is now largely manufactured by subjecting the starch of corn or potatoes to a chemical process; but it lacks the sweetness of natural sugars, and is by no means a proper substitute for them. Albumen is found in its purest, uncombined state in the white of an egg, which is almost wholly composed of albumen.  It exists, combined with other food elements, in many other foods, both animal and vegetable.  It is found abundant in oatmeal, and to some extent in the other grains, and in the juices of vegetables.  All natural foods contain elements which in many respects resemble albumen, and are so closely allied to it that for convenience they are usually classified under the general name of “albumen.”  The chief of these is gluten, which is found in wheat, rye, and barley. Casein, found in peas, beans, and milk, and the fibrin of flesh, are elements of this class.

Fats are found in both animal and vegetable foods.  Of animal fats, butter and suet are common examples.  In vegetable form, fat is abundant in nuts, peas, beans, in various of the grains, and in a few fruits, as the olive.  As furnished by nature in nuts, legumes, grains, fruits, and milk, this element is always found in a state of fine subdivision, which condition is the one best adapted to its digestion.  As most commonly used, in the form of free fats, as butter, lard, etc., it is not only difficult of digestion itself, but often interferes with the digestion of the other food elements which are mixed with it.  It was doubtless never intended that fats should be so modified from their natural condition and separated from other food elements as to be used as a separate article of food.  The same may be said of the other carbonaceous elements, sugar and starch, neither of which, when used alone, is capable of sustaining life, although when combined in a proper and natural manner with other food elements, they perform a most important part in the nutrition of the body.  Most foods contain a percentage of the mineral elements.  Grains and milk furnish these elements in abundance.  The cellulose, or woody tissue, of vegetables, and the bran of wheat, are examples of indigestible elements, which although they cannot be converted into blood in tissue, serve an important purpose by giving bulk to the food.

With the exception of gluten, none of the food elements, when used alone, are capable of supporting life.  A true food substance contains some of all the food elements, the amount of each varying in different foods.

USES OF THE FOOD ELEMENTS.—­Concerning the purpose which these different elements serve, it has been demonstrated by the experiments of eminent physiologists that the carbonaceous elements, which in general comprise the greater bulk of the food, serve three purposes in the body;

1.  They furnish material for the production of heat;

2.  They are a source of force when taken in connection with other food elements;