72 
Water 69.89 Fatty substances 5.19 
Albuminates 22.93 Mineral matters 1.05 
Muscular flesh contains, besides free lactic acid and sulphur united 
to the nitrogenous organic compounds, mineral matters constituted 
by salts formed out of the bases, potash, soda, lime and magnesia 
united to the phosphoric, lactic and muriatic acids. 
Roast meat is far preferable to boiled, not only on account 
of the preservation of the nutritive qualities of the meat, but also, owing 
to the development during cooking of certain odoriferous nitrogenous 
principles such as osmazone, which render these meats palatable. 
Since I mentioned boiled meat, it is impossible not to say some- 
thing ot broth, a preparation which has given rise to rather interesting 
discussions ; certain physicians praising, others denying its nutritive 
properties. Schiff's experiments, however, permit our deciding this 
question. This physiologist has demonstrated that the secretion of 
gastric juice is not indefinite and that it suffices to give a dog, with an 
empty stomach, a considerable quantity of meat to see, under the 
influence of this exaggerated alimentary mass, the secretion of gastric 
juice dry up. Food, then, acts as a real foreign body and is con- 
sequently thrown up. This state is known under the name of indiges- 
tion a crapida. But, and here is a very interesting remark of Schiff, 
it suffices to introduce into the circulation certain substances to imme- 
diately cause the gastric juice to be secreted anew, at the surface of the 
gastric mucous membrane. Among these substances, dextrin appears 
to possess this property to the utmost, and on animals thus crammed 
with food and in whose stomach gastric juice is no more secreted, it 
suffices to introduce a dextrin solution, either in a vein or in the 
rectum, to promote the immediate digestion of that excess of alimenta- 
tion. To those peculiar substances, Schiff has given the name of 
" peptogenes," that is, substances promoting the secretion of gastric 
juice and therefore the conversion of albuminoids into peptones. Well, 
gentlemen, broth precisely contains almost exclusively these peptogen- 
ous compounds, and the secular tradition of eating soup before meals, 
receives in the discoveries of modern physiology a resplendent confir- 
mation. Not very nutritious by itself, since it contains a very feeble 
