISEASES OF
INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD. Second American, from the second revised and enlarged
English edition. In one handsome octavo volume, extra cloth, $2 50. (Lately Itsued.)
This is in every way an admirable book. The | scribed as a practical handbook of the common dis-
modest title which the author has chosen forit scarce- eases of children, so numerous are the affections con-
ly conveys an adequate idea of the many tubjects I sidered either collaterally or directly We are
upon which it treats. Wasting is so constant an at- | acquainted with no safer guide to the treatment of
tendant upon the maladies of childhood, that a trea- I children's diseases, and few works give the insight
tise upon the wasting diseases of children must neces \ into the physiological and other peculiarities of chil-
sariiy embrace the consideration of mauy H flections dren that Dr. Smith's book does. Brit. Med.Journ.,
of which it is a symptom ; and this is excellently well I April 8, 1871.
done by Dr. Smith. The book might fairly be de- |
22 HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Diseases of Women).
T
HE OBSTETRICAL JOURNAL,
THE OBSTETRICAL JOURNAL of Great Britain and Ireland;
Including MIDWIFERY, nnd the DISEASES OF WOMEN AND INFANTS. With an American
Supplement, edited by WILLIAM F. JKNKS, M.D. A monthly of about 80 octavo page?,
very handsomely printed. Subscription, Five Dollars per annum. Single Numbers, 50
cents each.
Commencing with April, 1873, the Obstetrical Journal consists of Original Papers by Brit-
ish and Foreign Contributors ; Transactions of the Obstetrical Societies in England and abroad ;
Reports of Hospital Practice; Reviews and Bibliographical Notices; Articles and Notes, Edito-
rial, Historical, Forensic, and Miscellaneous; Selections from Journals; Correspondence, <fec.
Collecting together the vast amount of material daily accumulating in this important and ra-
pidly improving department of medical science, the value of the information which it pre-
sents to the subscriber may be estimated from the character of the gentlemen who have already
promised their support, including such names as those of Drs. ATTHILL, ROBEKT BARNES, HENRY
BENNET, THOMAS CHAMBERS, FLEKTWOOD CHURCHILL, MATTHEWS DUNCAN, GRAILY HEWITT,
BRAXTON HICKS, ALFRED MEADOWS, W. LEISHMAN, ALEX. SIMPSON, TYLER SMITH, EDWARD J.
TILT, SPENCER WELLS, &c. &c. ; in short, the representative men of British Obstetrics and Gynae-
cology.
In order to render the OBSTETRICAL JOURNAL fully adequate to the wants of the American
profession, each number contains a Supplement devoted to the advances made in Obstetrics and
Gynaecology on this side of the Atlantic. This portion of the Journal is under the editorial
charge of Dr. WILLIAM F. JENKS, to whom editorial communications, exchanges, books for re-
view, &c., may be addressed, to the care of the publisher.
*,: * Complete sets from the beginning can no longer be furnished, but subscriptions can com-
mence with January, 1874, or with Vol. II., April, 1874.
^THOMAS (T.GAILLARD},M.D.,
*- Professor of Obstetrics, &c., in the. College of Physicians and Siirgeongj N. T., &c.
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE DISEASES OF WOMEN. Third
edition, enlarged and thoroughly revised. In one large and handsome octavo volume of
784 pages, with 246 illustrations" Cloth, $5 00; leather, $6 00. (Lately Issued.)
The author has taken advantage of the opportunity afforded by the call for another edition of
this work to render it worthy a continuance of the very remarkable favor with which it has been
received. Every portion has been subjected to a conscientious revision, several new chapters
have been added, and no labor spared to make it a complete treatise on the most advanced con-
dition of its important subject. The present edition therefore contains about one-third more
matter than the previous one, notwithstanding which the price has been maintained at the former
very moderate rate, rendering this one of the cheapest volumes accessible to the profession.
As compared with the first edition, flve new chap- We are free to say that we regard Dr. Thomas the
ters on dysmenorrhcea, peri-uterine fluid tumors, ' best American authority on diseases of women. Seve-
cornposite tumors of the ovary, solid tumors of the ral others have written, and written well, but none
ovary, and chlorosis, have been added. Twenty- j have so clearly an') carefully arranged their text and
seven additional woodcuts have beeu introduced, instruction as Dr. Thomas. Cincinnati Lancet and
many subjects have been subdivided, and all have Observer, May, 1872.
received important interstitial increase In fact; the We deem it 8carc ely necessary to recommend this
: has been practically rewritten, and greatly in- work to physicians as it is now widely known, and
creased lu value Briefly, we may say that we know mos( of them H i rea dy possess it, or will certainly do
no book which so completely and concisely repre- so To stm ] e nts we unhesitatingly recommend it as
sents he present state of gynaecology ; none so full the best text-book on diseases of females extant.-^.
ell-digested and reliable teaching; none which Lnuif Med p epnr ler, June. 1869.
bespeaks an author more apt in research and abun- , ,.
dant in resources. 2V Y Med Record May 1, 1872 Of a11 th<? "my of books that have appeared of late
w ,.,.,,. years, on the diseasesof the uterus and itsappendages,
We should not be doing oar duty to the profession we know of none that is so clear, comprehensive, and
did we not tell those who are unacquainted with the practical as this of Dr. Thomas', or one that we should
book how much it is valued by gynecologists, and v .mticallv recommend to the voung practi-
how it is in many respects one of the best text-books . ' ' h - ^ _ Cu Ufornia Med. Gazette, June,
on the subject we possess in our language. We have , S69 '
no hesitation in recommending Dr. Thomas's work as
one of the most complete of its kind ever published. If not the best work extaQt or j the subject of which
It should be in the possession of every practitioner it treats, it is certainly second to none other, ho
for reference and for study.- London Lancet, April f hort time ha8 elapsed since the medical press
27, 1872. teemed with commendatory notices of the nrst edition,
that it would be superfluous to give an ex'tended re-
Our author is not one of those whose views "never piew of what is uow nrr nlv established as the American
change." On the contrary, they have been modified tex t-book of Gynaecology. N. . Med. Gazette, July
in many particulars to accord with theprogressma.de 17 jggg
in this department of medical science: hence it has the '
fresh aess of an entirely new work. No general prac- This is a new and revised edition of a work which
ticioner can afford to be without it. St. Louis Med. \ we recently noticed at some length, and earnestly
and Surg Journal, May, 1S72. commended to the favorable attention of our readers.
The tact that, in the short space of one year, this
Its able author need not fear comparison between second edition makes its appearance, shows that the
it and any similar work in the English language ; ?eneral judgment of the profession has largely con-
nay more, as a text-book for students and as a guide flrmed the opinion we gave afthat time.- Cincinnati
f>r practitioners, we believe it is unequalled. In the ane( # Aug 1869.
libraries of reading physicians we meet with it
of ener than any other treatise on diseases of women. I It is so short a time since we gave a full review of
We conclude our brief review by repeating the hearty the first edition of this book, that we deem it only
commendation of tMs volume gi^en when we com- necessary uow to call attention to the second appear-
menced : if either student or practitioner 'an get but ance of the work. Its success has been remarkable,
one book on diseases of women tha.- book should be and we can only congratulate the author on the
"Thomas." Arntr. Jour. Med. Sciences, April, *>rillvant reception his book has received. N. Y. Med.
1872. i Journal, April, 1869.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Diseases of Women}.
TTODGE (HUGH L.}, M.D.,
*-* Emeritus Professor of OkxMrics, &c., in the University of Pennsylvania.
ON DISEASES PECULIAR TO WOMEN; including Displacements
of the Uterus. With original illustrations. Second edition, revised and enlarged. In
one beautifully printed octavo volume of 531 pages, extra cloth. $4 50. (Lately Issued.)
hat which speaks of the mechanical treatment of dis-
placements of that organ. He is disposed, as a non-
eliever in the frequency of inflammations of the
uterus, to take strong ground against many of the
highest authorities in this branch of medicine, and
From PROF. W. H. BYFORD, of the Rush Medical
College, Chicngo.
The book bears the impress of a master hand, and
oiust, as its predecessor, prove acceptable to the pro-
In diseases of women Dr. Hodge has estab-
lished a school of treatment that has become world-
wide in fame.
Professor Hodge's work Is truly an original one
from beginning to end, consequently no one can pe-
ruse its pages without learning something new. The
book, which is by no means a large one, is divided into
two grand sections, so to speak : first, that treating of
*peal
f the
the nervous sympathies of the uterus, and, secondly,
the arguments which he offers in support of his posi-
tion are, to say the least, well put. Numerous wood-
cuts adorn this portion of the work, and add incalcu-
lably to the proper appreciation of the variously
shaped instruments referred to by our author. As a
contribution to the study of women's diseases, it is of
great value, and is abundantly able to stand on its
own merits.^. Y. Medical Record, Sept. 15, 1868.
WEST (CHARLES], M.D.
LECTURES ON THE DISEASES OF WOMEN. Third American,
from the Third London edition. In one neat octavo volume of about 550 pages, extra
cloth, $3 75 ; leather, $4 75.
As a writer, Dr. West staua, m our opinion, se- seeking truth, and one that will convince the student
cond only to Watson, the " Maraulay of Medicine;' that he has committed himself to a candid, safe, aad
valuable guide. N. A. Med.-Ghirurg Review.
We have to say of it, briefly and decidedly, that it
'Macaulay of Medicine
he possesses that happy faculty of clothing instrnc
tion in easy garments; combining pleasure with
profit, he leads his pupils, in spite of the ancient pro- - -
verb, aluug a ruya i rort(1 to learning. His work is one is the best work ou the subject in any language, and
which will not satisfy the extreme on either side, but * hat it stamps Dr. West as the facile pnncepa of
it is one that will please the great majority who arf British obstetric authors. Edinburgh Med. Journal.
T>ARNES (ROBERT], M. D., F.R.C.P.,
-I-* Obstetric Physician to St. Thomas' x Hospital, &c.
A CLINICAL EXPOSITION OF THE MEDICAL AND SURGI-
CAL DISEASES OF WOMEN. In OTIP handsome octavo ^olume of about 800 pages, with
169 illustrptions. Cloth. $5 00; leather, $6 00. (Just R?ady.^
The very complete scope of this volume and the manner in which it has been filled out, may
be seen by the subjoined Summary of Contents.
INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. Ovaries ; Corpus Luteum. II. Fallopian Tubes. III. Shape of
Uterine Cavity. IV. Structure of Uterus. V. The Vagina. VI. Examinations and Diagnosis.
VII. Significance of Leucorrhoea. VIII. Discharges of Air. IX. Watery Discharges. X. Puru-
lent Discharges. XI. Hemorrbagic Discharges. XII Significance of Pain. XIII. Significance
of Dyspareunia. XIV. Significance of Sterility. XV. Instrumental Diagnosis and Treatment.
XVI. Diagnosis by the Touch, the Sound, the Speculum. XVII. Menstruation and its Disor-
ders. XVIII. Amenorrhoea. XIX. Amenorrhcea (continued). XX. Dysmenorrhosa. XXI.
Ovarian Dysmenorrhopa. Ac. XXII. Inflammatory Dysmenorrhoea. XXIII Irregularities of
Change of Life. XXIV. Relations between Menstruation and Diseases. XXV. Disorders of Oid
Age. XXVI. Ovary, Absence and Hernia of. XXVII. Ovary, Hemorrhage, Ac., of. XXVIII.
Ovary, Tubercle. Cancer, Ac, of. XXIX. Ovarian Cystic Tumors. XXX. Dermoid Cysts of
Ovary. XXXI. Ovarian Tumors, Prognosis of. XXXII. Diagnosis of Ovarian Tumors. XXXIII.
Ovarian Cysts, Treatment of. XXXIV. Fallopian Tubes. Diseases of. XXXV. Broad Liga-
ments, Diseases of. XXXVI. Extra-uterine Gestation. XXXVII. Special Pathology of Ute-
rus. XXXVIII General Uterine Pathology. XXXIX Alterations of Blood Supply. XL.
Metrifis. Endotnetritis, Ac. XLI. Pelvic Cellulitis and Peritonitis, Ac. XLII Haematocele, Ac.
XLIII. Displacements of Uterus. XLIV. Displacements (continued). XLV. Retroversion and
Ketroflexion. XLVI. Inversion. XLVII. Uterine Tumors. XLVIII. Polypus Uteri. XLIX.
Polypus Uteri (continued). L. Cancer. LI. Diseases of Vagina. LII. Diseases of the Vulva.
Embodyingthelongexperience and personal obser-
vation of one of the greatest of living teachers in dis-
eases of women, it seems pervaded by the presence
of the author, who speaks directly to the reader, and
speaks, too. as one having authority. And yet, not-
withstanding this distinct personality, there is noth-
ing narrow as to time, place, or individuals, in the
views presented, and in the instructions given; Dr.
Harnes lias been an attentive student, not only of Eu-
ropean, but also of American lite "ature, pertaining to
diseases of females, and enriched his own experience
by treasures thence gathered ; he seems as familiar,
for example, with the writings of Sims, Emmet, Tho-
mas, and Peaslee, as if these eminent men were his
countrymen and colleagues, and gives them a credit
which must be gratifying to every American physi-
cian. Am Journ. Med. 8ci , April, 1874.
Throughout the whole book it is impossible not to
feel that the author has spontaneously, con-cienttous-
ly, and fearlessly performed bis task. He goes direct
to the point, and does not loiter on the way t> i;i>--ip
or quarrel with other authors. Dr. Barnes's book
will be eagerly read all over the world, and will
everywhere be admired for its comprehensiveness,
honesty of purpose, and ability The Ohntet. Journ.
nf (frtat Hri'nhi nnd Ireland, March, 1874.
OHTTRCHILL ON THE PUERPERAL FEVRR AND
OTHER DISEASES PECULIAR TO WOMEN. 1 vol.
8vo., pp. 450, extra cloth. $2 50.
DEWEES'S TREATISE ON THE DISEASES OF FE-
MALES. With illustrations. Eleventh Edition
with the Author's last improvements and correc
lions. In one octavo volume of 536 pages, with
plates, extra cloth. #300.
WEST'S ENQUIRY INTO THE PATHOLOGICAL
IMI-OKTAXfE OF ULCEKATION OF THE OS
UTERI. 1 vol. Svo., extra cloth. $1^.
ON WOMAN: HER DISEASES AND THEIR
REMEDIES A Series of Lectures to his Class.
Fourth and Improved Edition. 1 vol. Svo., over
700 pages, extra cloth, *"> 00 ; leather, *6 00.
MEIGS ON THE NATURE, SIGNS, AND TREAT-
MENT OF CHILDBED FEVER. 1 vol. 8vo., pp.
385, extra cloth. *2 00.
ASHWELL'S PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE DIS-
EASES 1'ECI'LIAR TO WOMEN. Third American,
from the Third and revised London edition. 1vol.
8vo., pp. 528, extra cloih. $3 50.
24
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Midwifery}.
fTODGE (HUGH L.}, M.D.,
*-* Emeritus Professor of Midwifery, &c , in the University of Pennsylvania, &c.
THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF OBSTETRICS. Illus-
trated with large lithographic plates containing one hundred and fifty-nine figures from
original photographs, and with numerous wood- cuts. In one large and beautifully printed
quarto volume of 550 double-columned pages, strongly bound in extra cloth, $14.
The work of Dr. Hodge is something more than aj We have examined Professor Hodge's work with
simple presentation of his particular views in the de- [ great satisfaction; every topic is elaborated most
partment of Obstetrics; it is something more than an i fully. The views of the author are comprehensive,
ordinary treatise on midwifery; it is, in fact, a cyclo-'and concisely stated. The rules of practice are judi-
ptsdia of midwifery. He has aimed to embody in a
single volume the whole science and art of Obstetrics.
An elaborate text is combined with accurate and va-
ried pictorial illustrations, so that no fact or principle
is left unstated or unexplained. Am. Med. Times,
Sept. 3, 1864.
We should like to analyze the remainder of this
cious, and will enable the practitioner to meet every
emergency of obstetric complication with confidence
Chicago Med. Journal, Aug. 1864.
More time than we have had at our disposal since
we received the great work of Dr. Hodge is necessary
to do it justice. It is undoubtedly by far the most
;ne remaina ji uu original complete, and carefully composed treatise
excellent work, but already has this review extended OQ he Viaciples and tice of Obstetrics which has
beyond our limited space. . We caa ,? otC 2 ucl l lde A h 1 1S ever been issued from the American press.-Paci/Zc
aotice without referring to the excellent finish of the
work. In typography it is not to be excelled ; the
paper is superior to what is usually afforded by our
American cousins, quite equal to the best of English
books. The engravings and lithographs are most
beautifully executed. The work recommends itself
for its originality, and is in every way a most valu-
able addition to those on the subject of obstetrics.
Canada Med. Journal, Oct. 1864
It is very large, profusely and elegantly illustrated,
and is fitted to take its place near the works of great
obstetricians. Of the American works on the subject
Med. and Surg. Journal, July, 1864.
We have read Dr. Hodge's book with great plea-
sure, ad have much satisfaction in expressing onr
commendation of it as a whole. It is certainly highly
instructive, and in the main, we believe, correct. The
great attention which the author has devoted to the
mechanism of parturition, taken along with the con-
clusions at which he has arrived, point, we think,
conclusively to the fact that, in Britain at least, the
doctrines of Naegele have been too blindly received.
Glasgow Med. Journal, Oct. 1864.
it is decidedly the best. Edinb. Med. Jour., Dec. '64.
#*# Specimens of the plates and letter-press will be forwarded to any address, free by mail,
en receipt of six cents in postage stamps.
JIANNER (THOMAS H.), M. D.
ON THE SIGNS AND DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. First, American
from the Second and Enlarged English Edition. With four colored plates and illustrations
In one handsome octa,vo volume of about 500 pages, extra cloth, $4 25.
on wood.
The very thorough revision the work has undergone
has added greatly to its practical value, and increased
materially its efficiency as a guide to the student and
to the young practitioner. Am. Journ. Med. Sci.,
April, 1868.
With the immense variety of subjects treated of
and the ground which they are made to cover, the im-
possibility of giving an extended review of this truly
remarkable work must be apparent. We have not a
single fault to find with it, and most heartily com-
mend it to the careful study of every physician who
would not only always be sure of his diagnosis of
pregnancy, but always ready to treat all the nume-
rous ailments that are, unfortunately for the civilized
women of to-day, so commonly associated with the
function. AT. T. Med. Record, March 16 1868.
We recommend obstetrical students, young and
old, to hav< this volume in their collections. It con
tains not onlj a fair statement of the signs, symptoms,
and disease* of pregnancy, but comprises in addition
much interesting relative matter that is not to be
found in anj other work that we can name. Edin-
burgh Med Journal, Jan. 186S.
&WAYN (JOSEPH GRIFFITHS], M. D.,
^ Physician-Accoucheur to the British General Hospital, &c.
OBSTETRIC APHORISMS FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS COM-
MENCING MIDWIFERY PRACTICE. Second American, from the Fifth and Revised
. London Edition, with Additions by E. R. HOTCHINS, M. D. With Illustrations. In one
neat 12mo. volume. Extra cloth, $1 25. (Now Ready.)
* ; * See p. 3 of this Catalogue for the terms on which this work is offered as a premium to
subscribers to the "AMERICAN JOURNAL OP THE MEDICAL SCIENCES."
it is really a capital little compendium of the sub- answers the purpose. It is not only valuable- for
ject, and we recommend young practitioners to buy i t young beginners, but no one who is not a proficient
and carry it with them when called to attend cases of in the art of obstetrics should be without it, because
labor. They can while away the otherwise tedious
hours of waiting, and thoroughly fix in their memo-
ries the most important practical suggestions it con-
tains. The American editor has materially added by
his notes and the concluding chapters to the com-
pleteness and general value of the book. Chicago
Med. Journal, Feb. 1870.
The manual before us containsin exceedingly small
compass small enough to carry in the pocket about
all (here is of obstetrics, condensed into a nutshell of
Aphorisms. The illustrations are well selected, and
serve as excellent reminders of the conduct of labor
regular and difficult. Cincinnati Lancet, April, '70.
f>ii i a a most admirable little work, and completely
it condenses all that is necessary to know for ordi-
nary midwifery practice. We commend the bo<ik
most favorably. St. Louis Med. and Surg. Journal,
Sept. 10, 1870.
A studied perusal of this little book has satisfied
us of its eminently practical value. The object of the
work, the author says, in his preface, is to give the
student a few brief and practical directions respect-
ing the management of ordinary cases of labor ; and
also to point out to him in extraordinary cases when
and how he may act upon his own responsibility, and
when he ought to send for assistance. N. Y. Medical
Journal, May, 1870.
}\
TINCKEL
Professor and Director of the Gynaecological Clinic in the University of Rostock.
A COMPLETE TREATISE ON THE PATHOLOGY AND TREAT-
MENT OF CHILDBED, for Students and Practitioners. Translated, with the consent of
the author, from the Second German Edition, by JAMES READ CHADWICK, M D. In one
octavo volume. (Preparing.)
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Midwifery).
25
T EISHMAN (WILLIAM], M.D.,
Rrr/ius Professor of Mitltrifrry in the Univerfd f y of Glasgow, &c.
A SYSTEM OF MIDWIFERY, INCLUDING THE DISEASES OF
PREGNANCY AND THE PUERPERAL STATE. In one large and very handsome no-
tavo volume of over 700 pages, with one hundred and eighty-two illustrations. Cloth,
$5 00 ; leather, $6 00. (Now Ready.)
This is one of a most complete aud exhaustive cha-
ractiM-. We have gone carefully through it, 'and there
is no subject in Obstetrics which has not been con-
siil.Mvi well and fully. The result is a work, not
only admirable as a text-book, hut valuableas a work
of reference to the practitioner in the various emer-
gencies of obstetric practice. Take it all in all, we
have uo hesitation in saying that it is in our judgment
the best English work ou the subject. London Lan-
c<-t, Aug. 23, 1873.
The work of Leishman gives an excellent view of
modern midwifery, and evinces its aulhor's extensive
acquaintance with British and foreign literature ; and
not only acquaintance with it, but wholesome diges-
tion mid souud judgment of it. He has, withal, a
manly, free style, and can state a difficult and compli-
cated matter with remarkable clearness and brevity.
Mdin. Mni. Journ., Sept. 1873.
The author has succeeded in presenting to the pro-
fession au admirable treatise, especially in its practi-
cal aspects ; one which is, in general, clearly written,
and sound in doctrine, and one which cannot fail to
add to his already high reputation. In concluding
our examination of this work, we cannot avoid again
saying that Dr. Leishman has fully accomplished
that difficult task of presenting a good text-book upon
obstetrics We know none better for the use of the stu-
dent or junior practitioner. Am. Practitioner, Mar.
K-74.
It proposes to offer to practitioners and students
i "A Complete System of the Midwifery of the Present
Day," and well redeems the promise. In all that
! relates to the subject of labor, the teaching in admi-
: rably clear, concise, aud practical, representing not
! alone British practice, but the contributions of 'Con-
tinental and American schools. ^V. Y. Mtd. Rtcr>i,
\ March 2, 1S74.
The work of Dr. Leishman is, in many respects,
not only the best treatise on midwifery that we h:ve
seen, but one of the best treatises on any medical sub-
ject that has been published of late years. Lund.
Practitioner, Feb. 1874.
It was written to supply a desideratum, and we will
i be much surprised if it does not fulfil the purpose of
its author. Taking it as a whole, we know of no
work on obstetrics by an English author in which tl.e
student aud the practitioner will find the information
so clear and so completely abreast of the present state
of our knowledge on the subject. Glasgow Med.
Journ., Aug. 1S73.
Dr. Leishman's System of Midwifery, which has
only just been published, will go far to supply the
want which has so long been felt, of a really good
modern English text-book. Although large, as is in-
evitable in a work on so exten>ive a subject, it is so
well and clearly written, that it is never wearisome
to read. Dr. Leishman's work may be confidently
recommended as an admirable text-book, aud is sure
to be largely used. Land. Mtd. Record, Sept. 1S73.
ffAMSBOTHAM (FRANCIS H.), M.D.
THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF OBSTETRIC MEDI-
CINE AND SURGERY, in reference to the Process of Parturition. A new and enlarged
edition, thoroughly revised by the author. With additions by W. V. KEATING, M. D.,
Professor of Obstetrics, Ac., in the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. In one large
and handsome imperial octavo volume of 650 pages, strongly bound in leather, with raised
bands ; with sixty-four beautiful plates, and numerous wood-cuts in the text, containing in
all nearly 200 large and beautiful figures. $7 00.
We will only add that the student will learn from
It all he need to know, and the practitioner will find
It, as a book of reference, surpassed by none other.
| To the physician's library It is indispensable, while
to the student, as a text-book, from which to extract
| the material for laying the foundation of an education
on obstetrical science, it has no superior. Ohio Med.
The character and merits of Dr. Ramsbotham's i and Surg. Journal.
work are so well known and thoroughly established, i When we call to mind the toil we underwent in
that comment is unnecessary and praise superfluous, acquiring a knowledge of this subject, we cannot but
The illustrations, which are numerous and accurate, envy the student of the present day the aid which
are executed in the highest style of art. We cannot I this work will afford him. Am. Jour, of the Med.
too highly recommend the work to our readers. St. Sciences.
Louis Mtd. and Surg. Journal.
(JHURCHILL (FLEETWOOD], M.D., M.R.I. A.
ON THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MIDWIFERY. A new
American from the fourth revised and enlarged London edition. With notes and addition s
by D. FRANCIS CONDI E, M. D., author of a "Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Chil-
dren," Ac. With one hundred and ninety-four illustrations. In one very handsome octavo
volume of nearly 700 large pages. Extra cloth, $4 00; leather, $5 00.
These additions render the work still more com-
plete and acceptable than ever; and we can com-
mend it to the profession with great cordiality and
pleasure. Gin dnnati Lancet
Few work? on this branch of medical science are
equal to it, certainly none excel it, whether in regard
to theory or practice Brit. Am. Journal.
No treatise on obstetrics with which we are ac-
quainted can compare favorably with this, in re-
spect to the amount of material which has beer gath-
ered from every source. Boston Med. and Surg,
Journa .
There is no better text-book for students, or work
of reference and study for the practising physician
than this. It should adorn and enrich every medical
library. Chicago Med. Journal.
MONTGOMERY'S EXPOSITION OF THE
AND SYMPTOMS OF FRKUXANCY. With two
exquisite colored plates, and numerous wood cuts.
In 1 vol. Svo., of nearly 600 pp., extra cloth. *'.'> 7.~>.
RiuHY b SYSTEM OF MIDWIFERY. With Notes
and Additional Illustrations. Second American
edition. One volume octavo, extra cloth, 422 pages
%250.
DEWEES'S COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OP MID-
WIFERY. Twelfth edition, with the author's latt
improvements and corrections. In one octavo vol-
ume, extra cloth, of 600 pages. $3 50.
26
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Surgery).
fIROSS (SAMUEL />.), M.D.,
^-* Professor of Surgery in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia.
A SYSTEM OF SURGERY: Pathological, Diagnostic, Therapeutic,
and Operative. Illustrated by upwards of Fourteen Hundred Engravings. Fifth edition,
carefully revised, and improved. In two large and beautifully printed imperial octavo vol-
umes of about 2300 pages, strongly bound in leather, with raised bands, $15. (Just Ready.)
The continued favor, shown by the exhaustion of successive large editions of this great work,
proves that it has successfully supplied a want felt by American practitioners and students. In the
present revision no pains have been spared by the author to bring it in every respect fully up to
the day. To effect this a large part of the work has been rewritten, and the whole enlarged by
nearly one-fourth, notwithstanding which the price has been kept at its former very moderate
rate. By the use of a close, though very legible type, an unusually large amount ol matter is
condensed in its pages, the two volumes containing as much as four or five ordinary octavos.
This, combined with the most careful mechanical execution, and its very durable binding, renders
it one of the cheapest works accessible to the profession. Every subject properly belonging to the
domain of surgery is treated in detail, so that the student who possesses this work may be aaid to
have in it a surgical library.
It must long remain the most comprehensive work ( hesitation in pronouncing it without a rival in our
on this important part of medicine. Boston Medical
and Surgical Journal, March 23, 1865.
We have compared it with most of our standard
works, such as those of Erichsen, Miller, Feigusson,
S}iue, and others, and we must, in justice to our
author, award it the pre-eminence. As a work, com-
plete in almost every detail, no matter how minute
or trifling, and embracing every subject known in
the principles and practice of surgery, we believe it
stands without a rival. Dr. Gross, in his preface, re-
marks "my aim has been to embrace the whole do-
main of surgery, and to allot to every subject its
legitimate claim to notice;" and, we assure our
readers, he has kept his word. It is a work which
we can most confidently recommend to our brethren,
for its utility is becoming the more evident the longer
It is upon the shelves of our library. Canada Med.
Journal, September, 1865.
The first two editions of Professor Gross' System of
Surgery are so well known to the profession, and so
highly prized, that it would be idle for us to speak in
praise of this work. Chicago Medical Journal,
September, 1865.
We gladly indorse the favorable recommendation
of the work, both as regards matter and style, which
we made when noticing its first appearance. British
and Foreign Medico- Chirurgical Review, Oct. 1865.
The most complete work that has yet issued from
the press on the science and practice of surgery.
London Lancet.
This system of surgery is, we predict, destined to
take a commanding position in our surgical litera-
ture, and be the crowning glory of the author's well
earned fame. As an authority on general surgical
subjects, this work is long to occupy a pre-eminent
place, not only at home, but abroad. We have no
language, and equal to the best systems of surgery in
any language. N. Y. Med. Journal.
Not only by far the best text-book on the subject,
as a whole, within the reach of American students,
but one which will be much more than ever likely
co be resorted to and regarded as a high authority
abroad. Am. Journal Med. Sciences, Jan. 1865.
The work contains everything, minor and major,
operative and diagnostic, including mensuration and
examination, venereal diseases, and uterine manipu-
lations and operations. It is a complete Thesaurus
of modern surgery, where the student and practi-
tioner shall not, seek in vain for what, they desire.
San Francisco Med. Press, Jan. 1865.
Open it where we may, we find sound practical in-
formation conveyed in plain language. This book is
no mere provincial or even national system of sur-
gery, but a work which, while very largely indebted
to the past, has a strong claim on the gratitude of the
future of surgical science. Edinburgh Med. Journal,
Jan. 1865.
A glance at the work is sufficient to show that th
author and publisher have spared no labor in making
it the most complete "System of Surgery" ever pub-
lished in any country. St. Louis Mtd. and Surg.
Journal, April, 1865.
A system of surgery which we think unrivalled in
our language, and which will indelibly associate his
name with surgical science. And what, in our opin-
ion, enhances the value of the worx is that, while the
practising surgeon will find all that he requires in it,
it is at the same time one of the most valuable trea-
tises which can be put into the hands of the student
seeking to know the principles and practice of this
branch of the profession which he designs subse-
quently to follow. The Brit. Am.Journ., Montreal.
Y THE SAME AUTHOR.
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON FOREIGN BODIES IN
AIR-PASSAGES. In 1 vol. 8vo. cloth, with illustrations, pp. 468. $2 75.
THE
8 -EY'S OPERATIVE SURGERY. In 1 vol. Svo. GIBSON'S INSTITUTES AND PRACTICE OF SUB-
jloth, of over 650 pages ; with about 100 wood-cuts.
*3 2fl.
COOPER'S LECTURES ON THE PRINCIPLES AND
PRACTICE OF SURUERY. In 1 vol. Svo. cloth, 750 p. $2.
GERT. Eighth edition, improved and altered. With
thirty-four plates. In two handsome octavo vel-
umes, about 1000 pp., leather, raised bands. $6 50.
MILLER (JAMES),
JJJL Late Professor of Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, &c.
PRINCIPLES OF SURGERY. Fourth American, from the third and
revised Edinburgh edition. In one large and very beautiful volume of 700 pages, with
two hundred and forty illustrations on wood, extra cloth. $3 75.
DY THE SAME AUTHOR.
THE PRACTICE OF SURGERY. Fourth American, from the last
Edinburgh edition. Revised by the American editor. Illustrated by three hundred and
sixty-four engravings on wood. In one large octavo volume of nearly 700 pages, extra
cloth. $3 75.
OARGENT (F. W.), M.D.
OiN iJAJNDAUljNG AND OTHER OPERATIONS OF MINOR
SUR9ERY , New edition, with an additional chapter on Military Surgery. One handsome
roy&i IJJnio. volume, of nearly 400 pages, with 184 wood-cuts. Extra cloth, $1 75.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Surgery). 27
ASHHURST (JOHN, Jr.), M.D.,
Surgeon to the Episcopal Hospital, Philadelphia.
THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF SURGERY. In one
very large and handsome octavo volume of about 1000 pages, with nearly 550 illustrations,
extra cloth, $6 50; leather, raised bands, $7 50. (Just Issued.)
The object of the author has been to present, within ns condensed a compass as possible, a
complete treatise on Surgery in all its branches, suitable both as a text-book for the student and
a work of reference for the practitioner. So much has of late years been done for the advance-
ment of Surgical Art and Science, that there seemed to be a want of a work which should present
the latest aspects of every subject, and which, by its American character, should render accessible
to the profession at large the experience of the practitioners of both hemispheres. This has been
the aim of the author, and it is hoped that the volume will be found to fulfil its purpose satisfac-
torily. The plan and general outline of the work will be seen by the annexed
CONDENSED SUMMAKY OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. Inflammation. II. Treatment of Inflammation. III. Operations in general:
Anaesthetics. IV. Minor Surgery. V. Amputations. VI. Special Amputations. VII. Effects
of Injuries in General : Wounds. VIII. Gunshot Wounds. IX. Injuries of Bloodvessel.-;. X.
Injuries of Nerves, Muscles and Tendons, Lymphatics, Bursee, Bones, and Joints. XI. Fractures.
XII. Special Fractures. XIII. Dislocations. XIV. Effects of Heat and Cold. XV. Injuries
of the Head. XVI. Injuries of the Back. XVII. Injuries of the Face and Neck. XVIII.
Injuries of the Chest. XIX. Injuries of the Abdomen nnd Pelvis. XX. Diseases resulting frooa
Inflammation. XXI. Erysipelas. XXII. Pyaemia XXIII. Diathetic Diseases: Struma (in-
cluding Tubercle and Scrofula); Rickets. XXIV. Venereal Diseases; Gonorrhoea and Chancroid.
XXV. Venereal Diseases continued : Syphilis. XXVI. Tumors. XXVII. Surgical Diseases of
Skin, Areolar Tissue, Lymphatics, Muscles, Tendons, and Bursae. XXVIII. Surgical Disease
of Nervous System (including Tetanus). XXIX. Surgical. Diseases of Vascular System (includ-
ing Aneurism). XXX. Diseases of Bone. XXXI. Diseases of Joints. XXXII. Excisions.
XXXIII. Orthopaedic Surgery. XXXIV. Diseases of Head and Spine. XXXV. Diseases of the
Eye. XXXVI. Diseases of the Ear. XXXVII. Diseases of the Face and Neck. XXXVIII.
Diseases of the Mouth, Jaws, and Throat. XXXIX. Diseases of the Breast. XL. Hernia. XLI.
Special Herniae. XLII. Diseases of Intestinal Canal. XLIII. Diseases of Abdominal Organs,
and various operations on the Abdomen. XLIV. Urinary Calculus XLV. Diseases of Bladder
and Prostate. XLVI. Diseases of Urethra. XLVII. Diseases of Generative Organs. INDEX.
Its author has evidently tested the writings and j Indeed, the work as a whole must be regarded as
experiences of the past and present in the crucible \ an excellent and concise exponent of modern sur-
of a careful, analytic, and honorable mind, and faith- < gery, and as such tt will be found a valuable text-
full y endeavored to bring his work up to the level of j book for the student, and a useful book of reference
the highest standard of practical surgery He is
frank and definite, and gives us opinions, and gene-
rally sound ones, instead of a mere resume of the
opinions of others He is conservative, but not hide-
bound by authority. His style is clear, elega nt. and
scholarly. The W( rk is an admirable text book, and
a useful book of reference It is a credit to Amei ican
jirof>.*sional literature, and one of the first ripe fruits
of the soil fertilized by the blood of our late uuhappy
war. JV. r. Mad. Record, Feb. 1, 1872.
for the general practitioner. N. . Mad. Journal,
Feb. 1872.
It gives ns great pleasure to call the attention of the
profession to this excellent work. Onr knowledge of
its talented and accomplished author led us to expect
from him a very valuable treatise upon subjects to
which he has repeatedly given evidence of having pro-
fitably devoted much time and labor, aud we are in no
way disappointed. Phila. Med. Times,eb. 1, 1872.
1IRRIE ( WILLIAM], F. R. S. E.,
Pmfessor of Surgery in the University of Aberdeen.
THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF SURGERY. Edited by
JOHN NEILL, M. D., Professor of Surgery in the Penna. Medical College, Surgeon to the
Pennsylvania Hospital, Ac. In one very handsome octavo volume of 780 pages, with 3J6
illustrations, extra cloth. $3 75.
H
'AMILTON (FRANK H.}, M.D.,
Professor of Fracture* and DixlufUion*, Ac. t in Bdleoue. Hosp. Med. College, New York.
PRACTICAL TREATISE ON FRACTURES AND DISLOCA-
TIONS. Fourth edition, thoroughly revised. In one large and handsome octavo volume
of nearly 800 pages, with several hundred illustrations. Extra cloth, $5 75 ; leather, $6 75.
( Just Issued. )
It is not, of course, our intention to review in ex-
tenno, Hamilton on "Fractures and Dislocations."
Eleven years ago such review might not have been
out of place ; to-day the work is au authority, so well,
so generally, and so favorably known, that it only
remains for the reviewer to say that a new edit.iou is
just out, and it is better than either of its predeces-
sors. Cincinnati Clinic, Oct. 14, 1871.
Undoubtedly the best work on Fractures and Dis-
locations in the English language. Cincinnati Med.
Repertory, Oct. 1871.
We have once more before us Dr. Hamilton's admi-
rable treatise, which we have always considered the
most complete ana reliable work on the subject. As
a whole, the work is without an equal in the litera-
ture of the profession. Boston Med. and Sura.
Journ.,0ct. 12, 1S71.
It is unnecessary at this time to com mend the book,
except to such as are beginners in the study of this
particular branch of surgery. Every practical sur-
geon in this country and abroad knows of it as a most
trustworthy guide, and one which they, in common
with us, would unqualifiedly recommend as the bigh-
et authority in any language. N. Y. Med. Record,
Oct. 16, 1871
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Surgery).
&RICHSEN (JOHN E.},
*-" Professor of Surgery in University College, London, etc.
THE SCIENCE AND ART OF SURGERY; being a Treatise on Sur-
gical Injuries, Diseases, and Operations. Revised by the author from the Sixth and
enlarged English Edition. Illustrated by over seven hundred engravings on wood. In
two large and beautiful octavo volumes of over 1700 pages, extra cloth, $9 00 ; leather,
$11 00. (Just Ready.)
Author's Preface to the New American Edition.
' ' The favorable reception with which the ' Science and Art of Surgery' has been honored by the
Surgical Profession in the United States of America hns been not only a source of deep gratifica-
tion and of just pride to me, but has laid the foundation of many professional friendships that
are amongst the agreeable and valued recollections of my life.
"I have endeavored to make the present edition of this work more deserving than its predecessors
of the favor that has been accorded to them. In consequence of delays that have unavoidably
occurred in the publication of the Sixth British Edition, time has been afforded to me to add to this
one several paragraphs which I trust will be found to increase the practical value of the work."
LONDON, Oct. 1872.
On no former edition of this work has the author bestowed more pains to render it a complete and
satisfactory exposition of British Surgery in its modern aspects. Every portion has been sedu-
lously revised, and a large number of new illustrations have been introduced. In addition to the
material thus added to the English edition, the author has furnished for the American edition such
material as has accumulated since the passage of the sheets through the press in London, so that
the work as now presented to the American profession, contains his latest views and experience.
The increase in the size of the work has seemed to render necessary its division into two vol-
umes. Great care has been exercised in its typographical execution, and it is confidently pre-
sented as in every respect worthy to maintain the high reputation which has rendered it a stand-
ard authority on this department of medical science.
These are only a few of the points in which the states in his preface, they are not confined to any one
present edition of Mr. Erichsen's work surpasses its j portion, but are distributed generally through the
predecessors. Throughout there is evidence of a subjects of which the work treats. Certainly one of
laborious care and solicitude in seizing the passing the most valuable sections of the book seems to us to
knowledge of the day, which reflects the greatest be that which treats of the diseases of the arteries
credit on the author, and much enhances the value and the operative proceedings which they necessitate,
of his work. We can only admire the industry which In few text-books is so much carefully arranged in-
has enabled Mr. Erichsen thus to succeed, amid the formation collected. London Ned. Times and Gaz.,
distractions of active practice, in producing emphatic- f Oct. 26, 1872.
ally THE book of reference and study for British prac- j Tbe entire work, complete, as the great English
titioners of surgery. London Lanctt, Oct. 26, 1872. treatise on Surgery of our own time, is, we can assure
Considerable changes have been made in this edi- our readers, equally well adapted for the ruost junior
tion, and nearly a hundred new illustrations have] student, and, as a book of reference, for the advanced
been added. It is difficult in a small compass to point practitioner Dublin Quarterly Journal.
out the alterations and additions ; for, as the author 1
f)RUITT (ROBERT), M.R.C.S., See.
THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF MODERN SURGERY.
A new and revised American, from the eighth enlarged and improved London edition Illus-
trated with four hundred and thirty-two wood engravings. In one very handsome octavo
volume, of nearly 700 large and closely printed pages. Extra cloth, $4 00 ; leather, $5 00.
practice of surgery are treated, and so clearly and
All that the surgical student or practitioner could
desire. Dublin Quarterly Journal.
It is a most admirable book. We do not know
when we have examined one with more pleasure.
Boston Med. and Surg. Journal.
In Mr. Druitt's book, though containing only some
seven hundred pages, both the principles and the
oerspicuously, as to elucidate every important topic
We have examined the book most thoroughly, and
can say that this success is well merited. His book,
moreover, possesses the inestimable advantages of
having the subjects perfectly well arranged and clas-
sified, and of being written in a style at once clear
tnd succinct. Am. Journal of Med. Sciences.
ASHTON (T. J.).
ON THE DISEASES, INJURIES, AND MALFORMATIONS OF
THE RECTUM AND ANUS; with remarks on Habitual Constipation. Second American,
from the fourth and enlarged London edition. With handsome illustrations. In one very
beautifully printed octavo volume of about 300 pages. $3 25.
T>1GELOW (BENRY J.}. M. />.,
-U Professor of Surgery in the Massachusetts Med. College.
ON THE MECHANISM OF DISLOCATION AND FRACTURE
OF THE HIP. With the Reduction of the Dislocation by the Flexion Method. With
numerous original illustrations. In one very handsome octavo volume. Cloth. $2 50.
(Lately Issued.)
T AWSON (GEORGE], F. R. C. S., Engl.,
U Assistant Surgeon to the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields, &c.
INJURIES OF THE EYE, ORBIT, AND EYELIDS: their Imme-
diate and Remote Effects. With about one hundred illustrations. In one very hand-
some octavo volume, extra cloth, $3 50.
It is an admirable practical book in the highest and best sense of the phrase. London Medical Times
and Gazette, May 18, 1867.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Surgery).
29
f>RYANT (THOMAS], F.R.C.S.,
D Surgeon to Guy's Hospital.
THE PRACTICE OF SURGERY. With over Five Hundred En-
gravings on Wood. In one large and very handsome octavo volume of nearly 1000 pages,
extra cloth, $6 25 ; leather, raised bands, $7 25. (Just Issued.)
Again, the author gives us his own practice, his
own beliefs, and illustrates by his own cases, or those
treated in Guy's Hospital. This feature adds joint
emphasis, and a solidity to his statements that inspire
confidence. One feels himself almost by the side of
the surgeon, seeing bis work and hearing his living
words. The views, etc , of other surgeons are con-
sidered calmly and fairly, but Mr. Bryant's are
adopted. Tims the work is not a compilation of
other writings; it is not an encyclopaedia, but the
plain statements, on practical points, of a man who
has lived and breathed and had his being in the
richest surgical experience. The whole profession
owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Bryant, for his work
iu their behalf. We are confident that the American
profession will give substantial testimonial of their
feelings towards both author and publisher, by
speedily exhausting this edition. We cordially and
heartily commend it to our friends, and think that
no live surgeon can afford to be without it Detroit
Review of Med. and Pharmacy, August, 1873.
As a manual of the practice of surgery for the use
of the student, we do not hesitate to pronounce Mr.
Bryant's book a first- rate work. Mr. Bryant has a
good deal of the dogmatic energy which goes with
the clear, pronounced opinions of a man whose re-
flections and experience have moulded a character
not wanting in firmness and decision. At the same
time he teaches with the enthusiasm of one who has
faith iu his teaching; he speaks as one having au-
thority, and herein lies the charm and excellence of
his work. He states the opinions of others freely
and fairly, yet it is no mere compilation. The book
combines much of the merit of the manual with the
merit of the monograph. One may recognize in
almost every chapter of the ninety-four ot' which the
work is made up the acuteness of a surgeon who has
seen much, and observed closely, and who gives forth
the results of actual experience. In conclusion we
repeat what we stated at first, that Mr. Bryant's book
i^ on*' which we can conscientiously recommend both
to practitioners and students as au admirable work.
Dublin Journ. of Med. Science, August, 1S73.
Mr. Bryant has long been known to the reading
portion of the profession as an able, clear, and graphic
writer upon surgical subjects. The volume before
us is one eminently upon the practice of surgery and
not one which treats at length on surgical pathology,
though the views that are entertained upon this sub-
ject are sufficiently interspersed through the work
for all practical purposes. As a text-book we cheer-
fully recommend it, feeling convinced that, from the
subject-matter, and the concise and true way Mr.
Bryant deals with his subject, it will prove a for-
midable rival among the numerous surgical text-
books which are offered to the student .AT. Y. Med.
Record, June, 1873.
Thi is, as the preface states, an entirely new book,
and contains in a moderately condensed form all the
surgical information necessary to a general practi-
tioner. It is written in a spirit consistent with the
pre-ent improved standard of medical and surirical
science. American Journal of Obstetrics, August,
1873
w-
'ELLS (J. SOELBERG),
Professor of Ophthalmology in King's College Hospital, &c.
A TREATISE ON DISEASES OF THE EYE. Second Americar,
from the Third and Revised London Edition, with additions; illustrated with numerous
engravings on wood, and six colored plates. Together with selections from the Test-types
of Jaeger and Snellen. In one large and very handsome octavo volume of nearly 800
pages ; cloth, $5 00 ; leather, $6 00. (Now Ready.)
The continued demand for this work, both in England and this country, is sufficient evidence
that the, author has succeeded in his effort to supply within a reasonable compass n full practical
digest of ophthalmology in its most modern aspects, while the call for repeated editions has en-
abled him in his revisions to maintain its position abreast of the most recent investigations and
improvements. In again reprinting it, every effort has been made to adapt it thoroughly to the
wants of the American practitioner. Such additions as seemed desirable have been introduced
by the editor, Dr. I. Minis Hays, and the number of illustrations has been largely increased. The
importance of test-types as an aid to diagnosis is so universally acknowledged at the present day
that it seemed essential to the completeness of the work that they should be added, and as the
author recommends the use of those both of Jaeger and of Snellen for different purposes, selec-
tions have been made from each, so that the practitioner may have at command all the :is.-i.<t-
ance necessary. Although enlarged by one hundred pages, it has been retained at t,he former
very moderate price, rendering it one of the cheapest volumes before the profession.
A few notices of the previous edition are subjoined.
In this respect the work before us is of much more found difficult to the student, he has dwelt at length
service to the general practitioner than those heavy '
compilations which, in giving every person's views, j
too often neglect to specify those which are most in
accordance with the author's opinions, or in general
acceptance. We have no hesitation in recommending
this treatise, as, on the whole, of all English works
and entered into full explanation. After a careful
perusal of its contents, we can unhesitatingly com-
mend it to all who desire to consult a really good
work on opbhtalmic science. Leavenworth Mde. Her-
ald, Jan. 1870.
Without doubt, one of the best works upon the sab
on the subject, the one best adapted to the wants of ; ect w , hich has eve r been published ; it is complete on
the general practitioner. -Edinburgh Med. Journal, the su i,j ect O f which it treats, and is a necessary work
for every physician who attempts to treat diseases of
the eye Dominion Med. Journal, Sept. 1869.
March, 1870.
A trea'ise of rare merit. It is practical, compre-
hensive, and yetcoucise. Upon those subjects usually
JT A URENCE (JOHN Z.), F. R. C. ,
Editor of the Ophthalmic Review, &c.
A HANDY-BOOK OF OPHTHALMIC SURGERY, for the use of
Practitioners. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. With numerous illustrations. In
one very handsome octavo volume, extra cloth, $3 00. (Lately Issued.)
For those, however, who must assume the care of edition those novelties which have secured the confi-
di~ea>es and injuries of the eye, and who are too 1 dence of the profession since the appearance of his
much pressed for time to study the classic works on last. The volume has been considerably enlarged
the subject, or those recently published by Stellwag. : and improved by the revision and additions of its
Wells, Bader, and others, Mr. Laurence will prove a ; author, expressly for the American edition. Am.
safe and trustworthy guide. He has described in thit ' Journ. Mtd. Sciences, Jan. 1870.
30 HENRY C. LA'S PUBLICATIONS (Surgery, &c.).
/THOMPSON (SIR HENR F),
-* Surgeon and Professor of Clinical Surgery to University College Hospital.
LECTURES ON DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. With
illustrations on wood. In one neat octavo volume, extra cloth. $2 25.
These lectures stand the severe test. They are in- I tical hints so useful for the student, and even more
structive without being tedious, and simple without valuable to the young practitioner. Edinburgh Mud.
being diffuse; and they include many of those prac- | Journal, April, 1S69.
fiY THE SAME AUTHOR.
ON THE PATHOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF STRICTURE OF
THE URETHUA AND URINARY FISTULA. With plates and wood-cuts. From the
third and revised English edition. In one very handsome octavo volume, extra cloth, $3 50.
(Lately Publislted.)
This classical work has so long been recognized as a standard authority on its perplexing sub-
jects that it should be rendered accessible to the American profession. Having enjoyed the
advantage of a revision at the hands of the author within a few months, it will be found to present
his latest views and to be on a level with the most recent advances of surgical science.
With a work accepted as the authority upon the I ably known by the profession as this before us, must
subjects of which it treats, an extended notice would | create a demand for it from those who would keep
be a work of supererogation. The simple announce- I themselves well up in this department of surgery.
ment of another edition of a work so well and favor- | St. Louis Med. Archives, Feb. 1870.
J^Y THE SAME AUTHOR. (Just Ready.)
THE DISEASES OF THE PROSTATE, THEIR PATHOLOGY
AND TREATMENT. Fourth Edition, Revised. In one very handsome octavo volume of
355 pages, with thirteen piates, plain and colored, and illustrations on wood. Cloth, $3 75.
This work is recognized in England as the leading authority on its subject, and in presenting
it to the American profession, it is hoped that it will be found a trustworthy and satisfactory
guide in the treatment of an obscure and important class of affections.
WALES (PHILIP S.) t M. D., Surgeon U.S.N.
MECHANICAL THERAPEUTICS: a Practical Treatise on Surgical
Apparatus, Appliances, and Elementary Operations : embracing Minor Surgery, Band-
aging, Orthopraxy, and the Treatment of Fractures and Dislocations. With six hundred
and forty-two illustrations on wood. In one large and handsome octavo volume of about
700 pages: extra cloth, $5 75; leather, $6 75.
TAYLOR (ALFRED s.), M.D.,
*- Lecturer on Med. Jurisp. and Chemistry in Gtuy's Hospital.
MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE. Seventh American Edition. Edited
by JOHN J. REESE, M.D., Prcf. of Med. Jurisp. in the Univ. of Penn. In one large
octavo volume. Cloth, $5 00; leather, $6 00. (Now Ready.)
In preparing for the press this seventh American edition of the " Manual of Medical Jurispru-
dence" the editor has, through the courtesy of Dr. Taylor, enjoyed the very great advantage of
consulting the sheets of the new edition of the author's larger work, " The Principles and Prac-
tice of Medical Jurisprudence," which is now ready for publication in London. This has enabled
him to introduce the author's latest views upon the topics discussed, which are believed to bring
the work fully up to the present time.
The notes of the former editor, Dr. Hartshorne, as also the numerous valuable references to
American practice and decisions by his successor, Mr. Penrose, have been retained, with but few
slight exceptions; they will be found inclosed in Drackets, distinguished by the letters (H.) and
(P.). The additions made by the present editor, from the material at his command, amount to
about one hundred pages; and his own notes are designated by the letter (K.).
Several subjects, not treated of in the former edition, have been noticed in the present one,
and the work, it is hoped, will be found to merit a continuance of the confidence which it has so
long enjoyed as a standard authority.
^Y THE SAME AUTHOR. (Now Ready.)
THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF MEDICAL JURISPRU-
DENCE. Second Edition, Revised, with numerous Illustrations. In two very large
octavo volumes, cloth, $10 00; leather, $12 00.
This great work is now recognized in England as the fullest and most authoritative treatise on
every department of its important subject. In laying it, in its improved form, before the Ameri-
can profession, the publisher trusts that il will assume the same position in this country.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS (Psychological Medicine, &c.}. 31
rrUKE (DANIEL HACK], M.D.,
-L Joint author of " The Manual of Psychological Medicine" &c.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE MIND UPON
THE BODY IN HEALTH AND DISEASE. Designed to illustrate the Action of the
Imagination. In one handsome octavo volume of 416 page?, extra cloth, $3 25. (Now
Ready.)
The object of the author in this work has been to show not only the effect of the mind in caus-
ing and intensifying disease, but also its curative influence, and the use which may he made of
the imagination nd the emotions as thernpeutic ngents. Scnttered facts bearing upon this sub-
ject have long been familiar to the profession, but no attempt has hitherto been made to collect
and systematize them so as to render them available to the practitioner, by establishing the seve-
ral phenomena up in :i scientific basis. In the endeavor thus to convert to the use of legitimate
medicine the means which have been employed so successfully in many systems of quackery, the
author has produced a work of the highest freshness and interest as well as of permanent value.
&LANDFORD (G. FIELDING), M. D., F. R. C P.,
*-* Lecturer on Psychological Mtdicine at the School of St. George's Hospital, &c.
INSANITY AND ITS TREATMENT: Lectures on the Treatment,
Medical and Legal; of Insane Patients. With a Summary of the Laws in force in the
United States on the Confinement of the Insane. By ISAAC RAY, M. D. In one very
handsome octavo volume of 471 pages: extra cloth, $3 25. (Just Issued.)
This volume is presented to meet the want, so frequently expressed, of a comprehensive trea-
tise, in moderate compass, on the pathology, diagnosis, and treatment of insanity. To render it of
more value to the practitioner in this country, Dr. Ray has added an appendix which affords in-
formation, not elsewhere to be found in so accessible aform, to physicians who may at any moment
be called upon to take action in relation to patients.
It satisfies a want which must have been sorely
felt by the busy general practitioners of this country.
It takes the form of a manual of clinical description
of the various forms of insanity, with a description
actually seen in practice and the appropriate treat-
ment for them, we find in Dr. Blaudford's work a
considerable advance over previous writings 011 liie
subject. His pictures of the various forms of mental
of the mode of examining persons suspected of in- i disease are so clear and good that no reader cau tail
sanity. We call particular aitention to this feature to be struck with their superiority to those given in
of the book, as giving it a unique value to the gene- >rdinary manuals in the English language or (so far
ral practitioner. If we pass from theoretical conside- as our own reading extends; in any other. London
rations to descriptions of the varieties of insanity as Practitioner, Feb. 1871.
W:
T
INSLOW (FORBES), M.D., D.C.L., t?c.
ON OBSCURE DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND DISORDERS
OF THE MIND; their incipient Symptoms, Pathology, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Pro-
phylaxis. Second American, from the third and revised English edition. In one handsome
octavo volume of nearly 600 pages, extra cloth. $4 25.
A (HENRY C.).
SUPERSTITION AND FORCE: ESSAYS ON THE WAGER OF
LAW, THE WAGER OF BATTLE, THE ORDEAL, AND TORTURE. Second Edition,
Enlarged. In one handsome volume royal 12mo. of nearly 500 pages; extra cloth, $2 75.
(Lately Pub! if lied.)
We know of no single work which contains, in so \ interesting phases of human society and progress. .
small a compass, so much illustrative of the strangest The fulness and breadth with which he has carried
operations of the human mind. Foot-notes give the out his comparative survey of this repulsive field of
authority for each statement, showing vast research history [Torture], are such as to preclude our doing
and wonderful industry. We advise our confreres justice to the work within our present limits. But
to read this book and ponder its teachings Chicago here, as throughout the volume, there will be found
JHed. Journal, Aug. 1870. a wealth of illustration and a critical grasp of the
As a work of curious inquiry on certain outlying philosophical import of facts which will render Mi.
auts of obsolete law, "Superstition and Force" is Lea ' 8 la , bors ; of />>* value to the historical ,tu-
po
one of the most remarkable books we have met with.
London Athenaeum, Nov. 3, 18tf6.
He has thrown a great deal of light upon what must
be regarded as one of the most instructive as well as
dent. London Saturday Review, Oct. 8, 1670.
As a book of ready reference on the subject, It is of
the highest value. Westminster Review, Oct. 1867.
THE SAME AUTHOR. (Late y Published.)
STUDIES IN CHURCH HISTORY THE RISE OF THE TEM-
PORAL POWER BENEFIT OF CLERGY EXCOMMUNICATION. In one large royal
12mo. volume of 516 pp. extra cloth. $2 75.
The story was never told more calmly or with
greater learning or wiser thought. We doubt, indeed,
if auy other study of this field can be compared with
thif tor clearness, accuracy, aud power. Chicago
E.i'it/iiner, Dec. 1870.
Mr. Lea's latest work, "Sf udiesinChnrch History,"
fully sustains the promise of ihe tirst. It deals with
three subjects the Temporal Jfower, Benefit of
Clergy, and Excommunication, the record of which
has a peculiar importance for the English student, aud
is a chapter on Ancient Law likely to be regarded as
final. SVe can hardly pass from our meuuou of Mich
works as these wiih whiru tiiat ou ".mcerdotal
Celibacy'' should be included without nwtiug the
literary phenomenon that the head of one of the first
American houses is also the writer of some of its most
original books. London Atheneeum, Jan. 7, 1871.
Mr. Lea hau done great honor to himself aud this
couutry by the admirable works he has written on
ecclesiologicalaudcoguate subjects. We have already
had occasion to commend his "Superstition aud
Force" and his " History of Sacerdotal Celibacy."
The present volume is fully as admirable in its me-
thod of dealing with topics aud in the thoroughness
a quality so frequently tacking in American authors
witii which they are investigated. N. Y. Journalof
ftiychol Mtdicine, July, 1870.
HENRY C. LEA'S PUBLICATIONS.
INDEX TO CATALOGUE.
PAGE
American Journal of the Medical Sciences . 1
American Chemist (The) ... . . .11
Abstract, Half-Yearly, of the Med Sciences . 3
Anatomical Atlas, by Smith aud Homer . . 6
Anderson on Diseases of the Skin . . .20
Ashton on the Rectum and Aims . . . .28
Attfield's Chemistry ...... 10
Ashwell on Diseases of Females . . . .23
Ashhurst's Surgery ...... 27
Barnes on Diseases of Women .... 23
Bellamy's Surgical Anatomy .... 7
Bryant's Practical Surgery ..... 29
Bloxain's Chemistry ..... 10
blandford on Insanity ...... 31
Basham on Renal Diseases ..... 18
Brinton on the Stomach ..... 16
Bigelow on the Hip .... .28
Barlow's Practice of Medicine . . . 14
Bowman's (John E.) Practical Chemistry . . 11
Bowman's (John E.) Medical Chemistry . . il
Buckler on Bronchitis ..... .17
Bumstead on Venereal ...... 19
Bumstead and Cullerier's Atlas of Venereal . 19
Carpenter's Human Physiology .... 8
Carpenter's Comparative Physiology ... 8
Carpenter on the Use and Abuse of Alcohol . 13
Carson's Synopsis of Materia Medica . . .13
Chambers on the Indigestions . . . .15
Chambers's Restorative Medicine . 15
Christison and Griffith's Dispensatory . . 13
Churchill's System of Midwifery . . . .25
Churchill on Puerperal Fever ... | 23
Condie on Diseases of Children . . . 21
Cooper's (B. B.) Lectures on Surgery . . 26
Cullerier's Atlas of Venereal Diseases . * 19
C yclopedia of Practical Medicine . * 16
Dalton's Human Physiology .... 9
De Jongh on Cod-Liver Oil . . . . * 13
Dewee&'s System of Midwifery ... * 25
Dewees on Diseases of Females .
Dewees on Diseases of Children .
Druitt's Modern Surgery
Dunglison's Medical Dictionary
Dunglison's Human Physiology
Dunglison on New Remedies
'
Ellis' s Medical Formulary, by Smith .
Erichsen's System of Surgery
Fenwick's Diagnosis .....
Flint ou Respiratory Organs . . . .
Flint on the Heart ......
Flint's Practice of Medicine . . . .
Fownes's Elementary Chemistry . . .
Fox on Diseases of the Stomach . . .
Fuller on the Lungs, &c .....
Green's Pathology and Morbid Anatomy .
Gibson's Surgery ......
G luge's Pathological Histology, by Leidy .
Galloway's Qualitative Analysis . . .
Gray's Anatomy ...... -
Griffith's (R. E.) Universal Formulary . 13
Gross on Foreign Bodies in Air-Passages . 26
Gross's Principles and Practice of Surgery . . 26
Gross's Pathological Anatomy . . . 14
Guersant on Surgical Diseases of Children . 20
Hamilton on Dislocations and Fracture* . 27
Hartshorne's Essentials of Medicine . . 16
Bartshorne's Conspectus of the Medical Sciences 5
Hartshorne's Anatomj and Physiology . . 7
Heath's Practical Anatomy ..... 7
Hoblyn's Medical Dictionary .... 4
Hodge on Women ....... 23
Hodge's Obstetrics ....... 24
Hodges' Practical Dissections . ..'.. .6
Holland's Medical Notes and Reflections . . 14
Horner's Anatomy and Histology ... 6
Hudson on Fevers ...... 18
Hill on Venereal Diseases ..... 19
Hillier's Handbook of Skin Diseases . . 20
Jones and Sieveking's Pathological Anatomy . 14
PAGE
; Jones (C. Handfield) on Nervous Disorders . 18
Kirkes' Physiology / . . . 8
I Koapp's Chemical Technology . .11
Lea's Superstition and Force . . . .31
1 Lea's Studies in Church History . . . .3]
I Lincoln on Electro Therapeutics . . . .18
I Leishman's Midwifery ...... -5
La Roche on Yellow Fever 14
La Roche on Pneumonia, &c. . . . .17
Laurence and Moon's Ophthalmic Surgery . . 2f>
I Lawson on the Eye 28
Laycock on Medical Observation . . . .14
Lehmann's Physiological Chemistry, 2 vols. . 8
Lehmann's Chemical Physiology .... &
Ludlow's Manual of Examinations ... 6
Lyons on Fever 18
Maclise's Surgical Anatomy 7
Marshall's Physiology 8
Medical News and Library 2
Meigs's Lectures on Diseases of Women . . 23
Meigs on Puerperal Fever . . . . ' . 23
Miller's Practice of Surgery 26
Miller's Principles of Sargery . . . .26
Montgomery on Pregnancy . .... 25
Neill and Smith's Compendium of Med. Science . 5
Neligan's Atlas of Diseases of the Skin . . 20
Neligan on Diseases of the Skin . . . .20
Obstetrical Journal 22
Odling's Practical Chemistry .... 10
Pavy on Digestion 15
Pavy on Food 15
Prize Essays on Consumption .... 17
Parrish's Practical Pharmacy .... 12
Pirrie's System of Surgery 27
Pereira's Mat. Medica and Therapeutics, abridged 1 2
Quain and Sharpey's Anatomy, by Leidy . . 6
Roberts on Urinary Diseases 18
Ramsbotham on Parturition 25
Rigby's Midwifery 25
Royle's Materia Medica and Therapeutics . . 13
Swayne's Obstetric Aphorisms . . . .24
Sargent's Minor Surgery 26
Sharpey and Quain's Anatomy, by Leidy . .6
Skey's Operative Surgery 26
Slade on Diphtheria 18
Smith (J. L.) on Children 21
Smith (H. H.) and Homer's Anatomical Atlas . 6
Smith (Edward) on Consumption . . . .17
Smith on Wasting Diseases of Children . . 21
Still6's Therapeutics 12
Sturges on Clinical Medicine . . . .14
Tanner's Manual of Clinical Medicine ... 6
Tanner on Pregnancy 24
Taylor's Medical Jurisprudence . . .30
Taylor's Principles and Practice of Med Jurisp. 30
Tuke on the Influence of the Mind . . .31
Thomas on Diseases of Females . . . .22
Thompson on Urinary Organs . . . .30
Thompson on Stricture 30
Thompson on the Prostate 30
Todd on Acute Diseases 14
Wales on Surgical Operations . . . . 3W
Walshe on the Heart 17
Watson's Practice of Physic 16
Wells on the Eye 29
West on Diseases of Females . . . .23
West on Diseases of Children .... 21
West on Nervous Disorders of Children . . 21
West on Ulceration of Os Uteri 23
What to Observe in Medical Cases . . .14
Williams on Consumption 17
Wilson s Human Anatomy 7
Wilson on Diseases of the Skin .... 20
Wilson's Hates on Diseases of the Skin . . 20
Wilson's Handbook of Cutaneous Medicine . 20
Winslow on Brain and Mind .... 31
Wohler's Organic Chemistry . . . .11
Wiuckel on Childbed 24
Zeissl on Venereal 19
For "THE AMERICAN CHEMIST" FIVE DOLLARS a year, see p. 11.
For "THE OBSTETRICAL JOURNAL" FIVE DOLLARS a year, see p. 22.
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