[31] CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND VALUE OF FISH FOR FOOD. 261 
Thus in the flesh of the oysters the dry substance varies from 233 per 
cent. in the Blue Points to 154 per cent. in the Staten Islands. The dry 
substance in the liquids varies from 53 per cent. in the Blue Points to 23 
per cent. in the Rappahannocks. The flesh of oysters is quite watery, 
more so than that of fish and much more than ordinary meats. The dry 
substance in the latter ranges from about 25 per cent. in lean beef to 50 
per cent. in fat pork. In fish we find from 40 to 15 per cent., in the flesh 
of oysters from 24 to 15 per cent., and in the liquids, from 6 to as low as 
23 per cent. The liquids contain but very little nutriment. 
By comparing the proportions of flesh and liquids and the propor- 
tions of actual nutrients in them, we arrive at the figures for the actu. 
ally nutritive substances in the oysters. Precisely this is done for the 
whole shell contents in the last of the above categories. The figures 
there represent the nutrients in the flesh and liquids together; that is, 
they show the proportions of actual nutrients in the total shell contents 
of the several samples. The range of variation of the nutrients is very 
wide, the Blue Points containing 194 per cent. and the Norfolks only 8$ 
per cent. In general, the Northern samples are the richest and the 
Southern the poorest in nutritive material. The mean of all the sam- 
ples is not far from 14 per cent., a little above that of .cow’s milk, which 
averages about 1245 per cent. of dry substance. 
If, however, we place the oysters in the order of the percentages of 
nutritive materials in the whole sample, including shell and contents, 
thearrangement will be as below. The other invertebrates are appended 
for comparison. 
Percentages of nutritive materials in whole sample, including shell and shell contents. 
Per cent. Per cent. 
Oysters, Blue Points 222i 32 sct-ase). 2 3.0/7 | Oysters, Staten Island ..-:-..-....-- 1. 63 
Oysters, Fair Hayen..<-..2---.-..20¢ 2.69. | Oysters, Potomac River... --.. <<: 1. 68 
Oysters, Providence River ..-..-..-- 2.58 | Oysters, Rappahannock River..---. 1.56 
Oysters, Shrewsbury....-----.--.-- 2.55 | Oysters, James River.../ ...--.---- 1.37 
Oysters; Hast River... .022..- 25. Ses. D5 Su ON Sera OLt0 lik.t 22).00, seater aoa ia 0. 96 
Oysters, Rockaway....--. 53-22. 2<<s OSH ON RC AIMS 2h cece cia1s Seve eeepc UG Ce 
Oysters, Buzzards Bay .-..-...--.-- Qi25alNROUNGLUCIAMNS S226 cok wiceroaes oes see 3. 38 
Oysters, Stony Creek .......------. ISB | MOWStEES Dace ctiscwee's Ce corecee a e.qcess 6. 80 
Oysters, Stony Creek -.-..-...----- e764 Cray fish. ele! SPs 25 ashe S228 2. 31 
These variations are the widest of all. The proportions of nutrients 
in the whole oyster, shell and all, are of course very small, the largest in 
the Blue Points, being only 31 per cent. In 100 pounds of Norfolks we 
have less than one pound of nutritive material. Here again the sam- 
ples from the New York and New England waters are the best, and 
those from Virginia the poorest. 
THE NUTRITIVE VALUES OF FISH AND OTHER FOODS. 
This subject has of late begun to attract very general attention. The 
chemico-physiological research of the past two decades has brought 
us where we can judge, with a considerable degree of accuracy, from the 
