CASEIN FOODSTUFFS. 129 



should have been directed to the discovery of some substitute 

 for the scarce commodity, animal albumen. The results of 

 these endeavours have been utilised industrially, so that 

 there are now on the market a number of preparations com- 

 plying more or less with the requirements of the age. These 

 requirements are as follows. In the first place, the meat 

 substitute must be relatively cheaper than animal albumen. 

 Secondly, it must be tasteless, inodorous, of the character of 

 flour, and not more than faintly tinged with colour. Thirdly, 

 it must be free from micro-organisms, and be capable of keep- 

 ing for any length of time without undergoing alteration ; 

 and, finally, it must be suitable to and assimilable by the 

 organism when taken in considerable amount. 



The first substance coming under consideration as a raw 

 material for such preparations is milk, on account of it 

 containing casein. The cereals and leguminosse are also 

 highly important, as cheap and readily available materials 

 rich in albumen. The number of such preparations is ex- 

 tremely large, but only the chief of those made from casein 

 will be dealt with here. 



One of the cheapest preparations obtained from milk is 

 that known as Lactarine, which costs only about 4^d. per 

 Ib. This preparation, which has been on the market since 

 the beginning of 1898, is an extremely fine white powder, 

 soluble in water, and having the following composition : 

 water, 9*92 per cent. ; fat, 0'4 per cent. ; casein, 78*16 per 

 cent. ; non-nitrogenous and fat-free substance, 777 per cent. ; 

 mineral matters, 3*75 per cent. With regard to the assimi- 

 lation of this preparation by the human organism, there is 

 no information at present available; nor, indeed, in any 

 other particular; and the method of manufacture is kept 

 secret. 



Galactogen costs about Is. lOd. per Ib. It is made from 

 skim milk by the addition of a patent preparation. The 



