CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



The first-mentioned of the dietaries is repre- 

 sented by 2 Ibs. 2 oz. of bread, and the second by 

 about 3i Ibs. The table shews that the relation 

 of the nitrogenous to the carbonaceous constituents 

 of the food should be about i to 6 or 6. The 

 dietary of women employed as indoor operatives 

 should be one-tenth less than that of men. Chil- 

 dren, until ten years of age, should be fed chiefly 

 on milk and farinaceous substances ; from ten to 

 fourteen, they require about half as much food as 

 women ; and at fourteen, about the same quantity 

 as women. Until their full growth has been 

 reached, young men employed in active labour 

 require more food than adults of the same sex. 



The following table, also constructed by Dr 

 Letheby, exhibits the relative quantities of carbon 

 and nitrogen in a number of substances commonly 

 used as food. The actual quantity of carbon 

 present in the fatty substances mentioned has 

 been purposely overstated. Unlike other hydro- 

 carbons, fat contains hydrogen that is available as 

 food ; and when the value of this hydrogen is 

 added to that of the carbon, the food-value of the 

 latter element is increased about two and a half 

 times. Accordingly, a correction to this extent is 

 necessary whenever the carbon in fat is compared 

 with that in starch or sugar. 



Grains per Found. 

 Carbon. Nitrogen. 



Split Peas 2698 



Indian Meal 3016 



Barley-meal 2563 



Seconds Flour 2700 



Oatmeal 2831 



Baker's Bread 1975 



Pearl-barley 2660 



Rice 2732 



Potatoes 769 



Turnips 263 



Green Vegetables. 420 



Carrots 508 



Sugar 2955 



Buttermilk 387 



Skimmed Milk.... 438 



248 

 1 20 

 68 

 116 

 136 



Grains per Pound. 

 Carbon. Nitrogen. 



New Milk 599 



Skim Cheese 1947 



Cheddar Cheese . . 3344 



Mutton 1900 



Beef 1854 



Fat Pork 4113 



Dry Bacon 5987 



White Fish 871 



Red Herrings. . . . 1435 



Suet 4710 



Lard 4819 



Salt Butter 4585 



Fresh Butter 6456 



Cocoa 3934 



Beer and Porter. . 274 



44 

 483 

 306 



106 

 95 

 I9S 

 217 



With the assistance of such facts as are stated 

 in this table, it is easy to construct a dietary 

 suited to any condition of life. We have seen 

 that a man engaged in ordinary labour requires 

 daily 5688 grains of carbonaceous, and 307 grains 

 of nitrogenous food. These quantities may be 

 obtained from nearly any substance in which both 

 carbon and nitrogen are present ; but it is apparent 

 that without judicious combinations an unneces- 

 sary excess of either is likely to be present. 



FOOD. 



The aliment of man consists of solid and liquid 

 substances ; hence such popular distinctions as 

 'meats and drinks,' 'food and beverages' the 

 one calculated to allay the cravings of hunger, and 

 to afford the body substantial support ; the other 

 simply to allay the sense of thirst. Such dis- 

 tinctions, however, are more popularly convenient 

 than scientifically correct milk, for example 

 though liquid, being the sole support of the young 

 mammal, and affording, moreover, nourishment to 

 every portion of the fabric ; while starch, though 

 solid, yields comparatively little that can ad- 

 minister to the growth of the living tissues 

 Adopting, however, the common distinction 01 

 'food and beverages,' as in some measure con- 

 venient, we shall treat the former tinder the three 



738 



leads vegetable, animal, and mineral remark- 

 ng that it is chiefly the vegetable and animal 

 cingdoms (and especially the vegetable) from 

 which man derives the greater portion of his solid 

 sustenance. In the dietary of tropical countries, 

 he vegetable element generally prevails over the 

 animal ; in temperate regions, the proportion is 

 more equable ; while in the colder latitudes, the 

 flesh, and especially the fat, of animals may be 

 said to be the staple of existence. 



VEGETABLE FOOD. 



Vegetable food, wherever employed, is cc 

 sumed partly in a green and succulent state, 

 either cooked or uncooked ; partly in a ripe con- 

 dition as fruits, nuts, and the like ; and partly 

 when dried and artificially prepared as the various 

 Dread-corns. In whatever condition or form vege- 

 :able substances may be used, they consist essen- 

 tially of the same elements carbon, hydrogen, 

 oxygen, and nitrogen, with a small proportion of 

 sulphur, phosphorus, and earthy salts. These 

 are usually termed ultimate elements, from which 

 the living vegetable elaborates certain proximate 

 principles for the construction of its own peculiar 

 fabric. These principles are starch or fecula, 

 gluten, vegetable albumen, sugar or the saccharine 

 principle, fat, gum or mucilage, lignin or woody 

 fibre, vegetable jelly or pectin, fixed and volatile 

 oils, wax, resin, balsams, gum-resins, camphor, 

 tannin, and colouring-matter. Of these, the most 

 abundant are starch, gluten, albumen, sugar, and 

 gum : these constitute the principal ingredients in 

 all esculent vegetables ; and it may be remarked, 

 that starch and gluten are the most important as 

 regards quantity starch yielding carbon, anc" 

 gluten, nitrogen. It may also be observed, that 

 some of these proximate principles are convertible, 

 or nearly allied : thus, starch can be converted 

 into sugar by the process of fermentation, both 

 outside and within a living organism ; and albu- 

 men hardly differs from gluten. 



One of the most abundant sources of vegetable 

 food is the cereals, or bread-corns wheat, lye, 

 barley, oats, millet, and maize all of which belong 

 to the natural order Graminacece, or grain-bearing 

 plants. All of these grow in a similar manner ; 

 all yield starch, gluten, and a certain amount of 

 phosphates ; and all have been cultivated and 

 improved by the inhabitants of different coun- 

 tries from time immemorial. They are commonly 

 spoken of as farinaceous foods ; their nitrogenous 

 elements being albumen, fibrin or gluten, and 

 casein ; and their carbonaceous elements, starch 

 (principally), sugar, oil, and gum. 



Wheat (Triticutn) justly stands at the head 

 of the cereals. Numerous varieties are recog- 

 nised ; but the principal are white and red wheat, 

 the former being larger in the grain, and yield- 

 ing a whiter and finer flour than the latter. It 

 is now grown largely in all civilised countries, 

 and forms a principal portion of human food. 

 The grain, freed from its bran or husk, is usually 

 ground to a fine flour, and in this state is used in 

 the manufacture of bread, pastry, macaroni, ver- 

 micelli, semolina, and other preparations. It con- 

 sists, as already stated, of starch, gluten, sugar, 

 fat, gum, certain salts, and water; and these 

 ingredients are found to vary, not only with the 

 soil in which the corn is grown, but according to 



