LESSON 65.] NUTRITION IN MAN. 221 



Lamb) are neither nutritious nor easy of digestion ; Beef, and espe- 

 cially Mutton, are by far the lightest and most nutritious of all meats. 



Curious, but most satisfactory information, quite confirmatory of 

 the views already enunciated, have been furnished by a series of 

 carefully noted experiments, made at different times, and by a num- 

 ber of independent observers, upon the stomach of Martin, the cel- 

 ebrated Canadian with a permanent hole in his stomach, the result 

 of a gun-shot wound. The gastric juice, long supposed to be a myth, 

 inasmuch as no one had ever seen it, because it cannot be found in 

 death, appears to be secreted at the very time, and in the exact quan- 

 tity wanted. The physiological law that .all young meats are in- 

 digestible, is sustained by the fact that a tender young Chicken 

 requires two-thirds longer time to digest it than a tough old hen. 

 Chickens are frequently prescribed for invalids, but this appears to 

 be a mistake, as, to be easy of digestion and nutritious, the full de- 

 velopment of age would seem to be essential. But care and cau- 

 tion are necessary in the preparation of such food ; it should be put 

 into cold water after having been cut into pieces, and simmered 

 gently for many continuous hours, the time required depending upon 

 its age. If it once be suffered to boil, there is an end of the pro- 

 cess, for muscle consists of the two elements albumen and fibrin 

 and the too sudden application of heat, or the temperature of the 

 boiling point, coagulates one element (albumen), and corrugates 

 the other (fibrin). 



Coagulation of albumen is the state to which the white of an egg 

 is reduced when boiled hard perfectly solidified. Corrugation of 

 fibrin is imitated by parchment brought under the influence of a 

 strong fire, in which the entire mass is shrivelled, or clewed up into 

 a small space ; in both cases the nutriment is locked up, and ren- 

 dered inaccessible to any stomach. 



The flesh of an Ox or Cow is more readily digested than Veal ; 

 Mutton, than Lamb. 



It is well known that the application of heat to butter or lard 

 decomposes them, and essentially alters their properties; for this 

 reason pie-crust is extremely unhealthy. A peep into the Canadian's 

 stomach, shows conclusively that cooked butter or lard is firstly sep- 

 arated ; it then floats upon the surface as a mass of grease, and ulti- 

 mately passes out of the stomach, without undergoing any digestion 

 whatever. 



The skins of all kinds of fruit are entirely indigestible ; the sto- 

 mach refuses to have any thing whatever to do with them. 



