358 



ON THE PLACE OF FISH IN 



Explanation 



follows 



impulse. 



Chemistry 

 cannot ex- 

 plain all. 



Nitrogen 

 compounds 

 and hard 

 work. 



generations preceded the explanation which chemistry 

 now offers of why certain things are habitually done, 

 there is the well-known fact that in cold countries 

 and during cold weather more fat is eaten than in 

 hot, and the explanation is that fat contains so much 

 Carbon, the oxidation of which produces heat. As 

 heat is the basis of force in the body this is also the 

 explanation of why labourers eat " hunks " of cold 

 bacon and fat pork. The oxidation of the Carbon 

 furnishes force for their work. 



Because the nitrogenous compounds as shown above 

 contain 53^ or 54 per cent, of carbon it would at first 

 appear that they can furnish more heat and force than 

 starch or sugar, which contain only 44 or 40 per cent. 

 But it has been found that when nitrogenous matters 

 are oxidized in the body a portion (about one-seventh) 

 of the Carbon and Hydrogen passes away unused. 

 Deducting 8 as the nearest whole number to represent 

 one-seventh of 54, we see that not more than 46 per 

 cent, of the C is oxidised, which brings it down nearly 

 to the value of the starches. 



This is as far as chemistry is able to offer any help 

 at present, but so far, repeated experiments confirm 

 what has been arrived at. Still there are some facts 

 for which chemistry at present can offer no explana- 

 tion. One of these affects those doing severe work. 

 It is this that severe muscular work requires an 

 increase in the quantity of the nitrogenous compounds 

 in food. This does not appear to be the case with the 

 mere increase in the number of hours of work, it is 

 the seventy or as it is commonly called the " hard- 

 ness " of the work that makes the difference. Though 

 the scientific chemist cannot explain it, it is accepted 



