ON THE EQUIVALENCY OF STARCH AND SUGAR IN FOOD. 433 
in feeding value, which from the known chemical relationship of these two 
substances lias hitherto been assumed, is now therefore experimentally illus¬ 
trated, and it probably only varies in point of fact with their slightly varying 
per-centages of carbon. 
If, then, Cane-Sugar has no higher feeding capacity than Starch, the rela¬ 
tive prices weight for weight, of the sugar duty free, and of the starchy grains 
generally used for feeding purposes, will afford an easy means of estimating 
tliv probable economy of the use of the former. At the price, including duty, 
"f the coarse Penang sugar used in the experiments, it would cost three or 
four times as much as the starchy cereal grains at the present time; and it 
should be remembered, that these would ulso supply a considerable amount 
af the needed nitrogenous constituents of food. 
These new results too, so far as they can be supposed to apply with nu¬ 
merical accuracy, considering the difference between cane-sugar and the sac¬ 
charine matter of malt, are consistent with direct experiments which we 
published some time since on the comparative feeding values of malted and 
“umaltcd grain. Thus it was shown, that the dry substance of malted and 
unmalted barley had very nearly equal respiratory and feeding (rapacities. 
u b not only is the process of malting attended with considerable expense, 
bul 11 was shown in the experiments alluded to, that during the process there 
* il ® a * 08s °[ per cent, of the gross dry substance of the barley, and of 4- 
Per cent, of its total nitrogen, even when the malt-dust was included as a 
i'fn uc * °f the process, ami supposed to be equally valuable as tood; whilst, 
>e malt-dust were excluded, the loss Tor feeding purposes of the dry organic 
" wanee of the barley was 10 per ceut., aud that of its nitrogen la^per 
in '' 11 might be true, that malt and other saccharine matters might serve 
*om e degree to give a relish to the food, aud thus induce the animals to 
1), nr'cT' ’ 111 “ fattening ” is always a consideration ; but this incidental 
p 0 "' 1 * n °t counterbalance much increased cost. Indeed the general 
imlt f ° is contrary to the conclusion, that any extensive use o 
1 >or iecd.ng purposes would be such a boon as has been supposed. 
*oier^ Pr ° V i d P ractical equivalency of Starch and Sugar in ioodisalso ot 
-onol, L ns 1,as aI,<Jild y i )et ‘ D alluded to, in reference to some other ot the 
»h. M vn ,i ns , t0 , wl “ c |‘ we have arrived in former papers. Thus it ha* been 
bron » ,; ia , a f attenin S animal assimilates much loss nitrogen than has usual y 
fat th?n 1: aml that it may store up very considerably more 
6 read y-fa«me<l in its food ; whilst again this produced fat w 
•tances wi'-' I 1 ® reat nlea8Ur « formed from the starchy and saccharine su 
.'ituen,' T h con *titute so large a proportion of the mm -nitrogenous con- 
rabstanppa , nur sta P le vegetable foods. It. is these starchy and sacckari 
‘he resoirai in practice serve largely to meet the requiremen s o 
, ir cuniL,„° rylunction — und tliis it has been show n it is, that under orun y 
M duinmT f'^istitutes to sueh an extent, the measure of the amount of the 
lauded by the animal system. 
