GERMAN MAGIC.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLII, Issue 12823, 15 April 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

GERMAN MAGIC.

FOOD KRO.M SKWAGE. STRAW A.NO SAWDUST.

HOGS'-BLOOD UREAD

(Bv CliaiUs Hyatt-Woolf, F.BSJL ; , Editor of .'Popular Science Sittings. ) Tlie Germans arc enduring no lack ot foodstuff*. They say -so, and they ought to know. But war is a mme of Wood mid bluff., and; the Boche gambler is :. -terrible fellow at bluil. Two, however, can -play the game aiut the other fellow is not a ways iiliilfable. He just constitutes Himself au expert in evidence: Primarily, could his opponent hold certain cards? Socomlarilv. has his face been looking.as it he held them-' r> This method applied to the Boche food binff i» equally capable of. determining whether or not we should throw up onr naval game, on the brilliant playing of which we have np to the present rather flattered onrselves. For it is obvious the gamble does not warrant the cost if the other fellow has alreadv won the hand. He appcArsto bo pla'ving it with bread cards, butter . cards," beer cards, milk cards, and a rarictv of other cards—still under the table. These are cards -with which he thentens to play, although he claims that he neither needs them nor those he is using, and that- the whole of this elaborate. Irksome, and costly food flutter has been undertaken merely to amuse himself, to keep his hands full as it'were. FATS FOR FBITZ.

The astute player will decline to be bluffed bv this: He will lie right, and his decision will be profoundly confirmed by the mass of circumstantial ,' evidence' which is forthcoming- The food staples of the German populace are meat, bread, fat, and sugar. All these "are so plentiful in the Fatherland that it has heen deemed desirable to organise a body of proTessors, learned in'chemistry," to ascertain how they may be supplemented. Each has added a li&Je item of. nastinesa to Fritz's daily regimen. The Institute for Fermentation Industry, of Berlin - has found that albu-men^or-.protein can bo manufactured from-EQcar and ammonium sulphate.

Tin- ;- i>> t-.ikr lii.- i-l.i'-.' oi Hesh foods, "! which albumen ib tin; chief element. IVoiussor IC. WVinwiirm lws prepared a

■ ii.-li-ct.ibli' iiif;ii from dried I;i--i-i- yt.-u.it. lived iroin living ceils and • •i:/.yiiii'-. T\Vfii;y-ui:c.M- G':jn:an aid live _\listii;in lar-mries :•!•«-- now lab.i.u> turn out ih»: product. Thi' proii'sv»r'.s u-'-l- proved that ono pound of tin.' stuff is '-qual lo 3.31bs ol beef. with ">7 per coin, o! albumin itihtead of the 'J] per com. of the boor. Twelve men, we are told, fed on it daily ill place ot meat for four weeks retained excellent health,, vigor, and appetite, and gained weight.

THE LIMIT. Another learned gentleman, Df,H. Bechold, of Frankfort, desirous of increasing the fat supply, turneashis attention to sewage! He found that the. sewage of German ■ cities 'contains a third of an ounce of fat per capita per day.. Its value ; is estimated at £3,000,000 per annum.. The: Frankfort experimental p"lan.t-jis already' producing between- four arid five tons a day. Sewage is also employed to enlarge the stock of carp. The idea originated with Dr Hofer. of Munich. The partiauV purified -.liquid is collected in small ponds, and further' purified by the' waiter plants therein. The fishes are introduced, and grow enormously. -Then, to make the flesh fit to eat, they are transferred to fresh water for a few weeks.

One of the latest dainties experimented with is blood. Rats and dogs were fed on it in various forms and took it greedily, but cats would have, none of it; arid 1 , although l>r von Xoorden found that it was not well absorbed by human beings, he pronounces blood puddings an excellent dietetic article.

J'rofessor Kober, of Munich, goes much further in a little treatise lie has just prepared. - He claims that blood bread is very nutritious,, and that it is tile most natural substitute for nieafc. The bread, I understand-, is made of rye and potato flours with whipped liogs : blood. lb is well to remember ' that foods prepared with blood are notorious for causing nettlerash. Professor Haberlandt has directed his attention to the forestej whose timbers ho intends to utilise for building human constitutions. He has found that the living sapwood of tret** contains large quantities of sugar, starch, and oil, and'- small quantities of proteid. The digestive organs, he says, can extract this nutriment if the cells of the wood be finely ground. Maple, poplar, elm, linden, and birch are the woods he most favors as foodDr Friedenthal, of Berlin, goes one better. Straw is good enough for him. lie consumes it himself baked into bread, and ho finds oat straw more palatable than the notorious "war oread.' ; He advocates the addition of 33 per cent, of coarsely milled straw meal to war bread, as it greatly improves tiie appearance and palatability <ij" the stodgy mixture. These various sophistications appear to be capable of filling stomachs without feeding their owners. There must be a psychic quantity attached to a food ration if it is to excite the digestive functions, and thus encourage metabolism and promote life. Dr Boeder, therefore, conies forward with a .stimulant- intended to make the "fake" foods do what the natural aversion of their consumers prevents them doing. It is a combination of yerba mate, or Paraguay tea, with malt extract. ■•JJenzoesauresulfinid," an elaborate chemical known in this simple country a.s -saccharin, which lias been condemned as dangerous in food, is being freely used in Germany, even for the soldier, as a sugar substitute. It has none of the feeding value of sugar, but it is employed to fill its place. The counsel of perfection comes, however, from Dr von Noorden. He flras told off to discover why war tread caused diarrhoea and other ills. Jle found the trouble arose from excessive eating, and as a panacea he advocated cutting the. daily ration in half. The popularity of the professor must be on the wane.