990 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



FOODS NUTRITION. 



Third report on food products for 1902, B. W Kilgore (Bui. North ('(irollna 

 State Bd. Agr., 24- {190o), No. 1, pp. 76').— In carrying out the provLsions of the State 

 pure-food law a number of analyses were made which are reported and discussed. 

 In addition to a general summary the ])ulletin con ains the following special arti- 

 cles: Canned Fruits and Vegetables; Bottled Non-Alcoholic Carbonated Beverages — 

 Summer Drinks; Phospliates, Malts, Ciders, and Bitters; Tomato Catsup and Sauces; 

 and Prepared Mustards and Salad Dressings, by W. M. Allen. Cheese; Butter, 

 Renovated Butter and Butterine; and Lard and Compounded Lard, ))y J. M. Pickel. 

 Baking Powders, by B. W. Kilgore and W. JNI. Allen. Flour; Corn INIeai; and Com- 

 mercial Stock Feeds, by F. C. Lamb. Condimental Stock Foods and Condition Pow- 

 ders, by T. Butler and F. C'. Land). 



In the last article the authors report analyses <jf a nuudjcr of condimental feeds 

 recommended for horses, cattle, and poultry, as well as one recommended as a cure 

 for hog cholera. These feeds were found to consist of such common articles as 

 wheat bran or similar jiroducts, linseed meal, charcoal, salt, saltpeter, sulphur, 

 dried ))lood, fenugreek, red pepper, etc. According to the authors — 



" It may be freely stated that the so-called condimental stock foods and condition 

 powders on the market, when tested ))y accurate and practical feeding trials, when 

 judged as medicines, when compared in price with other materials of the same feed- 

 ing value, or when measured by the claims made for them )>y the manufacturers, 

 fail to show merit sufficient to justify their use. 



"If the live stock is well and properly cared for and fed, it needs no medicine. If 

 care and feed are needed, the best may be had in any market for less than one-tenth 

 that charged for it when put up in 1 or 2 11). packages and advertised as ' stock food' 

 or 'condition powder.' 



"Tlie (juestion often arises, "Why is it if these stock foods are all frauds that so many 

 honest and intelligent men think they have obtained good results from their use? 

 The answer is not difficult. There is in everj^ organism an inherent tendency to re- 

 turn to normal conditions, or, in other words, to get well if sick. When a man gets 

 to the point of buying condition powders for an animal he is ready to give him the 

 better care and food which alone would and does bring about the desired improve- 

 ment in condition. The 'stock food' gets the credit, although it does contain 

 nothing l)nt wheat l>ran, charcoal, and pepper and salt. If it is a tonic that the 

 horse, cow, or pig is in need of, why not purchase gentian, iron, and nux vomica 

 direct from the druggist. They will not only cost less, but if medicine is really 

 needed, ai'e much more likely to produce the desired effect." 



On th.e digestibility and availability of food materials, W. 0. Atwater 

 {Connecticut Starrs Sta. Rpt. 1901, pp. 179-^4o). — The results of 50 digestion experi- 

 ments, generally of 3 or 4 days' duration, with 3 healthy j'oung men whose digestive 

 powers were believed to be unimpaired are reported. As a whole the experiments 

 formed a part of the investigations on the metabolism of matter and energy carried 

 on with the respiration calorimeter, 18 ])eing conducted while the subjects were 

 outside the apparatus and 32 with the subjects inside the respiration chamber. The 

 diet was simple, being made up of a number of common-food materials of animal and 

 vegetable origin. In 18 tests the nutrients were provi<led in about the same propor- 

 tion as in the ordinary diet; in 17 tests tlie diet furnished large quantities of fat, and 

 in 14, large quantities of carbohydrates, thougli the energy in these cases was not 

 greater than was needed to supply the demands of the body under the experimental 

 conditions. 



So far as was observed individual peculiarity did not affect the digestion of tlie 

 several nutrients. "With each subject the range of variation in the results of similar 



