The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1868-06-17
Lecture On Food.

permanent contribution TO the lltera-
ture OF Europe on n very important
subject. In noticing these lectures
we shall confine our condensed eX-
tracts to those passages which every
one can understand, taking ii for
granted that those competent TO fol-
low the scientific arguments viii con-
suit the original reports, either in the
medical press, where the lectures
were first published, or in the volume
which Dr. Letheby will, no doubt, do
the English-speaking world the favor
of publishing.
Tables have been more than once
issued, showing the proportions Of
different food required TO yield a cer
tain number of grains of nitrogen, or
TO show the nutritive value of certain
foods; but these, although very prop
er subjects for the investigation of
men of science, are of very little val-
ue in popular .sense-so much de-
pends on various modifying agencies,
on cookery, powers of digestion, eli
mate and admixture of food. DIR.
Letheby early observes that all foods
are derived from the vegetable king
dom. In other words, "All flesh IS
grass, "for no animal has the power
of associating mineral elements and
forming them into food" 1t would
be curious question to raise to a par
ty which had just consumed a prime
sirloin--how much guano. superphos-
phate, and fanny yard manure had
gone, by the intermediatiOn of grass,
hay, turnips, and oilcake, 10 the con-
struction of that beef. Whether the
laboratory may eventually manage to
manufacture meat is question which
we have not yet commenced to solve.
"Man lat presently Is a destructive, not
constructive animal" DIR. Letheby
begins with the value of vegetable
food. Wheat stands first in Europe.
The attempts to restore the use of
more bran in flour have not been sue
cessful, and 1t is not at all certain
that they ought to be. At any rate,
navvies believe that white bread is
more easily digested than brown
bread Bran has frequently very
irritating effect on the intestinal or
! gans. In practice, 100 lbs. of flour
! will make from 133 to 1877 lbs.of bread;
so that sack of 236 lbs. should yield
ninety-five 4 10 loaves. The baker
increases this quantity by hardening
the gluten with alum, or with 3 lbs.
lbs. of rice, which, boiled TO gum
mg mess, will make the sack of flour
yield one hundred ID loaves. Scotch
oatmeal is more nutritious than Eng
| lish but oatmeal is not so economical
a food as wheat flour. In 1906, before
| tea and coffee were common drinks, it
appears, from an advertisement quo
| ted In the lectures, that there was
large consumption Of water Cruel ''at
the Marine Coffee House, Birchin
Lane, Cornhill." The value of barley
and rye bread we need not stop to
| discuss. Philosophers recommend
them to the poor, but the poor aban-
don their use as soon as they can get
wheat bread. Maize, or Indian corn,
on the other hand, has been establish
ed in ireland as staple of food ever
since the potato famine. Yet, al
though rich in nourishing matter, it
will not make good bread. When
deprived of its gluten and harsh fla
vor by means of a weak solution of
| caustic soda, and then dried, it forms
the expensive food called 'corn flour
Peas, beans, and lentils are very nu-
tritious whore they can be digested.
Nothing but the most prolonged
cooking will serre to help in this par
ticular. They are deficient in carbon
aceous constituents, ana therefore
invariably eaten with fat. Thus
beans and bacon, and butter with
beans, are inseparable in this country
while in the backwoods of Canada,
haricot beans boiled and then fried
with salt pork are the standing dish
/ OF the wood cutters. Potatoes, accor-
ding to their price, are the most eco
nomical food, but the nutritive value
is not great. They are deficient in
tat, and should be accompanied with
dripping, or better still with m Tx, if
meat or fish cannOt be had. On pOta-
toes and milk q family Of children
can be reared well. Potatoes are best
cooked in their skins, for the waste is
then only about three per cent,o halt
an ounce sn pound, whereas if they
are peeled, it is three ounces in 6
pound. Mealy potatoes are the most
| dNorncffhIn- n E,asA IN fhn yrh
they are waxy, they are best cooked
by stewing. Potatoes are one of the
best anti-scorbutics, and are therefore
used fresh or preserved in all sea GO
ing vessels. There is little nutriment
in the garden vegetables in common
use. They are much less nutritious
than The potato, and they are chiefly
valuable for their antiscOrhutic pro
! pertIes, for their quality OF fiaSorinq
insipid food and diiuting strong ones
Cheene theoretically ranks high fol
nutritive power, being especially rich
in nitrogenous matter, but it is eX-
tremely difficult to digest and cannot
! therefore be taken in large quantities
Almost all Europeans eat meat il
they can get it. Although during The
Irish famine it was found that the
people preferred stirabout to meat
soup, when Irishmen settled in Eng
land or America they became as great
meat eaters as their neighbors. The
. amount of bone in beef is rarely less
: than per cent; in the neck and
brisket it is about 10 per cent, and. il
i'll the skins & legs of beef it amounts
, to one third or even one half of the
total weight. The most economica
2 pieces are the round and thick flank
then, the brisket and sticking piece
: Horsehesh, DIR. Letheby says, is con-
, siuered on the Continent superior t.
! beef; and no doubt steak from fa
4 horse is better than one from lear
: mich cow or patriarchaI bullock
> Good bacon should not lose more thar
ten TO fifteen percent in cooking. Ex