CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



great variety of food fitted for children, of which 

 we know the composition, and that we should 

 prefer it to any species of compounded stuff pf 

 the constitution of which we are ignorant. 



The Potato (Solatium tuberosum) is one of our 

 most abundant amylaceous or starchy vegetables, 

 and next to the cereals, is one of the most com- 

 mon articles of human food. Originally discovered 

 in South America, it is now introduced into almost 

 every quarter of the globe, where it seems to thrive, 

 and to break into innumerable varieties, differing 

 in shape, size, colour, flavour, and quality. With- 

 out noticing minutely the peculiarities of the 

 numerous varieties, we may remark that those of 

 middling size, and which become white, mealy, 

 and void of any especial flavour when boiled, are 

 in general the most esteemed, as they are the most 

 wholesome and nutritious. As they are an easily 

 raised crop, producing twice as much bulk of food 

 from the same extent of land as wheat, potatoes 

 are very largely grown in the British Islands. 

 Like all the Solanacece, or Nightshade family, the 

 potato contains a poisonous principle (solaninia) ; 

 but this is wholly destroyed by cooking. Citric 

 and tartaric acids are also said to be present in 

 various parts of the growing plant, and to these 

 are likely to be ascribed the reputed antiscorbutic 

 properties of the tuber. According to Johnston's 

 Chemistry of Common Life, the potato contains 

 75 per cent, of water, and 25 of dry food. Of 100 

 parts of this dry food, again, 92 parts are starch 

 and 8 parts are gluten, or a corresponding prin- 

 ciple. Potato-meal is thus remarkably similar to 

 rice-meal. No doubt can be entertained of the 

 wholesome nature of the potato, when we consider 

 the numerous hardy peasantry of Ireland, many 

 of whom subsist almost entirely upon this useful 

 vegetable. It must not, however, be imagined 

 that potatoes contain the same nutritive powers as 

 bread, weight for weight. It has been estimated, 

 as the result of experiments made by Percy and 

 Vauquelin, that one pound of good bread is equal 

 to two and a half or three pounds of potatoes, 

 and that seventy-five pounds of bread and thirty 

 of meat are equal to three hundred pounds of 

 potatoes. 



In Britain, potatoes are generally brought to 

 table boiled plain ; but in France they are cooked 

 in a great variety of ways, and furnish very agree- 

 able dishes. Dr Letheby states that potatoes are 

 best boiled in their skins, because the waste is 

 then only 3 per cent., or half an ounce to the 

 pound ; whereas if they are peeled first, it is not 

 less than 14 per cent, or from two to three ounces 

 in the pound. The new or immature potato is 

 much less easily digested than the fully ripened 

 tuber, and should certainly be forbidden to the 

 majority of dyspeptics. As already stated, pota- 

 toes are used in the manufacture of loaf-bread ; 

 and potato-starch, which is nothing more than dry 

 starch-powder, is used, not only in fine bread 

 and pastry, but as a substitute and adulterant of 

 arrow-root. 



The Cabbage tribe (Brassica} which includes 

 the common white and red cabbages, the savoy, 

 greens, cauliflower, broccoli, &c. is pretty exten- 

 sively cultivated in Britain (see KITCHEN-GARDEN) 

 for the purposes of human food. The parts used 

 are the leaves which heart or gather together; 

 and in the case of the cauliflower and broccoli, it 

 is the young and compact flowering heads. As 



74* 



they contain upwards of 90 per cent, water, their 

 nutritive value is not great ; but they are valuable 

 as antiscorbutics, and as agreeable substances 

 with which to dilute rich food and increase the 

 relish of insipid dishes. 



The Turnip (Brassica rapa), which belongs to 

 the same family, is perhaps still more largely con- 

 sumed. The varieties best adapted for human 

 food are the Swedish, yellow, and Dutch, all of 

 which contain a considerable quantity of sugar 

 and mucilage, with but little gluten. A hundred 

 parts of turnip-bulb yielded Boussingault 92-5 

 water, and 7-5 solid matter ; and this, when dried, 

 only 1-7 of nitrogen being but a third of the 

 amount found in dried cabbage. Turnip-tops, or 

 the young leaves gathered in spring, are occasion- 

 ally used in England as greens. 



The Carrot and Parsnip are two well-known 

 umbelliferous roots, possessing highly nutritive 

 properties, if chemical composition is to be taken 

 as the test of alimentary value. They contain 

 vegetable fibrin, albumen, sugar, and a volatile 

 oil ; 1000 parts yielding 95 sugar and 3 starch, 

 or about six times the amount of sugar found in 

 potatoes. They are valuable culinary vegetables 

 in soups and stews. The fibrous matter they con- 

 tain renders them somewhat difficult of digestion 

 if not well boiled a matter admitting of very easy 

 remedy. 



Beet-root, though largely made use of on the 

 continent, is chiefly employed in England as a 

 garnish for salads and other dishes, and as pickle. 

 According to the experiments of M. Achard, 14 

 pounds of beet yield I pound of sugar ; hence 

 the manufacture of sugar from this root, and also 

 its value in a culinary point of view. During 

 the potato-failures, various preparations of beet 

 were recommended as food for the poor ; and 

 among others, beet-bread, from an admixture of 

 finely rasped beet and wheaten flour, fermented 

 and baked in the usual form. 



Of the vast variety of garden vegetables used as 

 salads, pickles, garnishes, and so forth, none are 

 consumed in such abundance as to entitle them 

 to especial notice. Many of them are no doubt 

 useful, others are useless, and not a few positively 

 hurtful, though fashion and caprice may give them 

 a place on our tables. Some notice of the more 

 prominent as lettuce, radish, spinach, celery, 

 asparagus, artichoke, parsley, cress, onion, and 

 the like will be found under KITCHEN-GARDEN 

 and COOKERY. 



Preserved vegetables may be used with advan- 

 tage, but chiefly when fresh vegetables cannot be 

 obtained. The natural qualities of the vegetables 

 appear to be best retained when they are inclosed, 

 without being dried, in tin cases from which air 

 has been excluded by heat. This method is suc- 

 cessfully applied to potatoes, carrots, onions, &c. 

 Fruits may be similarly preserved, either in tin 

 cases or in bottles, a little water, syrup, brandy, 

 or noyeau being added. Another method is to 

 dry and then subject them to pressure. Potatoes, 

 cabbages, cauliflowers, carrots, beans, &c. treated 

 in this manner are reduced to about one-seventh 

 of their original bulk, which they regain on being 

 steeped in water. It has been found, also, that 

 a useful method of preserving potatoes is to slic 

 dry, and then granulate them. 



Sugar, As already mentioned, sugar exis 

 both in vegetable and animal substances, bi 



