1316| 2.50| 5.3|
campestris | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
{Oysters | .61| .14| .33| 2350| 2.00| 11.7|
========================================================================+

The mushrooms have been valued at 25 cents per pound, which is probably
considerably below the average market price for a good article. It
should also be remarked that the amounts given in this table are the
digestible and hence available constituents of the foods. The only
exception to this is in the case of the fats and carbohydrates of the
mushrooms, no digestion experiments having been reported on these
constituents. In the absence of data we have assumed that they were
entirely digested.

The beef and beans are typical animal and vegetable foods of the proteid
class. A glance at the table will show how markedly they differ from the
mushrooms. The latter are nearest the cabbage in composition and
nutritive value. The similarity between the cabbage and the _Agaricus
campestris_ here analyzed is very striking. The potato is somewhat
poorer in fat, but very much richer than the mushroom in carbohydrates.

The figures in the last column will vary of course with fluctuations in
the market price, but such variation will not interfere at any time with
the demonstration that _purchased_ mushrooms are not a poor man's food.
Here we find that one cent invested in cabbage at 1-1/2 cents per pound,
gives 93 _calories_ of nutrition, while the same amount invested in
_Agaricus campestris_--the common mushroom of our markets--would give
but 5.3 _calories_, although they are almost identical so far as
nutritive value is concerned.

The same sum invested in wheat flour, with its high carbohydrate and
good proteid content, would yield 658 _calories_ or one-sixth the amount
necessary to sustain a man at work for one day. The amount of mushrooms
necessary for the same result is a matter of simple computation.

Mushrooms, however, have a distinct and very great value as a food of
the third class, that is, as condiments or food accessories, and their
value as such is beyond the computation of the chemist or the
physiologist, and doubtless varies with different individuals. They are
among the most appetizing of table delicacies and add greatly to the
palatability of many foods when cooked with them. It is sure