August 8, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



131 



per cent, of the energy was available. It is 

 to be noted in five of these sixteen digestion 

 trials negative results as to the digestibility of 

 the protein were secured; that is the body 

 actually sustained a loss of protein because 

 of the bran consumed. " The reports made by 

 the subjects regarding their physical condition 

 vary from ' normal except for occasional 

 slight pains in the stomach after eating to 

 extreme laxative effect.'"^ 



Mr. Holmes reviews the earlier digestion 

 trials of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 made by , Woods and Merrill of Maine and 

 Snyder of Minnesota, and reports: 



White flour 88.1 95.7 



Whole wheat flour 81.9 94.0 



Graham flour 76.9 90.6 



Mr. Holmes's work shows that wheat bran 

 has low digestibility as a human food. He 

 says: "It is hoped the results of the experi- 

 ments here reported when considered in con- 

 nection with the available data on the digesti- 

 bility of wheat will be of value in determining 

 the most economical and physiological method 

 of utilizing wheat for human food." 



When used as animal food bran and wheat 

 by-products have a rauch higher digestibility 

 than when used as human food. Jordan re- 

 ports that on an average YY.8 per cent, of the 

 protein of bran and 79.8 per cent, of the pro- 

 tein of middlings are digested by animals. 

 Thus it is quite evident that a pound of corn 

 flour or barley flour furnishes more nutrients 

 in a human ration than a pound of wheat by- 

 product and on the other hand a pound of 

 wheat by-product furnishes more nutrients in 

 the animal ration than a pound of corn or 

 corn flour and this is because the bran has a 

 low digestibility as human food. In view of 

 the facts it is quite plain the U. S. Food 

 Administrator made no mistake in the adop- 

 tion of the " substitute " flour as a conserva- 

 tion measure instead of the use of whole- 

 wheat flour. 



The Victory Bread of the United States 

 made from 75 per cent, white flour (war stand- 



1 Page 17, U. S. Dept. Agr. Bulletin No. 751. 



ard) and 25 per cent, "substitutes" was far 

 superior to the long extraction or War Bread 

 of Eurojse containing no substitutes. A quo- 

 tation from Alonzo E. Taylor's "War Bread" 

 relative to the quality of the whole wheat or 

 long extraction flours used in Europe is inter- 

 esting : 



It is the experience of the nations at war in Eu- 

 rope that they would abandon higher extraction 

 a,nd return to mixed flours prepared from stand- 

 ard flour, provided this were possible. Breads 

 made in England of standard (American flour di- 

 luted with an admixing flour) are much better than 

 straight breads of 85 per cent, extraction flour. 

 The Victory bread of the United States is so su- 

 perior to the war bread of the Allies and of the 

 enemies as to be past comparison. (Page 86.) 



The " Substitute Plan " adopted by the 

 United States Food Administration resulted 

 in the conservation of more wheat, and the 

 production of^better bread and more nutritious 

 than would have been possible if the whole- 

 wheat plan, so vigorously advocated by some, 

 had been adopted. 



Dr. Armsby, director of the Institute of 

 Animal ISTutrition of the Pennsylvania State 

 College, in his booklet "The Conservation of 

 Food Energy," which was published about a 

 year ago, gives some interesting data upon the 

 utilization of cereals. He records the avail- 

 able energy per 100 pounds of flour as follows : 



Therms 



Straight or standard patent 165.0 



Whole wheat 156.1 



Graham 150.5 



After discussing the efiiciency of animals to 

 utilize cereals, and the food value of animal 

 products, considering the overhead feed cost 

 in producing such products, he concludes 

 that: 



It is clear, then, that the endeavor should be to 

 utilize as large a proportion of vegetable products 

 as is possible directly as human food, leaving only 

 the by-products to be fed to stock. In the case of 

 cereals this is accomplished chiefly by some form 

 of milling. (Page 58.) 



It is to be noted that the figures which Dr. 

 Armsby uses for flour milling (73 per cent. 



