071 the j>roper Balance of the Food in Nutrition. 131 



was not arrived at by experience, but deduced from theoretical 

 views, possibly be correct, because these views do not accord 

 with facts. 



3. The discovery of the true relative value of aliment, and 

 of the proportion in which it may be replaced, may be ascer- 

 tained without much difficulty, so long as chemists and farmers 

 work hand in hand for the exact solution of the above ques- 

 tions. 



4. A completely rational system of nutrition, that is such an 

 one as combines the greatest amount of strength with the 

 least consumption of nourishment, will then be possible. 



5. A loss of nutritious matter and of strength often takes 

 place where it would be least expected, namely by the con- 

 sumption of all kinds of food (or forage) where the due pro- 

 portion between nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous constituents 

 does not exist, say by eating only fruit or potatoes. 



6. It can with safety be decided by the above under what 

 circumstances substitutes for bread may be employed, and 

 what is their respective value for each desired proportion. 



Raw and cooked Articles of Food. 



Many kinds of food cannot be eaten raw by man ; others, 

 although they may be eaten raw, agree much better with us 

 when cooked. 



Hence boiling, roasting, baking, &c. has a twofold effect; 

 primarily, it converts indigestible or food difficult of digestion 

 into a digestible or more easily digestible condition. Thus, 

 starch is converted into gelatinous starch, into dextrine or 

 sugar; cartilaginous substances into glue; and chondrine, 

 fibrine, into changed fibrine, &c. Secondly, it frequently 

 confers upon them an agreeable taste. 



But can the real nutritive value of food be augmented by 

 cooking? Impossible ! Still it may be of the greatest benefit 

 in feeding cattle to cook their food. The advantage accrues 

 in this way : that potatoes, turnips, &c. are more quickly and 

 more easily digested when boiled than raw ; and thus there is 

 much less chance for any portion to be thrown off in an un- 

 digested state (unassimilated). Its warmth gives also a slight 

 advantage to cooked food; it deprives the body of no heat; 

 and the non -nitrogenous substances, which in the cold food 

 would have been required to affiard heat, can be used for the 

 production of fat. But whether cold or warm food is to be 

 preferred in a practical point of view cannot from all this be 

 conclusively deduced. It is a question only to be answered 

 by experience, for the result is entirely dependent on the na- 

 ture and requirements of the animal. 



K2 



