in FOODS 21 



that we eat contains more or less water, and, besides, 

 we drink water freely not only with our meals but at 

 other times. All common beverages, as milk, coffee, 

 tea, cocoa, and chocolate are almost entirely water. 



TABLE SHOWING THE PERCENTAGE OF WATER IN SOME FOODS 



1. Carefully weigh a good-sized fresh potato. Then leave it in a 

 warm place for a few days and watch it dry up slowly until there is 

 little left. Weigh again. The loss of weight is due to the loss of 

 water by evaporation. 



2. Try other vegetables in a similar way. If the vegetables are 

 sliced thin, the evaporation will go on faster. 



Water has many uses in the body. It moistens and 

 dissolves the solid foods so that they may be easily 

 swallowed and taken into the blood. The blood itself is 

 over eighty per cent ivater. It holds in solution all the 

 solid foods and carries along the corpuscles of the 

 blood. The lymph around the cells has a larger pro- 

 portion of water. The cells of the body are nearly eighty 

 per cent ^vater. The wastes of the cells are dissolved in 

 water and so removed from the body through the skin, 

 lungs, and kidneys. 



25. Salts. The most essential food of this class is 

 common table salt. Meats, vegetables, and fruits all 

 contain salt, but not enough to supply our need. We 

 add salt tp nearly everything we eat. Salt may neither 



