These are quite rich in fats, and also contain a fair amount of proteins, and are, in small quantities, like other fats, appetizing and useful articles of food.

But they should not be depended upon to furnish more than a small amount of the whole food supply, or even of its necessary fat, because nearly all nuts contain pungent or bitter aromatic oils and ferments, which give them their flavors, but which are likely to upset the digestion.

This is particularly true of the peanut, which is not a true nut at all, but is, as its name indicates, a kind of pea grown underground.

Peanuts, on account of their large amount of these irritating substances, are among the most indigestible and undesirable articles of diet in common use.

A certain amount of these irritating substances present in nuts may be destroyed by careful roasting and salting; but this must be most carefully done, and it shrinks them in bulk so that the finished product is far more expensive than butter or fat meat of the same nutritive value.