"SAVE THE BABIES"

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume L, Issue 175, 3 November 1917, Page 5

"SAVE THE BABIES"

RELATIVE FOOD VALUES. LECTURE BY DR TRUBY KING. Lecturing at Dunedin the other evening, Dt Truby King explained the relationship between vegetable and animal matter; and with regard to the pig this had been reduced to an absolute nicety. The essential point in the economics of pig farming was that you never let the pig grow beyond 1501b in weight. After that the return ; for the food it consumed would become less and less, and finally be nothing at all. Five -.pounds weight of barley would make pne pound of pork while the pig was between 201b and 1501b. It was generally true that, with regard to animan "structures, about " three T>arts out of • four were water pure and simple. With- barley 90 per cent would be dry, so that it was not a question of the relationship between 51b and lib that had- to- be dealt with, but .'the* relationship of. 151b to lib. After - further preliminary remarks, Dr King dealt with the components of all food material, which he said was composed of three essential nutriments—sugare s.nd starches, fat or 'oils and flesh-forming material. The main part fat played was to keep up heat under the vicissitudes of temperature.- In cow's milk the-propor-tion of fat was rather less than 5i per cent.- In flesh forming"' material the proportion in the human being %yas- loz for every lOOoz of milk. In . thei calf it was 3ioz. The human being took six months to double its weight, vfhereas the calf doubled it in a couple of months. It was absurd to think that the milk of one animal could be used for the nourishing of 'another; .animal unless the proportions were adjusted. He proceeded to explain the part the circulation of the blood took in keeping as immune from the action of poisons in the body. The healthy human body was a poison factory. and we were only protected from the poison by the action of the organs given us for purifying the blood. Our hearts were capable? of pumping very much harder than under the ordinary exigencies of life, and so it was with the kidneys. We had a pair, but could just manage with " one. But did that justify us in placing upon , a little child when these structures were being built two or three times the work for-which the Creator designed them? That must impair the fitness of the individual. Supposing they struggled through 'childhood, it must be expected that they would break down' towards middle life, because the organs had been overstrained. Dr King went on to consider foods from the point of view of their constituents, and explained his remarks by means of a diagram or chart. The cucumber contained only three parts of solid' material in every 100 parts, and the turnip 6 per cent. The solid- material in milk was 13i per cent. In the potato the percentage of "solid dry material was about 20 in 100. Steak was threefourths, or 75 per cent pure water, and milk was equal to about five ounces of beef steak. Then, as to the relationship between milk and eggs, a pint of milk was "equal in nutriment to nearly fiv* aggs; arid a quarter of a pint of milk of more food- value than one egg. ■Bread had about three-fifths of solid dry' material.' and about two-fifths of water, and cheese was represented at a little over 60 per cent, of solid material One pound. of cheefie was worth about 31b of meat. The lecturer here explained- that, they must not expect him to be too minute with regard to his figures." Taking "the animals living on the vegetable world, what woud they give back in food? The shrinkage was terrible. They would see the result was most disappointing. But, if taken at the right" time. 1 they would return a small fraction ,of what we gave them. . How. was this going to nan out from a family-point-of,'view? He dethat a family might live on vegetablasjjfor-a "year, whereas an equal quantity of meat would 6nlv keep them for six months. " They misht say: We will give- utr animal - food - altogether; but that would not do. It would not be good for them to live on vegetables alone, though they could do it for a considerable time, The cheapest and most economical wav would be to live on wheat, with a little linseed oil thrown in, and -that agreed'with - dren. If they boiled wheat for about six hours it was quite good, and they could live on it as a large proportion of the diet; Supposing they lived upon that, it would take about lilb a day to keep them, and the wheat was worth aboiit per lb. The whole food would - cost less than 2d a day. ' It would take about 91b of potatoes, and that would cost 9d a day. As they went up, however, things became dearer and dearer, and the more they cost -the worse they became. Take flour. The cost of wheat or o?.t« was about a halfpenny perpound : whereas flour would cost Id per lb. A considerable quantity of wheat meal-should be used in place of refined flour. In oats we had 19 cent of fat. and they were a beter balanced food than wheat. Then the next stage, outside home, -was that the baker supplied bref.d. and by the time that stage was reached it cost over 2d a pound. But it was nearly half water by that time, so it had risen to 4<J a pound. Supposing they wanted something thrust upon them by advertisement. Here the lecturer proceeded to enumerate certain expensive articles of food, the use of which he deprecated. Speaking of iced c?Jkes, h e said the nice rthey looked the worse they were. He touched upon the use of cocoa, tea,-and-coffee, which he described diabolical, though he liked coffee. He advocated, living an active life, and oefore concluding, touched upon the stupendous importance of close attention to the teeth, remarking that there were five million of decaved teeth in this country at the oreseiit time. It was appalling that this ' should- -be allowed to exist.