[31] NUTKITIVE VALUE OF FISH AND INVERTEBRATES. 463 



Comparative costs of protein in animal and vegetable foods — Continued. 



Foods. 



Cheese : 



Whole niUk ... 

 Skimmed milk . 



Jleats, dairy productt,, dec. — Continued. 



Salmon: 



Early iu season 

 When plenty .. 



Fish, oysters, dc. 



Shad. 



When abundant 



Blnetish 



Haddock 



Halibut 



Mackerel 



When abundant 



Cod 



When plenty 



Alewife 



Canned salmon 



Salt mackerel 



Salt cod -■ 



Lower — 



OystPTs : * 



I'D cents per quart 



35 cents per quart 



50 cents per quart, choice . 

 Lobsters 



Vegetable foods. 



Wheat-flour, best 



Indian-corn (maize) meal 



Oatmeal 



Beans 



Potatoes : t 



50 cents per bushel . . 

 100 cents per bushel . 



Ordinary 



prices per 



pound. 



Cents. 

 18 



100 

 30 

 12 



8 

 10 



7 

 15 

 10 



5 



3 

 20 

 12.5 



7 



12J 

 17.5 

 25 

 12 



5 

 3 



5 

 5 



0.8 

 L7 



Cost of 



protein per 



pound. 



Cents. 



572 

 172 

 98 

 65 

 98 

 94 

 87 

 80 

 40 

 67 

 50 

 19 

 70 

 46 

 38 

 33 



156 

 220 

 312 

 209 



' Shell contents. 



t Containing very little protein. 



Thus the nutrients of vegetable foods are, in general, much less costly 

 than in animal foods. The animal foods have, however, the advantage 

 of containiDg a larger proportion of protein and fats, and the protein, 

 at least, in more digestible forms. And further, the so-called "nitro- 

 genous extractives" (creatiu, carnin, &c.,) of meats, which contribute 

 so much to their agreeable flavor, exert a nutritive effect which, though, 

 not yet explained, is nevertheless important. It is these which give to 

 "extract of meat" its peculiar flavor and stimulating effect. 



Among the animal foods those which rank as delicacies are the cost- 

 liest. By the above calculations the protein in the oysters costs from 

 $2 to $3, and in salmon rises to nearly $6 per ijound. In beef, mutton, 

 and pork it varies from 108 to 48 cents ; iu shad, bluefish, haddock, and 

 halibut the range is about the same, while in cod and mackerel, fresh 

 and salted, it ranges from 67 to as low as 33 cents per pound. Salt cod 

 and salt mackerel are nearly always, fresh cod and mackerel often, and 

 even the choicer fish, as bluefish and shad, when abundant, cheaper 

 sources of protein than any but the inferior kinds of meat. 



In short we pay for many of our foods according to their agreeable- 

 ness to our x)alates rather than their value for nourishing our bodies. 

 At the same time it is interesting to note that the ]>iic('S of the mate- 

 rials that make up tile bulk of the food of the people seem to run more 



