CIIEMISTRY. 



[WHEAT, MAIZE, no. 



digestible than YeeJ ; reel more digestible than the mus- 

 cle* of oxen, iheep, and deer. Hone-flesh is, doubtless, 

 very similar to the latter ; and the Mongol* and Pata- 

 guniaus, and even some Christian nation* of Europe in 

 time* of famine, hare proved its advantage* a* a nutri- 

 ment ; while recent investigation* of the French physicians 

 hare scientifically established them. Unj ustly. therefore, 

 the eating of horse-flesh declared by tho holy Boniface 



was 



to be a heathen indulgence of appetite, interdicted by 

 Pope Gregory III. and other authorities. The quantity 

 of fat places the muscles of swine and geese among the 

 most heavily digestible meats ; while, on the contrary, 

 most of the different kinds of game owe their superiority 

 . > small proportion of fat they possess, which dis- 

 tinguishes thoiu from the meat of our high-fed domes- 

 tic niml 



The flesh of fishes, according to their proportionately 

 small quantity of tibrine and their abundance in soluble 

 albumen, might be supposed easily digestible; but the 

 quantity of phosphorous fat renders them difficult of 

 solution in the digestive juices a remark which is ap- 

 plicable, not only to fishes, but to the brain and liver of 

 all vertebrate animals. Of the intestines, there is no 

 aliment more easily digestible than the sweet-bread of 

 calves, which is remarkable for its slight quantity of fat 

 and fibrine, as well as for its abundance of soluble 

 albumen. 



On account of the formation of acetic acid in the ex- 

 ternal parts, and of the less complete coagulation of the 

 interior, roast meat, which does not contain too much 

 fat. is easier of digestion than boiled. 



Soft-boiled eggs are, on the whole, dissolved in tho 

 stomach with greater facility than hard ones ; but as dis- 

 solved albumen is coagulated by the acidity of the gastric 

 juice, and is afterwards dissolved again, the process of 

 boiling the eggs hard, if not carried to excess, does not 

 materially interfere with their digestibility. 



As all kinds of flesh contain a sufficient proportion of 

 fat and salts to restore to the human body the inorganic 

 constituents of tho excretions and the transformed fats, 

 that kind of flesh, however, which contains the albu- 

 minous matters in the greatest abundance is to be con- 

 sidered the most nutritious. Venison and beef are, 

 therefore, more nutritious than veal, and veal more 

 nutritions than fish. Pigeons and fowls, however, sur- 

 pass beef in nutritiveness, being not inferior in their 

 proportion of albuminous matters, but superior in diges- 

 tibility. Pork, also, is less nutritious than beef, from 

 the twofold reason of its possessing fewer albuminous 

 compounds, and of being, on account of its preponderant 

 quantity of fat, less digestible. 



Wln-ii fibrine is abundant in the blood, the heart, being 

 a tissue of muscular fibres, is more fully nourished ; tho 

 activity of the circulation is consequently increased. The 

 excitation of this activity, observed after a copious meal 

 of venison, is due not only to the abundance of albumi- 

 nous matters contained in the venison, but also probably 

 to its proportionately large quantity of krcatino. 



The formation of blood and the nutrition are increased 

 by animal diet, as all these facts prove. Shall we there- 

 fore be surprised to find that, after a hearty meal of 

 meat and eggs, the secretions and excretions containing 

 albuminous matters, or compounds derived from thorn, 

 likewise increase in quantity, and especially in their pro- 

 portion of iiitrogenised matters ? That the milk flows 

 more copiously, and the quantity of urea and uric acid, in 

 twenty-four hours, is considerably.increased 1 Is it to be 

 wondered at that the blood circulates more rapidly, that 

 the muscles contract with greater vigour ? Thus, it is 

 true that an abundant formation of blood gives the first 

 impulse to an active metamorphosis of tissue ; thus it is 

 true that all increased activity has to be referred to a 

 corresponding supply of new material. 

 _ 50. Jlrtad and Cake*. All kinds of corn, including 

 rice, maize, oats, barley, rye. and wheat, contain in tli.'ir 

 seeds a Urge quantity of unaissolved vegetable all .nun n, 

 combined with a little vegetable gelatine. The latter 

 compound, belonging, like tho former, to tho albuminous 

 matters, is a glutinous substance, which communicates 



its property to the whole combination ; from tin's eiivum- 

 stauce it is called gluten. In addition to tin: gluten, 

 formerly erroneously supposed to bea simpl.- ! 

 kinds of corn contain a small quantity of soluble vege- 

 table album. -n. 



The constituents of fat ore also abundantly represented 

 in all kinds of flour, for all kinds of corn con' 

 quantity of starch so considerable, as by far to surpass 

 their amount of albuminous substances. Besides the 

 starch, a proportion of gum is always present. For- 

 merly, also, sugar was supposed to exist in these seeds ; 

 recent investigations, however, have shown this supposi- 

 tion to bo incorrect, as far, at least, as regards wh. 

 flour in a fresh condition. 



A 'small proportion of ready-formed fat accompanies 

 the constituents of fat ; and, finally, all tho inorganic 

 constituents of the human body are present in the 

 of the cerealia namely, soda and potash, magnesia and 

 lime, iron and chlorine, fluorine, phosphoric and sul- 

 phuric acids. The phosphates of the alkalies and earths 

 predominate amongst the salts ; and magnesia amongst 

 the earths. 



6L Composition of the Cerealia. The difference in 

 composition which exists amongst tho seeds of the cerc:ili:i, 

 is much greater than one would expect from tho natural 

 affinity of their parent plants. 



Gluten and starch are the constituents of grain, in the 

 proportion of which the greatest differences are found, 

 the quantity of the one generally varying inversely as 

 that of the other. Thus, wheat contains tho greatest 

 quantity of gluten and the smallest of starch ; i 

 medium proportion of both ; while in rice and barley, in 

 oate ind maize, tho largest proportion of starch and the 

 smallest of gluten are to be found. 



Potash considerably predominates over soda in tho 

 seeds of tho cerealia ; this lias been established by tho 

 most recent completed investigations on wheat an 1 

 barley, oats and rice. 



Maize is remarkable for its considerable proportion of 

 fattening matter. In the external covering of nil kinds 

 of grain, there are contained much more gluten and fat 

 than in the interior. Peeled rice and pearled barley have, 

 therefore, lost a great deal of their uutritiveness ; and 

 bread containing the bran is much more nourishing than 

 that prepared from sifted flour ; but, unfortunately, tho 

 former is rendered, by the hard cellular tissue which it 

 contains, much more difficult of digestion than the latter, 

 and excites an injurious irritation, causing diarrluua in 

 weak digestive organs. Sifted flour is, therefore, for 

 general use, preferable to the unsifted. 



If we consider that the breeding of cattle, and agricul- 

 ture, are among the most ancient pursuits of mankind, 

 we must not be astonished that, in tho methods of in- 

 creasing the produce of both, experience had anticipated 

 science by some thousands of years. In many cases, 

 therefore, nothing was left to the latter, but correctly to 

 interpret the results of the former, and explain its 

 principles. Often, too, tho scientific explanation of a 

 customary practice has proved the safeguard against 

 those errors, which would have been sure to arise in 

 reasoning from solitary instances experimentally estab- 

 lished, without tho sure ground of a general principle. 

 If the agriculturist were but ready to acknowledge the 

 services of tho chemist, and the latter willing to co- 

 operate with the former, then the power of mind ami that 

 of .the purse, which have, in fact, but one common object 

 in view, would not divide their forces ; but to the obsti- 

 nate pride of the theorist, who seeks to overthrow all 

 that agricultural experience lias established, there is only 

 too often opposed, the equally obstinate naiTnir-mindrd- 

 ness of tho agriculturist, who has no faith out of the 

 circle of his experience, or beyond the limit of his fields ; 

 tho one forgetting that old customs have been confirmed 

 by now reasons, at least as often as they have been setoside. 



This state of things is, howrv.T, happily disappearing : 

 at least, in tin's country, agriculturists aro now aware of 

 the value of the chemical appliamvs to agriculture, and 

 are not found to be backward in developing its resources. 

 They are now aware, that what feeding accomplishes in 



