Rocky Ford enterprise., 1916-11-24

lnere mas o6en an ioed PieNoieu1
mong dietists and chemists, as we'll as
people in general, that all fats, regardless
of their source. yielded only energy and
heat when consumed by the animal or hu-
man body ,and until very recently no chem.
ical or dietetic experiments had shown
any real important difference between
outterfat and other fats. 1t had. of course.
been proved that fats Of low melting point
were more digestable than those of a high
melting point. Aside from this. there was
thought to be but little difference in their
food value. In the estimation Of many "fat
was fat"and yielded only energy and heat.
The oeomargarine people often took ad-
vantage of this fact to exploit cheap pro-
duct as asubsitrtue for butter. Whether or
not this ''jusl as good or better product
is at alhworthy of the place they claim foT'
it has always been seriously questioned
by dairy and creamery men. In this con-
nection experiments carried on by F. B.
Osborne. of the Connecticut Experiment
Station. DR.. Mendel. of Yale. and E.V.
McCollum. of the Wisconsin Experiment
Station. are peculiarly interesting and
prove beyond doubt the real value OF
butter, viz, that butterfat not only yields
energy and heat. as do other fats. but
that it contains something more vital than
other fats-a principle which. like proteids,
supplies the elements necessary for
growth and life itself.
In experiments carried on with white
rats. young rats were fed mixtures COM
posed OF chemically pure proteins. starch.
fat, sugar, and various salts. and got
along splendidy for the first three months.
when they lost appetite, fall off in growth
and finally starved. After numerous of this
nature the investigators found that when
milk was added to the rs tion the little
animals began to regain normal condition,
to thrive and grow to maturity. Many
changes were made in their diet to make
it more palatable. changes in salt used,
the kinds and amounts of sugar. ect., but
always the same result-arowth ceased at
the age of about four months. 1t was in
an attempt to increase the pala.ability OF
the diet by substituting pure butterfat for
the lard. which had been used as the fat
IN ration, that the experimentors found
these new facts. for the little animals i'm
mediately began to grow Just as when
milk was fed. 1t was evident that butter
fat supplies something necessary for
growth which lard could not supply. Other
experiments were carried on to determine
whether other fats from the animal or
vegetable kingdom would produce the
same effect as butterfat. Experiments
with tallow. olive oil, corn oil. cottonseed
oil, and peanut oil proved futile, while the
fat of eggs. and fat extracted from the
cells of pigs kidney produced the same
result as butterfat. Thus it seems evident
that the fats obtained from the living pro-
toplasm of the animal have this property
of inducing growth after growth has
ceased. Thus far no plant fat has been
found to possess this power.
Experiments with pigs and calves gave
results similar to those obtained with the
rats. IF records of experiments on man
were available. it is reasonable to suppose
that results fully as striking would be
obtained. In this connection the editor of
Hoard's Dairymen recalls two instances
in which two public institutions had. in
the intrest of so-called economy, sub
stituted oleomargarine for butter in the
diet Of the inmates. 1t was noted that
when oIeo was used the inmates wese not
in as good physical condition and that
physicians were in greater demand than
before. When oleo was replaced by butter
it was reported that the health of the in
mates was materially improved.