A FEW WORDS ABOUT EATABLES. 689 



ested in an attempt which is being made by Messrs. Nelson, of War- 

 wick, to introduce as cheap articles of food the inventions of our late 

 friend Mr. J. R. Johnson, which are really properly made bouillon, 

 and puree, and other soups in the form of dry chips. From a package 

 of one of these preparations, which may be easily carried in a corner 

 of the waistcoat-pocket, an excellent mess of bouillon or potage may 

 be got in a few minutes with the help of a little water and fire, and I 

 can easily see that the invalid and the working-man will both of them 

 be great gainers in the matter of proper food, as well as in pocket, 

 when this discovery is taken advantage of. 



M. I, too, have been greatly interested in the articles to which you 

 refer. I have tried the specimens which have been sent to me, and I 

 highly approve of them. I think, indeed, that their introduction to 

 the public marks a new epoch in the proper feeding of our country- 

 men, and that they will be made still more suitable for food when 

 they are enriched to some extent by some form of fatty matter. I 

 know how difficult it is to convince the poor of this country that all 

 food is little more than padding except steaks, and chops, and cuts out 

 of joints ; and it will be long, I fear, before they can be persuaded to 

 avail themselves of these preparations, or to learn to make for them- 

 selves the pot-au-feu of our neighbors across the Channel. 



C. What else have you to say in the way of criticism about my 

 unfortunate breakfast ? 



31. Only a word or two about bread and other farinaceous articles 

 of food, and about the reason which made me prefer my gelatinous 

 galantine of veal to your cold sirloin of beef. I think that bread may 

 still be very properly spoken of as " the staff of life," and that other 

 farinaceous articles of food may very properly be admitted into the 

 same category with bread. The composition of wheaten-flour which 

 is more or less that of all flour prepared from cereal grain (oats, rye, 

 barley, maize, rice, and the rest), and of leguminose seeds or pulse 

 (peas, beans, lentils), and also of potatoes and some other tubers and 

 roots according to Dr. Letheby, is : 



Nitrogenous matter 10 - 8 



Fatty matter 2"0 



Carbo-hydrates (starch, sugar, and the rest) ^O^ 



Mineral matter T7 



Water 15-0 



The nitrogenous matter consists of vegetable fibrine, albumen, and 

 gluteine in the rough form of gluten. The fatty matter is in no way 

 peculiar. The non-nitrogenous carbo-hydrates are starch, dextrine, 

 sugar, gum, cellulose, and lignine starch chiefly. The mineral arti- 

 cles comprise phosphates of lime and magnesia, salts of potash, and 

 soda, and silica. Leguminose seeds or pulse contain as much as from 

 twenty-five to thirty per cent of nitrogenous matter, mainly in a form 



VOL. XXII. 44 



