ESTIMATION OF FAT IN FOOD FOR INFANTS. 469 
NOTE ON THE ESTIMATION OF FAT IN FOOD 
FOR INFANTS. 
By H. G. CHAPMAN, M.D. 
(From the Laboratory of Physiology in the University of Sydney.) 
[Read before the Royal Society of N.S. Wales, December 2, 1914. | 
RECENTLY I analysed a food prepared for infants. The 
estimation of the fat led me into serious error. Special 
investigation was needed to obtain an accurate result. ° 
The composition of the food is indicated from the following 
data. It contained 2°25/ of water. The quantity of 
nitrogen was 2°87 (2°79 and 2°81), of which 0°25% repre- 
sented non-protein nitrogen. The percentage of ash was 
3°55 (3°557 and 3°553). About 60% of the food consisted of 
carbohydrate of which about one-sixth was insoluble in 
alcohol (dextrins). At 45° C., 72°9% of the food dissolved 
in water and 67°6/ was dissolved by boiling water so that 
5°3% of protein was soluble at 45° C. 
An attempt to estimate the fat was made by placing the 
dried powder in a thimble into a Soxhlet’s apparatus and 
extracting it with dried ether free from alcohol. The 
results are given in Table I. 
Table I. 
No. Weight of Dried Food | Weight of Fat extracted | Percentage of Fat in 
in gms, in gms. | Food. 
1 0-683 0-0514 | 7:40 
2 0°7421 0-0575 7-57 
3 0-829 0-0636 7-50 
4 1:5198 0-11.10 7-14 
In order to be certain that the whole of the fat was 
extracted, the material was redried and again extracted 
