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VOELCKER an the Chemistry of Food. 



It will be observed that all these leguminous seeds resemble 

 each other so closely in composition, that for all practical pur- 

 poses, the nutritive value of beans, peas, lentils, and tares, in so 

 far as this can be determined by analysis, may be considered 

 identical. 



The characteristic constituent of leguminous seed is legumin 

 a substance which resembles so intimately the cheesy matter or 

 curd of milk, that it has received the name of vegetable casein. 



Tares appear to be richer in legumin than the other leguminous 

 seeds, which, on an average, contain as much of this flesh- 

 producing substance as good oil-cake. 



As far as the power of animals to lay on muscle is dependent 

 on the nitrogenized principles contained in the food they eat, 

 peas, beans, lentils, and tares are as valuable as oil-cakes, but as 

 they contain much less oil, and are not so easily digested, these 

 leguminous seeds are decidedly inferior to oil-cake as feeding 

 materials. Compared with oats, barley, and other grain, peas, 

 beans, lentils, &c., are much richer in muscle-producing matter. 

 Notwithstanding this, oat and barley meal are much better adapted 

 to fattening beasts than peas or bean-meal. 



In feeding experiments with sheep, fed in conjunction with 

 bulky food upon lentils and upon oats, I found oats to produce a 

 much more considerable increase in the life-weight of the sheep 

 than an equal weight of lentils. These, and other actual feeding 

 experiments, have convinced me that the increase in life-weight 

 of the animals is much more regulated by the supply of easily- 

 digested starchy or fat-producing food than by the supply of the 

 muscle-forming constituents of food, provided the latter are fur- 

 nished in the food in moderate quantities. 



Beans, peas, and lentils, given to fattening beasts in moderate 

 quantities, along with some bulky food, such as chaff, hay, or roots, 

 I believe constitute a valuable addition to such food. Beyond 

 a certain degree, however, the supply of beans or bean-meal can- 

 not be increased with advantage ; for the well-known binding and 

 heating effects of peas and bean-meal show plainly that the 



