202 GENERAL SCIENCE 



Mineral Matter. Mineral matter is indispensable to the body 

 because it forms about 5 or 6 per cent of the body weight. Such 

 foods as fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs, and baked potato skins con- 

 tain large quantities of mineral matter. Mineral matter is used for 

 forming bones, hair, teeth. It also aids in digestion and is found in 

 the blood. 



ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF MINERAL MATTER REQUIRED PER 



MAN PER DAY 



Food Containing Minerals. Beans, peas, and lentils are rich in 

 potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and contain traces of 

 iron, sulphur, silica, chlorin and sodium. 



The cereals also have a great amount of mineral matter. Oats 

 are the richest, barley next and wheat third; rye, corn and rice follow 

 in this order. 



Among the vegetables, spinach has the greatest amount of mineral 

 matter, followed by cabbage, horse radish, lettuce, carrots, radishes, 

 onions, cauliflower, cucumbers and asparagus. The green vegetables 

 do not have very much protein and starch, with the exception of 

 potatoes. 



Among the dried fruits, dried figs are richest in mineral matter. 

 Next to figs are blueberries, followed by strawberries, prunes, 

 cherries, apples, peaches, gooseberries, and grapes. Applet and 

 strawberries have a large percentage of sodium. Strawberries, goose- 

 berries and prunes contain large amounts of iron. The strawberry 

 leads in this list, and is also rich in silica. 



Nuts are rich in phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium. 



