OLEOMARGARINE. 141 



of the salivary glands, the pancreas probably does not suffice to the 

 complete performance of this function. 



"It is here that we remark one of those wonderful adaptations of 

 nature. First, in butter we have excess of a free fatty acid; there- 

 fore rendering the assimilation of it possible without the assistance of 

 the pancreas. 



" ; Anoth*er way in which this emulsion of fat can be accomplished is 

 by giving the patient, not fats, properly so called, but the fatty acids 

 of which they are composed, and which are very readily absorbed into 

 the system. The good effects of cod-liver oil are probably in some 

 measure due to the excess of fatty acids present. So, also, those of 

 butter; it is indeed a matter of popular observation that many children 

 grow fat upon bread and butter. They appear to thrive on it when 

 other means fail. This good effect can not be due simply to bread, 

 for reasons before stated, but to the free acid, which is also in excess 

 in butter. 



" 'It (butter) is the best known of all this class of substances (fats), 

 but it is eaten in very different quantities, from the large cupful 

 before breakfast, as drank by the Bedouins, near the Red Sea and the 

 Persian Gulf, to the scarcely perceptible layer on the bread eaten by 

 the needlewomen of London, and the supply is limited by pecuniary 

 means rather than desire. It is also the form of separated fat which 

 is less frequently disliked by consumptive people and invalids gen- 

 erally, as was shown by me in an inquiry into the state of 1,000 patients 

 at the Hospital for Consumption, Brompton.' 



"In answer to a letter of ours, Professor Stelle, of Philadelphia, 

 says: 



'"If you care for my personal opinion, it is that fresh butter and 

 fresh olive oil are the most digestible of fatty bodies; next to them 

 comes lard, and, finally, tallow.' 



"Finally, it is a matter of common observation among physicians 

 that natural butter is taken by invalids, especially consumptives, when 

 other fats, even cod-liver oil, can not be tolerated. 



"It is important to know that the approval given to Mege's oleo- 

 margarine as an article of food by the council of health of Paris in 

 1872, on the strength of the favorable report made by M. Felix 

 Baudet (an abstract of which is given on page 30 of this report), was 

 morally, at least, withdrawn in consequence of a report of an investi- 

 gation made by a commission of the Academy of Medicine for the 

 prefect of the Seine disapproving of the article for use except to a 

 limited extent in cooking, on the ground of its comparative indi- 

 gestibility. It was never allowed to be sold in the public markets of 

 Paris except under its own name. Its sale is now prohibited in the 

 public markets. 



"The insolubility of those artificial butters made from animal fats 

 is another potent quality for rendering them indigestible. In man the 

 digestive process is carried on with greater rapidity than in any of the 

 lower animals, and the gastric juice acts upon food from the outside 

 towards the center that is, it does not soak the material and exert its 

 solvent action upon the whole of it at the same time; consequently the 

 greater amount of surface of food directly exposed, the more rapid its 

 digestion. It is for this reason that it is so necessary for man to carry 

 out the process of mastication thoroughly. It is for this reason also 



