Will Germany Live on Sewage? 



THE problem of securing food, 

 which confronts Germany, has 

 occasioned a thorough, scientific 

 investigation of the subject and its eco- 

 nomic solution. The scarcity of fats has 

 been especially felt, due partly to the 

 large consumption of fat-containing 

 foods by German people. Direct sources 

 of fat, such as olive oil, have ceased to 

 be imported, and indirect sources, like 

 meats, nuts and grain, thoi.gh domestic 

 products, are diminished in their output. 

 The dry summer affected the fodder for 

 grazing animals, especially since more 

 vegetable food has been consumed by 

 the entire population than formerly. 



One of the first questions considered 

 was whether the fat consumed was nec- 

 essary for proper nourishment. Physio- 

 logically, fat stands next to protein in 

 importance, the other foods being car- 

 bohydrates (starches and sugars), salts 

 and water. The Germans as a people, 

 consume more fat than other nations, — 

 in fact, all people eat more oily food 

 than is necessary. Nevertheless, for en- 

 ergy-production, 3.6 ounces of fat are 

 equivalent to 8.8 ounces of carbohy- 

 drates. Fat also prevents too rapid 

 breaking down of the protein in the 

 body, which fact, together with its re- 

 sistance to cold, makes it highly impor- 

 tant for the troops in the field. 



In Germany today, the consumption of 

 oil, butter and other fatty foods, per 

 day, is less than two ounces, though for- 

 merly it was nearly double that amount. 

 It has been found that a strict economy 

 would practically solve the problem. If 

 the rich would not waste food, the poor- 

 er classes could be relieved. Large 

 crops of linseed, hemp, poppy, mustard, 

 sunflowers, walnuts, beech-nuts, hazel- 

 nuts and even Indian corn and sesame, 

 all containing oil in varying degrees, will 

 be reaped this year. They require land, 

 however, which would otherwise be used 

 for other necessary foods. Peach-pits 

 and the seeds of other fruits have been 

 considered as sources of oils, but as yet 

 little has been done in that direction. 



The committee in charge of the food 

 question, authorized the Agricultural 



Banks to buy and distribute last year's 

 crop of beech-nuts and flax. Beech- 

 nuts have heretofore been wasted, but 

 now even the royal Prussian forests are 

 to be stripped, and their output placed at 

 the disposal of the committee. School 

 children have been enlisted to gather 

 nuts and turn them in to the common 

 store. A ton of fresh beech-nuts brings 

 approximately from fifty to sixty dol- 

 lars ; air-dried nuts, from seventy-five 

 to eighty-five dollars. Provision has 

 also been made for gathering the sun- 

 flower harvest. 



These measures pertain more to the 

 future than to the immediate needs, 

 however. Accordingly a general collec- 

 tion of fatty refuse from meat-shops, 

 slaughter-houses, hotels, etc., has been 

 ordered. The system used is the work 

 of Bovermann. The refuse, mixed with 

 water, passes through a receptacle very 

 slowly to allow the fatty substances and 

 oil globules to rise to the surface, while 

 the heavier bodies sink to the bottom. 

 The top layer can then be drawn off and 

 the fat easily extracted and purified. 



This method, of course, only takes 

 care of a fraction of the fats which may 

 be found in refuse. The slime at the 

 bottom could also be used for some pur- 

 poses, such as feeding swine. All sew- 

 age from households and manufactories 

 is largely impregnated with fat in vari- 

 ous forms, such as soap particles and 

 oils. According to Professor Bechhold, 

 in Die Chcmiker-Zcitung, .35 ounces of 

 fat per person, are wasted in sewage, ev- 

 ery day. In peace times, such waste 

 would be fourteen million, two hundred 

 and eighty thousand dollars, while in the 

 last few months, it would be forty-seven 

 million, six hundred thousand dollars. A 

 further stringency may necessitate the 

 use of sewage also. 



The fisheries are another source of fat 

 and also protein, which as yet remain 

 unclaimed. Only one-fourth of all 

 catches are used for food, though the 

 small fish, thrown back, contain much 

 available nutriment. Even bones and 

 various hides could be made to yield 

 some fat, if their use became imperative. 



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