1889.] On the Nutritive Value of Wheat Meal. 553 



General Results of the Ingestion of Whole Meal by O. 



0, therefore, digested 88*1 per cent, of dry substance ingested; 

 93 per cent, of the fat disappeared. There was (practically) nitro- 

 genous and phosphoric acid equilibrium ; there was some retention of 

 salts, perhaps to be attributed to the small quantity of liquid drank. 

 Sulphur was excreted, although only traces were ingested, and the 

 excretion of chlorine was small. 



At the end of the experiment was in good health. He had lost 

 a little in weight 1'25 Ibs. 



The importance of obtaining exact information of the nutritive 

 powers of bread as the basis of ordinary diet need scarcely be accen- 

 tuated. The quantities of whole meal consumed per diem were, it is 

 obvious, deficient in nitrogen, in fat, and in salts. Both of the 

 gentlemen who undertook the experiment lived an ordinary town life, 

 that is, they daily took moderate exercise, but their pursuits involved 

 no manual or hard labour, and therefore must be classed as sedentary ; 

 but a less supply than 18 grams of nitrogen and 5 grams of fat 

 would not be likely to keep either of them for a long period in the 

 highest health. The excretion of sulphate by the urine and of 

 unoxidised sulphur by the bowel is interesting and demands still 

 further experiment; considering that sulphur is an essential com- 

 ponent of albumen, too little attention has hitherto been paid to its 

 study as a food, but it is obvious that once it is accepted that the 

 external supplies of sulphur were cut off, the sulphur found must have 

 been derived from sulphur stores in the body, with possibly a trifling 

 amount condensed in the lung from breathing London air. 



If the excretion by the bowel be considered waste, then on an 

 average 15'6 per cent, of the total nitrogen in the bread or whole 

 meal is not in an assimilable form ; about 37 per cent, of the fat is 

 also not digested, and 51'8 per cent, of the ash also passes away. 



* Obtained by subtracting 497 "53 + 27 '51 (olive oil) from united residue of 

 faeces and urine. 



VOL. XLV. 2 P 



