CEREAL FOODS. 

 L. H. Merrill. 



l^In co-operation with the Office of Experiment Stations of the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, the Maine and Minnesota 

 Experiment Stations have, during the past ten years, made special 

 studies on the composition and digestibility of cereal foods. The 

 technical results thus obtained are published chiefly in the bulle- 

 tins of the Office of Experiment Stations. ,This Station has pub- 

 lished two bulletins upon the composition of the breakfast cereal 

 foods that were found in the Maine markets. In the present 

 bulletin Professor Merrill presents many of the general results 

 which have been obtained in the course of this work. While 

 the results of these investigations have been freely used in this 

 bulletin, yet for purposes of definite illustration he has drawn 

 chiefly upon the analyses and digestion experiments made at this 

 Station.— C. D. W.] 



Few phases of our modern civilization furnish a more curious 

 and interesting study than the rapid increase in the number and 

 variety of our foods. Among the causes that have contrib- 

 uted to this development may be mentioned : The extension of 

 our commerce, which has placed a constantly increasing range of 

 food materials within our reach ; the efforts of our national gov- 

 ernment, which is actively engaged in the introduction of new 

 food plants, and the production of new varieties of old types ; 

 the ingenuity of manufacturers, who have been quick to see that 

 their sales must depend to a great extent upon the variety and 

 attractiveness of their output ; and in no slight degree, to an 

 increased knowledge of the functions of food — i. e., the demands 

 of the body, and the methods by which these demands may be 

 met. To these causes may also be added a more or less artificial 



