heat coining from the body of the animal shut into this cage. When you are in high school or college, you can understand the workings of the calorimeter. But we will now accept the fact that the scientist can measure in a calorimeter the energy of our bodies and the amount of energy given off a day. Then, too, the scientist finds the energy in the food, by burning it in another kind of machine which also measures the amount of heat in some one kind of food. This has been done with all the common materials. What is a calorie ? The scientist can now say of a given person that he needs so much energy daily, and that a certain amount of a certain food will give so much energy. But what words can he use to tell you and me ? The degree Centigrade will not measure this. So the scientist says, " I must have a heat unit^ something like the degree of a thermometer scale, or the inch on a yard- stick. I will take for my heat unit the amount of heat required to make one pound of water warmer by four degrees Fahrenheit ; that is, the amount that will raise its temperature four degrees, or a gram of water one degree Centigrade. This unit I will call a calorie from the Latin word for heat, ' calor.'" Miss Travers explained the calorie quite simply one day at the Mothers' Club ; but one of the mothers said that her husband and sons were six feet tall, weighed about one hundred eighty pounds each, and were all satisfied with the good square meals she gave them, 274 FOOD AND HEALTH and that she shouldn't bother with this kind of thing. Mrs. Allen said very quietly that her husband found it convenient to study calories in feeding his pigs, and that she herself thought it might be well to try this method with her family ! So Mrs. Allen and Marjorie had many pleasant evenings studying this way of plan- ning meals. Of course, no busy mother J> will stop to calculate calories r for every meal every day, ^ but a little study will check up her daily practice. Mrs. Allen had been worried about her second little girl, who was under weight, and growing thinner. She studied the question of loo- calorie portions and found that the child was short some four hundred calories. Alice seemed not to be able to eat much more in bulk at one meal, but Mrs. Allen per- suaded her to take more butter and cream, and also two or three eggs daily for their body-building quality. Alice had not enough building material or energy in her food before this to keep up the growth in height, and also in weight. On the other hand, Mr. Allen had Drawn. ^ Mini Florence Hunt. Fig. 121. — Im- proper weight. Drawn bu Af t?J Fl6r€yiC4 Hunt. Fig. 122. — Proper weight. OTHER FACTS ABOUT FOOD 275 been troubled at the in- crease in his weight, which seemed to be in the form of unnecessary fat, in spite of his exercise. So Mrs. Allen planned for him food that contained a lower number of calorics but still had bulk enough to satisfy his appetite. What did Miss Travers mean by a loo-calorie portion ? The amount of food that would give one calorie is so small that it is more practical to measure portions giving one hun- dred calories. Study this picture first, for here are several of our common foods in amounts yielding energy equal to IDG calories. The egg is the exception, the energy being only 75 calories. Notice (Fig. 123) first that there is a great difference in the bulk of the differ- ent foods. Look at the 276 FOOD AND HEALTH lettuce, and at the half tablespoonful of butter and lumps of sugar. We could not Jive on a bulky food like the lettuce, or a condensed food like the butter; but we must have a mixed diet to furnish all the energy we need. Here is a table that states what some people should have. Remember that this is an average. Have you studied .averages in arithmetic ? FOOD REQUIREMENTS FOR A DAY

AI-modernized reading of the original text

heat coming from the body of the animal shut into this cage. When you are in high school or college, you can understand the workings of the calorimeter. But we will now accept the fact that the scientist can measure in a calorimeter the energy of our bodies and the amount of energy given off a day. Then, too, the scientist finds the energy in the food, by burning it in another kind of machine which also measures the amount of heat in some one kind of food. This has been done with all the common materials. What is a calorie ? The scientist can now say of a given person that he needs so much energy daily, and that a certain amount of a certain food will give so much energy. But what words can he use to tell you and me ? The degree Centigrade will not measure this. So the scientist says, " I must have a heat unit, something like the degree of a thermometer scale, or the inch on a yardstick. I will take for my heat unit the amount of heat required to make one pound of water warmer by four degrees Fahrenheit ; that is, the amount that will raise its temperature four degrees, or a gram of water one degree Centigrade. This unit I will call a calorie from the Latin word for heat, ' calor.'" Miss Travers explained the calorie quite simply one day at the Mothers' Club ; but one of the mothers said that her husband and sons were six feet tall, weighed about one hundred eighty pounds each, and were all satisfied with the good square meals she gave them, and that she shouldn't bother with this kind of thing. Mrs. Allen said very quietly that her husband found it convenient to study calories in feeding his pigs, and that she herself thought it might be well to try this method with her family ! So Mrs. Allen and Marjorie had many pleasant evenings studying this way of planning meals. Of course, no busy mother J> will stop to calculate calories r for every meal every day, ^ but a little study will check up her daily practice. Mrs. Allen had been worried about her second little girl, who was under weight, and growing thinner. She studied the question of loocalorie portions and found that the child was short some four hundred calories. Alice seemed not to be able to eat much more in bulk at one meal, but Mrs. Allen persuaded her to take more butter and cream, and also two or three eggs daily for their body-building quality. Alice had not enough building material or energy in her food before this to keep up the growth in height, and also in weight. On the other hand, Mr. Allen had [illustration: Drawn by Mini Florence Hunt.] Fig. 121. — Improper weight. [illustration: Drawn by Mini Florence Hunt.] Fig. 122. — Proper weight. been troubled at the increase in his weight, which seemed to be in the form of unnecessary fat, in spite of his exercise. So Mrs. Allen planned for him food that contained a lower number of calories but still had bulk enough to satisfy his appetite. What did Miss Travers mean by a loo-calorie portion ? The amount of food that would give one calorie is so small that it is more practical to measure portions giving one hundred calories. Study this picture first, for here are several of our common foods in amounts yielding energy equal to 100 calories. The egg is the exception, the energy being only 75 calories. Notice (Fig. 123) first that there is a great difference in the bulk of the different foods. Look at the lettuce, and at the half tablespoonful of butter and lumps of sugar. We could not Jive on a bulky food like the lettuce, or a condensed food like the butter; but we must have a mixed diet to furnish all the energy we need. Here is a table that states what some people should have. Remember that this is an average. Have you studied .averages in arithmetic ? FOOD REQUIREMENTS FOR A DAY

Food and health