extractives and salts and some slight amount of gelatin. Bouillons increase the flow of saliva and can be rendered more nutritious by adding Bouillon cubes often contain from 50 to 72 per cent of com an egg. mon salt. MEAT POWDERS.-Meat powders, such as Mosquera's beef meal, Somatose and "Beef meal," are tolerated by some stomachs and have the advantage of being less disagreeable than some home-made beef preparations. Meat powders are manufactured from dried lean beef reduced to a powder. It is a highly concentrated food and an excellent product for those who go beyond the reach of fresh food, or who need to carry their sustenance in a small bulk. BEEF PEPTONES.- Beef peptones consist of digested or partly digested meat containing albuminose and peptones. These products are useful in cases of feeble stomach digestion and in other forms of illness. The following table from Tibbles shows that some of these preparations contain very little albuminose and peptone, but a considerable quantity of extractives of the same character as those in beef extracts. They have slight nutritive value: PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF PEPTONE PREPARATIONS NAME Authority Antweiler's peptone.... 6.92 12.35 3.22 14.54 60.15 1.74 .54 13.31 König 3.00 3.00 12.90 Benger's peptonized beef jelly.... Brand's essence of beef. 89.19 1.48 2.25 6.05 .15 1.10 Hutchison .89 König 1.31 Stutzer 7.00 Carnrick's peptonoids (liquid).. 1.40 Hutchison 5.20 Carnrick's peptonoids (solid). 6.75 10.49 56.25 Darby's fluid meat.. 25.71 8.06 6.93 .10 13.41 10.67 5.50 Stutzer 30.60 13.50 König 2.54 Leyden 1.00 18.24 Stutzer .79 6.89 König .56 Stutzer 12.10 Stutzer 5.30 Tankard 11.52 König .72 Tibbles GELATIN Preparation of Gelatin.—Gelatin, another meat product which of late years has come into common use, is prepared from bone, tendons, horns, hoofs and hides by boiling under pressure. The potential energy of this product is calculated to be even more than that of some fats and albuminates and yet in the body it is very inferior in the production of energy. It cannot, therefore, take the place of proteins for growth and repair and must be regarded solely as an albumin sparer. Neither can it replace albumin, the loss of which still goes on to some extent even when gelatin is eaten in large quantities. Home-made meat jellies may be made by taking any meat in which there is a large proportion of connective tissue. Put the meat in a pot with cold water, slowly bring to a boil and let it simmer for six or seven hours. This slow cooking of the connective tissue gelatinizes it. When cooled the gelatin may be separated from the fat, bones and lean meat. This home-made meat jelly possesses a pleasant flavor and is relished as an invalid diet. It is used in the body very much like the carbohydrates and fats, i.e., not as a tissue builder but as a fuel food. In this it acts differently from other fuel foods. The waste materials resulting from its oxidation are similar to the waste materials from the oxidation of protein and must therefore be eliminated by the kidneys. Calf's-foot jelly, calf's-head jelly, hog's-head jelly, if not made too rich by added ingredients, are suitable for invalid diet, especially when flavored with sherry or Rhine wine. ANALYSIS AND FUEL VALUES OF GELATIN.- The following table from Bulletin No. 28, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, shows the analysis and fuel value of gelatin and jelly preparations: DIGESTIBILITY OF JELLIES.-Jellies are easily digested, complete peptonization occurring in one hour. Jelly stimulates the flow of gastric juice, but at the same time fixes a good deal of acid. It is for this reason a useful food in hyperacidity. PUREST FORM OF GELATIN.-The purest form of gelatin is isinglass, a substance obtained from the swim bladder of fish, especially the sturgeon. Chemically it is richer than ordinary gelatin, as is shown in the table above. CHIEF PECULIARITY OF GELATIN.-The chief pecularity of gelatin is that it dissolves in boiling water and settles into a jelly when cool. It is remarkable how weak a solution is capable of setting. Even when one per cent is present the solution sets. ANIMAL VISCERA AS FOOD Definition of Animal Viscera.-Animal viscera are certain organs other than flesh, that are sometimes used for food. Some of the viscera are quite digestible, although none is equal to or as nutritious as good meat. The sweetbreads and thyroid gland are delicacies which an invalid may have. COMPOSITION AND DESCRIPTION OF VISCERA.—The general composition of these articles is shown in the following table compiled by Hutchison, from Atwater and from our own findings: COMPOSITION OF ANIMAL VISCERA KIDNEYS. The kidneys are indigestible, chiefly by reason of the closeness of their texture. The nitrogenous extractives or meat bases are urea, uric acid, creatin, purin bases. If cooked too long they become very hard and tough. LIVER. The liver is more often eaten perhaps than any other organ. Calf's liver is the best flavored and most tender variety. When liver is boiled in water a liquid is obtained containing nucleoproteins, which has been termed ferratin. It also yields important nitrogenous extractives. Tender liver is more easily digested than kidney and is fairly nutritious. Liver should never be allowed to diabetics. The Scotch people understand the art of cooking liver. It is chopped very fine and mixed with oatmeal in making the national dish, "Haggis." HEART. The heart is sometimes used as a food, but the meat is hard, tough and stringy, containing but little nutrition. LUNGS.-Lungs of animals are not regularly used for food, though they are sometimes eaten in prisons. SWEETBREADS.-Sweetbreads are either the thymus gland, sometimes called "neck" or "throat" sweetbread, or the pancreas, called the "belly sweetbread." These two sets of glands, both very similar in composition, consist of a mass of cells held together by loose connective tissue; they are very rich in nuclein and nucleoprotein, but poor in albumin and globulin. They are rich in the salts of calcium and magnesium, potassium and phosphates. The sweetbread is a useful adjunct to the invalid dietary; it is very tender, has an agreeable flavor, is easily digested. Butchers often substitute the pancreas or "belly sweetbread" for the better thymus or neck sweetbread. The former may be recognized as being larger and coarser than the "neck sweetbread." The "belly sweetbread" is harder to digest. BLOOD.-Blood as a food is chiefly used in the form of black puddings, which contain rice and other ingredients sterilized by boiling. This compound is nutritious, and if eaten while fresh is quite free from danger. TRIPE.-Tripe is the name of the stomach and intestines of the ox or hog after being properly cleaned and cooked by prolonged boiling. It consists largely of involuntary muscular fibers. The chief protein is globulin. It contains five times as much nucleoprotein as striated muscular tissue. It also contains a small amount of glycogen, sarcolactic acid and mineral salts, in which sodium is in excess of the potassium. When properly prepared, while somewhat flavorless, it is easy to digest and must be regarded as a suitable food, especially in cases where purins are not wanted. TONGUE. The tongues of oxen and sheep are used as food, and a large industry is carried on by canning these organs, which sell as potted meat. Tongue consists of muscle fibers, which are fairly free from connective tissue. BRAIN. The brain of animals is not very commonly eaten as a food. The substances which make up the complex composition of the brain tissue are varied and of great importance when the organ is regarded as a foodstuff. Hammarsten gives the following composition of the brain: In the class of proteins are found albumin, globulin, nucleo-albumin (phosphoprotein), nucleoprotein, and lecithalbumins, i.e., compounds of lecithin, albumin and phosphoprotein. Adrenin and guanin are derived from the nucleoproteins. Nuclein is found in large proportion in the gray matter, and neurokeratin in the neuroglia. Lecithin, either alone or combined with albumin or fatty acids, is found in both the gray and the white brain matter. Cholesterin, either alone or combined, is found in greater quantities in the white matter. The fatty acids exist in combination with lecithin, cholesterin and protagon. It might be inferred that brain is a very proper food for persons whose occupation is chiefly intellectual, but observations do not confirm this supposition. DOMESTIC AND WILD FOWLS DOMESTIC FOWLS: ENUMERATION AND DESCRIPTION.-Poultry or barnyard fowls include the following varieties of domestic birds: chicken, turkey, peacock, duck, goose, guinea fowl and pigeon. Generally speaking, the flesh of all birds is edible. Occasionally the flesh of some birds is rendered poisonous by foods which they eat; thus, the pheasants and partridges of America, especially the former, who eat the buds of the calmia latifolia, are considered poisonous in the winter and spring. CHICKEN. Chicken is among the most digestible of all meats, whether cooked by broiling, by roasting or by boiling. The white meat |