271 



l about 10 per cent., while the other 



It is this fact which g 



trong staying qua 



bread stuffs made from graii 



Turning now to the nuts, we find them only moderately rich 

 in albuminoids, which' average probably less than half the per- 

 centage of those of the grains. This shortage is atoned for in 

 most of them by a larger amount of fat, a nutrient requiring 

 little digestive labor, and ready for quick utilization. To this it 

 might be replied that nuts are indigestible, but this fact is due to 

 the storage of their fat in cells where the digestive juices reach 

 it with difficulty. The key to the rational use of nuts is the very 

 thorough breaking up of their cell-walls, as is done in the grind- 

 ing of the grains, or thorough cooking. The richer of the nuts 

 contain from 30 per cent, to 40 per cent., or even more, of fatty 



It is in this relative richness in fat, that we find the great and 

 important difference between the food properties of these two 

 classes. It is an invariable rule among all nations and tribes 

 that fat is to be added to foods made from the grains. The civi- 

 lized nations use butter and olive oil, the South Sea Islanders,, 

 cocoanut oil, the South Americans and Chinese, peanut oil, the 

 dweller of the Far North, seal-oil, the African, kokum butter. 

 So acute is this natural requirement that the people of our 

 Southern States, during the war, when other facts were not 

 available, used freshly expressed castor oil upon their bread, its 

 offensive odor and taste being avoided by care in its preparation 

 and promptness in its use. The presence of large amounts of 

 fats in nut foods entirely obviates this necessity, so that properly 

 prepared bread or cakes made from them may supply the place 

 of both bread and butter. Lastly, in this connection, we note 

 that considerable amounts of sugar are present in most of the 

 nuts and that in the process of keeping them, and more especi- 

 ally in their cooking, this amount is considerably increased, 

 through the conversion of a portion of their starch by the en- 

 zymes or ferments naturally present. This fact is very closely 

 connected with the physiological principles of germination. 



The last fact to be noticed in this comparison is most suggestive 



