Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-25


o. this branch of re-
search Prof. w.
o. Atwater and Dr.
Edward Atkinson The former gentleman
has beel engaged to conduct certain inyes-
legations and experiments of an original
ana hiShly scientific character At the bot
tOHl oil the whole inquiry lies the fact that
me people of this country do not know
no" 10 choose the foods they eat or how
10 COOK them afterward. This burden of
ignorance falls most heavily upon the wage
workers. who. taking an average among
them, use one-half of their money to buy
Iood with. this estimate not including the
cost oil cooking The poor man wastes In
purchasing provender; his wife wastes in
preparing II for the table. When an in
'eiseht person buys a coat. he has a
pretty fair idea as to whether II fits him
and how it will wear. But when he invests
m meat and potatoes. he has little Informal
toh as 10 how much nutriment they con-
taIh or whether IL is of a kind suited to his
bodily requirements
Prof Atwater has an apparatus at wes-
iey2n University for measuring the physi-
cal income and outgC of human beings 1t
- metal box, inside of which a man is
Pidcel- he stays there for several days
curing which ne is fed on carefully weigh
Gu Quantities of certain foods A current
OF air IS drawn through the box by a ma
ehine pump. Not only is all the waste from
tne mans body analysed and weighed hui
e ar Is subjected to analysis before IL
SCeS III and after IL comes out of the box
by TIE latter analysis 1t is discovered inst
49, eieineAts and how much of them have
- - sven OF from the lungs of the man i'm
s-'HiiS- Everything that goes into the
bo1y Of the subject being known as We'll a.
the CutSo, IL is easily ascertained what has
S Sseh used to build up the tissues, to make
Dioot, &c The man In ;he box which haS
glass windows. NAV spend his ,;r,a -, ,.aIa
mes or ne may be occupied actively for
seNeIai hours OF the day. In this way conn
Patisohs are obtained as to food consumed
crn1itiOns varying
me Nutrition I'm Various Feeds.
HieSt educated people have queer notions
e""ut FOODS. Ii Is generally imagined that
al egg cCntains as much nutriment as a
p'uiid OF lean beefsteak. As a matter of
iac'' IL mas 10 per cent less of nutriment
pound for pound. Beef sirlotn f. only ?.
per cent as nutritious as beans and nease
chicken and turkey are ahead of pease and
s ueans n ms respect. being the most nutr1-
e4"1s IoodS KNOWN Shad and mackerel are
as nutritious as sirIoin steak Lean beef 10
early three-fourths water
Dea!ers say that the demand for fish is
actually Increased to a Considerable eytept
Dy The popular belief that II is good brain
1000. Inc reason fer this Is supposed to be
tnAt nsh contains a great deal of phos-
pnV pr, Us; an element that Is more abundant
In the brain and nerves than in other parts
OF the human body. But the fact is that
there Is no special abundance of phos-
phorus in fish If there were it would be of
no Importance. The widely circulated
phrase, Without phosphorus there is no
thought" was originated by a German half
In Jest.
On one occasion the elder Asassiz deliv
lecture INN Of ACt
culture-ft was in Boston-and remarked I'm
a joking way that fish was an excellent
brain food From this saying and from the
oft-1uoted phrase of the German scientist
above referred to has teen derived the ac-
ceptcd Idea on this subject. In truth, there
Is no cause whatever for believing that the
eating or fish promotes cerebral activity
But speaking of the relative values of
feeds, il is interesting to know that a pound
of lean beef and a quart of milk as ii
comes from the cow contain about the
same amount of nutritive material How
ever, the nutrients In beef are more valid
able for ordinary use. Prof. Atwater has
Invented new contrivance for measuring
TIE energy produced by various foods. The
food selected for trial-a definite quantity
of it's burned in a vessel surrounded BY
water. thcrmDmeter Of extraordinary
delicacy registers the rise in the tempera-
ture of the water. the quantity of which Is
known. Then an equal amount of the same
food is burned in the human body. OF
course. all food digssted undergoes a pro-
The Cheapest Food.
If the amount of potential energy de-
velope1 in the man is equal to tina. indi-
Gated by the rise in the temperature of the
water. 1t is proved that the energy power
of any human being is precisely equal to
the energy power that has been absorbed
in the shape of food. uIpfus energy. how
ever. may be stored fat in the body.
The fat Is stored fuel Americans store
excessive Quantities of such fuel by eating
too much starch. sugar and fats. 1t is
if-eyident proposition that the cheapest
fCCd to buy Is that which contains the
greatest amount of nutriment for a given
price. With a small equipment of knowl-
edge on this subject the poor man could
select his articles Of diet in the market
with vastly greater economy. In other
words. he could live much better for less
money He ought to be taught to select
such foods as wheat -four. corn meal
beans. milk and the cheaper cuts of meats
To start with. IL Is not easy for him to
realize that high-priced foods are In gen.
best is cheapest does not apply to foods.
The average man. leading moderately
active life. requires ffty-nine ounces of
food per diem. He consumes thirty-sever
our COS Of water and absorbs in breathing
thirty ounces of oxygen from the air His
total bodily income therefore. Is about eight
pounds d1ily. What he needs Tor his sup
port each 1ay IL four and ore-ffth ounces
of fosh forming albUmen. two ounces OF fat
an r,igh to mako fTtr-sizei candlA-sev-
ert-en r1I = half ounces Of sugar and
st~~Sh foI--fifthS Of an ounce Of mineral
me- ftarr-sfJch as common salt. DOta SStIirn.
Sr-tvO quarts II vatnr and 10 gallons of
O~-----n. - much water Is contained In
sr,,f fr0Is.thc. u7aY he spi1 To e1t as
r1>-,~.1, water IS we drink. In order to sup
rIv the et-NStS0cC= above mentioned, =
W., should eot daily twenty ounces of
br~rI ci-ht ounces Of heefstcat. thirty
c-l-,-OS Of potatoes S0f GRE ounce Of butter,
v-f4N mo C-f@r. Of v-ntar-or the cI-iv7 lent
A human being is composed mostly OF
v-t-r TIE holy Of y MN we'ghinS l1i
r,~r,-,1- contains ninn-v SIX hounds Or forty
sfV- Quarts - water. To complete his make
~ --ust he ado thirteen pounds of AZ
b----,4r1 ter pounds Of ge'atinn. TWENTY
.r-,o -,-r-r-f- ~ f1t cf-ht and half pounds
o. uh-s-,rc.p CO lime, one p0''nf Of car
b,-,-+r Sf Inc th-en ounces ~ S1IC7r ar'
st.-ch -c--sr OUNCES q fun-i1e ~ cal
ctr s-x o. ~~= 0f -N5srra'H 81 rrGor"sia
= t~.re 81 Cr'orf1r II potassium and little
ordinary tahla salt.
TIE Art Of COOKING
TITO h-,llctfrs - he iss':e1 by the DEPART
want n s~rir'-'--'-e VII attempt 10 teach
pe7-l, not only how to choose foods in The
rr,,r.,,t- brit also how - prepare then; prop
III