Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/815

* NUT. 693 NUTATION. us iiiuoh protein and the same amount of energy as a pouml of Hour. Owing to tlioir high fuel value and low |)rotein content, nuts would not make a well-balanced food when eaten by them- selves. This is no reason, however, why nuts should not fill an increasingly large place in dietaries. Very few foods supply the needed nutrients in the proper proportion to form a well-l>alanced ration. FiHids rich in fuel con- st itui'uts need to be combined with other foods of relatively high protein content. The composition of a number of diH'erent kinds of nuts used as food is shown in the following table: COMPOSITIO (ashington, 180G) ; Fuller, Nut Culturist (Xew York, ISilti) ; Parry, Xuls for Profit (Parryville, .. .J.. 1H!)7); Maine .grieultural Kxperiment Station, Bulletin 54. uls as Food (Orono, Maine, 1899). NUT, noot. An Egyptian goddess, the wife of Seb (q.v. ), or, according to other accounts, of the sun-god Ke. She personified the sky, and is usually represented as a naked woman bending, with feet and hands touching the ground, over Seb (the earth), who lies prostrate beneath her. Nflt is al.so depicted as a cow uplifted by the god Shtl and supported by other divinities, while over N OF Nuts Almonds Brazil iiiits Filberts Hickory nuts Perans English walnuts Chestnuts, fresh Chestnuts, dried .corns Beechnuts Butternuts Walnuts Cocoanut Cocoanut, shredded.. Pistachio, kernels Pine nut or pifiou Peanuts, raw Peanuts, roasted Litchi nuts Perct. 61.8 49.6 52.1 62.2 53.2 58.0 lli.O 24.0 35.6 40.8 86.4 74.1 48.8 40.6 24.5 32.6 41.6 Edible portion Per H. 35.2 50.4 47.9 37.8 46.8 42.0 84.0 76.0 64.4 59.2 13.6 25.9 61.2 100.0 100.0 59.4 75.5 67.4 58.4 Composition and fuel value of the edible portion Water Per ct. 4.8 6.3 3.7 3.7 3.0 2.8 45.0 5.9 4.1 4.0 4.5 2.5 14.1 3.6 4.2 3.4 9.2 1.6 17.9 Protein Perct. 21.0 17.0 16.6 15.4 11.0 16.7 6.2 10.7 8.1 21.9 27.9 27.6 5.7 6.3 22.6 14.6 25.8 30.5 2.9 Fat Perct. B4.9 60.8 65.3 67.4 71.2 64.4 5.4 7.0 37.4 57.4 61.2 66.3 50.6 57.3 ,54.5 61.9 38.6 49.3 .2 Carboh.v- drates Ash Perct. Per ct. 17.3 2.0 7.0 3.9 13.0 2.4 11.4 2.1 13.3 1.6 14.8 1.3 42.1 1.3 74.2 2.2 48.0 2.4 13.2 3.6 3.4 3.0 11.7 1.9 27.9 1.7 31.6 1.3 15.6 3.1 17.3 2.8 24.4 2.0 16.2 2.5 77.5 1.5 Fuel value, per i»ound Calories 3,030 3,329 3,432 3.495 3,033 3,305 1.125 1,876 2,718 3,263 3,371 3,105 2,986 3.125 3,010 3,364 2,560 3,177 1,453 There is little reliable information regarding the digestibility of nuts. The belief that they are indigestible, i.e. digest with diliioult.y, caus- ing more or less ])ain or distress, seems to be widespread, and perhaps has some basis in fact. It is quite proliable that if the nuts were prop- erly pre])ared and eaten at proper times much of this prejudice would disappear. There is also a general belief that salt eaten with them aids in their digestion. The present practice of munch- ing them at odd hours, or as a dessert, when sufficient food has been taken to meet the re- (|uiremcnts of the body, overtaxes the digestive organs and places the nut under a reproach that is, at least in part, undeserved. While most nut meats are generally eaten without any previous preparation, they may be used in a variety of ways. Chopped nut meats arc much relished for sandwiches, and nut salads are not uncommon, while nuts, most commonly chestnuts, are often used as .stuffing for roast fowl. The use of nuts in cakes, confectionery, creams, etc., is common. Large quantities of pecans are used by con- fectioners for making salted pecans, and bonbons "f various sorts; and in some lOuropcan coun- tries, where the chestnut is aliundant, bread is made from the ground kernels. Many attempts have Ix'cn made to prepare nut foods, and to extend their use in various ways. An oil used for salad and other culinary purposes is ex- pressed from beeehnvtts, walnuts, and evy like- ly from others, Cocoamit oil is much used for ctdinary purposes, especially in the tropics. This and other nut oils also have various commercial uses. Consult : United States Department of -Agri- culture, "Nut Culture in the United States her body, which is adorned with stars, travels the bark of the sun. In the legend, the sun-god Re, weary of ruling over the earth, retires to rest u)ion the back of the celestial cow, which typifies the goddess Nflt. Consult: Wiedemann, Religion of the Ancient Egyptians (New York, 1897) ; Lepsius, Ueber die O'itter der vier Ele- mente (Berlin, 1856) ; Brugsch, licligion und .Mi/tlioloyi, (Leipzig, 1888-90), NUTATION (Lat. nutntio, a nodding, from nutarc, to nod), A vibratory motion of the pole of the equator due to the unequal attraction of the moon on the equatorial ring of the earth. Astronomers define the positions of the stars on the celestial sphere by means of their right ascensions and declinations (q.v.), which are analogous, respectively, to longi- tudes and latitudes on the earth. But one of the efTects of gravitational attraction is to change the position on the sky of the celestial equator, thus altering continually the righft ascensions and declinations of all stars. This alteration is called precession (q.v.). The gen- eral effect of precession is to cause the celestial l)ole to describe a circle around the pole of the ecliptic (q.v.) onee in about 25,800 years. This rotation, however, is not quite uniform. It is subject to a small disturbance of about nine seconds of arc, called nutation. This nutation acts forward and backward about 1400 times in the course of one 25,S00-year rotation of the celestial pole. The stars' right a.scensions and declinations are therefore alternately increased and decreasc<l by nutation, whereas precession generally acts in one direction over a great num- ber of years.