The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1924-03-20

Gelatine, that exquisite confection
that melts away in the mouth into
cool, fragrant nothingness is assimi-
lated by the stomach quicker and with
less effort than any known food. Hos
pital physicians, as we'll as hospital
patients are so well aware Of this fact
that it finds large place in the diet
of the sick. That those who are well
love 1t almost goes without saying.
When the appetite pals and we seem
to crave nothing at all, gelatine, by
some magic slips down the throat and
leaves a sense of fullness without
sense of qualm. In food value it is
almost equal to sugar and like it it
supplies heat and energy to the body
without burdening the digestion with
proteins. Gelatine is not only well
come desert but it is food.
The quaint old Dutch city Of Delft,
noted for rare porcelains is also NOTED
for its manufactures of gelatine. To
its quays come tramp ships laden with
cargoes of bones from India; while
other ships carry to the United States
large consignments of gelatine that
has been made from these bones.
More gelatine is used by the United
States than all the rest Of the world
put together, for we are the greatest
consumers Of ice cream in the world
and it is a fact that over 90 per cent
of the commercial ice cream made in
this country contains gelatine. The
next time you eat ice cream remem-
Der that one Of it's important consti-
- LII T~,rl
was derived from animal bones.
Bones from India? Bones of what ?
Not old bones bought of the rag-pick-
ers! No. Gelatine Of the kind that
is made in the Netherlands is made
from the carefully selected shinbones
Of the East Indian water buffalo. This
is not the buffalo that once roamed the
"Great American Desert" in seemingly
linexhaustible numbers. 1t is not even
wild animal. In India the water buff
falo takes the place of the horse. It
is the principal farm animal. 1t is
domesticated. But the Hindu does not
eat water buffalo-any more than he
eats beef. Buddhims forbids either
the eating or the killing of all animals
and it is because of this religious
taboo that ninety thousand tons of
sun-bleached and DECREASED buffalo
bones are available annually for the
manufacture of gelatine, as well as of
bone buttons and Japanese ivory carv-
ings.
Gelatine is found in the bones of
most animals, as we'll as in certain
of their tissues and membranes. and
it's easy availability derives from the
fortunate fact that while insoluble in
cold water, it is easily soluble in hot.
When cooled, it forms jelly which
is able to include within its mass from
five to ten times its own weight in
water.
In a chemical sense, ignoring the
highly important considerations of
freedom from harmful bacteria and
certain chemicals introduced in manu-
facture, common glue is not greatly
different from gelatine. However, lit
tie pains need be taken to insure that
glue should be germ-free. It's essen
tial quality is it's sickness. AS long
as it is sufficiently sticky it makes lit
tie difference what part of the ami
NAL, nor for that matter, what animal,
it comes from. Glue is often decidedly
offensive to the nostrils because there
is no particular need to keep out the
bacteria that produce decay. Almost
any pure food will decay-unless steps
are taken to prevent it. But instead
of saying that gelatine. is sort of
glorifed glue, let us say that glue is
often debased and unclean gelatine.
Many of the manufacturers of CELIA
tine also make glue, generally in sep
arate factories or in separated parts
Of the same general factory group By
their knowledge and equipment they
are better able to make it than others,
but they are decidedly careful about
keeping these two branches of manu-
facture unscrambled. Otherwise the
pure food laws would reach out for
them in short order. Gelatine import
ed from the Netherlands is made from
clean raw material and the processes
take place in as clean an environment
as only. the scrupulously, mistakenly
clean Dutch people know how to main
tain. The old joke about the Dutch
housewives getting down on their
knees and scrubbing the very side
walks is based on ct-they do it.
1t is difficult to see how the husbands
Of these eyerscouring, irrepressibly
energetic Dutch women can derive any
solid comfort or repose from their
home life.
The full process of making gelatine
requires from four to six weeks of
continuous day and night work. First,
the sun-bleached, DECREASED bones are