

SEED-FOOD. 27 



two fatty substances : one, called stearine, is solid 

 at ordinary temperatures, and is used in the manu- 

 facture of candles ; the other, being liquid, is burned 

 in lamps, or when fresh is used in cookery. Some 

 of our most valued nuts, such as the butternut, 

 hickory, pecan-nut, Brazil-nut, pistachio-nut and 

 almond, owe their rich flavor to the abundant oil 

 they contain. 



In point of nutritive value the albuminoids form 

 by far the most important constituents of seed- 

 food, for in chemical composition they are very 

 similar to egg-albumen. No seeds are entirely 

 destitute of albuminoids, but as a rule the quan- 

 tity is not very large. In the cereals the propor- 

 tion ranges from seven and one-half per cent in 

 rice to nineteen per cent or more in wheat. Peas 

 and beans are the most nutritious seeds that we 

 commonly use, as about one quarter of their bulk 

 is albuminoid material. The value of wheat is 

 greatly enhanced by the fact that its albuminoid 

 food consists almost wholly of gluten. This sub- 

 stance it is which imparts to macaroni its peculiar 

 firmness and elasticity, and which gives to wheaten 

 dough that tenacity upon which the making of 

 raised bread depends. 



Of all the sorts of food which plants lay by in 



