The evening times., 1898-12-13
AN ESSAY ON Fish
As A FOOD PRODUCT
Points in an Official Bulletin
Intended for Farmers.
L0BSTERS, CRABS AND FROGS
Finny Tribe Menus Presented for
the Agriculturist's Table.
Dissertations by Dr. O. +. Lang
worthy ON the Nutritious Char
meter of Turtle and Terrapin.


issued as Farmers Bulletin No S5, a 27
page pamphlet on Fish as Food" DR..
c. F. Langworthy is the author.
One is rather startled on learning from
the introduction that the total weight of
the sea food and fresh water fish mar
keted by citizens of the United States an
nually is about l.696 o00.000; representing
as the value of the catch, S47 1S0, ,000--a
value which Is greatly increased by cur
ing and canning. DR.. Langworthy de-
scribes at some length the preparation
of fish for the market and gives the farm
er such valuable information as: Lob
sters. crabs and other crustacea are usu-
ally marketed alive. Frogs are marketed
alive or dressed. The hind legs only are
commonly eaten. Frogs may be eaten in
all seasons, but are in the best condition
in fall or winter Fish contain the same
kind of nutrients as other food materi-
ais. In general way ii may be said
that food tfish, meat cereals, Vegeta-
bles. ctc). serves a two-fold purpose
This Is followed by table showing the
per centum of refuse. salt water pro-
teln. fats. carbohydrates. mineral mat
ter, together with the total nutrients
and fuel value per pound in fresh fish,
preserved fish moluSks crustaceans,
terrapin, etc. After noting the calories
of various other food products the doctor
concludes that fish is essentially nj
trogcnOus food. In this it resembles
meat" Also that In general, ii may
be said that fish, meat eggs milk
etc, also cereals and vegetable foods. all
supply fat, the amount varying in the
different materials" In regard to shell
fish. he remarks with the wisdom of
Brillat Sayarin that: often favor has
Il value which cannot be estimated in
dollars and cents Farmers who may
not be convinced of the truth of this
statement will please read biographical
sketches of Lucullus, the gentleman who
occasionally dined With himself.
The doctor has analyZcd lob Jers crabs
and crawlish, and finds them to c)ntaIn
a fairly large percentage of M rien,s
This fact IS. in his opinion more no
ticeable when the composition Of the
flesh Is alone considered" Unfortunate
~ the doctor omits To give the calories
of the shells, that one cannot esti
mate tie value OF the carbohydrates
therein contained.
But here Is genuine news for the far
mcr:
Although the total amount Of turtle
ard rerrapin used in the United States
is considerable, the quantity Is small as
compared with the consumption Of such
foods as fish proper and oysters. As
shown by their composition, turtle and
terrapin are nutritious foods, although,
under existing conditions they are oX-
pensive deiicacies rather than staple and
economical articles Of diet.
THE total amount OF frogs consumed
per year for food is considerable. As
shown by analysis. frogs legs contain
considerable amount of protein. Only
ha hind LOGS "A fDmmnnlN The
meat on other portions of the body is
edible although the amount is small,
and IS eaten in some localities. The pre-
iudice which formerly existed against
frogs legs as Il food was doubtless based
or their appearance or some similar rea
son. as they are known to be whole
some
The doctor next considers the digesti-
biiity of fish. and in defining the tlrm
| digestibility. he finds that Ito many Ier
sons il conveys the idea that a parti .ular
food agrees with the user" To arrive
at correct data as to the food value of
fish. Il series of experiments were con-
Quoted under the auspices OF the Cn.ve:-
sity of Iaputa, with man to learn how
thoroughly fish Is digested and II COM
pare it in this respect with other foods.
In these experiments the food and fecCs
were analyzed. Deducting the nutritive
material eXcreted in the feces from the
total amount consumed in the fool show
ed how much was retained by the body.
IL was found that fish and lean beef were
about equally digestible. In each case
about s5 per cent of the total dry matter,
81 per cent of the protein, and over 80 pr
cent OF the fat were retained by the body.
Other experiments of the same character
indicate that salt fish is less thoroughly
digest ed than fresh fish
There is widespread notion the au-
thor continues, that fish contains large
proportions of phosphorus, and on that
account is particularly valuable as brain
food. But there is no experimental evil
dence to warrant the assumption that fish
is more valuable than meats or other food
material for the nourishment of the
BRAIN
4 number of fish menus suitable for
farmers are given. which would be more
valuable If accompanied by formuae for
the compoundng of the several dishes.
In conclusion the farmer is warned of
the possible dangers from eating fish
which are dangerous themselves by reason
of poisonous qualities or because of pto-
maines contained in the fish; and in few
welirounded periods he tells how to kill
the ptomaineS when they are found in the
neighborhood of the farmhouse.
Director a. c. True, office of experiment
stations, in transmitting the pamphlet to
the Secretary of Agriculture, gives the
valuable information that the article on
Fish and Food was prepared by DIR.
Langworthy under the supervision of
Prof w. o. Atwater. special agent in
charge of nutrition Investigations.
Heart Broke ns Daughter Died.