taken irito, avd ofth^ Secretions from^ the Human Body. 67 



several chemical elements to be found in the great variety of 

 products of the two kingdoms. 



By combining this knowledge with that obtained from the 

 preceding facts, we may possibly discover or establish some phy- 

 siological principles, important to be understood in the animal 

 economy, more especially in regard to the acquisition and pre- 

 servation of health. 



From the table we have given, it will appear that bread and 

 farinaceous vegetables constitute the greatest part of ordinary 

 food. About the time of the above experiments, I found that 

 5 lbs. of flour would make 7 lbs. of bread. Now, from the ana- 

 lyses of flour that are given in our systems of Chemistry, I think 

 we cannot estimate the carbon in flour at less than 42 per cent. ; 

 hence we have 30 per cent, of carbon in bread; 12 ounces 

 of bread (the daily average in the first set of experiments) 

 must then contain 3-6 ounces of carbon. Seven ounces of oat- 

 cake and oat-meal may be estimated, I think, =1.8 ounces of 

 carbon, or half the quantity that 12 ounces of bread have. 

 Four ounces of pastry can scarcely contain less than 1 ounce of 

 carbon. Nine ounces of potatoes must contain nearly 1 ounce 

 of carbon. Four ounces of butchers' meat, and 2 ounces of 

 cheese, would have together somewhere about 3 ounces of car- 

 bon, if Gay Lussac'*s experiments be nearly correct. Thirty- 

 one ounces of milk, estimating the carbon at 3 per cent., gives 

 eleven twelfths of an ounce. Twenty-two ounces of tea and 

 beer would contain only a small fraction of an ounce of carbon, 

 not easily estimated, but of little account, by reason of its small- 

 ness. 



From this, it would appear that about 11^ ounces of the ele- 

 ment carbon is taken into the stomach by one kind of aliment or 

 another, in the course of the day, in some state of combination. 



Chemical analysis has been applied with considerable success 

 to the animal product, urine. According to Bcrzelius, the urine 

 of healthy persons differs materially according to circumstances. 

 Upon the average it may be reckoned to consist of 93 or 94 per 

 cent, of water, and the rest is a complication of a great many 

 articles. The carbon contained in these ingredients cannot be 

 estimated at more than 1 or 1^ per cent, from the analysis 

 hitherto made. This will give .5 or .6 of an ounce of carbon, 



e2 



