312 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



view of these facts, efforts have been made of late to stimulate 

 home consumption in the interest of a branch of home industry 

 of vast resources. The well-known practice of the people of 

 England and other countries ; the highly nitrogenous character 

 of cheese, and its cheapness as compared with other articles of 

 a similar elementary composition, — have all deservedly been 

 urged with more or less modification as arguments in favor of 

 a more liberal use of cheese. The main force of these argu- 

 ments centres in the successful practice in England and else- 

 where. To assume similar effects from substances of a similar 

 elementary constitution is somewhat hazardous and unscien- 

 tific — as long as the terms a nitrogenous food and a nutritious 

 food have not yet been proved to be identical ; the cheapness 

 of an article of food depends entirely on its comparative intrin- 

 sic value. With these few remarks in advance, I believe that 

 the object of my subsequent discussion will be recognized. To 

 argue a question from more than one standpoint has aided 

 usually in arriving at the truth. 



A careful examination into the nature, the structure and the 

 functions of the animal system, has revealed among others the 

 following facts : — 



First. — The organic portion of the animal system consists of 

 two classes of compounds. One class is characterized by the 

 constant admixture of the element nitrogen, and on that account 

 the substances belonging to it are commonly called nitrogenous. 

 They are the main constituents of the blood, and form the 

 muscles and the flesh. The second class of compounds is char- 

 acterized by the absence of the element nitrogen, and are usually 

 called non-nitrogenous, or respiratory substances, and are par- 

 ticularly represented by fat in its various forms. 



Second. — The same portions of elementary bodies, which con- 

 stitute the various organs of the animal system at a given time, 

 do not constitute them for all times. They fulfil certain func- 

 tions only for a shorter or a longer period of time, and cease, 

 sooner or later, to be of any value for the maintenance of 

 normal animal life. They are subsequently, in consequence of 

 a peculiar process of disintegration, secreted in various forms 

 and in various ways, and are continually replaced in the form 

 of food. 



Third. — The process of respiration is the main source of 



