16 



northern part nor in the western portions where Indian corn is most 

 extensively grown. The best and most palatable breads made from 

 Indian corn are those made from the coarsely ground meal which is 

 simply sifted fine enough to remove the coarser parts of the bran. The 

 meal is mixed with a little salt and water and baked into hard, unleav- 

 ened cakes. In some of the more primitive methods of making this 

 bread the dough is spread on an oak board and baked by exposure to 

 the radiating heat of a wood fire. This kind of bread is known as 

 johnnycake, probably a corruption of journey cake. In some parts of 

 the North the term johnny cake is applied to a thick corn bread made 

 of a mixture of corn meal, milk, eggs, salt, and baking powder. Indian- 

 corn bread is sometimes leavened by a fermentation with yeast, baked 

 in iron vessels, and is in this form known as pone. It is quite fre- 

 quently leavened with baking powders, and the corn meal is sometimes 

 mixed with wheat flour, either for domestic use or with fraudulent 

 intent. 



RATIO OF NITROGENOUS TO OTHER DIGESTIBLE CONSTITUENTS. 



From a study of the composition of the typical maize, as deduced by 

 the examination of hundreds of samples by the Division of Chemistry, 

 it is seen that the ratio of the proteids to other digestible matters 

 (namely, carbohydrates -f fat x 2.25) is about as 10 to 80, or 1 to 8. This 

 is a somewhat wide ratio as determined by the ordinary rules of nutri- 

 tion. When it is considered, however, that if we exclude the fat, which 

 is the most digestible of the constituents of the maize, the ratio as 

 given above is 1 to 7, it is seen that there is practically no objection, 

 from a nutritive point of view, to the consumption of maize as food for 

 man or beast. 



Experience is also a factor of some value in this connection. Atten- 

 tion has already been called to the fact that the manual labor of the 

 southern part of the United States is done almost exclusively on a 

 diet of Indian-corn bread and fat pork. These produce a ratio between 

 the protein and other nutrients even larger than the one given above. 

 And yet with this food the most severe manual labor is performed in a 

 climate which is excessively trying to the laborer on account of its 

 intense heat. It should also be remembered, as shown in the data 

 given on the relative digestibility of the protein in the Indian corn and 

 in wheat, that in many instances it has been found that protein in 

 Indian corn has the larger percentage of digestible constituents. Fur- 

 ther, it should be remembered that in the data above stated the ratio is 

 g.ven upon the whole of the constituents as determined by chemical 

 analysis, and not upon those only which are digestible, which is the 

 usual method for calculating the proteo-carbohydrate ratio. 



Judged, therefore, by chemical composition, digestibility, and expe- 

 rience, it is seen that the Indian corn contains a sufficient amount of 

 protein to make a well-balanced ration for those engaged in manual 

 labor. It is true that a ration made of Indian corn is more fattening 

 than one based upon oats, rye, or wheat, but in case of manual labor 



