Professor Soxhlet does not advise
the addition of lime water. The proteids are not of the same composition
as in human milk (the calf being a ruminating animal)--and it is a common
plan to add water or barley water to milk until it is so watered down that
it cannot curdle into tough curds. An infant has thus either to distend
its stomach with a large quantity of watery nourishment, or else to get
insufficient food. Sometimes it is necessary to peptonise the milk a
little. At the Leipzig infants hospital, and also the Hygienic Institute,
they give to infants, up to 9 months old, Prof. Soxhlet's mixture, except
that an equal volume of water is added to the milk. Milk, cheese, and
especially hen's eggs contain a very large proportion of proteid. When
added to food poor in proteid they improve its nutritive quality. It has
often been said, and with truth, that some vegetarians by the profuse use
of animal products, consume as much, or even more proteid of animal origin
than the average person who includes flesh food in his dietary. An excess
of proteid from these sources is less injurious as eggs contain no purins,
and milk but a very small quantity. In support of the use of animal
products, it may be said that we have become so fond of animal foods and
stimulating drinks, that the use of milk, butter, cheese and eggs renders
the transition to a dietary derived from the vegetable kingdom much
easier. By means of these, cooked dishes can be produced which approach
and sometimes can scarcely be distinguished from those of cooked flesh.
In the present state of society, when really good vegetarian fare is
difficult to procure away from home, eggs, cheese, and milk are a great
convenience.
Digestion.--The digestive juices contain certain unorganised ferments,
which produce chemical changes in the food. If the food is solid, it has
to be liquefied. Even if already liquid it has generally to undergo a
chemical change before being fitted for absorption into the body. The
alimentary canal is a tubular passage which is first expanded into the
mouth, and later into the stomach. As the food passes down, it is acted
upon by several digestive juices, and in the small intestine the nutritive
matter is absorbed, whilst the residue passes away.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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