224 
SECOND BOOK. 
Maintenance Of Heat*- — The body gains heat by the oxidation 
(or burning) of food material. 
The chief heat-givers in our foods are: 
(1) Starches; (2) sugars; and (3) fats. 
These are made up of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, and are often called 
Carbonaceous Foods. 
Starch is found in plants. It is plentiful in the seeds of all kinds of corn-grasses ; 
in yams, sago, arrowroot, &c.; and in leaves. It is formed in little grains, which are 
of different sizes and shapes in different plants. Starchy foods are most used where 
they are most common in nature— that is, in warm climates. In cold climates, where 
vegetable food cannot be had in abundance, the fats of animals serve as heat-giving 
food. 
The Sugars are also mostly obtained Irom plants’, but milk, too, has some sugar 
in it. 
The Fats and Oils. — At the ordinary temperature of the air fats are solid and oils 
liquid. They may be found in ( a ) in plants ; e.g. palm-oil, olive-oil, cocoa-nut-oil, 
cocoa-butter. Or ( b ) in animals’, e.g. the fat of meat, suet, the oil in fish. 
FLESH-FORMING FOODS (p. 144). 
Flesh-formers contain Nitrogen , as well as Carbon, Hydrogen, and 
Oxygen, and are therefore sometimes called Nitrogenous Foods. They 
are also known as P rote ids. 
The chief flesh-formers in our foods are : 
1. Albumen; in the white of egg, in blood, in juices of meat, &c. 
2. Casein; in the curd of milk, &c. 
3. Fibrin; in the blood. 
4. Gluten; in corn and other grain. 
5. Legumin; in peas and beans. 
6. Gelatin; in the bones of animals. 
Flesh-formers are digested in the stomach. They then enter the blood, and are 
carried by it to build up the body in its growth, and to repair waste. 
A FEW COMMON FOODS (p. 147). 
Vegetable Foods: 
1. Corn. Besides containing a large amount of starch, corn is rich in 
fatty matter, and also has gluten. It is therefore both a heat-giver and a 
flesh -former. Out of 100 parts in corn, 64 are starch, 9 gluten, and 5 fat. 
Corn-flour is the starch of the corn. 
2. Roots and Tubers; such as yams, cocoes, sweet -potatoes. These 
contain great quantities of starch, with a small share of flesh-forming 
material. 
The following foods consist almost wholly of starch, viz. : — Arrowroot, tapioca , sago, 
corn-flour. 
