TKOPICAL FOOD MATERIALS 59 



Considering the importance of the pulses as food materials, up 

 to within recent years comparatively few investigations had been 

 made into the absorption of their several constituents. Hof- 

 man,* in 1869, reported, as the result of some experiments, that 

 47 per cent, of the protein of a diet of bread, lentils, and potatoes 

 was excreted, as compared with a loss of 18 per cent, of meat 

 protein eaten by the same person. Strumpell,* experimenting 

 with lentils soaked in water and cooked in the usual manner, 

 found about 40 per cent, of the protein excreted, whilst investiga- 

 tions into the absorption of pea and lentil flour, properly cooked, 

 showed that under 10 per cent, of the protein is lost in the 

 faeces. Rubner* made experiments with dried hulled peas, 

 cooked for two or three hours, until soft, and then passed 

 through a sieve. When large quantities were eaten he found an 

 absorption of 



Protein 72 per cent. 



Carbohydrates 93 



Fat 25 



Ash 64 



with smaller quantities about 83 per cent, of the protein was 

 absorbed. Malfatti,* Richter,* and Prausnitz* obtained some- 

 what similar results, and the important point was demon- 

 strated that lentils are more thoroughly digested and ab- 

 sorbed when cooked in distilled water than when hard water 

 is used. 



Oshima,* in Japanese investigations, found the coefficient of 

 digestibility for protein was 65 per cent., and that for carbo- 

 hydrates 86 per cent. Snyder,| experimenting with legumes 

 when eaten in combination with other foods in an ordinary mixed 

 diet, obtained very uniform results for the different subjects 

 under observation ; the absorption of protein was found to be 

 80 per cent., and carbohydrates 96 per cent. 



Later investigations by Wait J carried out on a large scale under 

 more normal conditions i.e., the quantity of pulses not excessive, 

 and given in an ordinary mixed diet, have extended our know- 

 ledge of the nutritive value of the pulses very considerably. 

 The averages of the results obtained are given in the table 

 on p. 60. 



* Quoted by Wait, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 187. 

 t Minnesota Station, Bulletin No. 92. 

 J Wait, loc. cit. 



