REPORT ON "CARNISET," A Concentrated Food, prepared by Messrs. Gehrig and Grünzig, of Berlin. By the PROFESSORS of the ARMY MEDICAL SCHOOL. By order of the Under Secretary of State for War, the Purveyor-in-chief forwarded to Chatham, for trial, 10 lbs. of a concentrated food, to which the inventors, Messrs. Gehrig and Grünzig, of Berlin, have given the name of "Carniset." In a letter accompanying this food, Messrs. Gehrig and Grünzig state that "it contains in a concentrated form the exact proportion of all such nutritious and digestive ingredients as are necessary to sustain man in perfect health. Three ounces are sufficient for one meal, containing the strength of about 1 lb. of beef. It is boiled for 15 minutes in a pint to a quart of water, and, in order to give it more substance, one adds some biscuit or bread." It is also stated that for convenience the food had been made into the. "lentil form," and that it consisted of two kinds-“ bouillon," intended for dinner, and cocoa, which is equally substantial," intended for breakfast. As Messrs. Gehrig and Grünzig referred to trials which had been made by order of the Prussian War Office, and to a chemical analysis by Professor Sonnenschein, application was made to them for these reports, and in due time the following letter, addressed to them, and an analysis by Professor Sonnenschein, were forwarded. The letter, translated, is as follows: "Royal Prussian War Office, Department of Military Economy, Berlin, 4th December, 1862. "Sir,-With regard to your letter of the 1st instant, we have to inform you that the experiments made here with the article of food invented by you, and designated "carniset," led to the following results, viz.— "It is at least equally nutritious with other similar surrogates already known to us. It furnishes, with the addition of to of an ounce (Prussian) of salt, and lb. of bread (Prussian), per portion, a meal on the whole palatable and nutritious, and it might, therefore, in cases of emergency, be employed as a temporary substitute for the usual fare. "But we regret to be unable to comply with your wish to furnish you with copies of the extensive documents drawn up in connection with these experiments, they being neither intended, nor fit for communication to private parties. "Should-what is not known to us-the Marine Office have also instituted experiments with your carniset, it will rest with you to apply to that Office for the papers you require. (Signed) Professor Sonnenschein's analysis is as follows :— "HERING. In 100 parts. Nitrogen Oxygen Inorganic substances: Silicic acid 3.73 33.79 -80.96 0.22 No one will doubt that the use of food of this description is likely to be much extended in future wars. The ease of transport, the possibility of men carrying many days rations without fatigue, and the rapid way in which such food can be cooked, or can be eaten uncooked on emergencies, are all very strong recommendations. It is, indeed, more than a century ago that the celebrated naval surgeon, Lind, strongly recommended the use of concentrated food of this kind, for soldiers and sailors, in war, and it is unfortunate that the importance of this advice was not long ago perceived. It was, therefore, with much interest that we received this carniset, and prepared to test its alleged powers. We have examined it in three ways, one of our number, the Professor of Hygiene, taking the management of the investigation. 1. We have made a chemical examination, as far as it was necessary for our purpose. 2. We have examined it microscopically. 3. We have tested it practically in the following way : Four gentlemen of the Staff at Fort Pitt undertook to observe for a considerable number of days the varying weights of the body, and the amount of food and drink daily taken by them on ordinary diet. At the same time, as the elimination of nitrogen chiefly occurs by the urea, it was considered desirable to determine the daily excretion of this substance, and of some of the other urinary ingredients. Subsequently, these gentlemen* lived on carniset for 7 or 5 days, observing the same particulars as during the period on ordinary diet; and as 3 ozs. of carniset were stated to be as enough for a meal, it was decided to give 6 ozs. daily, and 10 ozs.+ of bread. This was the quantity taken by two gentlemen; subsequently the allowance was raised to 8 ozs. daily, and 10 ozs. of bread. All these particulars are given in the Tables herewith appended. I. THE CHEMICAL EXAMINATION. As two kinds of carniset were sent, they are distinguished by the terms "bouillon" and "cocoa" carniset. The determinations of nitrogen were very carefully made by Dr. Woods, Staff Assistant Surgeon. Bouillon Carniset. Solids In 100 parts. Nitrogen 5-6 per cent.-nitrogenous substances (5'6 × 6·3) .. Salts Starch, sugar, and other substances undetermined Water 83 01 16 99 100.00 In 100 parts. 35.28 4:25 8.8 34.68 16.99 100.00 The salts consisted almost entirely of chlorides of sodium and potassium, with a little iron, lime, and sulphuric and phosphoric acid. *These four gentlemen, Mr. Striedinger, and Doctors Douglas, Oliver, and Flood, took a great deal of trouble in carrying on these experiments very carefully. Sergeant Sylvester, of the Army Hospital Corps, made many of the examinations of the urine, and assisted, also, in various other ways. + One ounce Prussian is equal to 1·0311 ozs. avoirdupois. Nitrogen 3.36 per cent. nitrogenous substances (3.36 × 6·3) Starch, sugar, and other substances In 100 parts. 21.168 51.242 2. 21.5 100.00 In looking over these analyses, it is at once evident that both kinds of carniset ase less "concentrated" than might have been expected; 17 and 21 per cent. of water is a great deal, and lessens by nearly 1-5th the nutritive value of the food. Of course the drier the food in a given bulk, the more nutritious it is. The amount of nitrogen is certainly large, especially in the bouillon, and, so far, the carniset must be considered nutritious. If we assume that a healthy, adult young man, under ordinary conditions, will require about 280 grains of nitrogen in 24 hours, it follows that as 1 oz. avoirdupois of carniset contains 24.5 grains of nitrogen, about 5,000 grains, or nearly 11 ozs. avoirdupois of bouillon carniset would be required to cover the waste of nitrogen, an amount very much greater than that stated to be sufficient by the inventors. If cocoa carniset were used, the quantity must be still more, as the percentage of nitrogen is less. The amount of carbon, taken from Professor Sonnenschein's analysis, is 36-7 grains per 100, or 1605 grains in 1 oz. A strong healthy man will require, at the very least, 3,500 grains, or 8 ozs. avoirdupois of carbon daily, to supply the waste of carbon (and this is in reality below the mark). Now, this would necessitate the use of nearly 22 ozs. avoirdupois of carniset. It is evident, from the amount of fat and starch, that this food is greatly deficient in carboniferous material, and hence, probably, the recommendation that bread or biscuit should be also taken. The amount of fat is, indeed, greatly below what is requisite in a sound diet. A healthy man requires at least 1 to 2 ozs. of fat, and yet he will receive in this food only 18 grains in 1 oz. avoirdupois. It will be seen, then, what an immense amount of carniset must be given to make up the proper amount of fat. The carniset is also deficient in salts; phosphates of lime, and magnesia, and iron, are all in very small quantity, and the vegetable salts which by decomposition yield carbonates, appear to be altogether wanting; so that if this food were used for any continuance, the man would inevitably become scorbutic, unless fresh or dried vegetables were also supplied. From the chemical examination it may, then, be inferred, that this food is strongest, so to speak, in its nitrogenous constituents, and that if it be ever used, it can be only as a makeshift for a short time, and then in much larger quantities than those stated by its inventors. II. THE MICROSCOPICAL EXAMINATION. The following appearances were seen in both the bouillon and the cocoa carniset : 1. Numerous starch grains, of sizes varying from a very small round point to a large grain; in shape rounded, or slightly lenticular or oval, with an indistinct central hilum, and no decided concentric markings. They appeared to be either wheat or barley starch grains, and made up two-thirds or threefourths of the whole carniset. 2. A little envelope, from wheat or barley, indistinct, and very small in quantity. 3. Irregular and rounded dark orange-yellow masses, without regular form or size. No muscular fibre could be seen, and very few, if any, fat globules. It is therefore evident that a cereal has been largely used; the yellow masses are probably prepared extract of meat; it cannot be meat simply, otherwise muscular fibres would have been seen, III.-PRACTICAL EXAMINATION. As, after all, the inference from a chemical or microscopical examination might mislead, the practical test was looked forward to with great interest. It was of course limited to this point, viz., whether a man could be maintained in health and vigour for a short time on the carniset, and if so, on what quantity. One objection was soon found out, viz., that the taste is to many people highly objectionable. One of the gentlemen could scarcely continue the trial; another, though very hungry, could hardly eat the bouillon; others did not dislike it so much, but no one found it pleasant. This is a most serious objection to any food. It was, however, cooked very readily and rapidly, 15 or 20 minutes being sufficient time. EXPERIMENTS ON MR. STRIEDINGER. This gentleman, aged 32, is an extremely healthy and vigorous man, very active, both in mind and body. 1. Amount of food.-From experiments carried on during 22 days, it was found that he required daily 40 ozs. avoirdupois of so-called solid food ;* calculating the water in this, and adding it to the liquid drank daily, the ingesta of this gentleman were, in 24 hours— Water-free food .. ozs. av. 88.86 111.197 In other words, the body required of its own weight of water-free solids, and each lb. weight of the body received in 24 hours 013558 oz. avoirdupois of solid, and 0.53936 oz. avoirdupois of liquid food. Six ozs. of carniset (3 ozs. bouillon, and 3 ozs. cocoa), containing 117.6 grains of nitrogen, with 10 ozs. of bread, containing 58.18 grains of nitrogen, were then given for 7 days. Beer, which had been taken in the previous series, was continued. The carniset was digested without pain or uneasiness and this was the case with the other gentlemen. The function of the bowels continued normal. Amount of daily water-free food, in the carniset, bread, and beer 11.69 118 76.6 88.29 The water free food was therefore only half the former weight, and the body received of its own weight (161.75 lbs. in this series) in water-free food, instead of each lb. weight of the body received 0·0722 ozs. of solid, and 0.4735 ozs. of liquid food. The amount of nourishment passing into the system was therefore so greatly lessened, as to make it certain either that this gentleman had been previously overfed, or that he would show in some way evidence of imperfect nutrition. During the 7 days, however, that the carniset was continued, the health was perfect; mind and body were alike vigorous, and on the 7th day a walk of 16 miles was taken after a long day's work, to test the power of the body, and was supported without fatigue. That the carniset will, therefore, for this length of time, support the body to some extent, is certain. But nevertheless, it did not suffice, as appears from the next headings. 2. Weight of the body.-The mean weight of the body (average of 22 days) on normal diet was 164.75 lbs. avoirdupois. The highest weight was.. The lowest The range was therefore lbs. 166. 163.5 2.5 For the exact amount of meat, bread, &c., see the annexed Table. The term “solid food” is used to imply food with its usual percentage of water, and is used in opposition to anhydrous or water-free food. During the use of the carniset the body declined in weight, and at the end of the 7 days, no less than 5 lbs. had been lost. The mean weight of the 7 days on carniset was 161.75 lbs., or 3 lbs. below the normal mean. It was therefore quite clear that the body was wasting in consequence of insufficient nutriment, although, probably on account of the previous excellent condition, there were no subjective feelings of illness or weakness. 3. Urinary Excretion. The excretion of several urinary ingredients is recorded in the Table. In order not to lengthen this Report, we will merely observe that the normal daily excretion of urea (mean of 17 days) was 660-8 grains, or 40109 grains to each lb. of body weight. During the carniset (7 days) the excretion sank greatly, so that it never even reached the minimum of the previous 17 days. Its mean amount was only 466 04 grains, or 1947 grains less than the former series. This gives 2.88 grains to each lb. weight of the body, or 113 grains less than before. The urinary solids, the chloride of sodium, and the free acidity, were all greatly lessened (see Table). With the urea there passed off during the carniset series more nitrogen than entered with the food. Thus, in this urinary ingredient alone, 217:39 grains of nitrogen were eliminated daily; the amount passing in, in the carniset and bread, was 175 78 grains, so that 32 grains were derived daily from waste of the nitrogenous tissue (muscles), which was not covered by the food. In addition, there was, of course, nitrogen excreted by the uric acid, and other constituents, of which no account is taken, so that there was a very considerable daily destruction of the body going on without repair. It is therefore quite certain that 6 ozs. of carniset, and 10 ozs. of bread, with beer, formed a very insufficient nourishment, and that if the food had been persevered in, this gentleman would have shown in a short time unequivocal signs of debility. In the time, however (7 days), no obvious effect was produced, either on the circulation, or the general feelings, or the bodily strength. EXPERIMENTS ON DR. DOUGLAS, ET. 22. This gentleman enjoys the most perfect health, and is extremely active, both in mind and body. As he weighs, however, only 132 lbs., it was thought that possibly 6 ozs. of carniset, and 10 ozs. of bread, with beer, would maintain his weight. It turned out, however, that this was not the case, and that he required even more than Mr. Striedinger, and had a more rapid metamorphosis of tissue. 1. Amount of food. From experiments carried on during 7 days, it was found that 41.13 ozs. avoirdupois of so-called solid food were taken daily, and 44.5 ozs. of fluid. Calculating the amount of water in the solid food, mi adding it to the liquid drank, it is found that this gentleman took daily 1 84 The body therefore required of its own weight of water-free solids, and each lb. weight of the body received in 24 hours 0191 oz. of water-free solids, and 0.457 oz. of liquid food. It will be observed that this gentleman, though less heavy, required more solid food than Mr. Striedinger. Six ounces of carniset, and 10 ozs. of bread, with beer, were then taken daily for 5 days; on another day, 3 ozs. only of carniset were taken, and a little more bread, making the mean for the 6 days 5 ounces of carniset, 10.33 ozs. of bread, 13 ozs. of beer, and 62 ozs. of water. Calculating the amount of water in the carniset, bread, and beer, we obtain as the ingesta in each 24 hours Or very nearly the same as that taken by Mr. Striedinger. |