Los Angeles herald., 1905-10-19
GREAT FOOD VALUE TO BE
FOUND IN THE BANANA
FRUIT NOT MERELY PLEASANT
TO THE TASTE
1t Is Disestibe and Can Be Used In
Cases of Illness, Especially Ty-
phoId Fever-When Cooked In Va
rious Ways Results Are Delicious
From the Pail Mall Gazette.

From the Pail Mall Gazette.
Professors of dietetics tell us that
the banana is not, as so many fruits
are, a flavor and nothing more, but
food and source of real nutrtment.
1t Is at once useful and delicious. 1t
not only gratifies the palate, but sup
plies material for combustion and the
maintenance of animal heat, while 1t
also builds up the muscles and repairs
the worn and threadbare nerves. The
flour made from it in the dry state is
equal in nutritive value to rice, and
how invigorating and sustaining rice
is has been demonstrated in the recent
achievements of the Japanese. Dried
and sprinkled with sugar, form In
which it has been recently introduced
into this country, the upstart banana
is, weight for weight, as nutritious as
the venerable fig.
But it is in the fresh state, clad In
it's primrose tunic-the stripping OIL OF
which is in itself a fascinating opera
tion-that the banana chiefly appeals
to US. It's creamy succulence and dell
cate odor are inviting, and its pleas
ant sapor is prelude to good d1ges-
ton Dependent as that sapor Is on
all ethereal body which the coal-tar in
vestigators have not yet been able to
initiate by any chemical essence, 1t IS
q subtle stimulus to all subsequent
ELEMENTARY processes. And thus IL IS
that the banana Is an eminently diges-
tible food. No sense Of oppression or
drowsiness follows on a meal of 1t, and
meal of it may be bulky enough.
West Indian Ate Twenty
I have seen a West Indian negro
consume twenty stalwart bananas at
sitting and thereafter display un-
wonted ViVacity 1t seems to be
mainly absorbed by the stomach, and
this fact, together with the small
amount of waste matter it contains
IS per cent of it's substance possessing
nutritive properties-has led number
of American physicians-Dr. Usery OF
ST. Louis being prominent among
them-to recommend it as good In
typhoid fever. Its employment under
such circumstances. it is said, insures
through the stomach an adequate sup
ply of bland nourishment, without i'm
posing any strain on the attenuated
and abraded alimentary canal.
In other diseases and in certain dys-
pepttc disorders a banana cure, like
the grape cure, may prove profitable,
and 1t seems Just possible that this
mild and gentle fruit may become a
powerful auxiliary to our temperance
reformer. 1t mixes badly with alcohol
in any form, and becomes indigest1ble
when taken with spirits, and it is al
legged that the habitual use Of 1t dimin-
ishes the drink craving where 1t exists.
This remains to be tested by expert
ment. but Captain Parsons of the Port
Kingston, of the Direct Imperial line,
assured me that Stree the men on his
shfp-seamen and Stokers-had been al
lowed to partake at discretion or the
bananas which always form a consid-
erable part of the cargo, the consump-
tion of alcoholic beverages has been
greatly reduced.
Contains Trace of Copper
Perhaps some of the salutary effects
of the banana may be due to the trace
of copper 1t contains A little Iron is