FoodNet

History and present status of instruction in cooking in the public schools of New York city

1899

Page 49

Presented as published in 1899. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Teeth ; their necessity, need for care, the effect on digestion of their loss. Mucous membrane; texture, experiments to show effect of astringents, as tannin in tea and coffee. Saliva ; structure of salivary glands : From what saliva is made. How it reaches the mouth. Test for alkalinity. Experiments showing its effect on cooked and raw starch. Effect of slight acids on its function, showing the cessation of salivary digestion in the stomach. (This points out the need of thorough mas- tication of starchy foods.) Esophagus : Structure; action of muscles in swallowing. Membrane. 65 Gastric digestion : Anatomy of stomach — Situation. (Distention may impede heart action.) Microscopical examination of lining. Muscles; action. Gastric juice; where made, action shown hy experiments, interference of its work shown by various substances (superacidity, etc.). (This teaches the result of large quantities of vinegar, etc.). Effect of fatty acids produced in frying, effect of ice water. Causes of fermentation, of vomiting in infants. Absorption of digested substances. Intestinal digestion: Anatomy; microscopical examination of lining. Juices; where formed, chemical composition, their actions on foods, experiments. Vermicular motion of tract explained by means of rubber tube. Value of some indigestible material. Causes of constipation ; preventive and remedy. Diarrhea; causes and remedy. Comparative spaces for digestion of starches and albuminoids in the digestive tract. Effects on the digestive action of various bodily conditions ; nervousness, fatigue, etc. Kinds of food indicated in some digestive disturbances. E. H. C, Teacher.. PUPILS' EXERCISES ON LESSON ON DIGESTION. Digestion. — The teeth are very important to the process of digestion, as we cannot chew our food very well without them ; we should be careful to keep them free from particles of food, to do nothing that may crack the enamel, for the least break will give the microbes a place in which to settle and cause the decay of the teeth. The rirsi set of teeth is called the milk teeth and the second set is called the perma- nent set. The mouth is moistened by a fluid manufactured from the blood and flows from little glands under the jaw and ears into the mouth; this is called saliva and is alkaline, that is, it turns blue litmus red. It contains a substance called ptyalin which digests the starch we eat. In our last lesson we made some experiments in the digestion of starch and found that saliva digested cooked starch and changed it into dextrin. A drop of iodin in starch always turns blue; but after this experiment the iodin did not change color. This shows us that it was no longer starch. This new substance, dextrin, is the form into which starch must be digested to enter the blood. We also tested the digestion of starch with a drop of acid and found that saliva did not digest the starch when the acid was present ; we then tried the same experi- ment with a little vinegar; again we found that the saliva did not digest the starch. This shows that we should not eat any uncooked starch, and as acids interfere with the digestion of starch, they should not be eaten with it, nor will it be digested in the stomach which is acid. C. G., Age 13 years.