Part 3

Wheat is preferred to the other cereal grasses as an article of food on account of its containing a larger quantity of flesh-forming matters. The flour also may be rendered very white by separating it from the husks, or bran, and the fruit is much more easily separated from the chaff than is the case with the other cereals. The proportion of flesh and force-producing to those of force-producers only, is more nearly adjusted to the requirements of the system in wheat than in any other food. Hence, probably, its very general use as an article of food amongst the populations of the hardest working nations in the world.

In Case 26 is an analysis of the various constituents found in a pound of wheaten flour.

The chemical analysis of barley, buckwheat, maize, millet, oats, rye, and rice may be inspected in the respective cases.

BREAD.

The most common as well as the most important form in which wheaten flour is consumed as food is bread. In Case 25, which may be called the “Bread Case,” the constituent ingredients, with their respective quantities used in making bread, are exhibited. There are three methods of making bread, the ordinary or fermented process, the unfermented process, and that employed in making aërated bread. Bread is either _vesiculated_ or _unvesiculated_, the latter is called unleavened bread, and consists of bread, and of such preparations of flour as are known by the names of biscuits, cakes, &c. of which two cases of samples are shown by Messrs. Peek, Frean, and Co. of London, and J. W. Mackie and Sons of Edinburgh. For other details concerning bread the visitor is referred to the printed labels in the case.

ANIMAL FOOD OR FLESH.

According to the classification of the Food Collection, Flesh is placed next to Wheat and other cereals in Group 3, which includes _nitrogenous substances capable of producing both flesh and force_.

Animal food is composed of the same materials as vegetable food. It is formed of the same elements, and presents the same proximate principles. It contains water and mineral matters of the same kind as plants. Its force-producing substances appear in the form of fat, and its flesh and force-producing substances in the form of fibrin and albumen.

MILK.

Of all animal foods milk is the most important, as it may be regarded as the type of human food. Case 55 contains an analysis of cow’s milk, human milk, and asses milk, and is accompanied with explanatory labels.

Milk is preserved in various ways, so that it may be taken on long voyages or otherwise employed as a diet where living animals cannot be kept to produce it. It is preserved both in a liquid and solid state. The latter mode of preparation appears to have the advantage.

Butter is formed from cream by the process of “churning.” The casein is held in solution in the milk by the aid of certain salts; when these are removed by acids the casein coagulates, and forms “curds.” When the curd is removed with the butter and pressed it forms cheese. The best and highest-priced cheeses are those in which there is most butter. The casein without the butter is hard and indigestible.

THE FLESH OF ANIMALS.

At the western end of the gallery over the upright cases containing wheat, barley, oats, maize, &c., are arranged some selected heads of oxen in illustration of the principal breeds in this country.

The Case, 56, is specially devoted to the composition of one pound of beef, mutton, pork, veal, lamb, and fowl. Wax models represent the substances, and each analysis is accompanied with descriptive printed labels.

In Case 70 are seen mounted specimens of the varieties of hares and rabbits indigenous to the United Kingdom.

The flesh of birds, fish, and reptiles is also represented in the Collection.

Cases 63 and 64 contain mounted examples of the varieties of pheasant successfully introduced into Great Britain, and a series of grouse, ptarmigan, capercailzie, &c., as representing the game birds of that family.

FISH is represented in the Collection by mounted specimens of the commoner kinds of fish brought to market, and by the analysis of a pound of salmon, mackerel, sole, conger eel, herring, and pike.

FISH yield a larger number of species used as food by man than either birds or quadrupeds. There are but few fishes caught in the fresh waters and seas of Great Britain that may not be eaten with impunity. In some countries the only animal food known is fish. The flesh of fish contains less oil or fat, and a larger quantity of mineral matters than the flesh of birds or mammals. The digestibility of fish is not so great as that of butcher’s meat; hence, generally, it is not so nutritious as the flesh of birds or quadrupeds. Fish is undoubtedly a valuable as well as an agreeable article of diet, and should, where possible, be introduced into all dietaries.

In connexion with fish the collection illustrating Economic Fish Culture, mainly belonging to, and superintended by, Mr. Frank Buckland, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Salmon Fisheries, should not be left unmentioned, although not forming a part of the Food Collection in the Branch Museum at Bethnal Green. This collection illustrates the science of breeding salmon, trout, and other fish by artificial means. It also includes a large number of casts of different kinds of fish, and a series of nets and other apparatus used in the legal and illegal capture of fish. At present it is exhibited in the arcades on the western side of the Royal Horticultural Gardens at South Kensington. During the period of the International Exhibition it is not accessible except to visitors to the Exhibition; but when the Exhibition is not going on, visitors can see the Museum of Economic Fish Culture under the rules and regulations which govern the South Kensington Museum, with which it is officially connected as an addition to the Food Collection.

Lobsters, crabs, prawns, and shrimps, are exhibited in the collection in illustration of the edible animals belonging to the crustacea; and of molluscous animals, embracing the shell fish of the rivers and oceans, examples of the oyster, scallop, whelk, periwinkle, common snail, and Roman snail, are shown. (See Cases 59 and 60.)

Of reptiles, but few are eaten in this country as food. Their flesh is, however, white and delicate, and rich in gelatin and fat. No accurate analysis seems to have been published of the flesh of these animals. The flesh of the green turtle is consumed in considerable quantity, and of it the famous turtle soup is made. The common and edible frog are eaten on the continent; and the land tortoise, common on the coast of the Mediterranean, is eaten by the inhabitants of Italy and the Levant. The flesh of the crocodile, alligator, and iguana, is also consumed in the countries where such creatures abound.

PEAS, BEANS, AND CHEESE.

These substances are next in the order of classification by reason of the large quantity of a flesh and force-producing substance contained in them called _casein_. The casein of vegetables is now supposed by most chemists to be identical with the casein or cheese of milk. The constituents or ingredients in one pound of peas, and in one pound of beans, are shown in Cases 30 and 31. The visitor may examine a collection of beans from various foreign countries arranged in the Cases at the western end of the Collection.

Lentils are shown in Case 30. By examining the analysis of this extremely nutritious product, the large proportion of casein is at once perceived.

CLASS II.—MEDICINAL OR AUXILIARY.

The Food Substances in this Class are divided into _four_ groups, namely:—Those containing alcohol, those containing volatile oils, those containing acids, and those containing alkaloids, which act upon the nervous system as stimulants or sedatives.

BEER.

The most common form in which alcohol is employed in this country is that of beer. Beer is distinguished from other alcoholic beverages by the addition of hops, which are the female catkins of a plant extensively grown in this country. Case 35 contains the materials from which porter is brewed, and illustrates the changes which malt undergoes during its conversion into beer. The analysis of stout, porter, pale ale, mild ale, and strong ale are exhibited in Case 35, and the quantities of water, alcohol, sugar, and acetic acid are shown in an imperial pint of each. Next to beer the beverages containing alcohol consumed in this country are wines. The visitor is referred to the printed descriptive labels for details concerning the sources and manufacture of various wines from the juice of fruits, especially grapes. In Case 36 the quantities of water, alcohol, sugar, and tartaric acid, are shown in an imperial pint of the following wines:—Port, Brown Sherry, Pale Sherry, Claret, Burgundy, Hock, Moselle, Champagne, and Madeira.

In this country wines are made from oranges, raisins, gooseberries, currants, elderberries, and other fruits. They are usually called “home-made” or “British” wines. They contain other acids besides tartaric, hence the necessity of adding to them large quantities of sugar to cover the taste of the acid. Samples of British wines are exhibited in the Collection.

DISTILLED SPIRITS.

The terms “distilled” and “ardent” spirits are applied to alcoholic beverages which contain a very large per-centage of alcohol.

Those most commonly used are Gin, Rum, Whisky, and Brandy.

Alcoholic drinks when taken into the stomach act injuriously upon the mucous membrane, and when absorbed into the blood excite the nervous system. When taken in too large quantities, or upon an empty stomach, they lay the foundation of diseases of the stomach and surrounding organs, which often terminate in death. Their action on the nervous system, though pleasant and agreeable, and even healthful in small quantities, becomes a source of fearful disease when carried to excess.

It is difficult to procure alcohol pure, and distilled spirits always contain a certain quantity of water. A spirit having a density of .920 is called “proof spirit” in this country; and when distilled spirits contain more or less alcohol than this, they are said to be “_under_” or “_above_” proof.

The quantities of alcohol, water, and sugar in an imperial pint of Brandy, Rum, and Gin, are shown in the Case 39.

The physical degeneracy and moral degradation attendant upon taking alcohol in excess are well known; and no language is too strong to condemn the folly and wickedness of those who thus convert one of the blessings of Providence into a curse.

In Cases 38 the visitor will see samples of alcohol obtained from various sources; also a variety of flavored spirits, or “liqueurs,” from various countries, and a Japanese spirit or liqueur, distilled from rice, called “soke,” or “saki.”

VOLATILE OILS.

There is a large class of substances which are added to food for the purpose of giving it flavour, and which on account of the volatile oils they contain act as stimulants. These substances are known as Spices and Condiments. They also serve as the basis of a large number of sauces, which are sold ready prepared for the purpose of being added to cooked food. There is some difficulty in separating Spices from Condiments, but the former are more generally eaten with sugar, the latter with salt.

In Cases 40 to 43 will be found an extensive series of Spices and Condiments from various parts of the world.

FLAVORERS.

There is another class of substances, which cannot be called either condiments or spices, but which are extensively employed to render the taste of food more agreeable. Among these may be noticed (see Case 44) oil of bitter almonds, vanilla, lemon, orange, and citron peel.

One of the most interesting discoveries of modern chemistry is the nature of those essences which give the various flavours to fruits. These “artificial fruit essences” have been so skilfully imitated in the laboratory of the chemist that they are extensively employed to flavour confectionery, &c. Examples of these artificially prepared fruit essences, may be seen in the case.

ACIDS.

Many of the organic acids resemble closely in their composition starch and sugar, and may to a certain extent act on the system in the same way. In the classification adopted in the Food Collection, they are classed under _medicinal or auxiliary food_.

_Acetic Acid or Vinegar_ is obtained either from the oxidation of alcohol in fermented liquors, or from the distillation of wood. Common vinegar is obtained from the oxidation of the fermented wort of malt. A series of preparations illustrating the processes undergone in the formation of vinegar from malt has been presented to the collection by Messrs. Beaufoy and Co.

_Citric Acid_ is contained in many fruits, but exists in greatest abundance and purity in the fruits of the orange, the lemon, the citron, the shaddock, the pommeloe, the lime, and others. All these fruits contain citric acid, and varying proportions of sugar. Citric acid can be separated from the juice of these plants in a crystalline form.

_Tartaric Acid_ is found in the juice of the fruits of the vine tribe, more especially of the common vine. This acid gives the acidity to the fruit of the grape, and is the acid present in wines.

_Malic Acid_ is contained in the fruits of the natural order Rosaceæ. It has the same general properties as the other acids, and is contained alone in apples and pears; whilst in cherries, plums, &c. it is mixed with other acids.

_Oxalic Acid_ is contained in the wood sorrel, also in the common sorrel, and various species of rhubarb. Species of the latter genus are extensively cultivated in this country, and the stalks of their large leaves cut up and made into pies, puddings, &c. They are ready for use early in the spring, and are an excellent substitute for fruit in pies and tarts at that season of the year. Although oxalic acid is a _poison_ when taken in considerable quantities, as ordinarily consumed it probably acts in the same way on the system as other acids.

For examples of Acids, Pickles of various kinds, &c., see Case 23.

ALKALOIDS ACTING AS STIMULANTS OR SEDATIVES.

The next and last group is that of Food Substances containing alkaloids, which act upon the nervous system as stimulants or sedatives. The principal examples are Tea, Coffee, Cocoa, Tobacco, Hemp, and Opium.

Tea and Coffee have hardly any other properties in common than the possession of an alkaloid called _Theine_ or _Caffeine_, which is identical in the two. Chocolate contains a peculiar alkaloid called _Theobromine_. Paraguay tea or “maté” is the only other substance extensively used as a dietetic infusion that contains _theine_; in South America it occupies the same position in domestic economy as Chinese tea does in this country. Case 46 exhibits the chemical analysis of a pound of ordinary good Chinese Tea; and in Cases 47, 48, and 99, contiguously placed, are numerous samples of tea from China, Japan, Java, Brazil, and East India.

The analysis of a pound of Coffee is shown in Case 50; and many samples of raw coffee from various parts of the world are exhibited. The visitor’s notice is directed to the printed descriptive label concerning Coffee, which is suspended near the case containing the analysis.

_Cocoa_ is represented by the analysis of a pound of Cocoa paste in Case 53, and by a series of the fruit pods containing the seed or nuts, presented by Messrs. Fry and Son, of Bristol, as well as by various preparations and confections. The distinguishing feature of its composition consists in the large quantities of fat and albumen which it contains; so that Cocoa not only acts as an alternative through its _theobromine_, but as a force-producing and flesh and force-producing food. Samples of the commercial varieties of the nuts or seeds from various countries are exhibited.

TEA AND COFFEE SUBSTITUTES.

A variety of substances are exhibited in Case 49 in illustration of the use of the leaves of various plants for making potable infusions. The most important is Paraguay tea or “maté,” which contains the same alkaloid called _theine_, as the Chinese tea plant. A quantity of “maté” is shown, with calabash or dried gourd for making the infusion, and sucking pipe for drinking it. A large number of substances have been employed from time to time as substitutes for Coffee, and prepared in the same way. Many of them are shown in Case 52. In this country none of these so-called Coffee Substitutes have established themselves in public reputation, and are seldom sold. Some of them, however, are used as adulterants of Coffee.

TOBACCO.

Although Tobacco has been only comparatively recently introduced amongst the inhabitants of the Old World, it is more extensively employed than any other narcotic. It is the produce of various species of the genus _Nicotiana_. The practice of smoking the leaves of these plants was introduced from the New World. The species, which is a native of America, and which supplies the greater proportion of the Tobacco smoked in Europe, is the _Nicotiana Tabacum_. The leaves of these plants contain an active and highly poisonous principle called _Nicotine_, which is the agent that produces the narcotic effect experienced in smoking. This narcotic effect resembles in some measure that of alcohol. Tobacco has, however, a less stimulant effect than alcohol, and produces, especially at first, a greater derangement of the general nervous system.

The chemical analysis of one pound of Tobacco is exhibited in Case 98. Cases 93 to 97 contain a series of specimens of the leaves of species and varieties of Tobacco cultivated in various parts of the world, with samples also of the Cigars and Tobaccos manufactured from them.

Examples of varieties of Snuffs used in this and other countries will be seen in Case 97. Snuffs are usually made from the stalks and ribs of tobacco leaves. Tobacco is liable to be adulterated with the leaves of other plants; these, however, can be detected under the microscope. Specimens of Tobacco adulterated with other leaves are illustrated in the diagram near the cases.

Opium is used extensively as a medicine, on account of its power of alleviating pain and inducing sleep. It is a very powerful, and consequently dangerous narcotic poison, and should never be taken except under medical advice. In small doses it acts as a stimulant. On account of this latter property and its subsequent soothing influence, it has been indulged in by man, and is consumed largely in China and other parts of the world as a dietetical luxury. When taken for this purpose it is smoked, and is generally consumed with tobacco or some other leaf in a pipe. Pipes used for this purpose in China are exhibited in the cases containing Chinese food, with a collection of Chinese tobaccos, most of which appear to contain Opium.

The practice of “opium eating,” as it is called, exerts a most prejudicial effect upon the system; and although not rapidly destroying life, the victim of this habit is after a time rendered perfectly miserable if not able to procure this indulgence. As is the case with alcohol and tobacco, the system becomes accustomed to the use of this narcotic, and prodigious quantities have been consumed by those who have addicted themselves to the practice of taking it for the sake of its effect on the system.

A series of preparations from Opium, presented by the Society of Apothecaries, Apothecaries Hall, and specimens of other narcotic agents are exhibited in Case 92. The fruits of narcotic plants are sometimes consumed in this country in mistake for other plants, producing fatal effects. Examples of some of these poisonous plants are exhibited in the Collection, as well as diagrams of others.

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Before closing this necessarily brief Guide to the Food Collection, it may be as well to notice some illustrations which may be deemed exceptional to the Classification.

_Fungi_.—The group of Fungi contains a number of plants which are eaten as food, whilst many of them act as virulent poisons. Those which are edible contain varying quantities of starch, sugar, woody fibre, and albumen, together with an acid called _fungic_ acid. A large number of species are eaten on the continent of Europe, which are not used in this country at all. Models of the common Mushroom, the Morel, and the Truffle, are shown, as well as preserved specimens.

The visitor should notice the large Truffle from Australia called “Native Bread.” It is in Case 34.

A series of coloured diagrams or drawings of British Fungi taken from living specimens, both edible and poisonous, are also exhibited, having been purchased from the artist, H. Worthington Smith, Esq., F.L.S.

_National Foods_.—Various food products of foreign nations are included in the Collection, and for the sake of illustrating _National Food_ have been kept separate. It is hoped that other collections of the same kind, illustrating _national peculiarities of diet_ may be formed and presented to the Museum.

In Cases 72 to 78 is an important collection of Chinese Food, which was received in 1859. The collection was procured from two districts, Shanghae and Foo-Chow-Foo, and contains many curious and interesting edible substances and preparations, some of them new to this country. Descriptive labels are attached to every specimen.

Japanese, Siamese, and East Indian food products are shown in Cases 81 to 86.

In Case 79 will be noticed a series of _edible birds’ nests_ from China, Siam, Java, Borneo, and other countries. These nests are formed by swallows, two specimen of which are shown in the case.

ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY APPLIED TO FOOD AND FORESTRY.

This Collection, formed and arranged for the Department of Science and Art by Andrew Murray, Esq., F.L.S., is exhibited at the eastern end of the gallery, partly on the wall, and partly in glazed cases on the counter. It is intended to illustrate the ravages of such insects as are known to be destructive to alimentary substances, or that are noxious or injurious to man and domestic animals. Also, those insects known to be destructive to timber, or otherwise exemplifying the science of Entomology in its relation to Forestry. The Collection is contained in 42 cases, to which belong 31 framed diagrams and drawings. This Entomological Collection is yet incomplete, and may be considered as still in course of formation.

ADULTERATION OF FOOD.

The extensive employment of various substances for the Adulteration of Food has led to the formation of a collection of those more commonly employed. In Cases 97 and 98 these substances are arranged according as they have been obtained from the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom. They have been selected principally from the results obtained by Dr. Hassall, and made known in his work “On the Adulteration of Food.”

The adulteration of _Milk_ with _Water_ is shown in Case 54. These examples are renewed weekly; and the use of the _lactometer_ or _milk measurer_, is also exemplified in the same case. The goodness of milk can also be ascertained by means of the microscope. The diagrams on the wall represent good cream, good pure milk, bad milk, and the curd of milk as seen under the microscope.

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LONDON: Printed by GEORGE E. EYRE and WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE, Printers to the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty. For Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. [4018.—5000.—7/72.]

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_The following Publications are on Sale at the Catalogue Stall_.