394 



RECREATION. 



drilled into him that the May and June 

 hatched chick is not the thing these days, 

 and that his flock of a hundred chicks, sold 

 in September at an average of 3 pounds 

 each, would, if hatched 2 months earlier, 

 have brought him double the price at an 

 average weight of only 2 pounds. The pres- 

 ent high price of beef has probably done 

 more good to the poultry industry than any- 

 one can estimate. It has taught an economi- 

 cal housekeeper that poultry, hitherto con- 

 sidered a delicacy, is, after all, obtainable 

 at reasonable prices, and she will not for- 

 get." 



A Chicago retail store has perfected ar- 

 rangements for keeping poultry alive on 

 the premises, and killing them as they are 

 required. "Contrary to usage, the poultry 

 in this establishment is fed from the time 

 it is brought in until it is killed. The 

 manager believes it keeps up the weight of 

 the fowls, and as they are sold as soon as 

 killed and dressed, their keeping quality 

 does not bother him. 



THE DIET OF THE LABORING CLASSES 

 IN EDINBURGH. 

 Mr. Noel Paton and his associates have 

 recently studied the dietaries of 15 fami- 

 lies living in the thickly congested dis- 

 tricts of Edinburgh, following the methods 

 which have been advocated in connection 

 with the nutrition investigations carried on 

 by the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. As regards income, the families 

 were divided into 3 groups : Those with 

 the regular wages under $5 a week; those 

 with $5 to $5.75 a week, and those with 

 incomes of $7 to $10 a week. The differ- 

 ent families' and groups are discussed at 

 some length. On an average, it is stated, 

 the typical diet of an Edinburgh laborer's 

 family contained 107 grams protein, 88 

 grams fat, and 479 grams carbohydrates, 

 together furnishing 3,228 calories. Both 

 the protein and the energy were re- 

 garded as too small. More than one-half 

 the protein was supplied by vegetable foods. 

 Although more money was spent for animal 

 foods than for vegetable foods, more nutri- 

 tive material was supplied by the latter. 

 The average cost of the diet was about $1 

 per man per week. The principal foods 

 used were bread, potatoes, milk, vegetables, 

 sugar and beef. Relatively large quanti- 

 ties of more expensive foods, such as beef, 

 milk, and eggs, were consumed, and a rela- 

 tively small quantity of cheaper food, such 

 as oatmeal, peas, and barley. The authors 

 note that there is a tendency to use bread 

 and tea or bread and butter in place of the 

 oatmeal porridge once so commonly eaten. 

 The superior food value of porridge is 

 pointed out. In order to improve the diet 

 of families like a number of those cited, 

 the authors believe they should be taught 

 "that a diet of tea and bread, or of tea, 



bread and butter is faulty ; that the faults of 

 the tea and bread diet can be corrected by 

 the free use of meat, eggs, or other animal 

 food, but that this mode of correction is 

 expensive ; that the faults can also be cor- 

 rected by the free use of oatmeal with 

 milk, or of peas or beans, without extra 

 cost; and that to correct the faults of a tea 

 and bread diet, either money spent on ani- 

 mal food or labor spent on the cooking of 

 vegetable food is necessary. If they have 

 not the money, they must use the labor of 

 properly cooking more nutritive foods." 



WHEN IS MEAT SPOILED? 

 Most of us believe we can determine 

 whether or not meat is spoiled by the 

 senses of taste and -smell. However, the 

 term "spoiled meat" is only relative, some 

 races relishing meat which others would 

 consider entirely unfit for consumption. 

 The natives of certain regions in South 

 Africa esteem putrid meat a delicacy. More 

 civilized races usually reject meat in which 

 decomposition has proceeded so far that 

 there is a noticeable odor or taste, al- 

 though game is an exception, the "high" 

 flavor of game being, of course, due to de- 

 composition. A German investigator' has 

 recently studied the chemical changes 

 brought about by decomposition. Accord- 

 ing to the author, these changes in meat 

 may be divided into 4 classes. The first 

 is not characterized by the presence of 

 chemical decomposition products, although 

 after 3 or 4 days the ratio of ammonia to 

 total ammonia is increased. In the second 

 stage amin bases of the aliphatic series, 

 especially trymethylamin, can be detected, 

 as well as amido acids. The third stage is 

 one of marked decomposition. It is charac- 

 terized by the odor, etc. ■> In this stage, the 

 amido acids disappear and fatty acids are 

 observed; also, at times, indol and skatol. 

 The amids become so abundant that they 

 may be easily isolated. Finally ptomaines, 

 for instance, putrescin, are observed. In 

 the fourth stage, all these bodies slowly 

 disappear, being replaced by simpler de- 

 composition products, until finally only 

 ammonia is noted. Naturally the first ; 2 

 stages are those which are of most interest 

 to' students of nutrition. If the ammonia 

 content of any sample of meat or meat 

 product exceed the normal, such goods 

 can not longer be recommended ; and if 

 more than a trace of trymethylamin occurs, 

 the meat is spoiled from a chemical stand- 

 point. In case of sausages, the skins are 

 characterized by the early occurrence of 

 hydrogen sulphid, indol, and skatol, as 

 well as relatively large quantities of amins 

 and fatty acids. Therefore especial atten- 

 tion should be paid to the skins of the 

 sausage and the material immediately ad- 

 joining, as this portion shows the first in- 

 dication of decay. 



