The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-08-03
THE PEANUT .As FOOD.
It is Already Being Served Out to Ger
 man Soldiers.

I script.]
 The humble and slightly esteemed
 peanut Is beginning to assume impor-
 tance in the world. It is likely to be
 adopted for rations by the army of Ger
 many. the department of state at
 Washington Is informed. In that coun-
 try. the oppressive cost of gigantic
 military establishment makes demand
 for the cheapest possible food for sol
 diers. This requirement is met by the
 tgoober," which is more nutritious
 than the best beefsteak and highly
 digestible when properly prepared: --'
 Such, at all events. are the conclu-
 sions arrived at by Dr. Nordlinger and other German savants who have been
 Investigating the subject They have
 found that peanut 'cake"-the residue after the oil has been expressed from
 the nuts-is a highly concentrated food
 suitable for human beings. It Is calcu- lated to be of great value to the pea
 sant and industrial classes of Europe,
 which have suffered from a long and | nearly exclusive diet of bread and po- tatoes. Hitherto 1t has only been em-
 ployed as forage for cattle. sheep and
 horses. The problem confronting the experimenting scientists was to convert this crude material into palatable,
 nutritious and wholesome human food.
 cheap and easily cooked. This they
 have perfectly accomplished. produ- cling several preparations suitable for
 different purposes. which have already been placed on the market. One of these Is peanut grits-the coarse stuff dried, purified. bolted and packed in one pound boxes. Tn this form 1t Is used for soups and cakes, or as 8 vege- table, g~~,
 Peanut flour is similar to the grits. except that the material Is ground and
 bolted like ordinary flour. Another preparation Is in the shape of dry,
 light and palatable biscuits or rs"crack- ers." The new food is especially re- commended for the use of persons af
 flicted with diabetes. Also a fairly ac- ceptable substitute for coffee is made from peanuts. f, i One interesting fact ascertained by the German savants Is that peanuts raw or roasted are not nutritious at all, for the reason that the digestive functions refuse to assimilate them. The chewed particles pass through and out of the body almost unaltered. It is the same way with almonds and with nuts in general. The "goober'' has to be thoroughly cooked In order to be profitable as an article of diet. Boiled peanut grits. for example, are perfectly digestible. even by sick reo- Dle. t'>
 For the sake of 8 test, peanut soup was fed to one hundred and twenty patients in g. public hospital. . More than half of them found the new feed enjoyable and ate it gladly whenever 1t was offered. Others consumed 1t with out complaint, while about dozen disliked 1t extremely. being affected with stomach ache or vomiting after taking 1t. They complained that it had rancid taste. But nearly all throve well on 1t. Such being the case with invalids, some of whom were suf- fering from dyspepsia and other tli- gestive weaknesses, this cheap and nutritious diet ought to be most val uable for persons in robust. hsalth-- particularly for soldiers. sailors, work ingmen and inmates Of prisons and asylums. -
 The German military authorities. promptly accepting the suggestion of- fered by the savants, have been mak- ing experiments with peanut meal and grits. served to the garisons at Frank fort and elsewhere. They have report ed favorably to the ministry of war at Berlin, and, If further trials ]are equal \ ly as satisfactory, the new food will be 4 adopted as an element of the rations and field sausage" of the army. It is. likely. also, to find acceptance in the J navy. One important quality is its sustaining power, enabling the oonsum- CT to endure much fatigue. Iii this particular 1t surpayses even the hitherto ! unequalled "soja bean" of China and Japan.
 But the most conclusive evidence ih \ favor of the peanut is furnished bv analyses made by German chemists of high authority. They have compared 1t, in respect to nutritive value, with other foods, vegetable and animal Peas are more nutritious than beet steak; white beans are more nltri--I tious than peas; soja-beans are more nutritious than white beans: peanuts are more nutritious than soja-beans. In 9 pound of peanut grits thers is l nearly twice d. much nutrimsrit n in . pound of peas. One pound of peanut l meal is nearly equal in nonyieAlnE power to three pounds Of hss3 RSa1ut meal only cpsts four cents ~ parnA ap bulk ..3ssss V 1'