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Fortieth Annual Meeting 



case because a man would not tolerate for a long time the 

 simple diet required and because it is very probable that the 

 foods would rank in the same order although, of course, 

 the results are of less practical value. By the method of 

 artificial digestion conducted by Dr. Carl S. Alsberg, of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, it was found that 

 mussel flesh digests at about the same rate as hard boiled 

 eggs and somewhat more slowly than steamed beef. The 

 two experiments on digestibility, therefore, are in harmony 

 and speak well for this quality of the shellfish. Experi- 

 ments with men indicate that the cooked mussel agrees well 

 with the human stomach and constitutes a good food for 

 invalids. Persons who cannot eat meat without suffering 

 discomfort have found that this mollusk can be digested 

 with ease. 



The nutritive value of mussels measures up very well 

 with that of other shellfish. If we compare the ratio of 

 edible parts to refuse in the mussel, clam and oyster we 

 find that the edible portion of the mussel is approximately 

 53 per cent, of the clam 56 per cent, while that of the 

 oyster is but 17 per cent. Chemical analyses made by 

 Alsberg, Clark, Atwater and Bryant on mussels, clams, 

 oysters and beef give the following results : 



COMPARATIVE COMPOSITION AND FUEL 



It is obvious from these determinations that in chemical 

 composition and nutritive value the mussel is far superior 

 to the oyster, is about equal to the long clam, and has about 

 one-third the value of lean beef. To make the comparison 

 in other terms we may say that 5.5 pounds of mussels in 



