G. Lentils.   E. Lentils.   Haricots.   Cooked H.
Proportion of liquid   1.5          1.25         1.20       —­
Soluble dry matter     0.97         3.38         1.43       7.66 per cent. 
Ash                    0.16         0.40         0.28       1.26  "   "
Alkalinity as K_{2}O   0.02         0.082        0.084      0.21  "   "

The loss on soaking in cold water, unless the water is preserved, is seen to be considerable.  The split lentils, having had the protecting skin removed, lose most.  In every case the ash contained a good deal of phosphate and lime.  Potatoes are rich in important potash salts; by boiling a large quantity is lost, by steaming less and by baking in the skins, scarcely any.  The flavour is also much better after baking.

The usual addition of common salt (sodium-chloride) to boiled potatoes is no proper substitute for the loss of their natural saline constituents.  Natural and properly cooked foods are so rich in sodium chloride and other salts that the addition of common salt is unnecessary.  An excess of the latter excites thirst and spoils the natural flavour of the food.  It is the custom, especially in restaurants, to add a large quantity of salt to pulse, savoury food, potatoes and soups.  Bakers’ brown bread is usually very salt, and sometimes white is also.  In some persons much salt causes irritation of the skin, and the writer has knowledge of the salt food of vegetarian restaurants causing or increasing dandruff.  As a rule, fondness for salt is an acquired taste, and after its discontinuance for a time, food thus flavoured becomes unpalatable.

Organic Compounds are formed by living organisms (a few can also be produced by chemical means).  They are entirely decomposed by combustion.

The Non-Nitrogenous Organic Compounds are commonly called carbon compounds or heat-producers, but these terms are also descriptive of the nitrogenous compounds.  These contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen only, and furnish by their oxidation or combustion in the body the necessary heat, muscular and nervous energy.  The final product of their combustion is water and carbon dioxide (carbonic acid gas).

The Carbohydrates comprise starch, sugar, gum, mucilage, pectose, glycogen, &c.; cellulose and woody fibre are carbohydrates, but are little capable of digestion.  They contain hydrogen and oxygen in the proportion to form water, the carbon alone being available to produce heat by combustion.  Starch is the most widely distributed food.  It is insoluble in water, but when cooked is readily digested and absorbed by the body.  Starch is readily converted into sugar, whether in plants or animals, during digestion.  There are many kinds of sugar, such as grape, cane and milk sugars.