3QO 
Artificial  Foods. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharin. 
I      August,  1899. 
The  first  class  comprises  all  those  foods  made  with  cereals  alone 
and  intended  to  be  used  as  modifiers  of  cow's  milk. 
Wheat,  barley  and  oats  are  the  grains  used  in  their  manufacture, 
and  the  starch  present,  often  amounting  to  75  per  cent.,  is  partly 
dextrinized  by  the  cooking,  cellulose  and  indigestible  matter  being 
more  or  less  completely  removed  in  the  process.  All  that  can  be 
claimed  for  these  foods  is  that  they  are  a  useful  addition  to  cow's 
milk  for  adults  and  older  children,  but  contain  too  large  a  percentage 
of  starch  to  be  of  value  for  young  children,  as  very  few  infants 
develop  the  ability  to  digest  starch  till  the  sixth  month. 
In  justice,  it  must  be  said,  however,  that  practical  experience 
seems  to  show  that  a  small  percentage  of  starch  is  not  only  often 
digested  by  infants,  but  has  a  very  beneficial,  mechanical  effect  in 
increasing  the  peristaltic  .action,  exerting  a  laxative  tendency  and 
aiding  digestion. 
The  second  class,  the  malted  foods,  had  their  origin  in  the  theo- 
ries, and  are  the  result  of  the  experiments  of  Liebig,  and  for  that 
reason  are  often  called  "  Liebig  Foods." 
They  are  made  of  equal  quantities  of  wheat  flour  and  barley  malt 
with  a  little  bran  and  about  1  per  cent,  of  potassium  bicarbonate 
added.  These  ingredients  are  mixed  with  water  into  a  paste  and 
allowed  to  undergo  fermentation,  which  converts  the  starch  into 
soluble  carbohydrates,  maltose  and  dextrin.  The  mass  is  then 
strained,  pressed,  extracted  with  water  and  evaporated,  dried  and 
powdered.  In  some  of  these  foods  a  small  percentage  of  starch  still 
remains.  The  general  characteristics  of  these  foods  are  complete 
solubility,  a  strong  and  sweet  taste,  agreeable  to  most  people,  but 
which  may,  by  constant  use,  become  nauseating.  They  are  easily 
assimilable,  require  little  digestion  and  are  quickly  prepared.  They 
are  not  complete  foods,  however,  as  they  contain  little  or  no  fat  and 
no  animal  proteid,  although  there  is  albuminous  matter  present  in 
the  form  of  gluten.  They  are,  therefore,  not  to  be  used  alone,  but, 
like  the  first  class,  should  be  prepared  with  milk. 
In  the  third  ciass  of  foods  an  attempt  is  made  to  supply  both 
vegetable  and  animal  matter,  or,  in  other  words,  to  make  a  complete 
food ;  they  are  of  the  more  recent  manufacture  and  are  the  result  of 
the  practical  experience  of  the  manufacturers  of  the  previous  class  of 
foods. 
This  class  does  not  comprise  a  large  number  of  products,  but  has 
