Bread is another very important kind of food. If
we take a little of the flour of which it is made, tie it
in a cloth and squeeze it in cold water, we shall find
that a milky or cloudy liquor will be formed in the
water. The same can be got out of various grains,
especially rice; also out of potatoes, arrowroot, tapioca
and sago. This milky appearance is caused by starch ,
another of the materials which will keep up heat, but
will not form flesh. Inside of the cloth there will be
found a grey sticky or glutinous paste, which will be
spoken of presently.
Sugar also is an important agent in producing and
keeping up warmth. These three substances — fats,
starch, and sugar — may therefore be named—
IO
THE MATERIALS OF FOOD.
I. Warmth or Heat-giving Foods.1
Table showing the Chief Warmth-giving
Foods.
Fats.
Cream.
Butter.
Oil.
Yolk of Egg.
Suet.
Dripping.
Lard.
Starch.
Found in
Flour.
Potatoes.
Arrowroot.
Com Flour.
Rice.
Semolina.
Tapioca.
And most Garden
Vegetables.
Sugar.
Found in
Sugar Cane.
Beetroot.
Honey.
Fruit.
Milk.
The heat-giving foods, after digestion, are passed
into the blood, which is then pumped by the heart
into the lungs. The blood is spread out in little thin
hair-like vessels all over the lungs, so that the air
breathed into the lungs may mix with it. The mix-
ture of that portion of the air called oxygen with the
fatty particles floating in this blood, causes in living
creatures a burning up of these fatty particles, and
this combustion produces heat, and is so like the
process of burning which goes on in a fire, that it is
sometimes called animal burning or combustion.2
This mixture of fresh air with the other particles of
food floating in the blood, also causes one of the many
changes which they pass through, before they are in a
fit state to become part of the body.
We must now see what kinds of food, or rather
what parts of food, will make flesh, and so build up
1 Technically called Carbonaceous Foods, because they contain a
great deal of carbon. Coal, peat, and wood are the carbon burnt
in a common fire. The air supplies the oxygen, which may be
pumped in with bellows to make the fire bum briskiy.
2 The technical name of this process is Oxidation.
1 1
THE MATERIALS OF FOOD.
the body. The white of egg1 is the type of food
which is required for this purpose. Lean meat- and
skim milk3 are of the same nature. The sticky or
glutinous substance4 which was left in the cloth alter
the starch was squeezed out of the flour, is a flesh
former; also parts of almost all grains, such as oats,
and including the glutinous matter5 of peas and beans.
All these substances will make flesh that is, wil
replace the used-up materials of the body and we
shall therefore call them
II. Flesh-formers.6
Table showing the Chief Flesh-forming Foods.
Animal.
Lean. Meat.
Fish.
Poultry.
Skim Milk.
Cheese.
White of Egg.
It will be seen from this table that both the animal
and vegetable kingdoms supply flesh-formers. Half
a pound of animal food contains a larger amount of
flesh-forming power than half a pound of vegetable
food. But the same amount of flesh-forming power
may be derived from certain vegetable products (which
are much cheaper) if taken in large quantities. The
vegetable products which yield the greatest amount of
1 Albumen.
2 The juice and fibre of lean meat consist almost entirely of
albumen and fibrin.
Page 2
Presented as published in 1881. 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
Bread is another very important kind of food. If we take a little of the flour of which it is made, tie it in a cloth and squeeze it in cold water, we shall find that a milky or cloudy liquor will be formed in the water. The same can be got out of various grains, especially rice; also out of potatoes, arrowroot, tapioca and sago. This milky appearance is caused by starch , another of the materials which will keep up heat, but will not form flesh. Inside of the cloth there will be found a grey sticky or glutinous paste, which will be spoken of presently.
Sugar also is an important agent in producing and keeping up warmth. These three substances — fats, starch, and sugar — may therefore be named—
IO
I. Warmth or Heat-giving Foods.1
Table showing the Chief Warmth-giving Foods.
Fats.
Cream.
Butter.
Oil.
Yolk of Egg. Suet. Dripping. Lard.
Starch.
Found in Flour.
Potatoes.
Arrowroot.
Com Flour.
Rice.
Semolina.
Tapioca.
And most Garden Vegetables.
Sugar.
Found in Sugar Cane. Beetroot. Honey.
Fruit.
Milk.
The heat-giving foods, after digestion, are passed into the blood, which is then pumped by the heart into the lungs. The blood is spread out in little thin hair-like vessels all over the lungs, so that the air breathed into the lungs may mix with it. The mixture of that portion of the air called oxygen with the fatty particles floating in this blood, causes in living creatures a burning up of these fatty particles, and this combustion produces heat, and is so like the process of burning which goes on in a fire, that it is sometimes called animal burning or combustion.2 This mixture of fresh air with the other particles of food floating in the blood, also causes one of the many changes which they pass through, before they are in a fit state to become part of the body.
We must now see what kinds of food, or rather what parts of food, will make flesh, and so build up
1 Technically called Carbonaceous Foods, because they contain a great deal of carbon. Coal, peat, and wood are the carbon burnt in a common fire. The air supplies the oxygen, which may be pumped in with bellows to make the fire bum briskiy.
2 The technical name of this process is Oxidation.
1 1
the body. The white of egg1 is the type of food which is required for this purpose. Lean meat- and skim milk3 are of the same nature. The sticky or glutinous substance4 which was left in the cloth alter the starch was squeezed out of the flour, is a flesh former; also parts of almost all grains, such as oats, and including the glutinous matter5 of peas and beans. All these substances will make flesh that is, wil replace the used-up materials of the body and we shall therefore call them
II. Flesh-formers.6
Table showing the Chief Flesh-forming Foods.
Animal.
Lean. Meat.
Fish.
Poultry.
Skim Milk.
Cheese.
White of Egg.
It will be seen from this table that both the animal and vegetable kingdoms supply flesh-formers. Half a pound of animal food contains a larger amount of flesh-forming power than half a pound of vegetable food. But the same amount of flesh-forming power may be derived from certain vegetable products (which are much cheaper) if taken in large quantities. The vegetable products which yield the greatest amount of
1 Albumen.
2 The juice and fibre of lean meat consist almost entirely of albumen and fibrin.