12H THE MICHIGAN ACx\DEMY OP SCIENCE. 



with a correspondingly low content of fiber or cellulose. This well nigh 

 perfect process of milling may contribute to the nutritive value of the 

 flour, but Ave must recognize that there are factors to consider other 

 than the high rate of digestibility. The fiber in the food has a distinct 

 office outside of its nutritive qualities. In fact no particular nutritive 

 value is claimed for fiber or cellulose, but it favors the onward move- 

 ment of the products in the alimentary canal and thus is an indirect 

 aid to nutrition. 



A bulletin"" recently issued by the United States Ofiice of Experiment 

 Stations emphasizes in a marked degree the statement that white Avheat 

 bread is more digestible than wliole wheat bread, and in fact devotes 

 considerable space to these deductions drawn from actual human di- 

 gestion experiments. It has seemed to me that the whole subject is 

 little short of an axiom for v\'hile there has been little work done, in 

 human nutrition, on which to base conclusions, at the same time enough 

 has been accomplished in the study of animal nutrition to lead one to 

 infer with considerable accuracy that the result would be what it actu- 

 ally Avas. It has seemed to me that little doubt could be cast upon the 

 conclusion of that bulletin. However, admitting this, the main underly- 

 ing point still remains. Some of the persons who diet upon whole wheat 

 bread may do so because they think it contains more nutriment or is 

 more digestible than white bread. Possibly the majority who eat whole 

 wheat bread may reason in this manner. But, I think, few dietists have 

 looked at it in this light. The mere fact that white flour is more diges- 

 tible than whole wheat flour has had little weight with them. It ex- 

 plains practically nothing. There is an effect, — mechanical, jjhysical, 

 chemical, — call it what you will, outside the realm of digestibilty that 

 claims for wbole wheat bread a high place in the human dietary, a 

 place in some instances above white flour bread. This effect is not due 

 in any way to the large or small amount of digestible protein but par- 

 tially at least to the fiber or cellulose present in the whole wheat bread. 

 Every one concerned in the feeding of animals knows well the laxative 

 effect, on the dairy cow, of bran and foods containing considerable fiber. 

 There seems no reason to dispute the inference that its effect on man 

 will be in a measure the same. Crowding into the stomach food, which 

 contain no fiber or ballast, even though they are highly digestible, is 

 an evil Avhich, it has seemed to me, scientific men have not sufficiently 

 realized. 



Again the high milling of vegetable foods reduces the quantity of min- 

 eral matter and may this not be a point worth some consideration? 

 Bunge has shown quite conclusive!}' hovv- poor milk is in iron, and when 

 we, know that white flour contains much less iron than is found in milk, 

 we may infer that the amount of iron the human system can obtain from 

 white bread is exceedingly small. This Avould not be a matter worth 

 so much attention were it not for the fact that bread is such a staple 

 article of diet and some provision must be made among these regular 

 articles of diet for the consumption of foods that will meet the daily 

 requirements of the body. Analysis shows that, as a rule, the vegetable 

 foods containing a fair per cent, of iron also contain a considerable 

 amount of cellulose and thus the tAVO go hand in hand. How much 

 highly concentrated and highly milled vegetable foods contribute to the 

 great per cent of anaemia of the population of cities because of a lack 



♦Bnl. U. S. Dept. of Agr., office of Expt. Sta. 



