Warmth. — The temperature of the living human body is about
98°. In hot or cold climates, in summer or winter, though the
temperature of the external parts may vary, the internal tempera-
ture is the same; and if not maintained within a few degrees of
this point, death invariably follows. The source of this animal
heat, so independent of outside circumstances, must be from
within. To keep up this internal heat or fire, a constant supply
of fuel is necessary. This fuel is supplied by our food. To fur-
nish material for growth and repair, and to provide fuel for the
warmth of the body, is the twofold object of food.
Animal Coinhustion. — The process by which food maintains
the motion and warmth of the body is a kind of combustion,
and has often been compared to the combustion carried on in
the steam-engine (see Youmans's Chemistry). We can have no
combustion without oxygen; therefore oxygen is the first impor-
tant element of food. The air is our great source of supply of
oxygen, and a volume might be written on the necessity for
pure air and perfect ventilation. We breathe oxygen from the
air into our lungs, and exhale carbonic acid. There must there-
fore have been some internal union of carbon or hydrogen with
oxygen, and such a union always produces heat. The carbon
and hydrogen are obtained from our food, and are important
elements. They are necessary for animal combustion.
Food is taken in a natural or in a prepared state, and, after
undergoing certain processes of digestion and assimilation, be-
comes a part of our bodies for a time, and then is burned in the
body, the process resembling somewhat the burning of wood and
coal in our grates. But this union of carbon and oxygen, "in-
stead of taking place in one spot and so rapidly as to be accom-
45 2 The Boston Cook Book,
panied by light, as in the case of the grate fire, takes place in
each drop of the blood, and so slowly and continuously as not to
be noticed." The force and heat absorbed from the sun by the
vegetable in growing, and stored in its starch and sugar, are set
free, by the decomposition of the vegetable, into carbonic acid
and water again. These are given out, partly as heat, keeping
the body temperature at 98°; and partly in other forms, — in
that of mechanical motion, etc.
All the external or internal work of the body is done by
the force and energy of the food which is burnt therein. The
greater the amount of work to be done, the greater must be the
supply of fuel. The fire is constantly burning. " The smoke
passes out in exhalation, inhalation is the bellows to furnish
more oxygen," and food supplies the fuel. The kidneys are
the grates through which the ashes are removed. But if we
are "a house on fire," why are we not consumed? Because,
lest this internal fire burn too freely, the oxygen of the air is
diluted with nitrogen, which is incombustible. The blood,
bones, and muscles of the body are composed largely of nitro-
gen, sixteen per cent of that element being present; and this
prevents the complete burning up of the structure. " What the
iron is to the stove, the nitrogenous tissues are to the body."
But the stove wears out in time, and so our bodies are con-
stantly wasting away; and these nitrogenous elements must be
supplied by our food.
Page 265
Presented as published in 1884. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Warmth. — The temperature of the living human body is about 98°. In hot or cold climates, in summer or winter, though the temperature of the external parts may vary, the internal temperature is the same; and if not maintained within a few degrees of this point, death invariably follows. The source of this animal heat, so independent of outside circumstances, must be from within. To keep up this internal heat or fire, a constant supply of fuel is necessary. This fuel is supplied by our food. To furnish material for growth and repair, and to provide fuel for the warmth of the body, is the twofold object of food.
Animal Combustion. — The process by which food maintains the motion and warmth of the body is a kind of combustion, and has often been compared to the combustion carried on in the steam-engine (see Youmans's Chemistry). We can have no combustion without oxygen; therefore oxygen is the first important element of food. The air is our great source of supply of oxygen, and a volume might be written on the necessity for pure air and perfect ventilation. We breathe oxygen from the air into our lungs, and exhale carbonic acid. There must therefore have been some internal union of carbon or hydrogen with oxygen, and such a union always produces heat. The carbon and hydrogen are obtained from our food, and are important elements. They are necessary for animal combustion.
Food is taken in a natural or in a prepared state, and, after undergoing certain processes of digestion and assimilation, becomes a part of our bodies for a time, and then is burned in the body, the process resembling somewhat the burning of wood and coal in our grates. But this union of carbon and oxygen, "instead of taking place in one spot and so rapidly as to be accom-
45 2 The Boston Cook Book,
panied by light, as in the case of the grate fire, takes place in each drop of the blood, and so slowly and continuously as not to be noticed." The force and heat absorbed from the sun by the vegetable in growing, and stored in its starch and sugar, are set free, by the decomposition of the vegetable, into carbonic acid and water again. These are given out, partly as heat, keeping the body temperature at 98°; and partly in other forms, — in that of mechanical motion, etc.
All the external or internal work of the body is done by the force and energy of the food which is burnt therein. The greater the amount of work to be done, the greater must be the supply of fuel. The fire is constantly burning. " The smoke passes out in exhalation, inhalation is the bellows to furnish more oxygen," and food supplies the fuel. The kidneys are the grates through which the ashes are removed. But if we are "a house on fire," why are we not consumed? Because, lest this internal fire burn too freely, the oxygen of the air is diluted with nitrogen, which is incombustible. The blood, bones, and muscles of the body are composed largely of nitrogen, sixteen per cent of that element being present; and this prevents the complete burning up of the structure. " What the iron is to the stove, the nitrogenous tissues are to the body." But the stove wears out in time, and so our bodies are constantly wasting away; and these nitrogenous elements must be supplied by our food.