The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-17 00:00:00

SOCIETY OF ARTS.

At the ordinary weekly meeting of the members of the
Society of Arts, a paper was read by Dr. Edward Smith,
F.R.S., "On the Economic Value of Foods, having spe-
cial reference to the dietary of the labouring classes." Mr.
Edwin Chadwick, C. 8., was called to the chair. The
author said. that while he allowed the great value of per-
sonal experience and general observation, from which no
doubt much truth has been arrived, still their defect lay
in the absence of any large guiding principle, and in the
imperfect or perhaps the erroneous deductions drawn from
them. Exact scientific knowledge should be called in to
aid general observations, and to give laws for the con-
clusions. The economic value of foods depended upon the
price paid for them, and the nutriment obtained from
them; and it was important to remark that the latter de-
pen& not only in the nutritive elements of which they are
composed, but also the use which the body can make of
them. It was at this point that deductions from
4chehucal knowledge alone had led, and still were leading,
toierror. Nearly all the generalisations of Liebig on the
nutritive value of food were based simply upon their che-
mical constituents, assuming generally that they would all
be equally well digested and appropriated by the system.
The author proceeded to point oat what he conceived to
be the fallacy of this view, and also made some observations
corrective of the present popular description of nitrogen
as the "flesh-forming," and carbon as the " heat-giving"
element. Coming to the question of bread, he argued that
the popular prejudice against that which contained bran,
or brown bread was sound, and that the statement made
by chemists that this was superior as an article of diet to
white bread was incorrect. His reason was that although
the bran was ascertained (chemically) to contain a large
proportion of nutritive elements, it was not capable of
assimilation by the system, passing from the body
almost entirely unchanged; and that, therefore, all
reasoning on the relative nutritive values of the
two kinds of bread, founded merely on their chemical
constituents, was fallacious. His own view was
that brown bread was a diet suitable only for the rich,whose
food was usually superabundant, and not for the poor. The
author then paz=sed to the consideration of the nutritive
power of all the principal articles of diet, and showed in a
tabular form the relative amount of nutritious elements that
each would supply for a given cost. In conclusion ho ex-
pressed his intention, it an opportunity was afforded him at
a future time, of continuing the subject by considering the
combinations of foods in public and private dietaries.

Dr. Lankester acknowledged the importance and ability
of the paper just read, but differed with Dr. Smith in some
of the principles enunciated in it. The question was one of
the utmost importance to the people of this country, and
could not be settled by a few experiments. (Hear, hear.)
The Government had not done its duty by this question.
He was connected with the chemical department of the
South Kensington Museum, and so far from himself and
the other officers of that department receiving any assist-
ance from the Government, they had met with every ob-
struction from it, while large sums of money had been
wasted on old crockeryware which was useless. (Hear.)
He then contended that brown bread was nutritious and
economical, and instanced himself as an example of a man
who had lived on it for 20 years, There was in all articles
of food certain mineral constituents which Dr. Smith had
not alluded to, and which might prove more valuable than
the carbon and nitrogen he had spoken of. He instanced
potatoes, and in reference to their nutritious properties said
so important was it considered that the Itegistrar-General
noticed the rise and fall in the price of potatoes periodically,
and it was found that when the price of potatoes rose mar-
riages and births decreased, and deaths increased.
Dr. Gilbert differed in some respect from Dr. Lankester,
and thought that the addition of bacon to bread would be
better than introducing bran into it. He was of opinion that
celulose in the stomachs of animals did, to a certain extent,
digest,

Dr. Wise supported Dr. Smith's views. In referring to
nutritious foods he considered sausages the best, but they
were always looked upon with suspicion. He thought food
could not be analysed minutely, and that the irstincts of
man was a bettsr test of their value than chemistry.

After some remarks from Dr. R. Dickson and Dr. Buck-
[and,

The Chairman thought it was highly important that the
consideration of this question should be extended to public
institutions, such as prisons, workhouses, orphan, and other
institutions, where large numbers had to be fed. He recom-
mended that the subject should be considered on classes of
people, and not on individuals ; and he strongly urged fre-
quent and extensive ablutions as highly conducive to health
and an assistant to the food.

A cordial vote of thanks was given to Dr. Smith, and the
meeting seperated.

MARKETS—This Day.