146 
SECOND BOOK. 
gluten, in corn, wheat, and other grain, or known as 
legumin in peas and beans/ 
“What a lot of hard names!” said May, as she 
came to the end of the passage. 
7 . “ Yes,” said her mistress. “It is well to know 
them; but it is even more important to know what 
they do for us in our bodies. They all serve the 
same purpose in nourishing the body; though they 
do not all digest equally well. 
8. “ The great point to remember about them is 
that they all have about the same share of nitrogen ; 
so that the gluten of the corn, or the legumin of 
the bean, is nearly the same thing as the fibrin in 
the animal or the albumen of the egg. 
“ The next point is that the nitrogen foods, when 
they have been digested in the stomach, are taken 
up by the blood, from which they pass to the flesh, 
thus adding to its growth and repairing waste of 
muscle.” 
9 . “ And that is why they get the name of ‘flesh- 
formers’,” put in May. 
“ Of course. And their work of flesh-forming 
cannot be done by the heat-givers. But they, 
like the latter, give some heat to the body, and 
some of them make a little fat too. 
10. “ The flesh-formers are found, as you read 
just now, both in animal and in vegetable foods. 
We often make use of them when we eat such food 
as corn, yams, cocoes, beans, and fruits; or meat, 
