Plumbe’s Farinaceous Food. South-sea arrow-root, with about 1-3rd its weight of pea flour.
Polson’s Corn Flour. The starch of Indian corn or maize prepared with great care. It is much used as a substitute for arrow-root, and for custards, puddings, &c.
Smith’s Nursing Farina. Equal parts of baked wheat flour and rice flour.
Obs. Many of the above compounds are deficient in the nitrogenous elements of nutrition, and all of them nearly destitute of the mineral and saline matters which are absolutely necessary to the formation of the bones and tissues, and the support of the body in health, and are consequently utterly unsuitable as an exclusive article of diet, especially for young children. Unfortunately, it has been too much the fashion of medical men of late years to recommend these compounds, and even to furnish testimonials as to their excellence, apparently relying solely on the representation of their proprietors or vendors. We deem it, however, to be a public duty to caution parents and nurses against their injudicious use. As mere adjuvants or auxiliaries, when the natural food supplied by the mother may be insufficient for the nutrition of the infant, some of them may doubtless be of value; but in all other cases they should be largely combined with pure cow’s milk, beef tea, meat broths or gravies, eggs, or other substances rich in the nitrogenous and saline elements of nutrition.
FARM′ING. The business or management of a FARM. Formerly farming was looked upon as a profession easily understood, and successfully pursued only by an empiric. It is now, however, regarded in a different light, and the farmer, to succeed, not only requires perseverance and observation, but also a sound knowledge of natural sciences. See Butter, Cheese, Implements, Manures, Soils, &c.
FARMS, SEWAGE. See Sewage Farms.
FAT. Syn. Adeps, L. The fat of animals is a concrete oil contained in the cellular membrane of their bodies, more especially round the kidneys, in the folds of the omentum, at the base of the heart, upon the surface of the intestines, and among many of the muscles. Fat varies in consistence, colour, and odour, with the animal from which it is obtained. That of the carnivora is usually soft and rank-flavoured; that of the ruminantia solid and nearly scentless. It is generally whitest and most copious in the well-fed young animal, and yellowish and more scanty in the old. That under the skin and surrounding the kidneys (suet) is also more solid than that in the neighbourhood of the movable viscera. In the cetacea, or whale tribe, the fatty secretion assumes the form of oil. These variations in consistency depend upon the relative proportions of solid stearin and liquid olein present in the fat.
The vegetable fats are found in various parts of certain plants, but are generally most abundant in the seeds. They are extracted by simple pressure or else by boiling. Two kinds
of vegetable fat, namely, palm-oil and cocoa-nut oil, are extensively employed in the useful arts.
All fats are lighter than water. They are all soluble in ether, benzol, and turpentine, and may be mixed with each other in any proportion.