TABLE OF ANALYSIS OF FOOD

Key:

P = Proteins.

Cb = Carbohydrates.

C = Cellulose.

R = Refuse.

W = Water.

Ca = Calories.

Nt'nt

P. Fat. Cb. Ash. C R W Ca Ratio

Wholemeal, G. 14.9 1.6 66.2 1.7 1.6 ... 14.0 1577 4.68

Fine Flour, G. 9.3 0.8 76.5 0.7 0.7 ... 12.0 1629 8.4

Medium Flour, G. 12.1 0.9 72.2 0.9 0.9 ... 13.0 1606 6.13

Bread,

Wholemeal, G. 12.2 1.2 43.5 1.3 1.8 ... 40.0 1086 3.8

Bread, White, G. 7.5 0.8 53.8 0.9 ... ... 37.0 1174 7.4

Macaroni, U. 13.4 0.9 74.1 1.3 ... ... 10.3 1665 5.67

Oatmeal, D. 14.8 9.6 63.3 2.2 1.4 ... 8.7 1858 5.72

Maize,

American, S. 10.0 4.25 71.75 1.5 1.75 ... 10.75 1700 8.12

Rice, husked, U. 8.0 0.3 79.0 0.4 ... ... 12.3 1630 10.0

Rye Flour, U. 6.8 0.9 78.3 0.7 0.4 ... 12.9 1620 11.8

Barley,

Pearl, C. 6.2 1.3 76.0 1.1 0.8 ... 14.6 1584 12.7

Buckwheat

Flour, U. 6.4 1.2 77.9 0.9 ... ... 13.6 1619 12.6

Soy Bean, C. 35.3 18.9 26.0 4.6 4.2 ... 11.0 1938 1.93

Pea-nut, C. 24.5 50.0 11.7 1.8 4.5 ... 7.5 2783 5.2

Lentils, U. 25.7 1.0 59.2 5.7 ... ... 8.4 1621 2.4

Peas, dried, U. 24.6 1.0 62.0 2.9 4.5 ... 9.5 1655 2.6

Peas,

green, E.U. 7.0 0.5 15.2 1.0 1.7 ... 74.6 465 2.3

Haricots, C. 23.0 2.3 52.3 2.9 5.5 ... 14.0 1463 2.5

Walnuts,

fresh k., C. 12.5 31.6 8.9 1.7 0.8 ... 44.5 1563 6.33

Walnut kernels 21.4 54.1 15.2 2.9 1.4 ... 5.0 2964 6.33

Filberts,

fresh ker., C. 8.4 28.5 11.1 1.5 2.5 ... 48.0 1506 8.9

Tomatoes, U. 1.2 0.2 3.5 0.6 0.5 ... 94.0 105 3.3

Grapes, U. 1.0 1.2 10.1 0.4 4.3 25 58.0 335 12.8

Apples, E.U. 0.4 0.5 13.0 0.3 1.2 (25) 84.6 290 35.3

Raisins, E U. 2.6 3.3 76.1 3.4 ... (10) 14.6 1605 32.0

Dates, E.U. 2.1 2.8 78.4 1.3 ... (10) 15.4 1615 40.0

Banana, C.D. 1.71 ... 20.13 0.71 1.74 ... 75.7 406 11.7

Banana Flour, P. 3.13 1.73 82.4 5.93 1.21 ... 5.6 1664 27.5

Potatoes, K. 1.9 0.2 20.7 1.0 0.7 ... 75.7 429 11.0

Turnips, E. 1.3 0.2 6.8 0.8 1.3 (30) 89.6 159 5.57

Onions, E.U. 1.6 0.3 9.1 0.6 0.8 (10) 87.6 225 6.1

Cabbage, E U. 1.6 0.3 4.5 1.0 1.1 (15) 91.5 123 3.23

Asparagus, U. 1.5 0.1 2.3 1.2 0.5 ... 94.4 85 1.7

Celery, E.U. 1.1 0.1 3.3 1.0 ... (20) 94.5 85 3.2

Mushrooms, U. 3.5 0.4 6.8 1.2 ... ... 88.1 210 2.2

Tapioca, U. 0.4 0.1 88.0 0.1 ... ... 11.4 1650 220

Sugar ... ... 100 ... ... ... ... 1860 ...

Oil ... 100 ... ... ... ... ... 4220 ...

Milk 3.6 3.7 4.6 0.73 ... ... 87.4 309 3.56

Butter, fresh 0.8 83.5 1.5 0.2 ... ... 14.0 3566 234

Cheese, U. 25.9 33.7 2.4 3.8 ... ... 34.2 1950 3.0

Hen's Eggs, U. 11.9 9.3 ... 0.9 ... 11.2 65.5 635 1.74

Beef, loin, U. 16.4 16.9 ... 0.9 ... 13.3 52.9 1020 2.3

Beef, loin, edible

p., U. 19.0 19.1 ... 1.0 ... ... 61.3 1155 2.3

Mutton,

shoulder, U. 13.7 17.1 ... 0.7 ... 22.1 46.8 975 2.77

Pork, Ham, U. 14.3 29.7 ... 0.8 ... 10.3 45.1 1520 4.6

Bacon, smoked, U. 9.5 59.4 ... 4.5 ... 8.7 18.4 2685 13.9

Fowl, U. 13.7 12.3 ... 0.7 ... 25.9 47.1 775 2.0

Goose, U. 13.4 29.8 ... 0.7 ... 17.6 38.5 1505 4.9

Cod, dressed, U. 11.1 0.2 ... 0.8 ... 29.9 58.5 215 0.04

Mackerel, whole, U. 10.2 4.2 ... 0.7 ... 44.7 40.4 365 9.13

Oysters, L. 8.75 0.92 8.09 2.4 ... ... 79.8 352 1.16

NOTES ON THE TABLE OF ANALYSIS.--Under calories are shown kilo-calories

per pound of food. In the analysis marked U the crude fibre or cellulose

is included with the carbo-hydrate, the figures being those given in

Atwater's table. He has found that from 30 to 91 per cent. of the crude

fibre was digested, according to the kind of food. The term fibre or

cellulose in analytical tables is not a very definite one. It depends upon

the details of the method of analysis. In the analyses other than U, the

cellulose is excluded in calculating the calories. Nutrient ratio is the

proportion of the sum of the carbo-hydrate and fat, compared with the

proteid as 1. The fat has first been multiplied by 2.225 to bring it to

the same nutrient value as the carbo-hydrate.

U indicates that the analyses are taken from the United States Department

of Agriculture Experimental Station, Bulletin 28, the tests being chiefly

made by Dr. W.O. Atwater, or under his direction. They are average

analyses of several samples. The refuse consists of such parts as are

rejected in preparing the food; the outer leaves, skin, stalk, seeds, &c.,

of vegetables; the shell of eggs; the bone, &c., of meat. E, indicates

that the edible portion only of the food has been analysed, and under

refuse, in brackets, is shown the quantity rejected before the analysis

was made.

There is considerable variation in the same kind of food, according to the

variety of seed and conditions of growth &c., especially is this the case

with wheat and flour; whenever it has been possible the average of the

analyses of many samples have been given. The method of analysis has not

always been uniform, frequently the cellulose is included with the

carbo-hydrates, and the proteid sometimes includes a very appreciable

quantity of non-proteid nitrogenous matter. This is the case in the

analysis of the mushrooms. G.--Analyses are by John Goodfellow; it will be

noticed that the wheatmeal bread is not made from the same flour as the

whole-meal. D.--B. Dyer, average of 19 fine and coarse oatmeals. S, from

U.S. Cons. Reports, 1899. C.--A.H. Church. The walnut kernels are in the

dried condition as purchased; originally of the same composition as shewn

in the fresh kernels. C.D.--Cavendish or Figi variety of banana, analysis

by D.W.M. Doherty, N.S. Wales. P.--A. Petermann, U.S. Cons. Banana flour,

_musca paradisiaca_ variety. This is widely used in Central America. The

flour is from the unripe fruit, and contains starch 45.7 per cent.; on

ripening the starch is converted into sugar. K.--Konig, mean of 90

analysis. Milk:--Average of many thousand analyses of the pure.

Butter.--Made without salt. L, from the "Lancet," 1903, I, p. 72. Oysters

at 2/6 per dozen. The 8.09 per cent. includes 0.91 glycogen (animal

starch). The shell was of course excluded, also the liquid in the shell.

Apples.--The refuse includes seeds, skin, &c., and such edible portion as

is wasted in cutting them away; the analysis was made on the rest.

Cookery.--Flesh is easier to digest raw. A few, on the advice of their

doctors, eat minced raw flesh, raw beef juice and even fresh warm blood.

Such practice is abhorrent to every person of refinement. Cooking lessens

the offensive appearance and qualities of flesh and changes the flavour;

thorough cooking also destroys any parasites that may be present. Raw

flesh is more stimulating to the animal passions, and excites ferocity in

both man and animals. If the old argument was valid, that as flesh is much

nearer in composition and quality to our own flesh and tissues, it is

therefore our best food, we do wrong in coagulating the albuminoids,

hardening the muscle substance and scorching it by cooking.

Fruits when ripe and in good condition are best eaten raw; cooking spoils

the flavour. Food requiring mastication and encouraging insalivation is

the best. Food is frequently made too sloppy or liquid, and is eaten too

hot, thus favouring indigestion and decay of the teeth. The cereals and

pulses can only with difficulty be eaten raw. When cooked in water the

starch granules swell and break up, the plant cells are ruptured, the

fibres are separated and the nutritious matter rendered easy of digestion.

The flavour is greatly improved. Cooking increases our range and variety

of food. The civilised races use it to excess and over-season their

dishes, favouring over-eating.

If baking powders are used they should only be of the best makes. They

should be composed of sodium bicarbonate and tartaric acid, in such

correct proportions that upon the addition of water only sodium tartrate

and carbon dioxide (carbonic acid) should result. Some powders contain an

excess of sodium bicarbonate. Self-raising flours should be avoided. They

are commonly composed of--in addition to sodium bicarbonate--acid calcium

phosphate, calcium superphosphate and calcium sulphate. Common baking

powders often consist of the same ingredients, and sometimes also of

magnesia and alum. These are often made and sold by ignorant men, whose

sole object is to make money. Calcium superphosphate and acid calcium

phosphate very frequently contain arsenic, and as the cheap commercial

qualities are often used there is danger in this direction. A good formula

for baking powder is, tartaric acid 8 ozs., sodium bicarbonate 9 ozs.,

rice flour 10 to 20 ozs. The last is added to baking powders to improve

the keeping quality and to add bulk. The ingredients must be first

carefully dried, the sodium bicarbonate at not too high a temperature or

it decomposes, and then thoroughly mixed; this must be preserved in well

closed and dry bottles. Another formula, which is slow rising and well

adapted for pastry, is sodium bicarbonate 4 ozs., cream of tartar 9 ozs.,

rice flour about 14 ozs. Custard powders consist of starch, colouring and

flavouring. Egg powders are similar to baking powders but contain yellow

colouring. Little objection can be taken to them if they are coloured with

saffron; turmeric would do if it were not that it gives a slightly

unpleasant taste. Artificial colouring matters or coal tar derivatives are

much used, several of these are distinctly poisonous.

Drinks.--It is better not to drink during eating, or insalivation may be

interfered with; a drink is better taken at the end of a meal. The

practice of washing down food with hot tea is bad. The refreshing nature

of a cup of hot tea, coffee, or cocoa is to a very great extent due to the

warmth of the water. The benefit is felt at once, before the alkaloid can

enter the blood stream and stimulate the nerve centres. Hot water, not too

hot to cause congestion of the mucous membrane, is one of the best drinks.

When the purity of the water supply is doubtful, there is advantage in

first bringing it to the boil, as pathogenic bacteria are destroyed. Some

find it beneficial to drink a cup of hot water the first thing in the

morning; this cleanses the stomach from any accumulation of mucus.

If fruit, succulent vegetables, or cooked food, containing much water be

freely used, and there be little perspiration, it is possible to do

without drinking; but there is danger of taking insufficient water to

hold freely in solution the waste products excreted by the body.

Aerated drinks, except a very few of the best, and non-alcoholic beers and

wines, are generally unwholesome, from their containing preservatives,

foaming powders, artificial flavourings, &c.

Stimulants.--Tea and coffee contain an alkaloid theine, besides volatile

oils, tannin, &c. Cocoa contains the milder alkaloid, theobromine. They

stimulate the heart and nervous systems; tea and coffee have also a

diuretic effect. Formerly they were erroneously thought to lessen tissue

waste. These alkaloids, being purins, are open to the general objections

named elsewhere. Stimulants do not impart energy or force of any kind, but

only call forth reserve strength by exciting the heart, nervous system,

&c., to increased activity. This is followed by a depression which is as

great, generally greater, than the previous stimulation. Except, perhaps,

as an occasional medicine, stimulants, should be avoided. Analysis of

cocoa shows a good proportion of proteids and a very large quantity of

fat. The claim that it is a valuable and nutritious food would only be

true if it could be eaten in such quantities as are other foods (bread,

fruits, &c.). Were this attempted, poisoning would result from the large

quantity of alkaloid. The food value of half a spoonful or thereabouts of

cocoa is insignificant. Certain much advertised cocoa mixtures are

ridiculous in their pretentions, unscientific in preparation, and often

injurious.

Cereals.--The most valuable is wheat, from its proteid being chiefly in

the form known as gluten. From its tenacity, gluten enables a much better

loaf to be produced from wheat than from any other cereal. The outer part

of the grain is the richest in mineral matter and proteid. Wheatmeal bread

shows a considerably higher proteid value than white. A large proportion

of the proteid in the outer coats of the wheat berry is, however, not

digested, and in some experiments the waste has been enough to quite

nullify its seeming advantage over white bread. Coarsely ground, sharp

branny particles in bread irritate the intestines, and cause excessive

waste of nutriment; but finely ground wheatmeal is free from this

objection, and is beneficial in preventing constipation. The comparative

value of white and brown bread has been much discussed; it depends both

on the quality of the bread and the condition of the digestive organs.

Experiments on the digestion of bread and other things, have often been

made on persons unaccustomed to such foods, or the foods have been given

in excessive quantity. To those accustomed to it good wheatmeal bread is

much pleasanter, more satisfying, and better flavoured than white; indeed,

the latter is described as insipid. Most bakers' bread is of

unsatisfactory quality. Flour and bread contain very little fat, the

absence of which is considered a defect. This is remedied by the addition

of butter, fat or oil, or by nuts, &c., which are rich in oil. These may

be mixed with the flour prior to cooking, or used afterwards.

Oats contain a substance called avenin, apparently an alkaloid, which has

an irritating action; the quantity is variable. It is to this that the

so-called heating effect of oatmeal on some persons is due.

Prepared Cereals or Breakfast Foods.--Analyses were made of 34 of these

cereal preparations by Weems and Ellis (Iowa State College Agricultural

Bulletin, 1904). They report that the foods possess no nutritive value in

excess of ordinary food materials; that the claim made for many

pre-digested foods are valueless, and no reliance can be placed on the

statement that they are remedies for any disease.

Oatmeal and other cereals are sold in packets as being partially cooked.

We do not doubt that they have been subjected to a dry heat, but this has

scarcely any effect on their starch and other constituents. The difference

is a mechanical one. In rolled oats the grains are so cracked and broken,

that on boiling with water, the water readily penetrates and more quickly

cooks them throughout. There are other prepared cereal foods, but we doubt

whether they are thoroughly cooked after the short boiling directed on the

labels. They are a great convenience where it is difficult to get the time

necessary for cooking the ordinary cereals. Coarsely ground wheat is too

irritating when made into porridge, but there are some granulated wheats

sold in packets, which are quite suitable. The Ralston breakfast food is

excellent. They are rich in the phosphates and salts, found in the outer

part of the grain. One cereal preparation called Grape Nuts, has had its

starch converted into maltose and dextrin (maltose being a sugar), by a

scientific application of the diastase of the grain. It is consequently

easier of digestion and requires no cooking. It is beneficial for some

forms of indigestion. There are several competing foods of less merit, the

starch being less perfectly changed; one at least of which is

objectionably salt. Properly cooked starch is readily digested by healthy

persons, and for them malted food is of no special value.

Pulse, or Legumes, includes haricots and other beans, peas and lentils.

The proteid contained is that variety known as legumin, which is either

the same, or is closely allied, to the casein of milk and cheese. Pulse is

very rich in proteid, the dried kinds in general use, contain 24 or 25 per

cent. The richest is the soy-bean, which is used in China and Japan, it

contains 35 per cent., besides 19 per cent. of fat. Pulse requires

thorough cooking, haricots taking the longest time. Split lentils are

cooked sooner, and are better digested; this is chiefly due to the removal

of the skins. The haricots, bought from small grocers who have a slow

sale, are often old, and will not cook tender. Pulse is best adapted to

the labouring classes; the sedentary should eat it sparingly, it is liable

to cause flatulence or accumulation of gas in the intestines, and

constipation. Haricots are easier to digest when mashed and mixed with

other food. Pulse was formerly stated to leave much undigested residue.

Recent experiments have shown that it is satisfactorily digested under

favourable conditions. Strümpell found beans in their skins to leave a

large proportion of proteid matter unabsorbed. Lentil meal mixed with

other food was digested in a perfectly satisfactory manner. Another

experimenter (Rubner) found that when even the very large quantity of

1-1/8 pound of dried split peas per day were eaten, only 17 per cent. of

proteid matter was unabsorbed, which compares very well with the 11 per

cent. of proteid left from a macaroni diet, with which the same man was

fed at another time. Had a reasonable quantity of peas been eaten per day,

the quantity undigested would probably have differed little from that of

other foods.

Nuts are, as a rule, very rich in oil and contain a fair proportion of

proteid; when well masticated they are a very valuable food. Walnuts are

one of the best, and the kernels can be purchased shelled, thus avoiding

much trouble. They can be finely ground in a nut-mill and used for several

purposes, mixed in the proportion of about two ounces to the pound of

wheatmeal they produce a rich flavoured bread. They can also he used in

sweet cakes and in rich puddings to increase their food value, lightness

and taste. Pine kernels being very oily, can be used with flour in the

place of lard or butter.

Fruits are generally looked upon as luxuries, rather than as food

capable of supplying a meal or a substantial part of one. They are usually

eaten only when the appetite has been appeased by what is considered more

substantial fare. Fresh fruits contain a larger proportion of water than

nearly all other raw foods, and consequently the proportion of

nourishment is small; but we must not despise them on this account. Milk

contains as much or more water. Certain foods which in the raw state

contain very little water, such as the pulses and cereals when cooked

absorb a very large quantity; this is particularly the case in making

porridge. Cabbage, cauliflower, Spanish onions and turnips, after cooking

contain even 97 per cent. of water. Roast beef contains on an average 48

per cent., and cooked round steak with fat removed 63 per cent. of water.

It is customary at meal times to drink water, tea, coffee, beer, wine, &c.

When a meal contains any considerable quantity of fresh fruits there need

be no desire to drink. Notwithstanding that fruits contain so much water,

a dietary consisting of fruits with nuts, to which may be added bread and

vegetables, will contain less water than the total quantity usually

consumed by a person taking the more customary highly cooked and seasoned

foods. An advantage is that the water in fruits is in a wholesome

condition, free from the pollution often met with in the water used for

drinking purposes. Raw fruits favour mastication, with its consequent

advantages, whilst cooked and soft food discourages it. Plums and what are

termed stone fruits, if eaten in more than very small quantities, are apt

to disagree. Persons with good digestions can take fruit with bread,

biscuits and with uncooked foods without any inconvenience. Fruit is more

likely to disagree when taken in conjunction with elaborately cooked

foods. Many cannot take fruit, especially if it be acid, at the same time

as cereal or starchy substances, and the difficulty is said to be greater

at the morning's meal. If the indigestion produced is due to the acid of

the fruit preventing the saliva acting on the starch, scientific

principles would direct that the fruit be eaten quite towards the end of

the meal. The same consideration condemns the use of mint sauce, cucumber

and vinegar, or pickles, with potatoes and bread, or even mint sauce with

green peas. Bananas are an exception, as not interfering with the

digestion of starch. Bananas are generally eaten in an unripe condition,

white and somewhat mealy; they should be kept until the starch has been

converted into sugar, when they are both more pleasant and wholesome. Nuts

and fruit go well together. For a portable meal, stoned raisins or other

dried fruit and walnut kernels or other nuts are excellent.

What has been called a defect in most fruits, is the fact that the proteid

is small in proportion to the other constituents. This has been too much

dwelt upon, owing to the prevailing exaggerated idea of the quantity of

proteid required. The tomato contains a large proportion, though the water

is very high. Bananas, grapes and strawberries contain to each part of

proteid from 10 to 12 parts of other solid nutritive constituents (any oil

being calculated into starch equivalents); this is termed the nutritive

ratio. Although this may seem a small proportion of proteid, there are

reasons for believing that it is sufficient. Taking the average of 29

analyses of American apples, a nutritive ratio of 33 was obtained. If it

were suggested that life should be sustained on apples alone, this small

quantity of proteid would be an insurmountable difficulty. As the addition

of nuts or other nutritious food sufficiently increases the proteid, no

objection can with justice be made against the use of fruit. A study of

our teeth, digestive organs and general structure, and of comparative

anatomy, points to fruits, nuts and succulent vegetables as our original

diet.

The potash and other salts of the organic acids in fruits tend to keep the

blood properly alkaline. Where there is a tendency to the deposition of

uric acid in the body, they hinder its formation. Citric, tartaric, malic

and other organic acids exist in fruits in combination with potash and

other bases, as well as in the free state. The free acids in fruits, when

eaten, combine with the alkalies in the intestinal tract, and are absorbed

by the body and pass into the blood, not as acids, but as neutral salts.

Here they are converted into potassium carbonate or some other carbonate.

Fruit acids never make the blood acid but the reverse. Fruit salts and

acids are antiscorbutic. Fruits have often proved of the greatest benefit

in illness. What is known as the grape cure has been productive of much

good. Lemons and oranges have also been of great benefit. Strawberries

have been craved for and have proved of the greatest advantage in some

extreme cases of illness when more concentrated food could not be endured.

Fruit is coming into greater use, especially owing to its better

distribution and lessened cost. Fruit is not as cheap as it should be, as

it can be produced in great abundance at little cost, and with

comparatively little labour. The price paid by the public greatly exceeds

the real cost of production. A very large proportion, often the greater

part of the cost to the consumer, goes in railway and other rates and in

middle-men's profits. It is commonly cheaper to bring fruit from over the

sea, including land carriage on either side, than it is to transport

English produce from one part of our country to another. English homegrown

fruit would be cheaper were it not for the difficulty of buying suitable

land at a reasonable price, and the cost of transit. For the production of

prime fruit there is a lack of sufficient intelligence, of scientific

culture and co-operation.

Vegetables--using the name in its popular sense--contain valuable saline

constituents or salts. By the usual method of cooking a large proportion

of the salts is lost. It is better to steam than to boil them. The fibrous

portion of vegetables is not all digested, but it is useful in stimulating

the peristaltic action of the bowels and lessening any tendency to

constipation. Vegetables are more especially useful to non-vegetarians to

correct the defects of their other food.

The potato belongs to a poisonous order--the _Solanacæ_. There is a little

alkaloid in the skin, but this is lost in the cooking. The eyes and

sprouting portions contain the most and should be cut out.

Fungi.--There are about a hundred edible species in this country, but

many of the fungi are poisonous, some intensely so. It can scarcely be

expected that these lowly organised plants, differing so much in their

manner of growth from the green or chlorophyll bearing plants, can be

particularly nourishing. It is only the fructifying part, which appears

above the ground, that is generally eaten. It is of very rapid growth. Of

9 edible fungi of 4 species, obtained in the Belgrade market, the average

amount of water was 89.3 per cent., leaving only 10.7 per cent. of solid

matter; the average of fat was 0.55 per cent. The food value of fungi has

been greatly over-rated. In most of the analyses given in text-books and

elsewhere, the total nitrogen has been multiplied by 6.25 and the result

expressed as proteid. The amount of nitrogen in a form useless for the

purpose of nutrition is about a third of the whole. Of the remainder or

proteid nitrogen, it is said much is not assimilated, sometimes quite

half, owing to the somewhat indigestible character of the fungi. An

analysis of the common mushroom gave proteids 2.2 per cent., amides

(useless nitrogenous compounds) 1.3 per cent., and water 93.7 per cent.

The fungi are of inferior nutritive value to many fresh vegetables and are

much more expensive. Their chief value is as a flavouring.

Milk and Eggs are permissible in a vegetarian dietary, and as a rule,

vegetarians use them. Eggs, with the exception of such as are unfertile,

are of course alive; but they have no conscious existence, and cannot be

said to suffer any pain on being killed and eaten. An objection to their

use as food is, that on an egg and poultry farm, the superfluous male

birds are killed, and as the hens become unprofitable layers they are also

killed. A similar humane objection applies to the use of cow's milk by

man. The calves are deprived of part of their natural food, the deficiency

being perhaps made up by unnatural farinaceous milk substitutes. Many of

the calves, especially the bull calves, are killed, thus leaving all the

milk for human use. When cows cease to yield sufficient milk they too are

slaughtered. Milch cows are commonly kept in unhealthy houses, deprived

of exercise and pure air, crowded together, with filthy evil smelling

floors reeking with their excrements, tended by uncleanly people. With no

exercise and a rich stimulating diet they produce more milk; but it is no

matter for surprise that tuberculosis is common amongst them. When the

lesions of tubercle (consumption) are localised and not excessive, the

rest of the carcase is passed by veterinary surgeons as fit for food; were

it otherwise, enormous quantities of meat would be destroyed. As butcher's

meat is seldom officially inspected, but a very small part is judged by

the butchers as too bad for food. In mitigation it may be said that

poultry lead a happy existence and their death is, or should be, quickly

produced with but little pain, probably less pain than if left to die from

natural causes. The same cannot be said of cattle and sheep when the time

arrives for their transport to the slaughter man's. It is argued by

vegetarians who take milk and animal products that they are not

responsible for the death of the animals, as they do not eat their flesh.

As vegetarians profit by conditions in which the slaughtering of the

animals is a part, they cannot be altogether exonerated. Cow's milk is

prone to absorb bad odours, and it forms a most suitable breeding or

nutrient medium for most species of bacteria which may accidentally get

therein. By means of milk many epidemics have been spread, of scarlet

fever, diphtheria, cholera, and typhoid. Occasionally milk contains

tubercle bacilli from the cows themselves. By boiling, all bacteria,

except a few which may be left out of consideration, are destroyed. Such

a temperature, however, renders the milk less digestible and wholesome for

infants. By heating to 160° F. or 170° F. for a few minutes, such

pathogenic germs as are at all likely to be in milk (tubercle, typhoid,

diphtheria, &c.) are killed, and the value of the milk is but little

affected: this is called Pasteurising. It was until quite recently a

common practice to add boric acid, formaldehyde and other preservatives;

this has injured the vitality and caused the death of many infants. They

have not yet gone quite out of use.

For infants the only satisfactory food is that of a healthy mother. On

account of physical defects in the mother, or often for merely selfish

reasons, the infant is deprived of its natural food. Many attempts have

been made to bring cow's milk to approximately the same composition as

human milk. It can be done by adding water, milk sugar and cream of known

composition, in certain proportions. Great difficulties are met with when

this is put into practice. The simplest method is that of Professor

Soxhlet. The proper quantity of milk sugar is added, but instead of adding

the right quantity of cream or fat--a very difficult thing to do--the

equivalent quantity of extra milk sugar is used. Although not

theoretically satisfactory, in practice it answers very well. We have

found it to agree very well with infants. To cow's milk of pure average

quality, add half its volume of water containing 12.3 per cent. of milk

sugar; or, what amounts to the same thing, to a pint of cow's milk add one

and a quarter ounce of milk sugar and half-a-pint of water. It is

preferable to Pasteurise by placing the bottle of milk in a vessel of

water. This water is to be heated until the milk shows a temperature of

about 75° C. or 165° F., but must not exceed 80° C. or a change in the

albumen of the milk takes place which affects its digestibility. Keep at

this temperature for about ten minutes. If not required at once, a plug

of cotton wool should be placed in the neck of the bottle, and it should

be kept in a cold place until required. Professor Soxhlet does not advise

the addition of lime water. The proteids are not of the same composition

as in human milk (the calf being a ruminating animal)--and it is a common

plan to add water or barley water to milk until it is so watered down that

it cannot curdle into tough curds. An infant has thus either to distend

its stomach with a large quantity of watery nourishment, or else to get

insufficient food. Sometimes it is necessary to peptonise the milk a

little. At the Leipzig infants hospital, and also the Hygienic Institute,

they give to infants, up to 9 months old, Prof. Soxhlet's mixture, except

that an equal volume of water is added to the milk. Milk, cheese, and

especially hen's eggs contain a very large proportion of proteid. When

added to food poor in proteid they improve its nutritive quality. It has

often been said, and with truth, that some vegetarians by the profuse use

of animal products, consume as much, or even more proteid of animal origin

than the average person who includes flesh food in his dietary. An excess

of proteid from these sources is less injurious as eggs contain no purins,

and milk but a very small quantity. In support of the use of animal

products, it may be said that we have become so fond of animal foods and

stimulating drinks, that the use of milk, butter, cheese and eggs renders

the transition to a dietary derived from the vegetable kingdom much

easier. By means of these, cooked dishes can be produced which approach

and sometimes can scarcely be distinguished from those of cooked flesh.

In the present state of society, when really good vegetarian fare is

difficult to procure away from home, eggs, cheese, and milk are a great

convenience.

Digestion.--The digestive juices contain certain unorganised ferments,

which produce chemical changes in the food. If the food is solid, it has

to be liquefied. Even if already liquid it has generally to undergo a

chemical change before being fitted for absorption into the body. The

alimentary canal is a tubular passage which is first expanded into the

mouth, and later into the stomach. As the food passes down, it is acted

upon by several digestive juices, and in the small intestine the nutritive

matter is absorbed, whilst the residue passes away.

The saliva is the first digestive juice. It is alkaline and contains a

ferment called ptyalin. This acts energetically on the cooked and

gelatinous starch, and slowly on the raw starch. Starch is quite insoluble

in water, but the first product of salivary digestion is a less complex

substance called soluble-starch. When time is allowed for the action to be

completed, the starch is converted into one of the sugars called maltose.

In infants this property of acting on starch does not appear in effective

degree until the sixth or seventh month, and starch should not be given

before that time. Only a small quantity should be provided before the

twelfth month, when it may be gradually increased. Dr. Sims Wallace has

suggested that the eruption of the lower incisors from the seventh to the

eighth month, was for the purpose of enabling the infant--in the

pre-cooking stage of man's existence--to pierce the outer covering of

fruits so as to permit his extracting the soluble contents by suction; and

accordingly when these teeth are cut we may allow the child to bite at

such vegetable substances as apples, oranges, and sugar cane. Dr. Harry

Campbell says that starch should be given to the young, "not as is the

custom, as liquid or pap, but in a form compelling vigorous mastication,

for it is certain that early man, from the time he emerged from the ape

till he discovered how to cook his vegetable food, obtained practically

all his starch in such a form. If it is given as liquid or pap it will

pass down as starch into the stomach, to setup disturbance in that organ;

while if it is administered in a form which obliges the child to chew it

properly, not only will the jaws, the teeth, and the gums obtain the

exercise which they crave, and without which they cannot develop normally,

but the starch will be thoroughly insalivated that much of it will be

converted within the mouth into maltose. Hard well baked crusts constitute

a convenient form in which to administer starch to children. A piece of

crust may be put in the oven and rebaked, and spread with butter. Later,

we may give hard plain biscuits." Dr. Campbell continues, that he does not

say that starch in the pappy form, or as porridge, should find no place

whatever in man's dietary at the present day, but we should arrange that a

large proportion of our food is in a form inviting mastication.

The teeth perform the very important function of breaking down our food

and enabling it to be intimately incorporated with the saliva and

afterwards with the digestive juices. The Anglo-Saxon race shows a greater

tendency to degeneracy in the teeth than do other races; the teeth of the

present generation are less perfect than those of previous generations. A

dentist writes (_Lancet_, 1903-2, p. 1054) "I have had the opportunity of

examining the teeth of many natives in their more or less uncivilised

state, from the Red Indians of North America, the negroes of Africa, to

the more civilised Chinese, Japanese, and Indians of the East, and I have

usually found them possessed of sound teeth, but so soon as they come

under the influence of civilised life in Washington, Montreal, London,

Paris and other cities, their teeth begin to degenerate, though their

general health may remain good." In a long article on mastication in the

_Lancet_ (1903-2, p. 84) from which we have already quoted, Dr. Harry

Campbell gives as the effect of thorough and efficient mastication, that

it increases the amount of alkaline saliva passing into the stomach, and

prolongs the period of starch digestion within that organ. That it

influences the stomach reflexly by promoting the flow of gastric juice.

That the frequent use of the jaws and the tongue, during the period of

growth, cause the jaws to expand. If the jaws are not adequately exercised

during this period, owing to the use of soft food, they do not reach their

normal size, the teeth are overcrowded, do not develop fully, and are

prone to decay. The effect of vigorous mastication is to stimulate the

circulation in the tooth pulp, which promotes nutrition and maintains a

firm dental setting. Dr. Campbell writes: "I am perfectly at one with Dr.

Wallace, in believing that the removal of the fibrous portion of food is

the main cause of the prevalence of caries among moderns."

When the food reaches the stomach, gastric juice is secreted. This juice

contains a ferment called pepsin and hydrochloric acid. Pepsin is only

active in an acid media. Starch digestion proceeds in the stomach to such

a time--stated as from 15 to 30 minutes--when the acid gastric juice has

been poured out in sufficient quantity to neutralise the alkalinity of

the saliva. The gastric juice acts upon the proteids only. After a time

the liquefied contents of the stomach are passed into the first portion

of the small intestine, called the duodenum. Here it meets with the

pancreatic juice, which like the gastric juice attacks proteids, but even

more energetically, and only in an alkaline media. The proteolitic ferment

is called trypsin. The pancreatic, the most important of the digestive

fluids, contains other ferments; one called amylopsin, takes up the

digestion of any remaining or imperfectly converted starch left from the

salivary digestion. Amylopsin is much more powerful and rapid than the

ptyalin of the saliva, especially on uncooked starch. Its absence from the

pancreatic juice of infants is an indication that starch should not be

given them. Another ferment, stearopsin, emulsifies fats. The bile is

alkaline and assists the pancreatic juice in neutralising the acid mixture

that leaves the stomach; it also assists the absorption of fats. The

digestion of proteids is not completed in the stomach. There are some who

look upon the stomach as chiefly of use as a receptacle for the large mass

of food, which is too quickly eaten to be passed at once into the

intestines; the food being gradually expelled from the stomach, in such

quantities as the duodenal digestion can adequately treat. A frequently

used table, showing the time required for the digestion of various foods

in the stomach, is of little practical value. There is ample provision for

the digestion of food, there is a duplication of ferments for the proteids

and starch. In health, the ferments are not only very active, but are

secreted in ample quantities. The digestive or unorganised ferments must

not be confused with the organised ferments such as yeast. The latter are

living vegetable cells, capable of indefinite multiplication. The former

are soluble bodies, and though capable of transforming or digesting some

thousands of times their mass of food, their power in this direction is

restricted within definite limits. Another and preferable name for them is

enzymes.

The action of saliva on starch is powerfully retarded by tea, this is due

to the tannin. Coffee and cocoa are without effect. Tea infused for two

minutes only, was not found to have sensibly less restraining effect than

when infused for thirty minutes. On peptic digestion both tea and coffee

had a powerful retarding effect. When of equal strength cocoa was nearly

as bad, but as it is usually taken much weaker, its inhibitory effect is

of little consequence.

Bacteria are minute vegetable organisms, which exist in the dust of the

air, in water and almost everywhere on or near the surface of the earth.

They are consequently taken in with our food. They exist in the mouth;

those in carious teeth are often sufficient to injuriously affect

digestion and health. The healthy gastric juice is to a great degree

antiseptic, but few bacteria being able to endure its acidity. When the

residue of the food reaches the large intestine, bacteria are found in

very great numbers. The warmth of the body is highly favourable to their

growth. They cause the food and intestinal _debris_ to assume its fæcal

character. Should the mass be retained, the bacterial poisons accumutate

and being absorbed into the body produce headaches, exhaustion,

neurasthenia and other complaints. Proteid matter, the products of its

decomposition and nitrogenous matter generally, are especially the food of

bacteria; this is shown in the offensiveness of the fæces of the

carnivora, notwithstanding their short intestines, compared with that of

the herbivora. Also in the difference of the fæces of the dog when fed on

flesh and on a nearly vegetable diet. On a rich proteid diet, especially

if it consists largely of flesh, the bacterial products in the intestines

are greater than on a vegetable diet. On the latter such a disease as

appendicitis is rare. Professor Elie Metchnikoff, of the Pasteur

Institute, thinks that man's voluminous and highly developed large

intestine fulfils no useful purpose, and on account of its breeding a very

copious and varied bacterial flora, could with advantage be dispensed

with. He also has said that man, who could support himself on food easily

digestible, has a small intestine which is disproportionately fully

developed. Instead of having between 18 and 21 feet of small intestine,

man might do with one-third of that length. According to him, there is a

disharmony of our food and our digestive system. Referring to such views,

and the desire of some surgeons to remove the vermiform appendix and

portions of the intestines upon too little provocation, Sir W. Macewin,

M.D., F.R.S. (_B. Medical Jrn._, 1904, 2 p. 874) says:--"Is this human

body of ours so badly constructed that it contains so many useless parts

and requires so much tinkering? Possibly I may be out of fashion with the

times, as I cannot find such imperfections in the normal human body as are

alleged. On the contrary, the more one looks into the human body and sees

it work, the better one understands it and the more one is struck with the

wondrous utility, beauty, and harmony of all its parts." Our food we can

change, but not our organs-except by a dangerous surgical operations. Our

teeth with our complex and very long intestines are adapted for fibrous,

bulky and solid food. On such food mankind has lived for an immense period

of time. It is true that there are several theoretical advantages in

cooked vegetable foods; but unfortunately there is a want of conformity

with our digestive organs. If a flesh diet is taken, the incongruity is

greater. Concentrated food causes constipation. An active man, leading an

out-of-door life, can take unsuitable food with little or no apparent

inconvenience, the movements of his body favouring intestinal action;

whilst the same food to a sedentary person will prove distinctly

injurious.

Some persons have such a vigorous digestion that they can consume almost

any food, even that which is obviously unsuitable; not only bad in kind

but excessive in quantity. Other persons have to be very careful. Many

have boasted that they can take of what they call the good things of life

to their full, without bad effect. We know of such men who have been much

esteemed for their joviality and good nature, but who have broken down in

what should have been a hearty and useful middle life. There are others

who were poorly equipped for the battle of life, with indifferent

constitutions, never having had the buoyancy and overflowing of animal

spirits; but who, by conserving such strength as they had, have outlived

all their more healthy but less careful comrades. The errors of the

parents are often most evident in the children or grandchildren. There

are many persons who cannot eat of some particular food, although it may

be quite wholesome to others. Sometimes it is a psychological rather than

a physiological disability, which may he overcome by an effort of the

will. At other times it seems to have no connection with the imagination,

although it is not always possible to give a sound reason for it. In the

main, of course, there are principles of dietetics applicable to all

alike, but in regard to details, everyone should make rules for himself,

according to his experience. When there appears no real reason for an

idiosyncrasy, a little humouring of our taste and digestion will often

overcome it, to our advantage. It is generally those of delicate

constitution who are most sensitive. Some cannot eat oatmeal except in

small quantity. Olive and other vegetable oils, even when of good quality

cannot be taken by many people, whilst others find them quite as

wholesome, or even better than butter. Vegetarians can generally detect

lard in pastry both by its taste and its after effects, although those

accustomed to this fat do not object to it. It is also surprising how some

individual's tastes and habits will vary at different periods of their

lives.

One form of dyspepsia is due to undigested starch remaining in the stomach

and causing an excessive secretion of hydrochloric acid. As long as

proteid food is present, the pepsin and acid expend themselves on it, and

are removed together. The undigested starch continues to stimulate gastric

secretion, and the acid residuum causes pain, heartburn and flatulence. If

there be also any butyric acid, or some other fatty acid, derived from

milk, butter, cheese, &c., there will be acid eructations. For this form

of indigestion there are several methods of treatment. First; the very

thorough cooking of all starchy food, and it is an advantage to take a

little good extract of malt, either at the time of eating or directly

afterwards. The diastase of the malt has the same action on starch as the

ptyalin in the saliva. It is better, scientifically, to have the

farinaceous food at about 130° F. (as hot as the mouth can bear will do),

and then to add malt extract. On keeping the mixture warm, from a few

minutes to half an hour or more, the starch is digested and rendered

soluble. Such food is not very pleasant to take. The food known as Grape

Nuts has been treated in a similar manner. The use of malt extract,

however, seems a clumsy substitute for salivary digestion. Second; the

eating of starch in the form of hard and dry biscuits, crusts and other

hard food, which demand thorough mastication and insalivation, and the

keeping in the mouth for a long while, during which the saliva has time to

act. This is the best plan. Third; the taking of sodium bicarbonate

towards the end of the period of digestion, in order to neutralise the

acid in the stomach. This gives relief, but does not cure, as the dose has

to be repeated after each meal; in course of time the quantity of soda has

sometimes to be increased to an alarming extent. Fourth; the abstention

from starchy foods and the substitution of an exclusive flesh dietary. In

the "Salisbury" treatment, raw minced beef is given. This method often

gives immediate relief, but its ultimate effect on the kidneys and other

organs is very bad.

No hard and fast rule can be laid down as to the number of meals into

which the daily amount of food required should be divided. The stomach

appears to work to the best advantage when it is full, or nearly so, and

the appetite is appeased. Three approximately equal meals seems to be a

convenient division. Dr. Dewey and his followers advise only two meals a

day, and it seems incontestable that many persons find the plan

advantageous. These are generally adults with weak digestions, or elderly

persons who, on account of their age and the sluggish action of their

assimilative functions, require comparatively little food. Children, on

account of their vigorous vitality, rapid growth and hearty appetites,

ought not to be restricted to this number. Persons who have got into the

pernicious habit of greatly over-eating, and whose stomachs have become

distended and unusually large, sometimes find it easier to restrict their

daily food to a healthy quantity by taking only two meals. The general

objections against two meals are that either two little food is taken, or

the ingestion of such a large quantity is bad for the stomach and causes

it to press on the adjacent viscera. The large quantity of blood and nerve

force drawn to the over-distended stomach, depletes the brain and nervous

system, causing drowsiness and incapacity for mental and physical work.

The carnivora, whose opportunity for obtaining food--unlike the

herbivora--is irregular and often at long intervals, gorge themselves upon

opportunity and are in the habit of sleeping after a meal. The frugivora

and herbivora, however, are alert and ready to fly from their enemies

should such appear. The conveying of so much nourishment to the liver and

blood stream at one time, is probably a greater tax on them. A light lunch

between the usual full meals has nothing to recommend it. The stomach is

burdened to little purpose, often before it has finished with one meal

another is imposed upon it, no time being left for recuperation.

Dietaries.--The best proportions of proteids, carbo-hydrates and fats

required for the nourishment of the body has not yet been conclusively

decided. The common plan is to average the dietary of large bodies of

persons, particualrly of soldiers and prisoners. These dietaries have been

adjusted empirically (the earlier ones at least), and are generally

considered as satisfactory. They are chiefly of English and German origin.

Another method is to laboriously analyse the injesta or food consumed and

compare it with the dejecta or excretions, until a quantity and kind of

food is found which is just sufficient to keep the body in equilibrium.

This latter plan is the best, but to be quite satisfactory must be tried

on a large number of suitable persons under varying conditions, both of

quantity and kind of food. Nearly all the experiments have been made on

persons accustomed to a stimulating dietary: their usual food has included

a considerable quantity of flesh and alcoholic drinks. Sufficient

attention has not been paid to the dietaries of the more abstemious races

who partake of little if any flesh food. The standard daily dietary for a

man of average weight, doing a moderate amount of work, is variously

stated by the best authorities as proteids from 100 to 130 grammes, fat 35

to 125 grammes, and carbo-hydrates 450 to 550 grammes. There is a

surprising difference of opinion on the amount of fat, but those who give

least fat give the largest quantity of carbo-hydrate and _vice-versa_. Dr.

R. Hutchison in "Food and Dietetics," sums up the quantities given by the

highest authorities as follows:---

Proteid 125 g. ( 4.4 oz.) x 4.1 = 512 cal. = 20 g. N, 62 C

Carbo-hydrate 500 g. (17.6 oz.) 4.1 2050 200

Fat 50 g. ( 1.8 oz.) 9.3 465 38

----------------- ---- -------- -----

675 g.(23.8 ) 3027 Total 20 g. N, 300 C

The nutrient ratio is 1 : 4.9. For scientific purposes, metrical weights

and measures are used, instead of the inconvenient English grains, ounces,

pounds, &c. (1 gramme = 15.43 grains; 1 ounce avoirdupois = 437.5 grains =

28.35 grammes). A calorie is a measure of the power of a food in

generating heat and muscular energy (these two being convertible).

The calories used in food tables are kilo-calories, representing the

amount of heat which would raise a kilogramme (1000 grammes) of water 1°

Centigrade. This is the same as raising 1 pound weight 4° Fahrenheit.

According to the table given, 125 grammes of dry proteid are required per

day; this contains 20 grammes of nitrogen and 62 of carbon. When

thoroughly consumed or utilised in the body, the heat or its equivalent in

muscular work equals 512 kilo-calories. Proteids have, of course, an

additional value as tissue formers. The factors used here, of 4.1 and 9.3,

are those commonly employed; but the latest and most reliable research,

taking account only of that part of the food which is actually available

in the body, gives for proteid and carbo-hydrate 4 calories, and for fat

8.9 calories.

Fat has a higher food value than the carbo-hydrates, as 4.1 : 9.3 = 2.27

or 4.0 : 89 = 2.225, according to whether the old or new factors are used.

In the table of analyses 2.225 was used. The standard dietary for a woman,

or of a boy 14 to 16 years of age, is given as equivalent to eight-tenths

that of a man; a child of 10 to 13 six-tenths; of 2 to 5 four-tenths. A

man doing hard work requires one-tenth more. The following table gives

three standard dietaries, and a few actual ones, in grammes per day. The

food of persons in easy circumstances, and of working men in the receipt

of good wages, approximate to the standard dietaries, except that the fat

is higher and the carbo-hydrates proportionately less. This is due to an

abundance of animal food. It was thought unnecessary to give them in

detail:--

Pr't. Fat. C'rb. Cal. N.R.

Hutchison: Man, moderate muscular work 125 50 500 3027 4.9

Atwater: " " " " 125 ... ... 3400 6.2

Voit: " " " " 118 56 500 2965 5.5

Atwater: Woman, light to moderate muscular work,

or Man without muscular exercise 90 ... ... 2450 6.1

Football teams, Connecticut and California, U.S. 226 354 634 6590 6.6

Russian peasants 129 33 589 3165 5.4

Negro families--Alabama and Virginia 86 145 440 3395 9.3

Labourers-Lombardy (diet, mostly vegetable) 82 40 362 2192 5.5

Japanese, on vegetable diet (_a_) 71 12 396 2026 6.0

Trappist monk, in Cloisters-vegetable diet 68 11 469 2304 7.3

Java village--Columbia Exposition, 1893 66 19 254 1450 4.7

Sewing girl-London (3/9 per week) 53 33 316 1820 7.3

German vegetarians 54 22 573 2775 11.6

German labourers' family (poor circumstances) 52 32 287 1640 7.2

Dr. T.R.A.--wheatmeal bread and water only (_b_) 82 8.5 470 2342 6.0

Man--3 years' exclusively vegetable diet (_c_) 54 22 557 2710 11.2

Thomas Wood, the miller of Billericay (_d_) 55 5.7 313 1560 6.0

Dr. Alexander Haig considers that 88 grammes of proteid is required by a

man leading a decidedly active life.

NOTES.--(_a_) The Japanese are of small stature and weight.

(_b_) One of a series of experiments by A.W. Blyth, 1888. 1-1/2 lbs. of

wheatmeal per day was required for equilibrium; sedentary occupation, with

a daily walk of six miles.

(_c_) See "A Text Book of Physiology," by M. Foster, 5th edition, part

ii., p. 839; the diet was bread, fruit and oil. The man was in apparently

good health and stationary weight; only 59 per cent. of the proteids were

digested, leaving the small quantity of 32 grammes available for real use.

In commenting upon this, Professor Foster writes:--"We cannot

authoritatively say that such a reduction is necessarily an evil; for our

knowledge will not at present permit us to make an authoritative exact

statement as to the extent to which the proteid may be reduced without

disadvantage to the body, when accompanied by adequate provision of the

other elements of food; and this statement holds good whether the body be

undertaking a small or large amount of labour."

(_d_) The Miller of Billericay's case is quoted by Dr. Carpenter, and also

by Dr. Pavy. It was reported to the College of Physicians in 1767 by Sir

George Baker. A remarkable degree of vigour is said to have been sustained

for upwards of eighteen years on no other nutriment than 16 oz. of flour,

made into a pudding with water, no other liquid of any kind being taken.

A striking instance of abstemiousness is that of Cornaro, a Venetian

nobleman, who died in the year 1566 at the age of 98. Up to the age of 40

he spent a life of indulgence, eating and drinking to excess. At this

time, having been endowed with a feeble constitution, he was suffering

from dyspepsia, gout, and an almost continual slow fever, with an

intolerable thirst continually hanging upon him. The skill of the best

physicians of Italy was unavailing. At length he completely changed his

habits of diet, and made a complete recovery. At the age of 83 he wrote a

treatise on a "Sure and certain method of attaining a long and healthful

life." He says, what with bread, meat, the yolk of an egg and soup, I ate

as much as weighed 12 ozs., neither more nor less. I drank 14 oz. of wine.

When 78 he was persuaded to increase his food by the addition of 2 oz. per

day, and this nearly proved fatal. He writes that, instead of old age

being one of weakness, infirmity and misery, I find myself to be in the

most pleasant and delightful stage of life. At 83 I am always merry,

maintaining a happy peace in my own mind. A sober life has preserved me in

that sprightliness of thought and gaiety of humour. My teeth are all as

sound as in my youth. He was able to take moderate exercise in riding and

walking at that age. He was very passionate and hasty in his youth. He

wrote other treatises up to the age of 95.

Kumagara, Lapicque and Breis-acher, have, as the result of their

experiments, reduced the quantity of proteid required per 24 hours to 45

grammes. T. Hirschfeld states, as the conclusion of his research, that it

is possible for a healthy man (in one case for 15 days and in another for

10 days) to maintain nitrogenous balance on from 30 to 40 grammes of

proteid per day. Labbé and Morchoisne (Comptes Rendus, 30th May, 1904, p.

1365) made a dieting experiment during 38 days, upon one of themselves.

The proteid was derived exclusively from vegetable food. The food

consisted of bread, lentils, haricots, potatoes, carrots, chestnuts,

endives, apples, oranges, preserves, sugar, starch, butter, chocolate and

wine. At the commencement, the day's food contained 14.1 grammes of

nitrogen = 89.3 proteid, which was gradually diminished. On the 7th day

11.6 g. N. = 73.5 g. proteid was reached; during this time less N. was

eliminated, indicating that the proteid food was in excess of that

required for the wear and tear of the body. As the quantity of nitrogenous

food was diminished almost daily, the N. eliminated was found to diminish

also. This latter was in slight excess of that absorbed; but when a day or

two's time was allowed, without further reduction in the food, the body

tended to adjust itself to the dimished supply, and there was an

approximation of income and expenditure. The smallest quantity of food was

reached on the 32nd day with 1.06 N. = 6.7 proteid, which was obviously

too little, as 2.19 N. = 13.9 proteid was eliminated. On the 21st day 4.12

N. = 26 proteid was injested, and 4.05 N. was eliminated. The inference

drawn from the research is that about 26 grammes of proteid per day was

sufficient. The weight of the body remained practically constant

throughout, and the subject did not suffer inconvenience. Of course the

full amount of calories was kept up; as each succeeding quantity of the

proteid was left off, it was replaced by a proper quantity of

non-nitrogenous food. These experiments were carried out in the usual

approved scientific manner. It may, however, be urged against any

generalised and positive conclusions as to the minimum quantity of proteid

required for the body, being drawn from such experiments, that the period

covered by them was much too short. A prolonged trial might have revealed

some obscure physiological derangement. We are quite justified in

concluding that the usual, so-called "standard dietaries" contain an

unnecessarily large proportion of proteid. In some practical dietaries, 50

grammes and under have seemed enough; but for the ordinary adult man, who

has been accustomed to an abundance of proteid, and whose ancestors have

also, it is probably advisable not to take less than 70 or 80 grammes per

day (2-1/2 to 3 ounces). If it is desired to try less, the diminution

should be very gradual, and a watch should be kept for any lessening of

strength.

Some comments may now be made upon the table of dietaries. That of the

London sewing girl contained 53 grammes of proteid, which should have been

ample, according to some of the authorities we have given; yet she was

badly nourished. The food was doubtless of bad quality, and it appears

deficient in carbo-hydrates; this latter is shown by the low number of

calories. The long hours and unhealthy conditions of work, and not a

deficiency of food constituents, is probably the cause of the bad health

of such persons. There is no reason to think the proteid insufficient,

although some persons have said as much. We have no particulars of the

German vegetarians, but the calories appear satisfactory. In the poor

German labourer's family the calories are too low. In Dr. T.R. Allinson's

experiment on a wheatmeal dietary, it will not do to assume that less than

82 grammes of proteid would have been insufficient. It is probable that a

smaller quantity of proteid would have been enough if the fat and

carbohydrates had been increased. The calories are below the usual

standard. In the succeeding example the calories are considerably higher,

being not far from the usual standard, yet 54 grammes of proteid sufficed.

It is a common error to place an undue value on the proteids to the extent

of overlooking the other constituents. Dr. Alexander Haig in "Diet and

Food," p. 8, cites the case of a boy aged 10, fed on 2-1/4 pints of milk

per day. The boy lost weight, and Dr. Haig is of opinion that the quantity

of milk was very deficient in proteid; more than twice as much being

required. 2-1/4 pints of milk contain about 45 grammes of proteid,

whereas, according to the usual figures (125 x 6/10) a boy of this age

requires 75 g. This quantity of 45 g. is however, higher, allowing for the

boy's age, than that in several of the dietaries we have given in our

table. A little consideration will show that Dr. Haig has overlooked the

serious deficiency of the milk in the other constituents, which accounts

for the boy's loss of weight. The quantity of milk contains only about 160

g. of total solid matter, whilst 400 g. is the necessary quantity. Milk is

too rich in proteid matter to form, with advantage, the sole food of a

human being. Human milk contains much less in proportion to the other

constituents.

The old doctrine enunciated by Justus von Liebig was that proteid matter

is the principal source of muscular energy or strength. He afterwards

discovered and acknowledged his error, and the subject has since been

thoroughly investigated. The makers of meat extracts and other foods,

either from their own ignorance of modern research or their wish to take

advantage of the lack of knowledge and prejudice of the public, call

proteid matter alone nourishment. The carbo-hydrates and fats are equally

entitled to be called nourishment.

Our reason for devoting so much space to the consideration of the quantity

of proteid matter required, is that in the opinion of many eminent writers

it is the crux of vegetarianism. They have stated that it is impossible to

obtain sufficient from vegetable foods alone, without consuming an

excessive quantity of carbo-hydrates. We will summarise the argument as

given in Kirke's Physiology, as edited by Morrant Baker, a standard work,

and which is repeated in Furneaux's "Animal Physiology," a book which is

much used in elementary science schools: "The daily waste from the system

amounts to, carbon 4,500 grains (or 300 grammes), and nitrogen, 300 grains

(or 20 grammes). Now let us suppose a person to feed on bread only. In

order to obtain the necessary quantity of nitrogen to repair this waste

he would have to eat nearly 4-1/4 lbs. daily.... He would be compelled to

take about double the quantity of carbon required in order to obtain the

necessary weight of nitrogen.... Next, let us suppose that he feeds on

lean meat only. Then, in order to obtain the necessary quantity of carbon,

he must eat no less than 6-1/2 lbs. daily.... In this case we notice a

similar waste of nitrogen, the removal of which would give an undue amount

of work to the organs concerned.... But it is possible to take such a

mixed diet of bread and meat as will supply all the requirements of the

system, and at the same time yield but little waste material." (These

extracts are from Furneaux, the next is from Kirke. The figures and

argument is the same in each, but we have chosen those sentences for

quotation which are the briefest and most suitable; certain calculations

being omitted.) "A combination of bread and meat would supply much more

economically what was necessary ... so that 3/4 lbs. of meat, and less

than 2 lbs. of bread would supply all the needful carbon and nitrogen with

but little waste. From these facts it will be plain that a mixed diet is

the best and most economical food for man; and the result of experience

entirely coincides with what might have been anticipated on theoretical

grounds only." Professor Huxley, in his "Elementary Physiology" uses

almost the same figures and argument.

The adoption of this high proteid or nitrogen figure would lead to some

ridiculous conclusions. One writer states that 18 eggs would contain

sufficient flesh forming substance for a day's ration, but a very much

larger quantity would be required to supply enough carbon. On the other

hand, Professor Church says that, no less than 70 lbs. of pears would have

to be eaten per day, to supply the necessary quantity of nitrogen;

although the carbon would be in excess. The curious may calculate the

proper quantity of each that would make a theoretically perfect dietary.

People are apt to assume that what they themselves eat, or what their

class, race, or nation eat, is the proper and necessary diet; at least as

far as the elementary constituents and quantities are concerned. The error

is in attempting to make a vegetarian diet, however contrary to common

sense and the experience of the greater part of the earth's inhabitants,

agree in composition with the ordinary lavish flesh dietary of the

well-to-do European. It is significant that John Bull is caricatured with

a large abdomen and a coarse, ruddy, if not inflamed face, indicative of

his hearty dining on flesh, coarse food and alcoholic drinks. An unhealthy

short lived individual. Even if we accept a high proportion of proteid, it

is possible to combine purely vegetable foods so as to give the required

quantity of the various constituents, without a superfluity of the

carbo-hydrates. In "Food Grains of India," Professor A.H. Church shows by

elaborate analyses and dietary tables, how this can be accomplished by

various combinations of cereals, pulses, etc. He takes Forster and Voit's

standard of 282 grains of nitrogen and 5,060 grains of carbon, with a

suitable deduction for the smaller weight of the Indians. In his examples

of daily rations he gives from 5 to 9 ounces of various beans, balanced

by the addition of the proper quantity of rice--4 to 16 ounces, and a

little oil. Such a large quantity of pulse appears to us excessive, and

would cause discomfort to most persons. We much doubt whether those

Indians who are strict vegetarians could consume such quantities.

Some valuable investigations were made on the diet of a family of

fruitarians, at the Californian Agricultural Experimental Station, July,

1900, by Professor M.E. Jaffa (bulletin 107). The proportion of food, both

proteid and carbo-hydrate used was surprisingly small. The research is

particularly important, as the diet was not an experimental one, tried

during a short period only; but that to which the family were accustomed.

The family consisted of two women and three children; they had all been

fruitarians for five to seven years, and made no change in their dietary

during the experiment. They only had two meals a day, the food being eaten

uncooked. The quantities of all the foods and other particulars are

detailed in the bulletin. The first meal was at 10-30 a.m., and always

consisted of nuts followed by fruits. The other meal was about 5 p.m.,

when they usually ate no nuts, substituting olive oil and honey. The nuts

used were almonds, Brazil, pine, pignolias and walnuts; the fresh fruits

were apples, apricots, bananas, figs, grapes, oranges, peaches and pears.

Other foods were dates, raisins, pickled olives, olive oil and honey. One

person (_b_) ate a little celery and tomatoes, and another (_c_) a little

cereal food. In the following table are given the average daily quantities

of the food constituents in grammes:--Proteids, fat, carbo-hydrate, crude

fibre, value in calories and nutrient ratio. The crude fibre is classed as

a carbo-hydrate and included in the calorie value, and also in calculating

the nutrient ratio.

Pro. Fat. C'r'b. Fibre. Cal. N. R.

Woman, age 33, weight 90 lbs. (_a_) 33 59 110 40 1300 8.6

Woman " 30 " 104 " (_b_) 25 57 72 27 1040 9.1

Girl " 13 " 75-1/2 " (_c_) 26 52 111 46 1235 10.5

Boy " 9 " 43 " (_d_) 27 56 102 50 1255 10.3

Girl " 6 " 30-1/2 " (_e_) 24 58 97 37 1190 11.1

Girl " 7 " 34 " (_ee_) 40 72 126 8 1385 7.4

The last research extended over ten days; the period during which each of

the other subjects was under observation was from 20 to 28 days.

(_a_) The tentative standard for a woman at light work calls for 90

grammes of proteids and 2,500 calories; it is thus seen that the quantity

of food eaten was far below that usually stated as being necessary. The

subject, however, was a very small woman, 5 feet in height, taking almost

no physical exercise. She believed, as do fruitarians generally, that

people need far less raw than cooked food. (_b_) The food eaten was even

less in quantity than in the previous dietary. One reason for this was the

fact that the subject was, for part of the time at least, under great

mental strain, and did not have her usual appetite. Even this small amount

of food, judging by her appearance and manner, seemed sufficient for her

needs, enabling her to do her customary housework and take care of her two

nieces and nephew, the subjects of the other experiments. (_c_) This girl

was given cereals and vegetables when she craved them, but her aunt says

she never looks nor feels so well when she has much starchy food, and

returns to her next meal of uncooked food with an increased appreciation

of its superiority. The commonly accepted dietary standard for a child 13

years old and of average activity, is not far from 90 grammes of proteids

and 2,450 calories, yet the girl had all the appearance of being well fed

and in excellent health and spirits. (_d_) During the 22 days of

experiment, there was an increase in weight of 2 pounds, due to the fact

that the family had been in straitened circumstances, and the food

provided was more abundant during the study. (_e_) The subject had been

very delicate as a baby. She was very small for her age, being 10 pounds

under the average weight, and 7 inches less than the average height. It is

interesting to note that her only gain in weight during the past year was

made during this dietary and the one immediately following. This was due

to her being urged to eat all she wanted, of what she most preferred, as

the food was provided by those making the study. The proteid is less than

the tentative standard for a child of 1 to 2 years old, but the subject

appeared perfectly well and was exceedingly active. She impressed one as

being a healthy child, but looked younger than her age. (_ee_) The subject

is the same as in the previous experiment (_e_), but after an interval of

8 months, her seventh birthday occurred during the time.

Professor Jaffa, who made the investigation, says:--"It would appear that

all the subjects were decidedly under-nourished, even making allowance for

their light weight. But when we consider that the two adults have lived

upon this diet for seven years, and think they are in better health and

capable of more work than they ever were before, we hesitate to pronounce

judgment. The three children had the appearance of health and strength.

They ran and jumped and played all day like ordinary healthy children, and

were said to be unusually free from colds and other complaints common to

childhood. The youngest child, and the only one who has lived as a

fruitarian almost from infancy was certainly undeveloped. She looked fully

two years younger than she was. Still, there are so many children who are

below the average in development, whose dietaries conform to the ordinary

standards, that it would be unfair to draw any conclusions until many more

such investigations are made."

The research shows that not only is there need of a revision of the

"standard" quantity of proteids, but also of the carbo-hydrates and fats.

It is generally said by those who have no practical experience amongst

vegetarians, that the latter require a much larger quantity of food than

do those who include flesh. The truth is that vegetarians eat less, often

much less. It is a common experience that vegetable food has a more

staying power, and a much longer period can be allowed between meals,

without the inconvenience that a flesh-eater, especially a flesh and

alcohol consumer, suffers. This is due, in part at least, to its less

stimulating character and its slower digestion. This fact has been shown

by the success of vegetarians in feats of strength and endurance, and

especially in the comparatively fresh condition in which they have

finished long walking, cycling, tennis, and other matches. Those who

attempt to prolong their powers of endurance by flesh extracts and

stimulating foods and drinks, usually finish in a very exhausted

condition. The superior endurance and recovery from wounds, when compared

with our English soldiers, of simple feeding men, such as the Zulus, Turks

and Japanese, has often been remarked. It is often said that vegetable

food, as it contains more fibre and is slower of digestion, taxes the

bodily organs more. If we attempted to eat uncooked, the more fibrous

vegetables, the grains, and unripe fruit, it would be quite true, but it

is not so of the ordinary food of vegetarians. A slowness of digestion

does not necessarily imply a greater strain on the system. As vegetables,

in particular, are for the longest period of time in the intestines, and

undergo the greater part of their digestion there, a gentle and slow

process of digestion in that organ may be more thorough. It may also

entail less expenditure of nervous energy than if the food had been of

such a stimulating character, as to be hurried along the digestive tract.

Digestion is for the most part a chemical process. If the food is of right

kind and quantity, thoroughly masticated, assisted if necessary by

cookery, and the digestive ferments are normal, digestion proceeds without

any sensible expenditure or energy or consciousness of its accomplishment.

There is nothing improbable in a flesh-eater requiring more food than a

simple living vegetarian. His food contains more proteid, and

excrementitious matter or extractives; these stimulate the digestive

organs and overtax the excretory ones. Generally, he is fond of

condiments, salt, and elaborate cooking, often also of alcohol; if a man,

probably of tobacco. He lives, as it were, at high pressure.

There are on record certain experiments which appear to indicate the

necessity of a large proportion of proteid, especially when the diet has

been of vegetable origin. These experiments are inconclusive, because the

subject has been accustomed to an ordinary flesh diet, perhaps also to

alcoholic drinks. The change to a comparatively non-stimulating diet

cannot be made, and the digestive organs expected to adapt themselves in

a few days. Perhaps not even a month or a year would suffice, for some

people, and yet that same diet would suit others. In some experiments the

food has not been appetising, the subject has even taken it with

reluctance or even loathing; an excess of some food has been eaten which

no vegetarian or anybody else would think of using in a practical dietary.

Sometimes persons on changing from an ordinary flesh dietary, lose weight

and strength. Generally, it is found that they have done little more than

discontinue the flesh, without substituting suitable foods. Authorities

think it is from a deficiency of proteid, and recommend an addition of

such foods as pulse, wheatmeal, oatmeal, eggs, milk, cheese, and such as a

reference to the table of analyses, show a low nutrient ratio figure. This

may also be due to an insufficiency of food eaten, owing to the

comparatively insipid character of the food and want of appetite. In

making a change to a vegetarian diet, such foods had better be taken that

are rather rich in proteid, and that approximate somewhat in their flavour

and manner of cooking to that used previously. A further change to a

simpler diet can afterwards gradually be made, according to conviction,

tastes and bodily adaptability. It must not be expected that a change,

even an ultimately very advantageous one, will always meet with an

immediate and proper response from digestive and assimilative organs which

have been accustomed for many years, perhaps by inheritance for

generations, to another manner of living. There are several preparations

produced from centrifugalised milk--that is milk from which the butter fat

has been removed, which consist chiefly of proteid. These have a value in

increasing the proteid contents of foods which may be thought deficient.

The addition of these manufactured products appear unnecessary, as most

of our food contains an abundance of proteid, and we can easily limit the

quantity or avoid altogether those that are thought defective.

The later apologists for a flesh diet have had to admit that it is not a

physiological necessity; but they have attempted to justify its use by a

theory somewhat as follows. It is admitted, that any excess of proteid

over that necessary for its special province of producing tissue, is

utilised as a force-producer, in a similar manner to the carbo-hydrates.

When the molecule is split up, and the carbon utilised, the nitrogen

passes off in the form of urea by the kidneys. The theory propounded is

that at the moment the nitrogen portion is liberated, it in some manner

stimulates the living protoplasm of the nerve cells in its immediate

neighbourhood to a higher state of activity. These views are given by Dr.

Hutchison in his book on "Food," but there are no substantial grounds for

them. It is only prompted by a wish to excuse a cherished habit. Sir

William Roberts, M.D., in "Dietetics and Dyspepsia," p. 16 says that "high

feeding consists mainly in a liberal allowance of meat, and in the

systematic use of alcoholic beverages, and that low-feeding consists in a

diet which is mainly vegetarian and non-alcoholic," and he proceeds to say

that the high-fed classes and races display, on the whole, a richer

vitality and a greater brain-power than their low-fed brethren. That "it

is remarkable how often we hear of eminent men being troubled with gout,

and gout is usually produced either by personal or ancestral

high-feeding." We can only spare room for a few remarks on this subject.

Intellectual and business ability brings wealth, wealth frequently leads

to the pleasures of the table, but such habits are detrimental to

sustained effort and clearness of mind. The children and grandchildren of

such high livers are usually common-place, intellectually, and of

deteriorated physique. The aristocracy who are generally high livers,

notwithstanding their great advantages of education, travel and leisure,

are not as a rule famed for their intellectual gifts. In the recent war

the frugal living Japanese soldier has proved himself the most enduring

and bravest in history; whilst the Japanese officers are more resourceful

and tactful than the wealthier, high-fed Russian officers, with their

aristocratic lineage. What is called high-feeding, is of the greatest

benefit to the doctors and the proprietors of remedies for digestive and

nervous disorders.

Food Adjuncts and Drugs.--In addition to the nutrients and the small

quantity of indigestible fibre of which we have already written, food

generally contains small quantities of substances which are difficult to

classify, and whose action on the body is but imperfectly understood. Many

of these possess pungent or strong odours and flavours. To them, various

fruits, meats, etc., owe much of their characteristic differences of

taste. When pure the proteids and starches are devoid of taste. Such oils

and fats as are generally eaten have also but little flavour, providing

they are free from rancidity and of good quality. The sugars differ from

the other nutrients in possessing a more or less decided taste. The free

vegetable acids also strongly affect the sense of taste, but they are only

consumed in small quantities.

A drug may be defined as a substance which modifies the functions of the

body or of some organ without sensibly imparting nourishment. This action

may be one of stimulation or of depression. A drug is taken for its

medicinal action, a food adjunct for its modifying action on food. It is

impossible to give a quite satisfactory definition, or to draw sharp

distinctions. For example, tea, coffee, alcohol and tobacco are sometimes

placed in one group, and sometimes in another, according to opinion of

their action and the definition of the terms food adjuncts, drugs and

poisons. The difference of grouping often depends upon intensity rather

than of kind of action. If taken frequently and not in quantity sufficient

to have a markedly medicinal action, such things are generally called food

adjuncts or supplementary foods, although much may be said in favour of a

different view. The volatile oils of mustard, caraway, cloves, etc., are

used in medicine; also the alkaloids of coffee and cocoa. Even honey is

used as a mild laxative for infants; that is, as a drug. The difference

between a drug and a poison is one only of degree. Some of the most

esteemed drugs have to be administered in very small quantities, or they

cause death; e.g., strychnine and morphine.

Classifications are necessary for methodical study, and for assisting the

memory in grasping large numbers of things which can be grouped together.

Classifications, however, are artificial, not due to natural lines of

demarkation, but according to man's knowledge and convenience; hence a

group is apt to approach and finally merge into another group, although on

first consideration they appeared quite distinct. The disregard of this

often leads to confusion and useless discussions.

Plants, like animals, as the result of tissue change, have certain used-up

or waste matters to get out of the way. Animals have special excretory

organs for the purpose; waste matter remains in the flesh and blood of

dead animals. In plants are found a large number of powerful volatile

oils, alkaloids, bitter resins, etc. Many of these are, in all

probability, excretory products of no assimilative value to the plant.

Certain volatile oils may attract insects, and in obtaining nectar from

flowers insects assist fertilisation. Agreeable volatile oils and

flavouring substances in fruits attract birds and animals. The eating of

the fruits cause the seeds, which are uninjured by passing through the

digestive system, to be disseminated over wide areas to the advantage of

the plant species. On the other hand, nauseous and poisonous alkaloids,

oils, resins, etc., serve as a protection against the attacks of browsing

animals, birds, caterpillars, snails, etc. These nauseous substances are

most abundant in the bark, husk, skin and outer parts. It is commonly

supposed that the food on which each animal, including man, subsists, is

especially produced by Nature for the purpose. This is an error, for each

species of plant and animal lives for itself alone, and protects itself,

with more or less success, against destruction by its competitors and

enemies. Each species of animal selects from its surroundings such food as

is most suitable. Such food may not be theoretically perfect; that is, it

may not contain the maximum of nourishment free from innutritious matter;

but during the long period of evolution, each species of animal has become

possessed of organs suited to its environment. If to such animals be given

food containing less indigestible matter, or food which is more readily

digested by laboratory tests made independently of the living animal,

their digestive system will be thrown out of gear, become clogged up or

refuse to work properly, just as the furnace of a steam boiler, made to

burn coal, will act badly with wood or petroleum. Many scientific men have

overlooked this fact, and have endeavoured to produce food substances for

general consumption, in the most concentrated and soluble form, thinking

such food would be more easily assimilated.

The Volatile and Essential Oils are contained in minute quantity in a

very large number of animal and vegetable foods. They contribute in part

to the flavour of fruits. They are the cause of the pungency and aroma of

mustard, horse-radish, cloves, nutmegs, cinnamon, caraway seeds, mint,

sage and other spices. Onions contain a notable quantity. When extracted

the essential oils become powerful drugs. In moderate quantities they are

stomachic and carminative, in larger quantities irritant and emetic.

Condiments and spices not only add flavour to food, but stimulate the

secretion of gastric juice and peristaltic movement.

The Alkaloids most used are those of tea, coffee, kola-nut, cocoa, coca,

tobacco and opium. Although the two last are generally smoked, they must

be classed amongst the food adjuncts. It is of little consequence whether

their active principles enter the body by the mouth and saliva or the

lungs; their action on the blood and nervous system is the same.

The Extractives, as they are called, comprise a number of bodies of

varying nature. They especially exist in flesh and flesh extracts. Amongst

these are the purins. They will be treated at greater length hereafter.

Alcohol is to some extent a true food, but its stimulant and other

action quite overshadows any food value it may possess.

There are other bodies such as the resins and bitters. The active

principle of Indian hemp is a resin.

There is a great difference of opinion as to the extent to which

stimulants may advantageously be used. It is remarkable that amongst

nearly all nations, either alcohol in some form or one of the stronger

alkaloids is in common use. From this fact it is sometimes argued that

stimulants must supply a physiological need. The same method of reasoning

will apply with greater force to the use of condiments. Such conclusions

appear to us to be scarcely warranted. If the extensive or even universal

practice of a thing proves its necessity, then has there been

justification, either now or in the past, for war, lying, avarice and

other vices. It is strange that drugs differing so greatly in their

immediate and obvious effects as, for example, alcohol and opium, or

coffee and tobacco should be used. Should it he said that only some of the

much used stimulants are useful, there is an end to the argument based on

their universal use. There is no doubt that the use of stimulants in more

than very small quantities is distinctly injurious, and it is difficult to

see what physiological advantage there can be in their habitual use, to

what is vaguely called a moderate extent. Sometimes they are taken for a

supposed medical necessity, and where taste attracts, little evidence

satisfies. Those in the habit of taking them, if honest, must confess that

it is chiefly on account of the apparent enjoyment. The ill-nourished and

the depressed in body and mind crave most for stimulants. A food creates

energy in the body, including the nervous system, and this is the only

legitimate form of stimulation. A mere stimulant does not create but draws

on the reserve forces. What was latent energy--to become in the natural

course gradually available--under stimulation is rapidly set free; there

is consequently, subsequent depletion of energy. There may occasionally be

times when a particular organ needs a temporary stimulus to increased

action, notwithstanding it may suffer an after depression; but such cases

are so rare that they may be left out of our present argument, and

stimulants should only be used, like other powerful drugs, under medical

advice. In the last 25 years the use of alcohol by the medical profession

has steadily diminished, its poisonous properties having become more

evident.