NECESSAEY QUANTITY AND VARIETY OF FOOD. 181 



Fatty matter (cocoa-butter) 48 to 50 



Albumin, fibrin and other nitrogenized matter 21 " 20 



Theobromine 4 " 2 



Starch (with traces of saccharine matter) 11 " 10 



Cellulose 3 " 2 



Coloring matter, aromatic essence Traces. 



Mineral substances 3 to 4 



Hygroscopic water 10 " 12 



100 100 



It is evident, from the above table, that cocoa with milk and sugar, the 

 ordinary form in which chocolate is taken, must form a very nutritious mixt- 

 ure. Its influence as a stimulant, supplying the place of matter which is 

 directly assimilated, and retarding disassirnilation, is dependent, if it exist at 

 all, upon the theobromine ; but its stimulating properties are slight as com- 

 pared with those of coifee and tea. 



Condiments and Flavoring Articles. The refinements of cookery involve 

 the use of many articles which can not be classed as alimentary substances. 

 Pepper, capsicum, vinegar, mustard, spices and other articles of this class, 

 which are so commonly used in various sauces, have no decided influence 

 on nutrition, except in so far as they promote the secretion of the digestive 

 fluids. Common salt, however, is very important, and this has been consid- 

 ered in connection with inorganic alimentary substances. The various flavor- 

 ing seeds and leaves, truffles, mushrooms etc. have no physiological impor- 

 tance except as they render articles of food more palatable. 



Quantity and Variety of Food necessary to Nutrition. The inferior 

 animals, especially those not subjected to the influence of man, regulate by 

 instinct the quantity and kind of food which they consume. The same is 

 true of man during the earliest periods of his existence ; but later in life, 

 the diet is variously modified by taste, habit, climate, and what may be 

 termed artificial wants. It is usually a safe rule to follow the appetite with 

 regard to quantity, and the tastes, when they are not manifestly vitiated or 

 morbid, with regard to variety. The cravings of nature indicate when to 

 change the form in which nutriment is taken ; and that a sufficient quantity 

 has been taken is manifested by a sense, not exactly of satiety, but of evi- 

 dent satisfaction of the demands of the system. During the first periods 

 of life, the supply must be a little in excess of the actual loss, in order 

 to furnish materials for growth ; during the later periods, the quantity of 

 nitrogenized matter assimilated is somewhat less than the loss ; but in adult 

 age, the system is maintained at a tolerably definite standard by the assimi- 

 lation of matter about equal in quantity to that which is discharged in the 

 form of excretions. 



Although the loss of substance by disassimilation creates and regulates 

 the demand for food, it is an important fact, never to be lost sight of, that 

 the supply of food has a very great influence upon the quantity of the excre- 

 tions. An illustration of this is the influence of food upon the exhalation 

 of carbon dioxide ; and this is but an example of what takes place with re- 



