lord's affection instead of the whole of it, but she never criticises the opinions or steals the dinners of other birds. "New York Times."

SUCH IS FAME.-The "New York Times" magazine supplement for June 16 is responsible for the following: "Some years ago,` said Bishop Potter, in a recent speech, "I was traveling in Minnesota. A man approached me on the railway platform and scanned my features closely. 'Excuse me,' he said, finally, but haven't I seen your picture in the papers?' I was compelled to confess that he might have done so. 'I thought so,' continued the inquisitive one. May I ask what you were cured of?"-"N. Y. Med. Journal."

NEWS OF THE PROCTOR THEATRES.

Manager Proctor's Plans for the Immediate Future at His Several Theatres.

The elasticity of Manager F. F. Proctor's scheme of combining drama with interesting vaudeville numbers has been proven by the recent introduction of George Hanlon, of the celebrated Hanlon Brothers, premier pantomimists, in an acrobatic and pantomimic absurdity, called “Phunphorall.”

Probably the greatest stroke of managerial enterprise, however, will be Manager Proctor's exclusive presentation of the worldrenowned strong man, Sandow, who will return to America after an absence of several seasons. This celebrated person will appear exclusively at Manager Proctor's theatres in New York, Albany, Montreal and Newark, being announced to arrive in a few weeks.

While the vaudeville branch of the Proctor plan is being well provided for, there is no lack of enterprise in selecting and producing plays for presentation by the dramatic faction of the Stock Company. "A Night Off" has been presented as the first of a series of revivals of the plays made famous by the late Augustin Daly.

These and other important plans, the details of which are not ready for publication, would seem to justify Manager Proctor's claim to the presentation of an up-to-date and interesting scheme of amusement. The crowds which are constantly in attendance at all his theatres also shows that his plan of combining vaudeville with the drama has met popular and permanent approval.

THE SANITARIAN.

NOVEMBER, 1901.

NUMBER 384.

THE FUNCTIONS AND USES OF FOOD.*

By C. F. LANGWORTHY, Ph. D.,
Office of Experiment Stations.

In this circular a number of the terms used in discussing food are defined, and some of the principles of nutrition are briefly stated. The average composition of a number of the more common Americans foods is quoted, as well as the commonly accepted dietary standards. With the aid of such data, the nutritive value of any given diet may be computed and its comparative value ascertained. The method of making such calculations is given, as is also a method for calculating the digestibility of different foods. Ordinary food materials, such as meat, fish, eggs, potatoes, wheat, etc., consist of

Refuse. As the bones of meat and fish, shells of shellfish, skins of potatoes, bran of wheat, etc.

Edible portion.-As the flesh of meat and fish, the white and yolk of eggs, wheat flour, etc. The edible portion consists of water and nutritive ingredients, or nutrients. The nutritive ingredients are protein, fats, carbohydrates, and mineral matters.

The water, refuse and salt of salted meat and fish are called non-nutrients. In comparing the values of different food materials for nourishment they are left out of account.

USE OF NUTRIENTS.

Food is used in the body to build and repair tissue and to furnish energy. The manner in which the valuable constituents are utilized in the body may be expressed in tabular form as follows:

This article, which was originally published under the title "Food for Man" in the U. S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook, 1897, pp. 676-682, has been revised and contains some additional matter.-U. S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations, A. C. True, Director.

Protein....
White (albumen) of eggs, cles, tendon,
curd (casein) of milk, probably fat).
lean meat, gluten of wheat,

etc.

Fats.

.Forms tissue (mus

All serve

..Form fatty tissue.

Fat of meat, butter, olive

as fuel and yield energy in form of heat and

Mineral matters (ash)......Aid in forming bone,
Phosphates of lime, pot- assist in digestion,

The Fuel Value of Food.-Heat and muscular power are forms of force or energy. The energy is developed as the food is consumed in the body. The unit commonly used in this measurement is the calorie, the amount of heat which would raise the temperature of a pound of water 4 degrees Fahr.

Instead of this unit some unit of mechanical energy might be used for instance, the foot-ton, which represents the force required to raise one ton one foot. One calorie is equal to very nearly 1.53 foot-tons.

The following general estimate has been made for the average amount of potential energy in one pound of each of the classes of nutrients :

In I pound of protein.

In one pound of fats..

In one pound of carbohydrates..

Calories.

1,860

4,220

1,860

In other words, when we compare the nutrients in respect to their fuel values, their capacities for yielding heat and mechanical power, a pound of protein of lean meat or albumen of egg is just about equivalent to a pound of sugar or starch, and a little over two pounds of either would be required to equal a pound of the fat of meat or butter or the body fat.

Within recent years analyses of a large number of samples of foods have been made in this country. In the table below the average results of a number of these analyses are given.

a Condensed from detailed tables in Bulletin No. 28, revised, of the Office of Experiment Sta tions of this Department.

b Refuse, shell.

c Contained on an average cane sugar 2.8 and reducing sugar 71.1 per cent. The reducing sugar was composed of about equal amounts of glucose (dextrose) and fruit sugar (levulose).

d Such vegetables as potatoes, squash, beets, etc., have a certain amount of inedible material,skin, seeds, etc. The amount varies with the method of preparing the vegetables, and can not be accurately estimated. The figures given for refuse of vegetables, fruits, etc., are assumed to represent approximately the amount of refuse in these foods as ordinarily prepared.