69 



any further systematic observations. Later on the submerged 

 crates were recovered, but the wire screens had become filled 

 with sediment, caused by the roiling of the water consequent 

 upon the breaking up of the ice, and no live fish were found in 

 them. This closed the experiments for that year, and circum- 

 stances prevented their continuance this spring. 

 Grand Rapids, Mick. 



THE DIGESTIBILITY OF FISH. 



BY PROF. W. O. ATWATER. 



In the course of an investigation upon the Chemistry and 

 Food-economy of Fish, which has been in progress for a num- 

 ber of years, under the auspices of the U. S. Fish Commission, 

 a study of the digestibility of fish has seemed desirable, and a 

 beginning has been made in the form of experiments upon the 

 comparative digestibility of the flesh of fish and lean meat. 

 The object of the present paper is to give a brief outHne of the 

 main results. These confirmed by quantitative test the general 

 impression that in fish we have one of the most completely 

 digestible of food-materials. 



THE DIGESTIBILITY OF FOOD IN GENERAL. 



The question of the digestibility of foods is very complex, 

 and it is noticeable that the men who know most about the 

 subject are generally the least ready to make definite and sweep- 

 ing statements concerning it. One of the most celebrated 

 physiologists of the time, an investigator who has, I suppose, 

 devoted as much experimental study to this particular subject 

 as any man now living, declares that aside from the chemistry 

 of the process and the quantities of nutrients that may be 

 digested from different foods, he is unable to affirm much of 

 anything about it. The contrast between this and the positive - 

 ness with which many people discourse about the digestibility 

 of this or that kind of food, is very marked and has its moral. 



