Mechanism of the Alimentary Canal—mastication, swallowing, stomach movements, intestinal movements, etc.
Absorption by the mouth, stomach and intestines.
Changes in the cells—proteins, carbohydrates, fats, fasting, muscular work, internal secretions, pancreas.
Excretion—urea, ammonia, sulphur, phosphorus, etc.
Cookery
There is much very practical information for the housewife in the article Cookery (Vol. 7, p. 74), besides the interesting historical sketch. Cookery, says this article, as an art “is only remotely connected with the mere necessities of nutrition or the science of dietetics. Mere hunger, though the best sauce, will not produce cookery, which is the art of sauces.” Oriental, Greek and Roman cookery, at least as we know them from literature, aimed at luxury, rich and rare foods, cost and show. After the Renaissance, the history of modern cookery began with Italy, and from Italy Catherine de’ Medici brought “Italian cooks to Paris and introduced there a cultured simplicity which was unknown in France before.” Forks and spoons were “Italian neatnesses” unknown in England until the early part of the 17th century; their use “marked an epoch in the progress of dining, and consequently of cookery.” French cookery advanced under Louis XIV and XV; received an apparent set back from the French Revolution—which, however, marked the rise of Parisian restaurants; but revived with brilliancy early in the 19th century, so that now “French cooking is admittedly the ideal of culinary art, directly we leave the plain roast and boiled. And the spread of cosmopolitan hotels and restaurants over England, America and the European continent, has largely accustomed the whole civilized world to the Parisian type.”
The article closes with eminently useful “notes on broiling, roasting, baking, boiling, stewing and frying.”
The article Food (Vol. 10, p. 611) describes particularly the best foods for infants and children; foods for adults are treated in Nutrition, Dietetics, already mentioned, and in the article Vegetarianism (Vol. 27, p. 967). Other articles of importance to the cook are:
Food Preservation (Vol. 10, p. 612), by Otto Hehner, English public analyst, formerly president of the Society of Public Analysts; and the same authority’s article on Adulteration (Vol. 1, p. 218), which deals with legislation against adulteration, and discusses arsenic in foods, preservatives such as formaldehyde and salicylic acid, boracic preservatives,—colouring matter in food, metallic impurities; American laws against adulteration; German laws; particular articles adulterated—milk, condensed milk, cream, butter, margarine, cheese, lard, oils, flour and bread, sugar, marmalade, jams, tea, coffee, chocolate, cocoa, wine, beer, non-alcoholic drinks, vinegar, spirits, drugs. See the chapter For Manufacturers of Foods.
The following is an alphabetical list of the principal articles on foods and beverages: