Food, 321 



Horses of the Great, on the continent. There can be little doubt, 

 liowever, but that it would prove to be more nutritious than oats, on 

 account of the greater quantity of glnten which it contains, in com- 

 parison of this, and, indeed, of every other species of grain. Gluten, 

 I find. Sir Humphry Davy has placed highest in the scale of the nu- 

 tritive materials of vegetables, and sugar next to gluten. But this 

 Philosopher has not informed us, whether this scale has been formed 

 from the observation of facts, which cannot err, or whether he has 

 ventured to consider gluten as more nutritious than any otiier vege- 

 table substance, on account of it's near approach to animal matter. 

 The assumption is, undoubtedly, fair, on the principle of analogy. But, 

 Doctor Pearson, in his analysis of the potatoe, communicated to the 

 board of agriculture, says, " I cannot find any just ground for the 

 opinion that meal of wheat must afford much more nourishment than 

 an equal quantity of potatoe meal, for, if it be granted that this must 

 be the case, because the former contains animal matter, it is reasona- 

 ble to believe that the proportion of animal matter is too small, to 

 occasion a considerable difference between the nutiitive properties of 

 wheat, and those of other meals. But, it appears from some experi« 

 ments of feeding animals upon the glue, or animal part of wheat, 

 and upon the meal freed from this animal matter, that the former is 

 much less nutritious than the latter." «l ^motno .ainoil iioqu hUvjH-) 

 Notwithstanding the high authority of Doctor Pearson, however, no 

 reasonable doubt can be entertained of gluten whether vegetable or 

 animal, being highly nutritious, and more especially as it appears from 

 Sir Humphry Davy's analysis of different wheats, that this seed, instead 

 of containing only one twelfth, consists of considerably more than one 

 fifth part of gluten, or (which is the same thing considered in this point 



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