The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-29 00:00:00

THE FOOD QUESTION-IRISH

DISTRESS.
The following are extracts from a letter contained in
;he second series of the correspondence relative to the
it adopted for the relief of distress in Ireland.
(Just issued by order of Parliament) :

MR. J. ERICIISEN TO MR. TREVELTAN.
Welbeck- street, March 9.
There are two points in connexion with the food ques-
tion to which I wish briefly to direct your attention.
The first is the relative nutritive value ot different com-
mon articles of feed ; the second the kind of diet that
should be furnished to the starving Irish.
It is necessarily the object of relief committees and
other charitable associations that provide food daring
the present scarcity, to furnish such food as will afford
the greatest amount of nutrition, at the smallest psssible
expense. Now, it does not follow that the lowest priced
food is in the end the most economical, as it may con-
tain proportionably less nutritive matter than a higher
priced article of diet. Thus, for instance, it has been
ascertained by Liebeg, Boussingault, and others, that
107 parts of wheat are equal in nutritive power to 111
of rye, 117 of oats, 130 of barley, 138 ot Indian corn,
177 of rice. 894 of potatoes, and 1,335 of turnips.
Thus a quarter of wheat at 80s. should, according to
their relative nutritive power, represent barley at 643.,
and Indian corn at 625. per quarter ; ar.d it would be as
economical to buy the wheat at 803. as the Indian corn
at 625. When we compare vegetable with animal mat-
ters, we shall find that the nutritive power of the animal
food (I mean the cheaper sorts) exceeds that of the ve-
getable food in a greater ratio than the difference in
price ; thus, for instance, a pound of wheaten flour and
a pound of common Dutch cheese are about the same in
price, say 2d. ; but the amount of nutritive material
contained in the cheese, more particularly of that kind of
nutritive matter that goes directly to the formation of
blood, bone, and muscle, and that is especially essential
to the maintenance of the physical powers of the body,
has been ascertained to be at least sevenfold that
which is contained in the wheat; and, although either
the wheat or the cheese are, separately, highly nutritious,
we shall find that the power of affording nourishment
possessed by these substances will be greatly increased
by their combination in proper proportions. This leads
me to the second point ; the necessity of variation in
diet, or rather the combination of different alimentary
substances for the preservation of health and life.
The body is made up of many principles, differing
from one another in composition and chemical proper-
ties. Now we might, a priori, suppose that textures
which are chemically different require different alimen-
tary substances for their nourishment. The living body
has no power to create any of these principles ; it must,
therefore, be supplied with food containing all the ele-
ments that enter into its composition ; ene of the most
important of these elements is a pi inciple called nitrogen,
and this the cereals contain in very small quantities
indeed ; whilst, on the other hand the leguminous plants,
peas, beans, and the pulse tribe, together with all arti-
cles, of diet derived from the animal kingdom, but espe-
cially cheese, contain it in very large quantities. Now,
nitrogen is absolutely necessary to the proper nutriment
of the body, and must be supplied in some shape,-and in
larger quantities than exist in the cereals, wheat, oats,
barley, rye, Indian corn, or in the potatoe. If the sys-
tem has to depend solely upon the amount of nitroge
nised ;natter that can be obtained from this kind of food,
an immense mass must be taken into the stomach to pro-
vide the requisite supply of nitrogen to the system. An
Irish labourer, though eating eight or nine pounds of
potatoes daily, about the average quantity, barely obtains
enough nitrogen for the nutrition of his system : this
quantity of potatoes not containing more of that prin-
ciple than, and being about equal in nutritive power
to, three-quartens of a pound of butcher's meat.
or half a pound of cheese. I would, therefore, most
strongly advise the relief committees, if they wish to do
something more than fill the stomach of the people, to
substitute for a portion of the cereal foul a certain quan-
tity of the leguminous food. and especially cheese. In-
stead of pure Indian corn, it would be better to furnish
ten ounces of the corn, with three or four ounces of
peas, or beans (the commonest horse-beans would be
highly nutritious and wholesome), and one ounce of
cheese. One pound of food of this kind would go as
far as at least a pound and a half or two pounds of In-
dian corn, in the amount of nutrition it would supply to
the body. In this way the consumption of cereal food
might be much diminished, the supplies in the kingdom
husbanded, and a greater amount of nutritive matter,
and pro Canto of health and strength furnished to the
people in the distressed districts, without an increase of
expenditure.
That this combination of the nutritive principles con-
tained in the cereals with those in the leguminous tribes,
and in the animal kingdom is absolutely necessary, not
merely for health and strength, but for life, is proved by
the experience of all nations.
I have not time to adduce many examples, and it may
not be necessary to do so, but I may refer you to the diet
of the Hindoos; this consists as its basis of rice, but in
addition, clarified butter (ghee), peas, or pulse are always
added. In Norfolk and Suffolk I find butcher's meat is
never eaten by the peasantry, who live almost exclu-
sively on wheaten bread and potatoes, but a pound of
cheese is said to be the regular weekly supply of each
family. In Dorsetshire and Devonshire, wheaten bread,
potatoes, with a little cheese, butter, or bacon; in York-
shire and Northumberland, oatmeal porridge, bread made
of barley and pea-meal mixed, potatoes, and cheese or
bacon.
These facts afford sufficient evidence that the poor in
this country find that they cannot live without either
t- I cheese, butter, or peas, where they cannot afford meat.

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