232 



STATISTICS OF WHEAT CU.LTTIEE. 



anatomical inyestigations of one of these corn grains at once explains why 

 ^read is so much the less nutiitious the more carefully the hran has heen se- 

 parated from the meal.* 



There can therefore he little douht that the removal of the bran is a serious 

 injury to the flour ; and I have presented the above array of evidence on this point 

 in the hope of dkecting public attention to it here, as has been done in various 

 foreign countries. 



After this, it will easily be inferred that I am not disposed to look ^ith much 

 favor upon the plan proposed by Mr. Bentz for taking the outer coating or bran 

 from vrheat and other grains previously to grinding. f Independently of the 

 considerations which have abeady been presented, it is far from being proved, 

 as this gentlemen asserts, that the mixture of the bran with the meal which 

 results from the common mode of grinding is the chief cause of the souring of 

 the flour in hot climates. On the contrary, the bran is perhaps as little liable 

 to undergo change as the fine flour, and then the moistening to which, as I am 

 imformed, the grain is subjected previously to the removal of the husk, is stilj 

 further objectionable^ and must be followed by a most cai'efuUy-conducted pro_ 

 cess of kiln-drying, 



jS'utritiou& properties of various articles of food. — There seems to be some dif- 

 ference of opinion in regard to the nutritious properties of various kinds of food. 

 It is generally, however, agreed that those which contain the largest proportion 

 of nitrogenous matters are the most nutritious. It is on this account that hari- 

 cots, peas, and beans, form, in some sort, substitutes for animal food. Tubers, 

 roots, and even the seeds of the cereal grasses, are but moderately nutritious. 

 If we see herbivorous animals f£,ttening upon such articles, it is because, from 

 their peculiar organisation, they can consume them in large quantities. It is 

 quite doubtful whether a man doing hard Avork could exist on bread exclusively. 

 The instances which are given of countries where rice and potatoes form the sole 

 articles of food of the inhabitants, are believed to be incomplete. Boussingault 

 states that in Alsace, for example, the peasantry always associate their potato dish 

 with a large Ciuantity of sour or cm'dled milk ; in Ireland with buttermiRc. " The 

 Indians of the Upper Andes do not by any means live on potatoes alone, as some 

 travellers have said they do : at Quito, the daily food of the inhabitants is lorco^ 

 a compound of potatoes and a large quantity of cheese. Rice is often cited as 

 one of the most nourishing articles of diet. I am satisfied, however, after having 

 lived in countries where rice is largely consumed, that it is anything but a sub- 

 stantial, or, for its bulk, nutritious article of sustenance." — (" Eural Economy," 

 Amer. edition, p. 409.) These statements are further confirmed by the observa- 

 tioris of M. Lequerri, who, during a long residence in India, paid particular at- 

 tention to the manners and customs of the inhabitants of Pondicherry. " Their 

 food," he states, " is almost entirely vegetable, and rice is the staple ; the inferior 

 castes only ever eat meat. But all eat kari (curry), an article prepared with meat, 

 fish, or vegetable, which is mixed with the rice, boiled in very little water. It is 

 requisite to have seen the Indians at their meals to have any idea of the enor- 

 mous quantity of rice which they will put into their stomachs. Xo European 

 could cram so much at a time ; and they very commonly allow that rice alone 

 will not nourish them. They very generally still eat a quantity of bread." i 



In regard to the proportion of nutritious matter contained in grains of various 

 kinds, it may be remarked that the tables which have been constructed as the 

 results of various experiments are liable to an objection, which will be more 

 particularly adverted to under another head. For example, two substances, by 

 the process of ultimate analysis, may exhibit the same proportion of nitrogenous 

 matter, and still difier very materially in their value as articles of food. Much 

 depends on the digestibility of the form in which this matter is presented to the 

 digestive organs. A strong illustration is afforded in the case of hay, the pro- 

 portion of nutritive matter of which, about 9.71, would certainly not represent 



* The Plant : a Biography ; by M. H. Schleiden, M.D., Professor of Botany in the Uni- 

 Tersity of Jena. English translation, p. 54. 



t Transactions of the IS'ew York State Agricultural Society for 1847, p. 190. In this com- 

 invinication, Mr. Bentz does not describe the process which he adopts, but enumerates some 

 cU' its supposed advantages. 



% Quoted by BoussiugauU. Eural Economy, Amer. edition, p. 410. 



