BIOLOGY. 247 



wire or hair sieve. The ground malt necessary for this prepara- 

 tion is easily furnished by barley malt, obtained at any breweiy. 

 It can be ground in a common coffee-grinder, and then passed 

 through a sieve. If this preparation is well made, it is as sweet 

 as the natural milk ; it is fluid enough, and keeps for 24 hours. In 

 Germany the use of this food is very extensive, and its nutritive 

 qualities are found to be excellent. It has a slight taste of Hour 

 or malt, to which children get accustomed, in fact, they soon 

 prefer it to any other food. 



ARTIFICIAL DIGESTION. 



A London physician, Dr. Marcet, has announced a process by 

 which natural digestion is similated by artificial means, and solid 

 food may thereby be prepared for invalids. He takes 58 grains 

 of muriatic acid having a specific gravity of 1.1496 ; 15 grains of 

 pepsine, the organic principle procured from the stomach of a 

 pig or other animal. Diluted in a pint of water and added to a 

 pound of raw meat, the whole is allowed to simmer over a water 

 bath at about the temperature of the body, 98 F. When the 

 meat is thus sufficiently broken up, it is strained, and the acid 

 neutralized by 81 grains of bicarbonate of soda. The product is 

 of a most agreeable character, easily digested, and much more 

 nutritious than beef tea. Where pepsine cannot be obtained, 

 strips of calves' stomachs have been found to answer very well. 



CHEESE AS FOOD. 



We remarked not long since upon the superior nutritive quali- 

 ties of this food, as proved by the experience of laborers in cer- 

 tain countries, where it forms the strongest staff of life. We 

 have since observed certain researches of a French chemist, M. 

 Charles Mene, of Lille, from which we learn that certain cheeses, 

 specified as Dutch, Gruyere, and Roquefort, contain from 26 to 40 

 per cent, of nitrogenized matters, which are considered the most 

 highly nutritive constituents of food. Consequently these cheeses 

 are from 25 to a 100 per cent, more nutritive than bread or meat, 

 which is set down at 22 per cent, of nitrogen. In the combustible 

 or fatty elements for heating the body by respiration, cheese 

 yields only to butter or other fats. Again, in point of mineral 

 nutrition, cheese is found pre-eminent, containing 7 to 8 per cent, 

 of ashes, whereas meat and bread contain only 1 per cent. The 

 very richness of this article, however, prejudices its utility in deli- 

 cate stomachs, where it is often found indigestible. The strong- 

 est food suits only the strongest digestion. The attention now 

 given to an improved, economized, and increased manufacture of 

 cheese is justified, and will naturally be stimulated by these 

 facts. Scientific American. 



USES OF THEINE. 



Theine, of which there is an average of 2 per cent, in good tea, 

 though some green teas have as much as 6 per cent., has nothing 



