Food-Grains of India. 



PART I. 



THE CONSTITUENTS AND USES OF FOOD. 



■ Water. — This important compound, a combination of 2 parts 

 by weight or 2 proportions of the element hydrogen, with 16 

 parts by weight or i proportion of the element oxygen, forms 

 more than two-thirds by weight of the adult human body, and 

 80 per cent, of that of the infant. It enters largely into the 

 very structure of the tissues, being, in fact, an actual food, and 

 it acts as a carrier of food into and through the system. As a 

 general rule our total daily meat and drink should contain about 

 four-fifths of their entire weight of water, and in hot countries and 

 seasons a good deal more. Milk, the natural and model food for 

 infants, contains a proportion of water which is even larger than 

 this, namely, 88 per cent. The average amount of water in the 

 majority of ripe and air-dried Indian cereals, such as wheat, rice, 

 and millets, and in the various kinds of Indian pulse, is one- 

 eighth of their entire weight, or i2'5 per cent. This proportion 

 of water varies, however, a little with different kinds of grain : 

 in temperate climates it stands at a higher level than in the tropics 

 and in semi-tropical countries, perhaps amounting to 14^^ per cent. 

 In leaves the proportion of water is much greater than in grains 

 and pulse; in succulent stems, roots, and fruits, it reaches its 

 maximum — in many kinds of melons, for example, 90 to 95 



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