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CHAPTER V. 



FOODS, FEEDING AND WATERING. 



The constituents of all foods may on analysis be resolved into five 

 groups, each having certain special qualities and existing in definite 

 percentages. The groups are as follows : — 



1. Flesh-making. 



2. Fat-heat -energy producing. 



3. Bone-making. 



4. Fibrous and woody materials. 



5. Water. 



Strictly speaking they are not so sharply divided as shown in the 

 above classification and may occasionally overlap, e.g. the flesh-making 

 group can sometimes produce fat or supply energy, and the elements of 

 the bone-making group may be found in other tissues besides bones ; but 

 as a practical division, which gives a clear view of the functions of the 

 various elements in food, the grouping may be accepted as correct. 



I. The flesh-making elements are chiefly concerned with the building 

 up of the body tissues, the muscles, the various organs and the skin, and 

 maintaining them both in amount and quality. If a slight excess of such 

 materials is contained in the food given, it may be stored up in the body 

 as fat, which can be used on occasion to produce heat and work (energy) ; 

 but this is not the essential function of the flesh-making elements, and a 

 properly constituted food should only contain them in such proportion as 

 can be properly digested and will keep the muscles and other organs at 

 their best ; beyond this amount the digestion is disturbed by their 

 presence, and foods which contain them in very large percentage are 

 popularly called " heating," from the effects which they produce on 

 the skin and digestion when consumed in excess — a familiar example 

 being beans. 

 Fat group. 2. The fat-heat-energy producing elements include the natural fats in 

 the food and all the starches and sugars. Their uses are— to produce the 

 necessary heat for maintaining the body temperature ; to provide sufli- 



