The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1905-03-03

WATER WE BUY AS SOLID FOOD.
What we buy as solid food is not
solid. 1t is partly water; some of the
commonest foods are almost entirely
composed of water.
Bought as food, water is tolerably
expensive luxury. In several instances
it costs something like two dollars and
a half a glass.
Let us begin with breakfast.
Look at that loaf of bread. To all
appearance it is solid enough. But it
is not. When it came into the hands
of the baker as wheat flour it con-
tanned water only to the extent of sew
enteen per cent. In working UP the
materials into dough, by kneading and
other manipulation, and in baking, a
great change takes place, and the
quantity of water has more than dou-
| bled. The wheat-fiour loaf contains
nearly forty per cent of water. W.
riousIy enough, its value as a food is
| increased thereby, The percentage of
water in the crust is about half that in
| the soft inside. a- .-
Cured" pork does not contain a
large proportion Of water; in fact,
| wherever there is a good deal of fatty
matter, there is. also scarcity of
/ moisture. So the man who enjoys his
1 slice of breakfast bacon may comfort
4 himself with the reflection that he is
/ getting fairly solid value for his money,
/ because bacon contains only twenty
| two per cent. of water. -, ...
/ Fresh eggs, on the other hand, are
4 composed of no less than sixty-five per
cent. of water. .. s.-
i The best dairy-made butter, no mat
ter how carefully prepared, contains a
i comparatively regal percentage of wa
/ ter. Out of fifteen hundred samples of
i butter examined by well-known au-
thorities, a small number contained
over sixteen per cent of water; the
larger number contained between elev-
en- and thirteen per cent. Carelessly
manufactured or adulterated butter of
ten contains much more water than is
permissible by law, and the breakfast
table may include supply of butter
4 containing as much, as twenty per cent,
4 of water.
4 1t is only to be expected that milk,
4 owing to its origin, should vary con-
siderably in its composition. Much de-
| ponds on the health and surroundings
of the animal yielding it. -
It is interesting to know that morn
Ling milk, as it comes from the COW, is
by no means as nourishing as the even
ing supply; there is more water in the
former. The daily ddarqt Of milk even
in its purest state contains an average
Of S7.6 per cent. of water.
| The choicest fish contain the largest
percentage of water. Thus, turbet and
sole are credited with seventy-eight
| per cent; salmone seventysfive per
cent; while the eofampner inhabitants
of the deep blue seq are content with
from forty to sixty per cent, as in the
case Of the homely herring.
"As cool as a cucumber is house
hold term. The cooiness is easily ex-
planned. Cucumbers are almost entire
y composed of water-that Is, ninety
five per cent, or over IA per cent.
more than is contained in milk, which
is itself a, liquid. Lettuce must not be
forgotten. Here is a further instance
Of how little substance may be in an
apparent solid, for the cabbage lettuce
holds ninety-two per cent of water.
1t will be seen that most of the good
things of life are largely composed of
water: but it is better for us that this
Is so. Nature knows more about our
digestive powers than we know our
selves, and she has designed her pro-
ducts-fish, flesh, fowl and fruit-with
so cunning a hand that the water con-
tained in each is essential.
Food containing very little water in
its composition is not, as rule, good
to eat until suitable process of cook
ing has rendered it safe by adding a
further supply of water to it, and boil
ing, as is well known, is the process
that renders our food most wholesome
and easy to digest.-Pearson's Maya
zine. 'i''*$S