3J6 



kEGRkATlON. 



as it is served on the table, contains more 

 or less material which we can not or 

 do not eat, and which would have little or 

 no nutritive value if we did eat it; such, 

 for instance, as the bones of meat and fish, 

 the shells of eggs, and the skins and seeds 

 of fruits and vegetables. In discussing the 

 chemical composition of foods such por- 

 tions are usually counted as refuse, but they 

 make an important item when we consider 

 the actual cost of the nutrients of food. 

 The materials grouped together as refuse 

 contain in part the same ingredients as the 

 edible portion, though usually in different 

 proportions. Thus, bones are largely min- 

 eral matter, with some fat and protein ; 

 egg shells are almost entirely mineral mat- 

 ter ; bran of wheat has a high content of 

 fiber, or woody material. Vegetable refuse 

 is characterized by a high content of these 

 latter constituents. In some cases mate- 

 rial which is edible is classed as refuse be- 

 cause the flavor is objectionable. Thus 

 peach and plum pits are too highly flavored 

 to be agreeable if eaten in quantity, and 

 are thought to be actually injurious. 



One of the first things which becomes 

 evident when foods are studied in respect 

 to their chemical composition is the dif- 

 ferences in the proportions of non-nutri- 

 ents, i. e., refuse and water in them. Many 

 kinds of food, as they are purchased, con- 

 tain large quantities of refuse, which, while 

 found in meats, fish, eggs, fresh vegetables, 

 and fruit, is usually absent in the dairy 

 products, milk, butter, cheese, etc., dried 

 vegetables, cereal foods, flour, breakfast 

 foods, etc., and the bread, cakes and other 

 foods prepared from them. 



In considering the edible portion we find 

 that the quantity of water present also af- 

 fects the nutritive value of food. Water is 

 necessary to the body, and it is usually sup- 

 plied in abundance by beverages, although 

 the quantity contained in the solid food 

 consumed in a day is considerable. Water 

 forms 40 to 50 per cent of the ordinary cuts 

 of meat. It is especially abundant in the 

 flesh of lean animals, and tends to decrease 

 as fat increases, and vice versa. It is even 

 more abundant in fresh fish than in meats, 

 but in dried fish there is, of course, com- 

 paratively little. Fresh vegetables and 

 fruits contain sometimes as much as 80 or 

 90 per cent or more of water, while dried 

 beans, peas, meals, flour, cereal breakfast 

 foods, etc., usually contain 10 to 12 per cent 

 of water. Many cooked foods contain more 

 water than the raw materials from which 

 they are made, owing to the quantities add- 

 ed in cooking. Thus some thin soups are 

 little more than flavored and colored water, 

 and of course have an extremely low nutri- 

 tive value. In other cooked foods, notably 

 meats, which have been baked, roasted or 

 fried, the water is diminished by cooking. 



TWO CENTURIES AGO. 



Some information regarding the foods 

 eaten and the cost of living, 200 years ago, 

 is furnished by the entries in an old ac- 

 count book recently described in one of the 

 English reviews. The writer was evidently 

 an Englishman living in Surrey near Go- 

 dalming. 



"We can picture the living in those days 

 from the cost of the items in these little 

 pages. The house must have been dark at 

 night, with candles at 5 shillings and 2 

 pence a dozen and 'oyl' a shilling a pint; 

 and people sat around the one light in the 

 long evenings, for there is 'For mending ye 

 lanthorn iod.' ; and the frequency of 'For 

 Worsted, 6d.' shows that the only possible 

 thing to do was to knit. Rushes and sand 

 must mean that these covered the floor, and 

 as they cost a shilling each time, they were 

 as lavishly used as was decorous in the 

 house of a man of quality. 'A Tub of Sope 

 9s. and 6d.,' and again '4 dozen of Sope 8 

 shillings,' are suggestive items ; but people 

 did their own washing, for starch is en- 

 tered fairly often. They brewed their own 

 ale, too, for there is a separate page devoted 

 thus : 'Anno Dom. 1709-10 an account of 

 what malt I have had of Mr. Otway of Go- 

 dalming.' They must have made cowslip 

 wine, for there stands the entry of pay- 

 ment for the cowslips and is. 6d. 'for a 

 grose of corks.' We can find out what din- 

 ners they ate in 1709, for it is all down 

 neatly. Vegetables are the largest* items. 

 'Turneps, cowcumbers, carrots, onions' are 

 almost daily ; pears by the bushel, and 

 cheese by the 100 weight ; 'For 100 weight 

 of cheese, £1.8.0. For ye carrying of it 

 home, one shilling.' Eggs, currants, lem- 

 ons, and oatmeal appear in quantities ; an- 

 chovies and capers, and many chickens. 

 Goody Francis was paid 5s. 6d. on May 20, 

 1709, for 11 chickens, and Goody Ford had 

 8s. 6d. for 17 pounds of butter. A pheas- 

 ant was is., 2 woodcocks cost iod., and 200 

 heads of asparagus is. 6d. ; but 'Collyflow- 

 ers' were dear at nd. for 2, in days when 

 a yoke of oxen cost £10. Meat is not often 

 mentioned, but when bought it is in such 

 large quantities that it must have been for 

 salting: 'Feb. 6, 1710, To Quennell ye 

 butcher of Chiddingfold for 15 stone of 

 beef, £1.7.6.' 'Mackerell' was bought once, 

 salt fish at 4s. 6d., and 200 oysters at 2 

 shillings; and once they paid is. 6d. for 

 prawns, but how prawns got to the neigh- 

 borhood of Godalming in those days is past 

 finding out. It is incomprehensible also 

 why 10 shillings was paid Goody Mellersh 

 for 28^2 pounds of clover, and why they 

 bought 'poppies.' Sugar is only mentioned 

 once, for it was a great luxury; also mace 

 and nutmegs, which cost 2s. gd. ; and tea 

 is mentioned only once." 



