348 FOODS, COMPOSITION OF. 



FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE. 



a large number of the analyses of Tables I-IV 

 belong was undertaken with an especial view 

 to the study of fish as food for man, some more 

 specific reference to fish may not be out of place 

 here. The flesh of fish contains, in general, 

 about the same proportions of protein, less fat, 

 more water, and hence, on the whole, less nu- 

 tritive material, than that of domestic animals 

 used for food. Thus we have in the flesh of 

 flounder only 16 per cent., and in that of cod 

 18 per cent, of nutrients, while ordinary lean 

 beef has from 25 to 33 per cent., and the fatter 

 meats considerably more. The fatter kinds of 

 fish, however, as herring, mackerel, salmon, 

 shad, and white-fish, approach nearer to me- 

 dium beef. Dried and salted fish also contain 

 good proportions of nutrients, the specimens 

 of ordinary salt codfish having 28 per cent., 

 salt mackerel 47 per cent. The edible portion 

 of shell-fish is poor in nutrients, oysters vary- 

 ing from 9 to 19 per cent., and lobsters averag- 

 ing 18 per cent. 



Proportions of Nutrients in Fish and other Food- 

 Materials as commonly sold. Fish as found in the 

 markets generally contain more refuse, bone, 

 skin, etc., than meats, as is illustrated in Tables 

 II and IV. With the larger proportions of both 

 refuse and water the proportions of nutrients, 

 though variable, are usually much less than in 

 meats. Thus, a sample of flounder contained 

 67 per cent, of refuse, 28 per cent, of water, and 

 only 5 per cent, of nutritive substance, while 

 the salmon averaged 23 per cent., the salt cod 22 

 per cent., and the salt mackerel 36 per cent, of 

 nutrients. The nutrients in meats ranged from 

 30 per cent, in beef to 46 per cent, in mutton, 

 and 87i per cent, in very fat pork (bacon). 

 The canned fish compare very favorably with 

 the meats. It is worth noting that the nutri- 

 ents in fresh codfish, dressed, in oysters, edi- 

 ble portion, and in milk, were nearly the same 

 in a ; nount, about 12| per cent., though differ- 

 ing in kind and proportions. 



Vegetable foods generally have less water 

 and more nutrients than animal foods. Or- 

 dinary flour, meal, etc., contain from 85 to 90 

 per cent, or more of nutritive material. But the 

 nutritive value is not proportional to the quan- 

 tity of nutrients, because the vegetable foods 

 consist mostly of carbohydrates, starch, sugar, 

 cellulose, etc., of inferior nutritive effect, and 

 because their protein is less digestible than that 

 of animal foods. Potatoes contain a large 

 amount of water and extremely little protein or 

 fats. 



Uses of Fish as Food. The chief uses of fish as 

 food are (1) as an economical source of nutri- 

 ment, and (2) to supply the demand for variety 

 in diet, which increases with the advance of 

 civilization and culture. 



As nutriment, the place of fish is that of a 

 supplement to vegetable foods, the most of 

 which, as wheat, rye, maize, rice, potatoes, 

 etc., are deficient in protein, the chief nutrient 

 of fish. 



The so-called nitrogenous extractives, con- 



tained in small quantities in fish, as in other 

 animal foods, are doubtless useful in nutrition. 

 The theory that fish is especially valuable for 

 brain-food, on account of an assumed richness 

 in phosphorus, is not sustained by the facts of 

 either chemistry or physiology. 



It is an interesting fact that the poorer class- 

 es of people and communities almost univer- 

 sally select those foods which chemical analysis 

 shows to supply the actual nutrients at the 

 lowest cost. But, unfortunately, the propor- 

 tions of the nutrients in their dietaries are 

 often very defective. Thus, in portions of In- 

 dia and China, rice ; in Northern Italy, maize- 

 meal ; in certain districts of Germany and in 

 some regions and seasons in Ireland, potatoes ; 

 and among the poor whites of the Southern 

 United States, maize-meal and bacon, make a 

 large part, and in some cases almost the sole, 

 food of the people. These foods supply the 

 nutrients in the cheapest forms, but are all de- 

 ficient in protein. The people who live upon 

 them are ill-nourished and suffer physically, 

 intellectually, and morally thereby. 



On the other hand, the Scotchman finds a 

 most economical supply of protein in oatme*al, 

 haddock, and herring ; and the rural inhabit- 

 ants of New England supplement the fat of 

 their pork with protein of beans, and the car- 

 bohydrates of potatoes, maize, and wheat-flour 

 with the protein of codfish and mackerel, and, 

 while subsisting largely upon such frugal but 

 rational diets, are well nourished, physically 

 strong, and noted for their intellectual and 

 moral force. 



As population becomes denser, the capacity 

 of the soil to supply food for man gradually 

 nears its limit. Fish gather materials that 

 would otherwise be inaccessible and lost, and 

 store them in the very forms that are most de- 

 ficient in the produce of the soil. Thus, by 

 proper culture and use of fish, the rivers and 

 the sea are made to fulfill their office with the 

 land in supplying nutriment for man. 



FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE. The foot-and- 

 mouth disease is the most contagious of all 

 the maladies which affect domestic animals. 

 Nearly all four-footed beasts are liable to it, 

 but the cloven-footed are especially predis- 

 posed to infection. Sheep, goats, swine, and 

 cattle contract it with equal readiness and cer- 

 tainty. All the individuals of a herd or flock 

 in which it makes its appearance are affected 

 almost simultaneously. The period of incuba- 

 tion is about 36 hours, though in cold weather 

 the symptoms seem to be delayed, and some- 

 times do not manifest themselves until six days 

 after exposure to the infection. The symp- 

 toms are the swelling of the digits, blisters or 

 ulcers between the hoofs, lameness, inflamma- 

 tion and tenderness of the udder and teats, 

 with sores and blisters on those parts, frothing 

 and slobbering at the mouth, a smacking noise 

 made with the tongue and palate, and large, 

 rounded blisters or angry sores on the mucous 

 membrane of the mouth. 



