The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1915-01-22
MALT AND MILK.

1t is perfectly obvious that the ul'
innate source of milk in all mammals
must rest on the food intake ConSe-
quently, wherever mother suffering
from a deficient milk supply SEEKS
from those qualified to advise. lnlor-
nation as to how she may correct the
unfortunate condition, she is lnVarla'
| ably recommended to use a more nu'
tlltious diet In other words, she IS
informed indirectly that the food she
! has habitually used is deficient III
some important particular.
Almost without exception, the diet
recommended to a mother includes
some form of malt
The word malt is believed to be de-
rived from a Sanscrit word meaning
soft, and having a reference to the
fact that malt is raw grain made SOFT
or tender by a process in which germ
nation has been caused to proceed 10
a certain stage and is then controlled
and checked by the gradual removal
of the water and finally completely ar
rested by drying through the appllca-
ton of heat in kilns.
During this limited termination en-
zymes are developed and the constlt'
uents of the grain are so modified that
the finished malt differs from the orig
inal raw grain in that the greater
portion is split into simpler COM
pounds that more easily dissolve. An
engine Is complex organic sub
stance, or an unorganized or chemical
ferment, capable of effecting by ca
talytic action the transformation, split
ting up or digestion Of other COM
pounds.
The changes effected by the partial
termination and subsequent treatment
of the grain are chiefly the conversion
of the heterogeneous substances into d.
astase, the conversion Of the starcn
into grape sugar by the action OF the
diastase, and the imparting of color
and flavor to the malt in the kiln.
Diastase is an engine Of great physi'
illogical importance in that it is capa-
BILE of converting starch and glycogeh
into sugar principally maltose) and
dextrins. It occurs in terminating
seeds, in the leaves and in other
parts of plants and also in various AMI
NAL secretions, such as the saliva and
the pancreatic Juice.
A very common medical preparation
in the form of strip Of about the
consistency of a heavy molasses Is
made by digesting sprouting malt In
water. expressing the solution, pre-
cipitating it with alcohol and drying
the precipitate
Two new words have recently been
added to our NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.,
by Startling in 1906. and "vitamines," by
! Funk in 1912 Investigations conducted
since 1889 have fully demonstrated
: that some of our ductless glands play
a role IF vast importance in general
: nutrition, and this knowledge has
> proved very useful in widening oul
conception of the nutritional relations
q in the body. The conception that Ger
N tain glandular organs may give rise
to chemical products which on enter
'" ing the circulation influence the activ
ity of one or more other organs II
u finding application In the study O.
70 the digestive secretions.
10 The gastric and pancreatic "secre
10 tons" are regarded as examples Of in
10 ternal secretions Chemical products
70 of this kind which stimulate the &C
Is tivity of special organs are what Star
10 ling designates hormones
y Following a long series of investiga
% tons into the causes Of beri-ber' an
~ similar diseases. Funk in 1912 isc
y lated some highly complex nitrogen
>. Gus bodies from the grindings fror
-, - rice, from seeds, whole grains. ray
- milk, fresh meat, yeast, fresh frui
y, =. juices. the yolk of egg and the like
-. Because these compounds were nitro
"a genous and proved to be absolutel
50 essential to organic life-the absenc
J." of them is demonstrated to be th
cause of death from polyneuritis-
&c Funk named them "vitamines."
a. The vitamines are soluble in waite
10 and are destroyed by exposure for te
u to twenty minutes to temperature c
~ 24s to go degrees Fahrenheit and b
VI extreme dryness. SO far as Is known
~ animals are incapable OF making Wit,
" mines: normally they are found l
u plants, and especially In their seed
u and in animals that eat fresh veget;
81 BILE matter containing vitamines Fun
~ regards vitamines as the mother sui
d stance of ferments and the hormone
~ and of vital importance to the thyroi
~ and other ductless glands; cons
y, quently, they are fundamentally tn
u regulators of the genera co.ordin
ton of our bodies.
'o Obviously this all points to re
~ son for the effectiveness of malt G
o, milk secretion and opens wide tt
a. question Of nutrition In general.