PHYSIOLOGY AND THE FOOD PROBLEM 15 



public and say, It is quite safe for you to take this 

 sort of food because rats have done well upon it. 



With the help of Professor Leitch of the West 

 of Scotland Agricultural College, the fatty acids 

 were rendered palatable or sufficiently so for three 

 volunteers from the University of Glasgow to take 

 them as their sole fat supply for weeks on end, 

 either spread on bread or mixed with potatoes. 

 At first they concealed the flavour with some jam, 

 but after a day or two they were quite content to 

 take the substitute for butter without any camou- 

 flage whatever. This unusual fat-like food pro- 

 duced no ill effects, and was well digested and 

 utilised in the body. 



Now that the crisis has passed, the necessity 

 for the use of fatty acids in the manufacture of 

 margarine is not likely to be put into practice, but 

 if the need should ever arise again, we know that 

 they can be used with perfect safety, and it will 

 only remain for the skill of the margarine makers 

 to render them more palatable than in these early 

 enterprises. 



A remarkable outcome of experiments of this 

 nature has been to show that, although fatty acids 

 are given with the food, yet the body cells have the 

 power to manufacture glycerine upon the premises 

 so that what enters the nutrient stream is fat, 

 that is the fatty acid is once more combined with 

 glycerine within the body although no glycerine 



