^^82 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



by Professor Woods with flour of different g'rades ground from soft 

 wheat, using the same samples as those worked upon during the year 

 1901-1902 bj^ Professor Woods. In connection with these inv^estiga- 

 tions Professor Snyder conducted 15 digestion and nitrogen metabo- 

 lism experiments with men on bread made from the different grades 

 of flour eaten with milk. As was the case with flours ground from 

 hard wheat, it appeared from the work of both Professor Snyder and 

 Professor Woods that the bread made from fine patent flour was more 

 digestible than that made from the Graham and the whole-wheat 

 flour, though the last two contain slightly more protein and have a 

 slightly greater energy value. 



The results agree with those of former years in showing that the fine 

 grades of flour are equal in nutritive value to the coarser grades, the 

 slightly smaller amount of nutrients of the former being compensated 

 for b}^ the superior digestibility which is due to finer granulation. 

 Professor Woods's and Professor Snyder's experiments are of especial 

 interest, since they furnish a large amount of very accurate informa- 

 tion regarding a question which has been under discussion for manj^ 

 years, namelj^ the nutritive value of different sorts of wheat flour. 

 Many experiments had been previously made on this subject bj^ inves- 

 tigators in this country and Europe, but the question was not definitely 

 settled, perhaps owing to the fact that earlier investigators seldom if 

 ever used flours ground from the same lot of wheat. It was, there- 

 fore, unfair to assume that the differences in digestibility observed 

 were due entirely to the character of the flour, since flours of the same 

 grade have been found to vary as much in composition as the average 

 values for different grades. 



It has also been found by Professors Woods and Snyder that some of 

 the lower grades of flour which are not of a fine white color, and hence 

 are not favorites in the household, 3' ield a bread which contains more 

 protein than the coarse flours, like Graham and whole-wheat flour, 

 and that this bread is also quite thoroughly digested. As these 

 flours are cheap, they are worthy of more attention than they have 

 received, where economy is a matter of importance. 



The experiments, as a whole, furnish additional proof, if such were 

 needed, of the high nutritive value of wheat flour of all grades, both 

 in proportion to its bulk and in proportion to its cost. It has been 

 found that flours of all grades are very thorouglily assimilated, and 

 furnish in an economical forDi the nutrients required for the building 

 and repair of body tissue and the energy necessary for muscular 

 work. The wheat crop is one of the most important of American 

 agricultural j)roducts, and it is believed that these experiments, and 

 others wliich are planned for, will ^rve a useful purj)ose in calling 

 the attention of the jjublic at large to the great value of wheat prod- 

 ucts in the diet and to tlie comparative value of different sorts of flour. 



At the University of Illinois, Prof. H. S. Grindley has continued 

 his investigations on the losses involved in cooking meat of different 

 kinds and cuts and the comj)arative digestibility of meats so prepared, 

 as determined by natural digestion experiments with man and b}" 

 artificial digestion experiments under conditions designed to approxi- 

 mate those which obtain in the body. This work has included 19 

 cooking experiments, 14 digestion experiments with man, and 30 arti- 

 ficial digestion exi^eriments. In connection with the investigation, 

 much time has necessarily been devoted to a study of experimental 

 methods and to analysis of different food and excretory products. 

 The analytical work has included determinations of heats of combus- 



