Objection, then, being made both on chemical and physiological
grounds to the use of farinaceous foods for very young children, or of
milk alone, how is the problem of finding a satisfactory food solved ?
Chemistry finds the answer.
Infants do not possess for the first year the special ferment ‘ diastase,’
which nature has supplied to adults for the digestion of starchy food.
Such a digestive substance is unnecessary, since mother’s milk does not
contain starch, while the milk-sugar which it does contain is trans-
formed by the acids of the stomach into grape-sugar.
COOKING FOR INVALIDS AND THE NURSERV.
109
Malt, however, contains the same body — diastase — which exists in
the saliva and the pancreatic juice of adults, for the digestion of starchy
food. The saliva and pancreatic juice of infants failing naturally to
supply this body, the desired result, viz., the conversion of starch into
grape-sugar, is attained artificially by bringing malt in contact with
wheaten flour, under proper conditions.
The action of malt on starchy food being now well recognised, a
number of food preparations exist in which malt figures. The most
successful preparation of its class, and accepted by medical men as the
finest infants’ food on this account, is the one known as Mellin’s Food.
Some interesting chemical analyses and medical facts bearing upon this
all-important question will be found in a pamphlet, 1 The Care and
Feeding of Children,’ by Mr. G. Mellin. As he says, normal human
milk is, of course, the best food, on account of the specific property it
possesses of being the most easily digestible. When it fails, the best
substitute ought to be sought. Such a proper substitute did not exist
even in theory until Liebig published his formula, founded upon scien-
tific principles, for a food corresponding physiologically with mother’s
milk.
Mellin’s food for infants and invalids is now universally admitted by
doctors to be a soluble, dry extract, prepared after Liebig’s formula,
from wheat and malted barley, and consisting of grape-sugar, dextrine,
proteids (albuminoids), and soluble phosphates. Analysis shows it to
be free from cane-sugar and farinaceous matter, the starch of the flour
having been completely transformed into grape-sugar and dextrine by
the vegetable diastase of the malt, exactly in the same manner as it
would take place naturally in the digestive organs of an adult. When
dissolved in hot water and mixed with cow’s milk, Mellin’s food is
found not only to supply the grape-sugar and the potash salts which are
deficient, but assures the digestion of the milk by the infant.
Barley Gruel. — Put 2 ounces of pearl barley, and cinnamon to
flavour, into 1 quart of water, and boil till reduced to 1 pint. Then
strain through a sieve ; add a glass of red wine, and sweeten to
taste✪ Barley Gruel.
Barley Water. — Wash a handful of barley, and simmer gently in
3 pints of water for 1 hour ; a small piece of lemon peel and the juice of
a lemon✪ Barley Water improves the flavour.
Beef, Essence of. — Both in illness and convalescence this stimulant
is invaluable. The essence involves much trouble in making at home,
and the result is not always satisfactory. It is better and cheaper to
buy one of the made preparations.
Page 91 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1890. 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
Objection, then, being made both on chemical and physiological grounds to the use of farinaceous foods for very young children, or of milk alone, how is the problem of finding a satisfactory food solved ? Chemistry finds the answer.
Infants do not possess for the first year the special ferment ‘ diastase,’ which nature has supplied to adults for the digestion of starchy food. Such a digestive substance is unnecessary, since mother’s milk does not contain starch, while the milk-sugar which it does contain is transformed by the acids of the stomach into grape-sugar.
COOKING FOR INVALIDS AND THE NURSERY.
Malt, however, contains the same body — diastase — which exists in the saliva and the pancreatic juice of adults, for the digestion of starchy food. The saliva and pancreatic juice of infants failing naturally to supply this body, the desired result, viz., the conversion of starch into grape-sugar, is attained artificially by bringing malt in contact with wheaten flour, under proper conditions.
The action of malt on starchy food being now well recognised, a number of food preparations exist in which malt figures. The most successful preparation of its class, and accepted by medical men as the finest infants’ food on this account, is the one known as Mellin’s Food. Some interesting chemical analyses and medical facts bearing upon this all-important question will be found in a pamphlet, 1 The Care and Feeding of Children,’ by Mr. G. Mellin. As he says, normal human milk is, of course, the best food, on account of the specific property it possesses of being the most easily digestible. When it fails, the best substitute ought to be sought. Such a proper substitute did not exist even in theory until Liebig published his formula, founded upon scientific principles, for a food corresponding physiologically with mother’s milk.
Mellin’s food for infants and invalids is now universally admitted by doctors to be a soluble, dry extract, prepared after Liebig’s formula, from wheat and malted barley, and consisting of grape-sugar, dextrine, proteids (albuminoids), and soluble phosphates. Analysis shows it to be free from cane-sugar and farinaceous matter, the starch of the flour having been completely transformed into grape-sugar and dextrine by the vegetable diastase of the malt, exactly in the same manner as it would take place naturally in the digestive organs of an adult. When dissolved in hot water and mixed with cow’s milk, Mellin’s food is found not only to supply the grape-sugar and the potash salts which are deficient, but assures the digestion of the milk by the infant.
Barley Gruel. — Put 2 ounces of pearl barley, and cinnamon to flavour, into 1 quart of water, and boil till reduced to 1 pint. Then strain through a sieve ; add a glass of red wine, and sweeten to taste.
Barley Water. — Wash a handful of barley, and simmer gently in 3 pints of water for 1 hour ; a small piece of lemon peel and the juice of a lemon improves the flavour.
Beef, Essence of. — Both in illness and convalescence this stimulant is invaluable. The essence involves much trouble in making at home, and the result is not always satisfactory. It is better and cheaper to buy one of the made preparations.
Records on this page
Barley GruelBarley Water