1ICAL COMPOSITION OF FOOD-FI3HE8. 
867 
[ IN DIETARIES — IMPORTANCE OF FISH-CELT TIRE. 
The chief uses of fish as food are (1) as an economical source of nutri- 
ment and (2) to supply the demand for variety in diet, which increases 
with the advance of civilization and culture. 
As nutriment, the place of fish is that of a supplement to vegetable 
foods, the most of which, as wheat, rye, maize, rice, potatoes, etc., are 
deficient in protein, the chief nutriment of fish. The so-called nitro- 
genous extractives (meat extract), contained in small quantities in fish 
as in other animal foods, are doubtless useful in nutrition. 
There is a widespread notion that fish contains large proportions of 
phosphorus, and is on that account particularly valuable for brain 
food. The percentages of phosphorus in the analyses above reported 
are not larger than are found, according to the best analyses, in the 
ilesh of other animals used for food. The number of reliable determi- 
nations of flesh in the latter are, however, small, and it is, though very 
improbable, yet within the range of possibility that a more complete 
investigation of the subject might reveal a smaller proportion of phos- 
phorus in meats than in fish. 
But even if the fish be richer in phosphorus, there is no proof that it 
would on that account be better for brain food. The question of the 
nourishment of the brain and the sources of the intellectual energy 
are too indeterminate to allow decisive statements and too abstruse for 
speedy solution. There is no experimental evidence to warrant the 
assumption that fish is more valuable than meats or other food material 
for the nourishment of the brain. 
It is an interesting fact that the poorer classes of people and com- 
munities almost universally select those foods which chemical analysis 
shows to supply the actual nutrients at the lowest cost; but, unfortu- 
nately, the proportions of the nutrients in their dietaries are often very 
defective. Thus, in portions of India and China, rice; in Northern 
Italy, maize-meal; in certain districts of Germany, and in some regions 
and seasons in Ireland, potatoes ; and among the poor whites of the 
southern United States maize-meal and bacon make a large part and 
in some cases almost the sole food of the people. These foods supply 
the nutrients in the cheapest forms, but are all deficient in protein. 
The people who live upon them are ill-nourished and suffer physically, 
intellectually, and morally thereby. 
On the other hand, the Scotchman finds a most economical supply 
of protein in oatmeal, haddock, and herring; and the rural inhabitants 
of New England supplement the fat of their pork with protein of beaus, 
and the carbohydrates of potatoes, maize, and wheat flour with the 
' protein of codfish and mackerel, and, while subsisting largely upon 
such frugal but rational diets, are well nourished, physically strong, 
and noted for their intellectual and moral force. 
Late inquiry in agricultural and biological chemistry has brought out 
some facts which emphasize the importance of fish-culture and the 
