Page:The Scientific Monthly vol. 3.djvu/571

 THE DESIRE FOR FOOD IN MAN 565

from breakfast cereals: In an ordinary two or three course meal, most persons would perhaps agree that an ounce and a half of any dry, granular, ready-to-serve breakfast food (two or three generous table- spoonfuls) would constitute a reasonable portion; whereas in the case of a dry flaked cereal, the same weight would go far towards filling a pint measure ; could hardly be served in the bowl which would be suit- able for most cereals, without refilling; and would probably be re- jected by most persons as being an unduly large portion; indeed, half that weight would be a more acceptable serving to most The dis- crepancy in food value between two such servings of these foods is, then, more than 100 per cent.

Again: In the case of cooked breakfast foods, we have a similar contrast with the more concentrated cereal served in its dry granular form ; although the serving of mush or porridge may weigh from three to five ounces or more, most of that weight is due to water taken up in the cooking, and the amount of dry cereal represented in a serving is perhaps from one half to three quarters of an ounce.

The appraisal of food values on page 566 for two apparently similar breakfast menus illustrates again the infiuence of accessories (cream, butter, sugar) upon food values, as they help to double both protein and fuel figures for the second breakfast. It is to be noted that hot mufiins usually take more butter than does toast, and toast more than does cold bread. Here is also illustrated the contrast in food value between a watery (cooked) and a concentrated cereal; a contrast still further enhanced by the fact that these cooked cereals are usually eaten with a smaller amount of cream than are the dry ones. Again, the psychology of serving is interesting; many persons who "could not possibly eat two eggs for breakfast'' when the boundary line between eggs is plainly to be discerned, will nevertheless find a one-egg serving of scrambled egg rather too small; so that many housewives prefer to allow an extra egg or two in making the family dish. Serving a chicken presents similar problems; two two-and-one-half-pound chick- ens carved at the table may " go further " than one five-pound chicken, not because they furnish more meat (very probably they actually fur- nish less) but because they furnish a greater number of cuts which can be served.

But since this "natural instinct" or "normal appetite for food" has brought the human species thus far and safely through the long records of history and biology, why should any one now contemplate its abandonment, even for a moment ?

To answer this question, let us consider these four propositions:

1. The preservation and improvement of the human species as a whole, and of its individuals, has come to depend upon very different factors from those which governed its welfare when the laws of this

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