The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-12-28
WHAT DOES A CALOR|E
MEAN TO THE FAMILY
How tho Housewife Can Figure cui
The Cheapest Efficient
Body Fuel.

Body Fuel,
washington. y e.. Dec. 2T.-~~"A
cAYniiy consisting of father. mother
and three children require about ! 20
lH0-calorie portlons fer an adequate
aaily diet
How much would that haNe meant
10 the average housekscper ten years
Ago9 she probably could mt have
told whether Galleries were Islands
ar canned goods" rs Mr.. Dooley said
NJ tn Philippines Lately, however,
tney haze been talked and written
about go much that she at least has n
vague notion that they ara IN some
way connected with the value of food
to the body and that the more cal
nrtes she CT provide for her family,
the better It Wi, be rottrisb /, The
unitcG States department Of agr3t~1 10
tire has recently published SOM
tables which make II easier t3r her %
"rollrt the calprics" As Kali s. tbs
spst of tn. food sire buys. She eau
use such tables without knowing arV-
thing more about caiories. lust as she
ran use electric light without under
standing the kilowatt hours Glat APP
pear In the monthly btIf; bur eator1eF
are neither SD mysterious nor 50 com
rlicatso that she cannot easily under
stand what they arc.
The word calorte comes from cal
or" Il Latin word TT ga nieg heat a
cAlorse is a unit for measuring guam
titles OF heat iust as a yard Is q unit
FOR measuring length or a pound for
weight Roughly. a ga tarte equals sE@
! 2mcuut of heat rsqnted 20 Fatse the
sempersture cf q poun5 of water 4
sdcxress r.
HEAT AND ENERGY SIMILAR.
But that isn't Ia" wheie story.
What we cali heat ana what we call
snergv are really Different forms OF
The gam fore.. The heat of the sun.
the strength of tIye winds. tae warmth
tror tie Gre the pressure 81 he ex~
pandinr steam or exploding gsls in the
engine even the flowing of SAP I'll tins
slant and the contraction of the
muscles In our hodics-aH these are
due to Tho same universal energy
showin- itself In different ways. Coal
Is mad ny Of substances held together
By this same rNs rEy, ard ~ Is sra.9o-
hre or Any OTHER kind OF fuel. when
the fuel Is burned. the energy is Sc.
tree In he form of heat which in liz
turn NAV become the force tllat drives
sh@ rnachit" In this Last f0rfn VIE
nli IL rnecha nical energy, and we
know that ~ given amount OF heat will
yi~ld an equivalent amount 81 rne-
ehantcfe. energy. Thus our Galleries
raise the temperature NJ one pound
Of water degrees +. o. enoughs me-
ehanical force To If. one ton about
Ane foot ard a halt
Now food is fuel for our bodies, and
Ebe energy stored In il can he released
in the body and used for Keeping II
warm ~ fen the work oa The muscles
much ~ gasoline is released and used
when the gas Is consumed in the
motor Tho more VS. exercise our
muscle the more mechanical energy
Ne release and the more must be pro
sided h9 our food fuel. IN order e
make Sure that We are stocking our
body engine rightly, ye must be abs
tp say both how much energy our food
yields feslied its fnel or energy valued
and how much energy our bodies use.
This is where the Galleries come in. for
re can measure both food energy and
body energy In Galleries.
FACTS SIMPILTTE.D.
II How scientists have learned To do
lhis is Il really wonderful story ir
which famous men all over the world
have been playing their parts for q
century, marvelously accurate APP
nnratus has been developed and all
6prfe OF interesting facts have beer
discovered. Thanks to It all, the
scientists now really know what are
The energy values OF our common
foods and what arc the energy needs
nc all sorts and conditions Of men
And, best OF ALI, they know these for.
3 merry mysterious things so well that
they can make them OF practical usf
VI plain, everyday people who dom
understand much about science.
Heat and energy are sometime,
measured in other ways than by cal
cries, Just as weight is sometimes
measured In Kilograms instead al
mounds. and length in meters instead
n yards. In questions Of engine fue
another larger unit called the Britisl
Hhermal unit, is usually more con,
yuntent than the caicric, while in Deal
Inn with scrne types OF mechanics
work the unit called the foot ton l.
often used But for questions OF hu-
man food and body energy. the eatoric
n almost universally chosen as tn
Woo1 satisfactory measure, Sometimes
V1naU the material measured yields So
Un0v Galleries that we have to discus
49, in tens OF thousands, the lot
eQ19e portion il used instead. just a.
{ dol rs are used instead OF cents Ia
-. ping prices. This l00-calorie
pOrJ - means simply the amount oil
= gfvoN food which would yield 1Go
cAlorieo Of energy.
d Thus we fnd that the sentence al
the beginning or this story really does
xnean something. 1t, means that the
4 FAMILY described in it probably uses
1 ~ body energy at the rate of about
i &.00e oAfories a day, and needs food
4 114i u the same energy value. N
CHOOSING CHEAP FUEL
S Do1H xu0l, like other kinds or fuel.