Air, water and food from a sanitary standpoint / by Ellen H. Richards and Alpheus G. Woodman.

  • Richards, Ellen H. (Ellen Henrietta), 1842-1911.
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Air, water and food from a sanitary standpoint / by Ellen H. Richards and Alpheus G. Woodman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

    19/246 (page 7)
    Water Nitr°genous Crude Carbo- „. . h wal;er- Substance. Kat. hydrates. rlDrc- Asn- Oats, maximum 20.80 18.84 10.65 64.63 20.08 8.64 minimum 6.21 6.00 2.11 48.69 4.45 1.34 American hulled. 12.11 13.57 7-68 63.37 1.30 2.03 Corn, maximum 22.20 14.31 8.87 52.08 7.71 3.93 minimum 4.68 5.55 1.73 72-75 0.99 0.82 One sample of wheat flour may contain 14 per cent, of nitro- genous substance, another may yield only 9. A day's ration, 500 grams, will give 70 grams of gluten, etc., in the one case and only 45 in the other. This difference of 25 grams would be a serious factor in the dietary of an institution where little additional proteid is given, and it alone might be the cause of dangerous under-nutrition. The next step would naturally be to determine how definitely these varying percentages mean varying nutrition. To this end a study of vegetable nitrogenous products in their combination or contact with cellulose, starch, and min- eral matter is needed. Much work remains to be done before these questions can be even approximately answered. At the low cost of one cent a pound, common vegetables yield only about one-fifth as much nutriment as one cent's worth of flour, yet they contain essential elements and de- serve to be carefully studied. Dried fruits and nuts are much undervalued as articles of food, as are rice and lentils. (See table, page 130.) The discussion of food values will be found in Chapter VIII. Probably the widest field for the sanitary chemist to-day is the study of the so-called predigested foods, infant foods, hygienic preparations, two-minute cereals, and the count- less proprietary packages, which, designed to meet the de- mand for quick results, prove traps for the unwary. Therefore the sanitary aspect of food demands a study