226 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XV. No. 375 



FOODS AND FOOD ADULTEEANTS. 



There is hardly any subject with which we come into 

 such daily and constant contact as that of food, about which 

 there is so much ignorance and prejudice; and it is the pur- 

 pose here to discuss the nature, properties, and some of the 

 chief adulterants of the principal food-products in regard to 

 their healthfulness and composition from, a chemical stand- 

 point. 



There has been a large amount of information published 

 in periodicals, official reports, general and monograph vol- 

 umes, written in English, French, German, and other lan- 

 guages;' which, however, has not found its way to the gen- 

 eral public, who, as a rule, have a feeling of uncertainty and 

 insecurity on the subject of most food-products. When people 

 hear that a certain food is adulterated, or is a food substi- 

 tute, there is immediately a prejudice excited against the 

 article, which it takes time and familiarity to allay, because 

 they imagine that any substance used as an adulterant of, or 

 a substitute for, a food-product, is to be avoided as being in- 

 jurious to health. A moment's reflection ought to show 

 that it would be directly contrary to the food-manufacturer's 

 interest to add to, or substitute anything for, a food-product 

 -which would cause injurious symptoms, as in that case his 

 means of gain would he cut off by the refusal of consumers 

 to buy his product. It is true that the unscrupulous manu- 

 facturer or dealer does not hesitate to cheat his customer ia 

 the interest of his own pecuniary profit and gain, but he 

 does not want to poison him. Where, through carelessness 

 ■or ignorance, injurious substances, such as the arsenic, cop- 

 per, aniline, and other metallic and organic poisonous salts 

 •sometimes used for artificial colors, are added to foods, their 

 presence is promptly revealed by the dangerous symptoms 

 which they call forth in the consumer. About a year ago 

 the case of the Philadelphia bakers, who added chromate 

 of lead to color some of their cakes, and thus caused the 

 death of several persons, and serious illness in nearly every 

 one who ate any of these products, will be recalled by 

 many. 



Prejudice about Foods. 



How much this nearly universal prejudice arises from 

 misleading and sensational articles and advertisements in the 

 daily newspapers, it would be hard to say. That a large 

 proportion of the articles suitable for food, and produced in 

 all countries, is wasted annually because of this prejudice, 

 is undoubtedly true. 



We do not object to eating a Zive oyster, but prefer all our 

 other meats dead, and undergoing putrefaction to a slight 

 extent, in order to get rid of the "toughness," as it is gener- 

 ally called, produced by the rigor mortis. Some people like 

 to let the putrefaction proceed further until the meat is 

 "gamy." The Texan cowboy eats goat's meat in preference 

 to that of the cattle and sheep he is herding. Young pup- 

 pies, rats, and birds' nests are considered delicacies by the 

 Chinese. Frogs' legs and snails are among the highest 

 priced dishes served at Delmonico's. Except the bones and 

 hide, every part of an animal slaughtered for food is eaten 

 by most civilized nations, — the brain; tongue; blood in the 

 •shape of black pudding and sausages; the liver; heart; 

 lungs; stomach as tripe; the pancreas, thyroid, and sublin- 

 gual glands, which are called sweetbreads, and considered a 

 great delicacy; the feet in the way of jellies, and pickled; 

 the intestines as sausage covering, etc. In the markets of 



* In the report of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for 1888, pp. xi- 

 sxiii, will be found a short bibliography of the leading publications, prepared 

 jby the -writer. 



Paris there is a steady demand for horse-flesh as food. The 

 Arabs and other nomadic tribes prefer mare's or camel's to 

 cow's milk. Many people would as soon eat a snake as an 

 eel, yet the latter commands a higher price than most fish in 

 many parts of the world. Lobsters, which are the scaven- 

 gers of the sea, are eaten by people who would not touch 

 pork. The Eskimo, who eats blubber and other solid fats, 

 and the native of the tropics, who "butters" his bread with 

 a liquid vegetable oil, have the same object in view; viz., to 

 supply a concentrated form of fuel. The squirrel is consid- 

 ered a great delicacy in many parts of this country, but is 

 not eaten in England. The vain efforts of Professor Riley 

 some years ago to induce the starving people of Kansas to 

 eat the food they had at their doors, — grasshoppers, sorghum 

 and millet seeds, and squirrels,— himself setting them the 

 example, will be recalled by many. 



Our bodies are like a furnace, and require fuel and air to 

 sustain the heat of combustion by the constant renewal of 

 fresh material and the elimination of the waste products. 

 The form, whether solid or liquid, of animal or vegetable 

 origin, in which we supply this fuel, depends largely on local 

 circumstances, climate, education, etc. ; and, as long as the 

 food employed goes to furnish the proper amount of fuel 

 material for the maintenance of the body temperature, life is 

 sustained. 



The extent of the consumption of any new food will evi- 

 dently depend on how it fulfils this requirement as a fuel, 

 and by its pleasing appearance, its palatability, its capacity 

 to appease hunger, its wholesomeness, and its relative cheap- 

 ness, attracts public attention. If the new food is a manu- 

 factured product, its cheapness will depend upon the possi- 

 bility of its production on a large scale from relatively cheap 

 materials. 



Classification of Foods. 



Foods may conveniently be divided into two large divis- 

 ions, — the first and chiefest, that which the Germans call 

 Nahrungsinittel, in which the article of food supplies mate- 

 rial for the renewing of some structure or the maintenance 

 of some vital process, the nutrients; and the second, well 

 expressed by the German Gemissmittel, in which the food 

 increases the vital actions to a much greater degree than the 

 amount of nutritive value which it supplies would lead one 

 to suppose, the stimulants. 



These two divisions can again be subdivided into five dif- 

 ferent classes, according as they supply moisture, nitroge- 

 nous material, fats, carbohydrates, and mineral salts. A 

 combination of all five in certain proportions will supply the 

 whole wants of the body, or, in other words, make a perfect 

 food. It is not essential that one food should supply all 

 these wants, although this is eminently the case in regard to 

 young infants, where the mother's or other milk contains 

 the proper proportions of all five classes ; but it is essential that 

 it should supply one or more of these materials, so that, by 

 judicious combinations of a variety of different foods, the 

 proper amount of nourishment may be supplied. 



This classification could be extended much further, iiito 

 simple, compound, easily digested, economical, agreeable, 

 flesh-forming and heat-forming, sweet, acid, etc. 



Chemical Composition of the Human Body. 



Before proceeding further, let us see what is the chemical 

 composition of a human body, so that we may have some 

 idea of what kind of material the food consists which is to 

 support or increase its vital action. 



An interesting collection will be found in some cases in 



