11 



" In the discussioq of the results and the interpretation of the digestion coefficients 

 it is believed that the calories should be taken as the indirect index of digestibility of 

 the fats rather than the fat determinations. 



" In the calculations of the results it was assumed that the bread and oranges had 

 the following digestibility: Protein, 93 per cent; carbohydrates, 98 per cent.; calories, 

 98 per cent. 



" As so little fat was contributed by the bread and oranges, it was deemed best 

 by Prof. Snyder, under whose direction the tables of results were prepared, not to 

 make any special calculations for the digestibility of the fat of the cheese alone. 



" The factor for the digestibility of the protein of the bread and oranges is higher 

 than was found in the numerous experiments for bread alone, but it was assumed 

 because it appeared from the first series of results that cheese in the ration increased 

 the digestibility of the protein of the other foods. This assumption appeared to be 

 verified by the later tests which had for their special object the influence of the cheese 

 upon the digestibility of th"e basal ration. 



" The work both at Middletown and in Minnesota, while demonstrating the same 

 general fact of the high food value, actual and comparative, of cheese in all stages of 

 ripening, does not give identical figures for the digestibility of protein in the total 

 diet or in the cheese. A different basal ration was used in the Minnesota experiment 

 from that used at Middletown. White bread was used in Minnesota, while whole-wheat 

 bread, which has a decidedly lower digestibility, was used in the experiments at 

 Middletown. 



" Nothing unusual was noted in the health of the subjects used in the experiments 

 at the Minnesota Experiment Station. One of the subjects believed before beginning 

 the experiments that a cheese diet did not agree with him, but found that it had no ill 

 effects. 



" In considering the results shown in the table, it is apparent that all the kinds 

 of cheese used in the experiments are very digestible. In comparing the old cheese 

 with the green cheese the latter was evidently the more digestible, which was not the 

 case in the Middletown experiments, where the slight difference was in favor of the 

 well-cured cheese. However, the difference between the digestibility of green and cured 

 cheese in either series of experiments is well within the limits of variation ascribable 

 to personal peculiarity of the subjects and were to be expected in this kind of work. 



" Particular interest attaches to the evident digestibility and food value of skim- 

 milk cheese. This is a product which has not been viewed with very great favor by 

 the public in general. The physical properties of cheese made from skim-milk have 

 been such as to give consumers the impression that it was indigestible and, on the whole, 

 of questionable value as food. The establishing of the actual food value of this com- 

 paratively cheap product will at some future time doubtless be of great economical 

 importance. Skim-milk cheese made up in a way to be agreeable to the taste could be 

 sold at a price that would attract the attention of the laboring classes. Cheese made 

 from skim-milk and sold for whole-milk cheese is a fraud that is a^ positive injury 

 to the dairy business; but cheese made from skim-milk and sold for what it is is worthy 

 of serious consideration on the part of both producer and consumer. It is very likely 

 that the time is not many years distant when a comparatively large quantity of cheese 

 from skim-milk will be made with profit to the dairy industry and will be consumed 

 at a pronounced saving by the laboring class in general. 



" In the same connection attention is called to the food value of cottage cheese 

 established by this work. This is another cheap and to many a very palatable product 

 that could be introduced to a much greater extent in the dietary at a great saving in the 

 total cost of food. 



" In general, the table shows that all kinds of cheese, even the very high-flavored and 

 so-called condimental cheeses, have a high food value. But the so-called condimental 

 value of cheese when eaten in small quantities as a stimulus to the digestion of other 

 foods was not demonstrated. Where the cheese was eaten in small quantities the 

 digestibility of the basal ration fell below the assumed digestion coefficient. The fact 



