308 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



the other articles of food. From the vegetable kingdom are 

 derived various oils and fatty matters, such as olive oil, cocoa 

 butter, etc. 



Of vegetables the cereals occupy the principal place; the 

 chief among them in this country is wheat; from wheat is 

 prepared the flour of which the bread that is eaten by the great 

 bulk of the people of the British Islands is made. The grain 

 of whoat is formed of an outer covering of bran, inside which 

 there is a layer of nitrogenous matter, and within that the flour. 

 The latter should constitute 80 per cent, of the whole grain 

 when ground. The meal is passed through a series of sieves, 

 which reduce it to the varying degrees of fineness known as 

 "households" and "best flour;" practically, households is 

 the best for family use, for though in casting away the bran a 

 certain proportion of 'ine nutritive, and a large amount of the 

 mineral elements of the wheat are lost, yet 50 per cent, of the 

 bran is completely indigestible, and when taken into the ali- 

 mentary canal, instead of adding to the nutritive property of the 

 food, acts as an irritant, and thus causes waste, and probably pre- 

 vents the absorption of even some of the other nutritive elements. 



The other grains used in this country as food ara mainly 

 oats, barley, Indian corn, and rice. Oatmeal, which is so 

 largely used in Scotland, is made by grinding the whole grain, 

 deprived of its outer husk, into a rather coarse powder ; it is 

 more nutritious than wheaten flour, but not so easy of diges- 

 tion, and cannot be made into bread, but is used in the shape 

 of cakes or porridge : it is still very largely consumed in Scotland 

 and by the labouring classes of England. The grain, deprived 

 of its outer skin and crushed, is called groats, and is much used 

 for the preparation of gruel. 



The use of barley meal prevails extensively in the north of 

 Europe, but not so much in England as formerly ; yet even 

 now a good deal is consumed in the southern counties and in 

 Wales. The flour resembles that of wheat very much in appear- 

 ance, but is not so nutritious, and, like that of the oat, will not 

 by itself make good bread ; it is generally eaten in the shape of 

 cakes, or as porridge. Barley, when deprived of its husk and 

 rounded, is called " pearl or Scotch barley," and is much used 

 for making drinks for invalids, and for thickening soups. 



Maize, or Indian corn, since the famine in Ireland, has been 

 extensively used in that country, and it forms the largest part 

 of the farinaceous food of the inhabitants of America, Italy, and 

 Spain. The meal is very nutritious, but has a peculiar harsh 

 taste, and does not make good bread. It is generally eaten in 

 the shape of stirabout, or porridge, with milk or treacle. By its 

 exclusive or very large use the health of the people fed on it is 

 found sooner or later to suffer ; diarrhoea is often set up, and 

 in Italy it is said to produce a peculiar disease of the skin a 

 kind of leprosy, accompanied by great depression and melan- 

 choly, with a tendency to commit suicide by drowning. In 

 America the young green ears are eaten boiled in milk, and 

 form a very agreeable dish. The meal ground finely, and de- 

 prived of its acrid principle by a chemical process, forms the 

 numerous "corn flours" so much in favour now for the pre- 

 paration of puddings, etc. 



Eice is the food of the natives of India and China, but in 

 this country is used more as an article of luxury than as a 

 necessary food. In nutritive power it is less than the other 

 cereals, but much exceeds them in the proportion of its carbona- 

 ceous or heat-forming element ; it is, therefore, a good adjunct 

 to those meats which contain much nitrogen, such as poultry, 

 veal, and fish. In times of scarcity it has been used as a sub- 

 stitute for potatoes, but cannot permanently supply their place, 

 either on the score of nutriment or economy. 



There are several other varieties of grain used in various 

 parts cf the world, but in this country they are almost entirely 

 unknown. 



The next great class of vegetable foods is that of the legumes ; 

 this includes peas, beans, lentils, and various other less used 

 pulses. Of these, peas are the most generally and largely con- 

 sumed, and may be taken as a type of the class ; they are the 

 most nutritious of all the vegetable foods, being rich in nitro- 

 gen, and also somewhat exceeding wheat-flour in the quantity of 

 carbon they contain ; they should never be used whole or with 

 their skins, as these are completely indigestible, and, like the 

 bran of wheat, cause irritation and consequent waste, of the 

 other parts of the food. 



We come now to another great division of vegetable foods 



the starches. This includes arrowroot in its various varieties, 

 sago, tapioca, tous les mois, etc. ; all these consist almost en- 

 tirely of starch, are very poor in nitrogen, and rich in carbon, 

 consequently have very little nutritive value, but form useful 

 foods when cooked in milk, especially for invalids ; if water 

 only is used in preparing them, they form a jelly -like mass, 

 which is only very partially digested. Of that class of food 

 which goes by the common name of vegetables the potato 

 stands first, both on account of its more extensive use, and its 

 economy and nutritive power as compared with the other va- 

 rieties. " Its flavour is agreeable and constant, its supply 

 abundant, and its preparation easy ; its action in the body is 

 unaccompanied by any inconvenience, and, in reference to the 

 country population, its cost is small." Of its history, it is 

 well known that it was introduced into this country from Ame- 

 rica by Sir Walter Raleigh in the sixteenth, century, and has 

 ever since that time been steadily advancing in popular favour ; 

 so that now it is in this country more extensively used than 

 any other food, save, perhaps, wheaten bread. Its absolute 

 nutritive value is not great, and it consequently requires to be 

 eaten with some nitrogenous adjunct, as buttermilk in Ireland. 

 The mealy varieties are the most digestible, and boiling in the 

 skins is the most economical method of cooking them. 



Green vegetables and the other roots may be classed together 

 Of these, the parsnip stands next to the potato in point of nu- 

 triment, then carrots, then turnips and onions. All these vege- 

 tables are more valuable on account of their anti-scorbutic 

 properties than simply for their nutritive qualities. In this 

 respect the potato still holds the first rank, and, in consequence 

 of this, it is now an almost universal practice to provide potatoes, 

 either fresh or preserved, as part of the dietary of seamen and 

 passengers on board ship. 



Other materials for food are occasionally found amongst the 

 sea-weeds which so profusely strew our shores, and amongst 

 the multitudinous varieties of fungi. Of the latter, the only 

 ones of any importance, or in general use, ara the common 

 mushroom and the truffle, and these must be looked upon rather 

 as flavourers or condiments than as food. 



Very widely distributed and in extensive use is the next class 

 of food the sugars. These, like the starches, are deficient in 

 nitrogen, are heat-producers and not tissue-formers, save as 

 regards fat. Sugar is met with in two forms solid as sugar, 

 and liquid as molasses ; that which is used in this country is 

 prepared almost exclusively from the sugar-cane ; but a very 

 large quantity, used mostly in France, is extracted from the 

 beet-root; and in America a considerable part cf the supply 

 is derived from the maple tree. 



Other items derived from the vegetable kingdom are condi- 

 ments and spices. These, whilst having no nutritive value of 

 their own, act as flavourers ; and thus food which, without them, 

 would be insipid and repugnant, by their aid is rendered pleasant 

 and palatable. 



Two more classes remain, both beverages, and, in some 

 respects, antagonistic ones. The first includes tea, coffee, and 

 cocoa ; the second alcoholic drinks. 



Of the first it may be said that their use, or that of substitutes 

 similar in kind, is spread over the whole world. The main ele- 

 ments necessary seem to be " an astringent matter, a volatile 

 oil, and a crystallisable body rich in nitrogen." Vegetable in- 

 fusions containing these principles are used equally in the arctic 

 region as in the tropics. As to the part they fulfil in the animal 

 economy, but little is satisfactorily settled. That they have 

 little direct nutritive power is clear from their composition. 



Dr.- Edward Smith states that tea promotes the vital func- 

 tions of the body, and assists in the transformation of fatty 

 and starchy foods, in this way quickening digestion; that it 

 increases the action of the skin and induces perspiration, so 

 lowering the temperature of the body; that it increases the 

 respiratory function, and so causes an increase in the quantity 

 of carbonic acid expired by the lungs. He also alludes to the 

 lightness and cheerfulness which follow its use, and have earned 

 for it the title of " the cup that cheers but not inebriates." 

 On the other hand, to excessive tea-drinking many physicians 

 attribute a large quantity of the dyspepsia so common at the 

 present day. Coffee is said to have in some respects a contrary 

 effect to that of tea (acting like alcohol), in that it lessens the 

 action of the skin, and does not affect the respiratory function 

 to the same degree as tea. 



