Composition and Nutritive Value of Cotton-cahe. 425 



when fed upon fresh and sweet than upon old, mouldy, or sour 

 cake. 



The preceding seven analyses, on calculation, yield the fol- 

 lowing average numbers, expressive of the average composition 

 of thin decorticated cotton-cake : — 



Water 9.28 



Oil 16-05 



* Albuminous compounds (flesh-formins; matters) . . . . 41"25 



Gum, mucilage, sugai", and digestible fibre (heat-producingl , p. . - 



materials) j" 



Cellulose (indigestible fibre) 8'92 



Mineral matters (ash) 8'05 



100-00 

 * Containing nitrogen 6 "58 



2. Decorticated Cotton-cake {Thick cake). 



This cake is from 2^ to 3 inches thick, but does not otherwise 

 differ materially in its outward appearance from thin cake. It 

 is very hard, and cannot be broken into small bits by ordinary 

 cake-crushers, and for this reason does not command so ready a 

 sale as the thin cake, although it is sold at lO^'. to 15s. le.'-rs 

 money. 



Two samples of thick cake, both imported into Liverpool, 

 yielded on analysis the following results : — 



/ Composition of Decorticated lliich Cotton-calcc. 



No. 1. Xo. 2. 



Water 10-25 9-08 



Oil 14-05 19-34 



*Albuminous compounds (flesh-forming matters) ., 41-31 43-31 



Gum, mucilage, and digestible fibre (heat-producingl -iq.qk 10*48 



substances) / 



Indigestible fibre 8-40 10-41 



Mineral matters (ash) 7-94 7-38 



100-00 lOO-OO 

 * Containing nitrogen 6 -61 6 'OS 



It will be observed that there is no perceptible difference in 

 the composition of thick and thin cake. In both the thick cakes, 

 being very hard pressed, 1 expected to find a smaller per- 

 centage of oil than they actually contained. I was particularly 

 surprised to find in the second cake quite as high a percentage of 

 oil as that contained in the richest thin cake I have had an 

 opportunity^ of examining. Fearing a mistake might have 

 occurred in the oil-determination, I had a second determination 

 made, which yielded nearly the same quantity, namely, 19-05 of 

 oil. The oil, extracted by means of ether from thick cake, I 

 observed, presented a darker colour than the oil from the ma- 



VOL. X[X. 2 F 



