FONTEVRAULT

fontevrault, or fontevraud (lat. _fons ebraldi_), a town of western france, in the department of maine-et-loire, 10 m. s.e. of saumur by road and 2-1/2 m. from the confluence of the loire and vienne. pop. (1906) 1279. it is situated in the midst of the forest of fontevrault. the interest of the place centres in its abbey, which since 1804 has been utilized and abused as a central house of detention for convicts. the church (12th century), of which only the choir and apse are appropriated to divine service, has a beautiful nave formerly covered by four cupolas destroyed in 1816. there is a fifth cupola above the crossing. in a chapel in the south transept are the effigies of henry ii. of england, of his wife eleanor of guienne, of richard i. of england and of isabella of angouleme, wife of john of england--eleanor's being of oak and the rest of stone. the cloister, refectory and chapter-house date from the 16th century. the second court of the abbey contains a remarkable building, the tour d'evrault (12th century), which long went under the misnomer of _chapelle funeraire_, but was in reality the old kitchen. details and diagrams will be found in viollet-le-duc's _dictionnaire de l'architecture_. there are three stories, the whole being surmounted by a pyramidal structure. the _order of fontevrault_ was founded about 1100 by robert of arbrissel, who was born in the village of arbrissel or arbresec, in the diocese of rennes, and attained great fame as a preacher and ascetic. the establishment was a double monastery, containing a nunnery of 300 nuns and a monastery of 200 monks, separated completely so that no communication was allowed except in the church, where the services were carried on in common; there were, moreover, a hospital for 120 lepers and other sick, and a penitentiary for fallen women, both worked by the nuns. the basis of the life was the benedictine rule, but the observance of abstinence and silence went beyond it in stringency. the special feature of the institute was that the abbess ruled the monks as well as the nuns. at the beginning the order had a great vogue, and at the time of robert's death, 1117, there were several monasteries and 3000 nuns; afterwards the number of monasteries reached 57, all organized on the same plan. the institute never throve out of france; there were attempts to introduce it into spain and england: in england there were three houses--at ambresbury (amesbury in wiltshire), nuneaton, and westwood in worcestershire. the nuns in england as in france were recruited from the highest families, and the abbess of fontevrault, who was the superior-general of the whole order, was usually of the royal family of france. see p. helyot, _hist, des ordres religieuses_ (1718), vi. cc. 12, 13; max heimbucher, _orden und kongregationen_ (1907), i. 46; the arts. "fontevrauld" in wetzer and welte, _kirchenlexicon_ (ed. 2), and in herzog-hauck, _realencyklopadie_ (ed. 3), supply full references to the literature. the most recent monograph is edouard, _fontevrault et ses monuments_ (1875); for the later history see art. by edmund bishop in _downside review_ (1886). (e. c. b.) food (like the verb "to feed," from a teutonic root, whence o. eng. _foda_; cf. "fodder"; connected with gr. [greek: pateiothai], to feed), the general term for what is eaten by man and other creatures for the sustenance of life. the scientific aspect of human food is dealt with under nutrition and dietetics. _infancy._--the influence of a normal diet upon the health of man (we exclude here the question of diet in illness, which must depend on the abnormal conditions existing) begins at the earliest stage of his life. no food has as yet been found so suitable for the young of all animals as their mother's milk. this, however, has not been from want of seeking. dr brouzet (_sur l'education medicinale des enfants_, i. p. 165) had such a bad opinion of human mothers, that he expressed a wish for the state to interfere and prevent them from suckling their children, lest they should communicate immorality and disease! a still more determined pessimist was the famous chemist van helmont, who thought life had been reduced to its present shortness by our inborn propensities, and proposed to substitute bread boiled in beer and honey for milk, which latter he calls "brute's food." baron justus von liebig, as the result of his chemical researches, introduced a "food for infants," which in more modern days has been followed by a multiplication of patent foods. a close imitation of human milk may also be made by the addition to fresh cow's milk of half its bulk of soft water, in each pint of which has been mixed a heaped-up teaspoonful of powdered "sugar of milk" and a pinch of phosphate of lime. these artificial substitutes for the natural nutriment have their value where for any reason it is not available. the wholesomest food, however, for the first six months is certainly mother's milk alone. a vigorous baby can indeed bear with impunity much rough usage, and often appears none the worse for a certain quantity of farinaceous food; but the majority do not get habituated to it without an exhibition of dislike which indicates rebellion of the bowels. it is only when the teeth are on their way to the front, as shown by dribbling, that the parotid glands secrete an active saliva capable of digesting bread stuffs. till then anything but milk must be given tentatively, and considered in the light of a means of education for its future mode of nutrition. the time for weaning should be fixed partly by the child's age, partly by the growth of the teeth. the first group of teeth nine times out of ten consists of the lower central front teeth, which may appear any time during the sixth and seventh month. the mother may then begin to diminish the number of suckling times; and by a month she can have reduced them to twice a day, so as to be ready when the second group makes its way through the upper front gums to cut off the supply altogether. the third group, the lateral incisors and first grinders, usually after the first anniversary of birth, give notice that solid food can be chewed. but it is prudent to let dairy milk form a considerable portion of the fare till the eye-teeth are cut, which seldom happens till the eighteenth or twentieth month. _childhood and youth._--at this stage of life the diet must obviously be the best which is a transition from that of infancy to that of adult age. growth is not completed, but yet entire surrender of every consideration to the claim of growth is not possible, nor indeed desirable. moreover, that abundance of adipose tissue, or reserve new growth, which a baby can bear is an impediment to the due education of the muscles of the boy or girl. the supply of nutriment need not be so continuous as before, but at the same time should be more frequent than for the adult. up to at least fourteen or fifteen years of age the rule should be four meals a day, varied indeed, but nearly equal in nutritive power and in quantity, that is to say, all moderate, all sufficient. the maturity the body then reaches involves a hardening and enlargement of the bones and cartilages, and a strengthening of the digestive organs, which in healthy young persons enables us to dispense with some of the watchful care bestowed upon their diet. three full meals a day are generally sufficient, and the requirements of mental training may be allowed to a certain extent to modify the attention to nutrition which has hitherto been paramount. _adults._--it is only necessary here to refer to the article on dietetics (see also vegetarianism) for a discussion of the food of normal adults; and to such headings as dietary (for fixed allowances) or cookery. different staple articles of food are dealt with under their own headings. for animals other than man see the respective articles on them. among numerous books on the subject, in addition to those enumerated under dietetics, see sir henry thompson's _foods and feeding_ (1894); hart's _diet in sickness and health_ (1896); knight, _food and its functions_ (1895). food preservation. the preservation of food material beyond the short term during which it naturally keeps sound and eatable has engaged human thought from the earliest dawn of civilization. necessity compelled man to store the plenitude of one season or place against the need of another. the hunter dried, smoked and salted meat and fish, pastoral man preserved milk in the form of cheese and butter, or fermented grape-juice into wine. with the separation of country from town, the development of manufacturing nation as distinct from agricultural and food-producing people, the spreading of civilized man from torrid to arctic zones, the needs of travellers on land and sea and of armies on the march, the problem of the prevention of the natural decomposition to which nearly all food substances are liable became increasingly urgent, and forms to-day, next to the production of food, the most important problem in connexion with the feeding and the trade of nations. as long as the reasons of decomposition were unknown, all attempts at preservation were necessarily empirical, and of the numberless processes which have during modern times been proposed and attempted comparatively few have stood the test of experience. in the light of modern knowledge, however, the guiding principles appear to be very simple. very few organic materials undergo decomposition, as it were, of their own accord. they may lose water by evaporation, and fatty substances may alter by the absorption of oxygen from the air. they are otherwise quite stable and unchangeable while not attacked and eaten up by living organisms, or while the life with which they may be endowed is in a state of suspense. an apple is alive and in breathing undergoes its ripening change; a grain of wheat is dormant and does not alter. a substance, in order to be a food material, must be decomposable under the attack of a living organism; the energy stored in it must be available to that stream of energy which we call life, whether the life be in the form of the human consumer or of any lower organism. all decomposition of food is due to the development within the food of living organisms. under conditions under which living organisms cannot enter or cannot develop food keeps undecomposed for an indefinite length of time. the problem of food preservation resolves itself, therefore, into that of keeping out or killing off all living things that might feed upon and thus alter the food, and as these organisms mainly belong to the family of moulds, yeasts and bacteria, modern food preservation is strictly a subject for the bacteriologist. the changes which food undergoes on keeping are easily intelligible when once their biological origin is recognized. yeasts cause the decomposition of saccharine substances into alcohol and carbon dioxide, acetic and lactic ferments produce from sugar or from alcohol the organic acids causing the souring of food, moulds as a rule cause oxidation and complete destruction of organic matter, nitrogenous or saccharine, while most bacteria act mainly upon the nitrogenous constituents, producing albumoses and peptones and breaking up the complex albumen-molecule into numerous smaller molecules often allied to alkaloids, generally with the production of evil-smelling gases. these processes may go on simultaneously, but more frequently take place successively in the decomposition of food, one set of organisms taking up the work of destruction as the conditions become favourable to its development and unfavourable to its predecessor. the organisms may come from the air, the soil or from animal sources. the air teems with organisms which settle and may develop when brought upon a favourable nidus; the organic matter of the soil largely consists of fungoid life; while the intestinal canal and other mucous membranes of all animals harbour bacteria, sarcinae and other organisms in countless millions. whenever, therefore, food material is exposed to the air, or touched by the soil or by animals or man, it becomes infected with living cells, which by their development lead to its decomposition and destruction. fungoid organisms may be killed by heat or by chemicals; or their development may be arrested by cold, removal of water, or by the presence of agents inhibiting their growth though not destroying their life. all successful processes of food preservation depend upon one or other of these circumstances. _preservation by heat._--at the boiling-point of water all living cells perish, but some spores of bacteria may survive for about three hours. few adult bacteria can live beyond 75 deg. c. (167 deg. f.) in the presence of water, though dry heat only kills with certainty at 140 deg. c. (284 deg. f.). destruction of life takes place more rapidly in solutions showing an acid than a feebly alkaline reaction; hence acid fruit is more easily preserved than milk, which, when quite fresh, is alkaline. by cooking, therefore, food becomes temporarily sterile, until a fresh crop of organisms finds access from the air. by repeated cooking all food can be indefinitely preserved. one of the most important functions of cookery is sterilization. civilized man unwittingly revolts against the consumption of non-sterile food, and the use of certain fungus-infected material is an inheritance from barbarous ages; few materials of animal origin are eaten raw, and in vegetables some sort of sterilizing process is attempted by washing (of salads) or removal of the outer skin (of fruits). all preparation of food for the table, cooking being the most important, tends towards preservation, but is effectual only for a few hours or days at most, unless special means are adopted to prevent reinfection. the housewife covering the jam with a thin paper soaked in brandy, or the potted meat with a thin layer of lard, attempts unconsciously to bar the road to bacteria and other minute organisms. to preserve food in a permanent manner and on a commercial scale it has to be cooked in a receptacle which must be sufficiently strong for transport, cheap, light and unattacked by the material in contact with it. none of the receptacles at present in use quite fulfils the whole of these conditions: glass and china are heavy and fragile, and their carriage is expensive; tinned iron, so-called tin-plate, is rarely quite unaffected by food materials, but owing to its strength, tenacity and cheapness, it is used on an ever-increasing scale. the sheet iron, which formerly was made of soft wrought iron, now generally consists of steel containing but very little carbon; it is cleaned by immersion in acid and covered with a very thin layer of pure tin, all excess of tin being removed by hot rollers and brushes. the layer of tin, which formerly constituted from 3 to 5% of the total weight of the plate, has, owing to the increased price of tin and the improvement in machinery, gradually become so thin that its weight is only from 1 to 3%. not rarely, therefore, the tin-surface is imperfect, perforated or pin-holed. tin itself is slightly attacked by all acid juices of vegetable or animal substances. with the exception of milk, all human food is slightly acid, and consequently all food that has been preserved in tin canisters contains variable traces of dissolved tin. happily, salts of tin have but little physiological action. nevertheless, the employment cf tin-plate for very acid materials, like tomatoes, peaches, &c., is very objectionable. the process of preservation in canisters is carried out as follows:--the canister, which has been made either by the use of solder or by folding machinery only, is packed with the material to be preserved, and a little water having been added to fill the interstices the lid is secured by soldering or folding, generally the former. sterilization is effected by placing the tins in pressure chambers, which are heated by steam to 120 deg. c. or more. the tins are exposed to that temperature for such time as experience has shown to be necessary to heat the contents throughout to at least 100 deg. c. the temperature is then allowed to fall slowly to below the boiling-point of water, when the tins can be taken out of the pressure chamber, or they are placed in pans filled with water or a solution of calcium chloride and are therein heated till thoroughly cooked. sometimes a small aperture is pierced through the lid, to allow of the escape of the expanding air, such holes before cooling closed by means of a drop of solder. this process, which was originally introduced by francois appert early in the 19th century, is employed on an enormous scale, especially in america. the use of lacquered tins, having the inner surface of the tin covered with a heat-resisting varnish, is gradually extending. imperfect sterilization shows itself in many cases by gas development within the tin, which causes the ends to become convex and drummy. more frequently than not the contents of the larger tins, containing meat or other animal products, are not absolutely sterile, but the conditions are mostly such that the organisms which have survived the cooking process cannot develop. when they can develop without formation of gas dangerous products of decomposition may be produced without showing themselves to taste or smell. numerous cases of so-called ptomaine poisoning have thus occurred; these are more frequently associated with preserved fish and lobster than with meats, although no class of preserved animal food is free from liability of ptomaine formation. the formation of poisonous substances has never been traced to preserved fruit or other material poor in nitrogen. the mode of preserving food in china or glass is quite similar, but the losses by breakage are not inconsiderable. food which has been preserved in tins is sometimes transferred to glass and re-sterilized, the feeling against "tinned" food caused by the "chicago scandals" not having entirely subsided. were it not for the facts that sterilization is rarely quite perfect, and that the food attacks the tin, the contents of tin canisters ought to keep for an indefinite length of time. under existing circumstances, however, there is a distinct limit to the age of soundness of canned food. _preservation by chemicals._--salt is the oldest chemical preservative and, either alone or in conjunction with saltpetre and with wood-smoke, has been used for many centuries, mainly as a meat preservative. it is used either dry in layers strewn on the surface of the meat or fish to be preserved, or in the form of brine in which the meat is submerged or which is injected into the carcasses. the preserving power of salt is but moderate. it has the great advantage that in ordinary doses it is non-injurious, that an excess at once betrays itself in the taste, and that it can be readily removed by soaking in water. when aided by wood-smoke, which depends for its preservative power upon traces of creosote and formaldehyde, it is, however, quite efficient. the addition of saltpetre is principally for the purpose of giving to the meat a bright pink tint. the strongly saline taste of pickled meat or salted butter appears gradually to have become repugnant to a large part of mankind, and other preservatives have come into use, possessing greater bactericidal power and less taste. the serious objection attaching to them is discussed in the article adulteration. at the present time the use of borax or boracic acid is almost universal in england. meat which has been exposed to the vapours of formaldehyde, and has thus been superficially sterilized, is also coming into commerce in increasing quantities. formaldehyde in itself is distinctly poisonous, and has the property of combining with albuminoids and rendering them completely insoluble in the digestive secretions. salicylic and benzoic acids are not infrequently used to stop fermentation of saccharine beverages or deterioration of so-called "potted meats," which are supposed to last fresh and sweet on the consumer's table for a considerable length of time. sulphurous acid and sulphites are chiefly used in the preservation of thin ales, wine and fruit, and sodium fluoride has been found in butter. the whole of these substances possess decided and injurious physiological properties. alcohol now rarely forms a preservative of food material, its employment being confined to small fruit. the use of sugar as a preservative depends upon the fact that, although in a dilute solution it is highly prone to fermentation and other decomposition, it possesses bactericidal properties when in the form of a concentrated syrup. a sugar solution containing 30% of water or less does not undergo any biological change; in the presence of organic acids, like those contained in fruit, growth of organisms is inhibited when the percentage of water is somewhat greater. upon this fact depends the use of sugar in the manufacture of jams, marmalades and jellies. moulds may grow on the surface of such saccharine preparations, but the interior remains unaffected and unaltered. _preservation by drying._--food materials in which the percentage of moisture is small (not exceeding about 8%) are but little liable to bacterial growths, at most to the attacks of innocent _penicillium_. nature preserves the germs in seeds and nuts, which are laden with otherwise decomposable food material, by the simple expedient of water removal. the life of cereal grains and many seeds appears to be unlimited. by the removal of water the most perishable materials, like meat or eggs, can be rendered unchangeable, except so far as the inevitable oxidation of the fatty substances contained in them is concerned and which is independent of life-action. the drying of meat, upon which a generation ago inventors bestowed a great deal of attention, has become almost obsolete, excepting for comparatively small articles or animals, like ox tongues or tails and fish. it has been superseded even among less civilized communities by the spread of canned food. fruit, however, is very largely preserved in the dried state. grapes are sun-dried and thus form currants, raisins and sultanas, the last variety being often bleached by the addition of sulphites. plums, apples and pears are artificially dried in ovens on wooden battens or on wire sieves; from the latter they are apt to become contaminated with notable quantities of zinc. excellent preparations of dried vegetables, including potatoes, carrots, onions, french beans and cabbages, are also manufactured. the utilization of meat in the form of meat extract belongs to some extent to this class of preserved foods. its origin is due to j. von liebig and max von pettenkofer, and dates from the middle of the 19th century. the soluble material is extracted mainly from beef, in australia to some extent from mutton, by means of warm water; the albumen is coagulated by heat and removed, and the broths thus obtained are evaporated _in vacuo_ until the extract contains no more than about 20% of water. one pound of extract is obtained from about 25 lb. of lean beef. _preservation by refrigeration._--at or below the freezing-point of water fungoid organisms are incapable of growth and multiplication. although it has been asserted that many of them perish when kept for some time in the frozen condition, it is certain that the vast majority of bacteria and their germs remain merely dormant. even so highly organized structures as cereal seeds do not suffer in vitality on being kept for a considerable length of time at the far lower temperature of liquid air. biological change is, therefore, arrested at freezing-point, and as long as that temperature is maintained food material remains unaltered, except for physical changes depending upon the evaporation of water and of volatile flavouring matters, or chemical alterations due to oxidation. refrigeration, therefore, affords the means of keeping for a reasonably long time, and without the addition of any preservative substance, food in a raw condition. it is the only process of preservation which from a sanitary point of view is entirely unobjectionable as ordinarily and properly employed. its introduction on a commercial scale has more powerfully affected the economic conditions of england and, to a less degree, of the united states than any other scientific advance since the establishment of railways and steamboats. enormous quantities of frozen carcasses, butter, fruit, vegetables and fish are introduced in the fresh condition into great britain and stored until required. extreme fluctuations of supply or of price have become almost impossible, and the abundance of australian and new zealand ranches, and of west indian orchards, has been made readily accessible to the british consumer. for household purposes cooling in ice-chests or ice-chambers suffices to preserve food on a comparatively small scale. the ice used for the purpose comes, to a small extent, from natural sources, stored from the winter or imported from northern countries; a far larger quantity is artificially produced by the methods described in the article on refrigerating, which also contains an account of the means by which low temperatures are produced for industrial purposes of importation and storage. fleets of steamships fitted with refrigerating machinery and insulated cold-rooms are employed in carrying the food materials, which are deposited in cold-stores at docks, warehouses, markets and hotels. the first cargo of frozen meat was shipped in july 1873 from melbourne, but arrived in october in an unsatisfactory state. in 1875-1876 sound frozen meat came from america. the first cargo of frozen meat was successfully brought to the united kingdom in 1880 from australia in the "strathleven," fitted with a bell-coleman air machine. the temperature in the cold-storage rooms is generally kept near 34 deg.