Food 

 Force 



SCIENTIFIC SIDE-LIGHTS 



also, to a less extent, sulfur, phosphorus, 

 chlorin, potassium, sodium, and certain 

 other of the elements. Since this is the 

 case it must be evident that, to balance this 

 waste, foods must be supplied containing 

 all these elements to a certain degree, and 

 some of them, viz., those which take the 

 principal part in forming the excreta, in 

 large amount. . . . The quantity of car- 

 bon daily lost from the body amounts to 

 about 281.2 grams or nearly 4,500 grains, 

 and of nitrogen 18.8 grams, or nearly 300 

 grains; and if a man could be fed by these 

 elements, as such, the problem would be 

 a very simple one; a corresponding weight 

 of charcoal, and, allowing for the oxygen 

 in it, of atmospheric air, would be all that 

 is necessary. But an animal can live only 

 upon these elements when they are arranged 

 in a particular manner with others, in the 

 form of an organic compound, as albumin, 

 starch, and the like; and the relative pro- 

 portion of carbon to nitrogen in either of 

 these compounds alone is, by no means, the 

 proportion required in the diet of man. 

 Thus, in albumin the proportion of carbon 

 to nitrogen is only as 3.5 to 1. If, there- 

 fore, a man took into his body, as food, 

 sufficient albumin to supply him with the 

 needful amount of carbon, he would re- 

 ceive more than four times as much 

 nitrogen as he wanted ; and if he took only 

 sufficient to supply him with nitrogen, he 

 would be starved for want of carbon. It 

 is plain, therefore, that he should take with 

 the albuminous part of his food, which con- 

 tains so large a relative amount of nitrogen 

 in proportion to the carbon he needs, sub- 

 stances in which the nitrogen exists in much 

 smaller quantities relatively to the carbon. 

 It is therefore evident that the diet must 

 consist of several substances, not of one 

 alone, and we must therefore turn to the 

 available food-stuffs. BAKER Handbook of 

 Physiology, vol. i, ch. 7, p. 212. (W. W., 

 1885.) 



1277. FOODS, ADULTERATION OF 



The Perversion of Science Injurious or 

 Dangerous Preservatives. In the adultera- 

 tion of foods, unfortunately, the fraud is 

 not always confined to matters harmless to 

 health. Bad as any adulteration of an ar- 

 ticle of food or drink may be, it is not of 

 the highest class of criminality when the 

 fraudulent practises consist in the addition 

 of harmless substances, but the health of 

 the consumer becomes endangered when 

 adulterations assume a poisonous character 

 or are of a nature which by constant use 

 will produce disturbances in the vital func- 

 tions. Many bodies which have poisonous 

 qualities are often introduced into foods 

 either for the purpose of preserving them 

 or of adding to the attractiveness of their 

 appearance. Among preservatives which 

 are commonly found, and which may be re- 

 garded as injurious, may be mentioned sul- 

 furous and salicylic acids and borax. These 

 bodies, when taken in minute quantities and 



for short intervals of time, produce no dele- 

 terious effects whatever. When, however, 

 they are used for an indefinite period, they 

 tend to derange the digestive organs and im- 

 pair health. . . . The seemingly natural 

 red color of preserved meats is secured by 

 the use of niter and other similar objection- 

 able agents. WILEY Relations of Chemis- 

 try to Industrial Progress (Address at Pur- 

 due University, Lafayette, Ind., 1896, p. 42). 



1278. FOODS , NUTRITIVE VALUE OF 



Advantage of Scientific Analysis Benefit 

 to Animals and Man. In the matter of 

 foods the chemist has also made investiga- 

 tions in another direction which are of the 

 utmost importance to industrial progress. 

 He has investigated, first, from a purely 

 scientific basis, the problems of nutrition. 

 He has shown that certain characters of 

 foods in the animal economy tend to pro- 

 duce certain results, and as a result of these 

 investigations is able to prepare a ration 

 which in any given case will meet the re- 

 quirements desired. The pig which is fed 

 for market requires quite a different ratio 

 in the ingredients of its food-principles 

 from the cow that is fed for milk or butter. 

 Three great food-principles are recognized, 

 viz., fats, carbohydrates, and proteids. It 

 is possible, by a judicious combination of 

 these great food-principles, to produce in 

 any given case a ration which will secure 

 the effect desired in the most economical 

 way. By following rigidly the principles 

 which have thus been established by scien- 

 tific research, it is possible at the present 

 day to prepare a hundred pounds of pork 

 for market at a cost fully one-third less 

 than was required by the haphazard meth- 

 od pursued a quarter of a century ago. 

 . . . Wider fields of utility, however, 

 open up before the possibilities of chemical 

 investigation in the matter of human foods. 

 If pigs deserve to be fed on balanced ra- 

 tions, and steers stand in wait for the man- 

 dates of science before they chew their cuds, 

 it is not too much to ask that man himself 

 should receive some consideration. WILEY 

 Relations of Chemistry to Industrial Prog- 

 ress (Address at Purdue University, Lafay- 

 ette, Ind., 1896, p, 44). 



1279. FOODS, THE CHEMISTRY OF 



The Body Heated Like a Stove. The food 

 of man and animals consists of two classes 

 of substance differing essentially in compo- 

 sition. The one class (consisting of nitrog- 

 enous substances, albumin, etc.) serves in 

 the formation of blood and in building up 

 the various organs of the body; this is 

 called plastic food. The other (consisting 

 of non-nitrogenous substances, the fatty 

 bodies, and the so-called carbohydrates) re- 

 sembles ordinary fuel and serves in the gen- 

 eration of heat; this is designated by the 

 term respiratory food. Sugar, starch, or 

 gum may be looked upon as modified woody 

 fiber, from which it is known that they are 

 capable of being formed. Fat, from the 



