Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 22.djvu/701

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A FEW WORDS ABOUT EATABLES.
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ounces, and of both these substances together to nitrogenous matter as 17·264 ounces to 4·908 ounces. In point of fact, the proportions of nitrogenous matter, of fatty matter, of carbo-hydrates, and of mineral matter, in the dry constituents of a hen's egg, of a pint of cow's milk, and of 2 pounds of bread and 34 pound of lean meat, according to Dr. Pavy, are:

1. In the dry constituents of the contents of a hen's egg:

Nitrogenous matter 110  grains.
Fatty matter 82 "
Mineral matter 11 "
——
Total 203 "

2. In the dry constituents of a pint of cow's milk:

Nitrogenous matter 369  grains. ·843  ounces.
Fatty matter 351 " ·802 "
Lactine 486 " 1·069 "
Mineral matter 72 " ·164 "
——— ———
Total 1,260 " 2·878 "

3. In the dry constituents of 2 pounds of bread and 34 pound of uncooked lean beef:

Bread. Beef. Total.
Nitrogenous matter 2·592  ounces. 2·316  ounces. 4·908  ounces.
Fatty matter ·512 " ·432 " ·944
Carbo-hydrates 16·320 " . . . 16·320 "
Mineral matter ·736 " ·612 " 1·348 "

C. By thus putting the composition of egg and milk side by side with that of bread and meat, the conclusion you would have me draw, I suppose, is, not only that fatty matter is present in large quantity in the two model forms of food, egg and milk, but also that fatty matter may be made to take the place of the starch and sugar of bread.

M. By comparing the composition of 2 pounds of bread and 34 pound of lean meat with that of eggs, you may also, I think, form some idea of the amount of fatty or saccharine matter which is necessary to replace the 2 pounds of bread. The nitrogenous matter of 6 pints of milk or thereabout is equivalent to that of 2 pounds of bread and 3 pounds of lean meat, for in 6 pints of milk there are 4·082 ounces of fatty matter and 6·416 ounces of lactine; and, therefore, you may conclude that the 4·082 ounces of fatty matter and 6·016 ounces of lactine which are present in the 6 pints of milk are equivalent, for practical purposes, to the ·944 ounce of fatty matter and to the 16·820 ounces of starch and other carbo-hydrates which are met with in the 2 pounds of bread and pound of lean meat. The nitrogenous matter of 20 eggs is about equal to that of 2 pounds of bread and 34 pound of lean meat, for in 20 eggs there are 1,600 grains, or 3·66 ounces of fatty matter, and therefore you may conclude that the