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than that of animal foods. Of that of potatoes and beets, for 

 instance, a third or more may escape digestion, and thus be 

 useless for nourishment. 



3. Much of the fat of animal food may at times fail of 

 digestion. 



4. The carbohydrates, which make up the larger part of 

 vegetable foods, are very digestible. 



5. The animal foods have, in general, the advantages of the 

 vegetable foods, that they contain more protein, and that their 

 protein is more digestible. 



6. The comparative digestibility of fish and meats, and of 

 the different kinds offish, is not well enough decided by experi- 

 ment to warrant as definite conclusions as are desirable. It seems 

 probable, however, that the leaner meats are rather more easily 

 digested than those which are more fat, and that, in like man- 

 ner, the leaner kinds offish, such as cod, haddock, perch, pike, 

 bluefish, sole, flounder, etc., are more easily and completely 

 digested than the fatter kinds, as salmon, shad and fat mackerel, 

 and that for like reason fish, which is, in general, less fat than 

 meat is, on the average, more digestible. 



7. People differ in respect to the action of foods in the 

 digestive apparatus, and fish, like other food materials, are 

 subject to these influences of personal peculiarity. 



One point more is worthy of remark before closing. The 

 nutritive value of food is, of course, decided by other factors 

 as well as by the proportion of digestible ingredients. In one 

 respect fish is peculiarly adapted to the diet of that very large 

 class of people whose occupation involves but little muscular 

 exercise. As already explained, we consume excessive quan- 

 tities of fat. This comes with our habit of eating highly-fattened 

 meats, as well as butter and lard. Even when we attempt to 

 reject the fat of the meat which comes upon our tables and is 

 served on our plates, we consume a great deal of fat in the 

 visible and invisible particles diffused throughout the lean. 

 Statistics of dietaries in this country show the fat consumption 

 to be enormous. Fat serves as fuel, and is useful for those who 

 do hard muscular work, or are exposed to severe cold. For 

 others it is not needed, and excess is a burden imposed on the 



