library of the new york state college Of home economics CORNELL UNIVERSITY ITHACA, NEW YORK Gift of Mrs. G. N. Lauman Courtesy of Ag. Ec. Librar; Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003563008 THE PHILOSOPHY OF EATING. BY ALBERT J. BELLOWS, M. D., Lira PBOFEaSOR 07 OHBHISTBT, PHrsIOLOOT, AHI) HTSIKfl. EIGHTEENTH BDITION, REVISED AND ENLASOED. BOSTON: HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY, (Kilt Etbecetlie Preeict, Cambrtlise. filtered according to AxA of CongreBB, in the yeu 1870, bf A. F. Bkllovs, in tile OSes of the Libra,Tian of CongreBS, at Waahlistoa. TO THE FIVE THOUSAND LADIES WHO, 'mm. 1838 TO 1858, ATTENDED MT LECTITEES ON PHT8I0L0GT, CHEMISTET, AND HTGIENE. Seab Fkiends : In the reminiscences of the past twenty-nine years many pleasant interviews at your firesides, in social gatherings, on steamboats, and elsewhere, are recalled, in which some mother or teacher has reminded me of facts or statements, physiological, chemical, or hygienic, made ten, twenty, or twenty-five years before, but still remembered ; and often has the kind suggestion been made, that those teachings, which had been useful to them as mothers or teach- ers, when only treasured in the memory, might be more useful to their children and pupils if collected and printed. These kind suggestions, together with the fact that the application of science to hygiene has been almost utterly neglected, have in- duced me to collect and condense the ideas of my old lectures, adding to them such as modern improvements in practical science have suggested, and leaving out such as have become obsolete ; and the volume thus produced I take the liberty to dedicate to the friends who will be most likely to be interested in it. "With sincere regard. Yours affectionately, A. J. BELLOWS. PKEFACE TO REVISED EDITION. SiHCE the publication of the previous editions, the author, during a visit to England, by the assistance of the best authorities there, carefully revised the work, making many improvements and alterations, particularly in the tables. He also decided to unite with " The Philosophy of Eating " the best of the contents relating to food, of " How not to be Sick," a sequel to the former work, thus presenting the whole in a much improved, more compact, and cheaper form. PREFACE. We have excellent practical treatises on Agri- culture and Horticulture, and every intelligent farmer or gardener may learn what element is deficient, in order successfully to cultivate his grapes, his vegetables, or his grains ; and having also chemical analyses of these fruits and grains, and of the materials from which to obtain his deficient elements, he has the means of adapt- ing his soil to all desirable productions. We have also treatises on raising horses, cattle, hens, pigs, fishes, and even bees and canary birds, but not a single practical trea- tise on raising children. We know perfectly well that our horses will not, without care in regard to their food and training, be developed in beauty, strength, or docility. Our cows must be cared for, or they furnish little milk. Our hens must have appropriate food, or they fur- nish no eggs. Our bees must have their proper conditions of life and health complied with, or (3) i PREFACE. they furnish no honey and die. All this every- body knows ; but children are expected to live, and be perfectly developed, both mentally and physically, without care or consideration. And so perfectly ignorant are people gen- erally of the laws of nature, that they give their pigs the food which their children need to de- velop muscle and brain, and give their chil- dren what their pigs need to develop fat. For example, the farmer separates from milk the muscle-making and brain-feeding nitrates and phosphates, and gives them to his pigs in the form of buttermilk, while the fattening carbo- nates he gives to his children in butter. He sifts out the bran and outer crust from the wheat, which contains the nitrates and phosphates, and gives them also to his pigs and cattle, while the fine flour, containing little else than heating car- bonates, he gives to his children. Cheese, which contains the concentrated nutriment of milk, is seldom seen on our tables, while butter, which contains not a particle of food for brain or mufe- cle, is on every table at all times of day. To supply this deficiency in practical science, and to correct these erroneous and dangerous habits of society, is the object of this treatise. A. J. B. CONTENTS. Fi.SI Apoplexy 390 Apples 321 Appetite 417 Allspice 305 Alcohol 69, 216, 2.8, 266, 268 Animal Food ... 75, 378 Acidulous Drinks 236, 247 Analysis of Food . . . . .24,49,68,120,123 Acids 236, 247 Aromatic Drinks .... .... 214 Active Animals take Phosphorus 83, 85 Active Children 93 Agassiz on Fish Diet . 314 . Barley 104 Banting 362, 410 Bread-making • . . . 36, 45 Bread 43 Beans and Peas 58, 105, 121, 123, .S30 Buckwheat 121, 123 Brain — Phosphorus in it 86 Butter 30, 31, 133, 134 Beef 110,123 Blood — How to purify it 152,386 Beets 74 Beer . . 214 Classification of Food 16, 132 Corn 50, 103, 121, 123 Cold Weather — Food for 137 Children — Food for . . .... 89, 143, 149 Cofiee 209, 213 Cocoa .... .... . 214 Chocolate 214 VI CONTENTS. PASB Carrots ?3, 122 Cloves ... 303 Capsicum 305 Climate — Adaptation of Food to 367 Cheese , . 121 Cooking, etc . 243 Cider 214 Cabbage, Cauliflower 123 Cucumbers 123 City Hospital 269 Cassia 303 Cinnamon ....,...•■ 302 Clams 124 Condiments '299 Corpulence — Cure for 405 Dust of the Ground — its Elements 9 DistiUed Spirits 234, 235 Diet in Sickness 253, 269, 272 Diet in Hospitals 259-264 Dyspepsia « 370 Diseases cured by Diet 361 Digestion 374 Elements of Food in all Living Things . . . . 126 Economy of eating Natural Food 343 Eating slowly, important 422 Eggs 124 Eels 123 Eating — How to enjoy it 30 French Bread-making 41 Fishes 78, 124 Farina 49 Fermentation 261 Fine Flour injurious 34, 35, 135, 271 Fruits 321 Farmers — How degenerated 326 Food — Variety necessary 337 Fat Meats 134 Food for Hard Workers 136, 323 Flavor important 211, 292, 296 CONTENTS. vii meg Food for Old People 142 Ginger 804 Greenland — Food in . 358 Gout — its Cause and Cure 307 Haddock, Herring, Halibut .123 Hernia cm-ed by Diet SO 2 Heart, Diseases of — How cured 400 Hospitals .....,,.. 25 Impure Blood 151 Kingbird 83 Lean Meat . . 133 Lamb 123 Laboring Men — Food for , .323 Laws of Nutrition 280 Lobster .129 Lentils 59, 121, 123 Leanness — How cured ........ 414 Man before and after the Fall 286, 287 Man — From the Dust of the Ground . ... 9 Mothers sacrifice their Children 351, 398 Meats 75, 110, 122, 123, 330 Mental Health depends on Diet 80, 87 Muscle-making Elements 100,117 Muscular Power 93,126,327 Milk 98, 109, 110, 123 Mutton Ill, 123 Moss 66 Natural Food 284 Nutmeg .... 304 Oats 54, 104, 120, 123 Organized Elements only accepted 156 Oysters 129 Onions ... ....... 73 ETiosphates in Food promote Vital Action . . . . 318 Parents — Responsibility of 347-349 Peas .... . . . . 58, 121, 123 Preadamite Preparations 10, 167, 168 Poison^ 158, 166 -'rize-tighters 323 viu CONTENTS. PAGE Precocious Children . . 89 Parsnips 73 Pepper . . 305 Phosphorus and Phosphates 16, 18, 38 Pork 76, 78, 123 Rations for Soldiers, etc Ill, 112, 115 Bye 49,121,123 Eeptiles . • . . 128 Kice 55, 121, 123 Sago 65 Sedentary People — Food for 352 Summer — Food for 867 Sugar 68 Sea-weed 65 Starch 61 Soups 245 Salt 296 Superfine Flour 29 Southern Corn 60,103,120,123 State Prison 113 Sick Room to be made pleasant ... . . 277 Thinking men — Food for 313 Teeth, as afi'ected by Food 394 Tapioca 64 Turnips 73, 108 Tea 281, 205, 212 Tape-worm 282 Turtle • . 128 Tables of Analyses 120-124 Vegetable Food — Effects of 79 Wheat 32, 48, 120, 123 Winter — Food for 357 Water 167, 183 Wines 233 THE PHILOSOPHY OF EATOTG The nmnan Body: Its Wants and Resources. " And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." This statement, incomprehensible to the human mind as it is, is most beautifully confirmed by chemical analysis. At least it is proved, that the elements of the human system and the elements of the soU, taken any- where on the surface of the earth, from the equator to the poles, are identical ; and it is also proved that the "grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yield- ing fruit after his kind," which the earth brought forth before man was made, all are endowed with power to lake from the soil these elements, one by one, and fit them to be received and appropriated directly to the supply of the human system, or indirectly accomplish the same purpose by being first appropriated by the " beast of the field and the fowl of the air," and then m their flesh to furnish these necessary elements to man. Geological evidence is conclusive that man was not Diade till this whole arrangement was perfected, so that 10 THE PEEADAJVnTE EARTH. wherever he chooses to live, — in Africa or Greenland, — he finds at hand food adapted to his wants in the climate in which he finds himself. But when we attempt to trace the process by which this complicated and beau- tiful arrangement was made for man, we are lost in wonder and admiration. The mineral elements, which constitute the great mass of the surface of the earth, all came originally from solid rock, and must have been produced by the slow process of disintegration, by which, by the action of heat, cold, and water, particle by particle it accumulated, age after age, till the great mass was formed which should afterwards become the place of deposit for water, salt, coal, &c., which man must have, and which also furnishes the fourteen differ- ent minerals which were to make a part of the human system. And then ages of time more must have been required to produce the organic elements, which were formed by the growth and decay of plants and trees, which grew one after another, as the appropriate elements of soil were accumulated, and gave way in turn for more per- fect vegetation, till organic elements had accumulated in sufficient quantity to supply the surface of the whole earth with all that should be needed for the composition and repair of the human system. Then other ages still were required to float these crudely mixed elements over the face of the earth, and 60 intimately mix them that some portion of every ele- ment necessary should be fr>und in every foot of soil on the face of the earth. PEEPAEATION OF THE EARTH FOB MAN. 11 And after all this preparation the world was not fitted for man till ages more of time were consumed in raising the hiUs and the mountains, so that the ocean might be formed and dry land appear, and mists, condensed into rain and dews, be collected in brooks and rivers, to carry the waters back to the ocean, to be again evaporated, and a supply be insured, and the atmos- phere prepared with its due proportion of oxygen and nitrogen. And when all the fourteen necessary ele- ments were prepared in the water, and the atmosphere, and the soil, and laws instituted by which they should be forever at his command and forever perpetuated, then man was made ; and then, that he might never fail to be supplied with everything he should need, God gave him "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth," which, with " every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed," should all contain the necessary elements, so that any one of them would sustain life. Having thus bountifully provided for every contin- gency of climate or circumstance, he gave man a test by which he could select that which would be appropri- ate and reject that which would be injurious — that article which contained the proper elements rightly organized and adapted to his condition at any time, the appetite would demand and the palate and stomach receive gratefully and pleasantly ; while that which was not organized according to this plan, or had after warda 12 THE TASTE A GUARDIAN OF THE SYSTEM. become disorganized, or contained the wrong elements, or the right elements in wrong proportions, should offend the taste, and be rejected with disgust ; or, if forced into the stomach, should cause an excitement by efforts to get rid of it, which would be more or lets poisonous or injurious according to the degree of harm which it was adapted to do the system. For example, sugar contains important elements rightly organized to supply the system with requisite heat, and it is pleasant to the healthy palate, and gratefully received in proper quantities by the stomach when needed ; but alcohol, which is sugar decomposed, and which contains the same elements in the same proportions, is offensive to the natural taste, and if forced on the stomach, produces an immediate excitement, which is injuri- ous and poisonous to the organs engaged in the effort to resist it. Fish, which was prepared with all the elements rightly organized, and in right proportions to be appropriate food, is pleasant to the taste when properly cooked, and is gratefully received and quickly • digested ; but being exposed to a hot sun for a single hour, and disor- ganization or decomposition . commencing, it becomes disgusting and poisonous. Phosphorus, which is valuable and necessary food for the brain, &c., when organized in fish, or peas, or oat- meal, &c., is, when once disorganized, a virulent poison ; and thus in physiology as in ethics, "in keeping the commandments there is great reward." To obey the simple laws of our being is to enjoy eating, and the THE SCIENCE OP EATING. 13 healtli, vigor, and happiness which come from the appro- priate exercise of all our functions and faculties ; while to seek to enhance our enjoyment by unnatural combina- tions of food is to clog the appetite, to lose all real enjoyment in eating, and to burden the system with untold miseries, to be suffered through life and transmit- ted to children " to the third and fourth generation." If scietice in farming is important, as it is proved to be, may not science in eating be more important ? The scientific farmer analyzes his soil, and ascertains what elements it contains ; then analyzes his grains and vegetables, and ascertains what elements they require ; then analyzes the diflPerent manures and composts, and ascertains which contains, in the best combination, the elements to be supplied. This gives him an immense advantage over the unscientific farmer, who, not know- ing the requirements of his soil, wastes his compost by using many materials not necessary, and too large a supply of elements that may be necessary, while many important elements will be omitted altogether, I propose, upon the same principles, to give an analy- sis of the human system, — show the elements it con- tains, and the necessity for their constant supply, — and then to give an analysis of the food which Nature has furnished for the supply of these necessities ; and I think it can be readily proved that as the scientific farmer has advantages in point of economy, the scientific eater has not only advantages in economy of living, but vastly greater advantages in the enjoyment of health and hap- piness. And as a matter of economy, it can be shown 14 THE ELEMENTS OF THE HUMAN BODY. that in all our large cities more than half the expense of food is lost by want of adjustment of the proportions of requisite elements, just as all the expense of guano would be lost on the land already supplied with phosphorus and ammonia. Chemical Composition of the Human Body. The human body is composed of the following ele- ments, all of which are found also in the food provided by nature, or in air or water, and all must be supplied, day by day, or some bad results are sure to follow : — Oxygen, a gas, iu quantity suflBcient to occupy lb. oz. gr. a space equal to 750 cubic feet, .... Ill Hydrogen, a gas, in quantity sufficient to occupy 3000 feet, which, with oxygen, constitutes water, the weight of the two indicating nearly the necessary amount of water, .... 14 Carbon, constituting fat, and used also for fuel to create animal heat, 21 Nitrogen, which constitutes the basis of the muscles and solid tissues, and which is sup- plied by that part of food which we shall denominate Nitrates, 3 8 Phosphorus, the physical source of vitality, and the most important of the mineral elements, will represent the whole class which we shall denominate the Phosphates, 1 12 190 Calcium, the metallic base of lime, which is the base of bones, 20 Fluorine, found combined in small quantities in bones, 02 Sulphur, 2 210 COMBES ATION OF ELEMENTS IN THE SYSTEM. 15 Chlorine, constituting, with sodium, common salt, found in the blood, 2 47 Sodium, the base of all the salts of soda, . . 2 116 Iron, which is supposed to give color to the blood, ' 100 Potassium, the base of all the salts of potash, . 290 Magnesium, the base of magnesia and magne- sian salts, ... 12 Silicon, the base of silex, which is found in the hair, teeth, and nails, GO 2 The elements of a man weighing .... 154 lbs. Proximate Principles in the Human Body. 1. Water, composed of oxygen and hydrogen lb. oz. gr. gases, as in the preceding table of ulti- mate elements, Ill ?. Gelatine, of which the walls of the cells and many tissues of the body are composed, . 15 3. Fat, which constitutes the adipose tissue, . 12 4. Phosphate of Lime, forming the principal part of the earthy matter of the bones, . 5 13 5. Carbonate of Lime, also a part of the com- position of bone, 10 6. Albumen, found in the blood and in almost every organ, 43 7. Fibrin, forming the muscles and the clot of the blood, 44 3 8. Fluoride of Calcium, found in the bones, .030 found in the brain" and nerves, and con- 400 ■ stituting the physical ■ elements of vitality 100 or vital energy, . .^ 9. Phosphate of Soda, 10. Phosphate of Potash, 376 1 170 1 72 400 9 150 3 154 16 CLASSIFICATION OF FOOD. 11. Phosphate of Magnesia, found with Phos- phate of Lime in the bones, .... 75 12. Chloride of Sodium (common salt), in the blood, 13. Sulphate of Soda, in the blood, .... 14. Carbonate of Soda, in the blood and bones, 15. Sulphate of Potash, in the blood, . . . 16., Peroxide of Iron, in the blood (and sup- posed to furnish the coloring matter), . 17. Silica, Classification of Food. The fourteen elements and seventeen combinations of these elements are all being consumed every day, and, therefore, must be supplied in fypd, or in the atmosphere, or in water. Food may be divided into three classes. That class which supplies the lungs with fuel, and thus furnishes heat to the system, and supplies fat or adipose substance, &c., we shall call Carbonates, carbon being the principal element ; that which supplies the waste of muscles, we shall call Nitrates,* nitrogen being the principal element ; and that which supplies the bones, and the brain,' and the nerves, and gives vital power, both muscular and mental, we shall call the Phosphates, phosphorus being the principal element. These last might be subdivided into the fixed and the soluble phosphates, — the fixed * The terms Nilrates, Carbonates, and Phosphates, are not strictly in accordance with chemical nomenclature, these terms being gener- ally applied to salts only ; but no other single words would give an idea of the predominant element. See Appendix B. page 343. WASTE AND SUPPLY. 17 being a combination principally with lime to form the bones, and the soluble being combinations with potash and soda, to work the brain and nerves ; but our analyses as yet are too imperfect to allow a subdivision, and as all the mineral elements are more or less com- bined with each other, and all reside together in arti- cles of food, we shall include all mineral elementa under the term Phosphates. The waste, and consequently the supply, of these three classes of elements, is very different, fourjimes ) as much_ carbonaceous food being required as nitroge- nous, and of the phosphates not more than two_ per cent, ofjhe carbonates. Altogether, the waste of these principles wUl average in a man of moderate size,* with moderate heat, more than one pound in a day, varying very much according to the amount of exer- cise and the temperature in which he lives. These elements must all be supplied in vegetable or animal food, not one being allowed to become a part of the system unless it has been first organized with other elements of food, in some vegetable, or in water, or the atmosphere; but being appropriated by some animal, remain organized and adapted to the human system, 80 that animal and vegetable food contain the same elements in the same proportions and nearly the same chemical combinations, and are equally adapted to supply all necessary elements. * Of solid matter. 2 18 THE CLASSES OF FOOD. f The Carbonates are 1 -p ^ I furnished in . . J In Animal Food, ^ ■. Albumen, The Nitrates in . . I Fibrin, anil J Casein. In Vegetable Food, < } Sugar, Starch, ana a little Fat. ^ Gluten, The Nitrates in . . /-Albumen, J and Casein. The Phosphates, in both animal and vegetable food, are found inseparably connected with the nitrates, none being found in any of the carbonates, and generally in the proportion of from two to three per cent, of all the principles in vegetable, and from three to five in animal food. The Carbonates of both animal and vegetable food are chemically alike — fat, sugar, and starch, all being composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, and in about the same chemical combinations and propor- tions. The Nitrates, also Albumen, Gluten, Fibrin, and Casein, are alike in chemical combinations and ele- ments, being composed of nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen, and a little carbon not digestible. EACH ORGAN SELECTS Il'S OWN POOD. 19 The Wants of the Iliiman System, and the Reason for them. In the foregoing tables are found fourteen different elements of which the human system is composedj not one of which is permanently fixed in the system, but each, after performing the duties assigned it for a time, shorter or longer, according to the nature of those duties, becomes effete, and gives place to other particlea of the same elements, which must be supplied in food. Each organ requires different elements, and has the power of taking such as are required from the mass of elements circulated together in the blood, and of reject- ing all other elements ; and while these fourteen ele- ments, all having been organized in some plant or vegetable, are supplied as they are wanted, peace and harmony prevail in the system, and perfect health is enjoyed ; but let any other elements enter the circula- tion and an excitement is produced, and each organ makes an effort to reject them. Take alcohol, for example, and the stomach is first excited and heated by efforts to expel it. It is then thrown into the circulation so as to be expelled by the lungs, cr skin, or kidneys, and the whole system becomes excited, especially the brain, in efforts to eject this enemy to all its functions. Phosphorus, iron, and all other disorganized sub- stances, whether elements of the human system or not, are thus rejected with more or less excitement, 20 DISORGANIZED ELEMENTS ARE REJECTED. according to their capacity for harming the system ; and thus can be clearly read the lessons of nature, teaching us to keep out of the stomach and lungu everything but these fourteen elements, and to admit them only as they are organized and prepared as in articles of natural food in Nature's laboratory — the S^egetable World. But these elements are required in very different amounts, according to the amount of exercise of the different faculties and the temperature of the atmosphere in which we live. And here we have the foundation for a scientific adaptation of food to our different employments in life. The man who is chopping wood in an atmosphere at zero, and he who sits still, or uses only his brain, in a room at the temperature of seventy degrees, con- sume very different elements in very different propor- tions, and therefore require different elements of food. The one needs the muscle-producing nitrogenate ele- ments and the heat-producing carbonates ; while the other needs very few nitrogenates, and only carbo- nates enough to supply the breathing operations with fuel ; but he needs more of the phosphates to keep the brain in working order, and we shall find on inquiry that nature has furnished food just adapted to these and other conditions of life, and shall find also that, following these suggestions of nature, we shall obtain a rich reward, both in the enjoyment of healtli and in the enjoyment of eating. HOW THE ELEMENTS ARE SUPPLIED. 21 Resourceis for Supplyin"' the Wants of the Kiuiian System. The soil on the surface of the whole earth constitutes the great reservoir of crude elements of the human body, and man is kept alive as he was made by ma- terials obtained from " the diist of the ground," but, as has already been intimated, these elements cannot be made to enter the composition of the system till they are organized — or, being organized, are eaten by some animal, and retaining their organization, are adapted still, in the flesh of the animal, to supply the demand of the human system. ^.'-'^ These elements, becoming effete, are excreted from all animals that eat them, and, being then decomposed, enter again into the soil, to be reorganized in other vegetables ; and thus, since these laws were instituted, no elements have been lost and none created — indeed, it is no more in the power of man to annihilate an element of matter than to create one. He can disor- ganize elements, — as he does in converting sugar into alcohol, but he only produces carbonic acid gas, &c., — which are again taken up and reorganized in some vegetable, and are reconverted into sugar ; thus entering again their natural circle to go their perpetual rounds. Every crop of corn, or potatoes, or grass, or vege- tables deprives the soil of all the elements of which these crops are composed, and, if carried off and sold, impoverishes the soil proportionately. This the farmers understand, and are therefore careful to supply, with 22 LAAVS OP ANIMAL LIFE. the natural excretions of animals, the elements thus removed, or with decomposed animal, vegetable, and mineral substances containing them ; and, so perfect has this knowledge of agricultural chemistry become, that it is known just what elements are needed after each crop, and just how these elements can be supplied — vege- tables using only disorganized elements, whUe animals use only organized elements — a beautiful provision of nature. It is known also what food and management will best develop our animals, and make them subserve our interests. Scientific laws are applied also to the care of oui horses, to make them beautiful, strong, swift, healthy, and docile ; and to our cattle, and pigs, and hens, to enable them to furnish us with their invaluable contri- butions to the necessaries and luxuries of life ; and our farmers know just what food to give them in order best to develop these resources. We have also books on bees and canary birds, teaching what they must have and what they must not have in order to be healthy. But our children, vdthout whom all these other blessings would be of little value, are left to die, or grow up if they are sufficiently tough, without the application of science, or even common sense, to their care or cul- ture. ' What two mothers can be found to agree iu regard to the diet or regimen of their children ? Who studies as much to learn how to feed himself as how to feed his cattle, or even his pet dog? But are we not better then they? Did God give laws for feeding them and no laws for feeding us and our children ? THE ORIGIN (JF WHEAT. . , 23 Wheat— its Origin and Chemical Composition. Tlie plant producing wheat belongs to the order of Grasses, and undoubtedly came originally from some grass whose seeds are so unlike the grains of wheat, as developed, after centuries of cultivation, as not now to be recognized. It is not found wild in any part of the world, but like the other grains, and roots, and leguminous and succulent vegetables and fruits, has been changed from the " herb of the field," which, after the fall, was the basis, or emblem at least, of all the resources that were left to man ; so that almost literally, from the " herb of the field," by the sweat of his brow, he has obtained not only his necessary food, but all the choicest luxuries which he now enjoys. Wheat is the most extensively cultivated and the most generally used of any of the grains ; indeed, it is grown all over the world, but it flourishes best between the parallels of twenty-five and sixty degrees of latitude. The varieties of wheat are very great, over four hundred being described by the French Academy of Arts and Sciences, and it furnishes the principal food of more peoplethan any other grain. Of these varieties some have sharp awns or beards, and some are beardless. The grains of some are red, some brown, and some white. Some contain more carbonaceous elements, and are therefore better adapted t*t) the supply of heat than others. Some have more uitrogenous materials, and therefore are better adapted lo give muscular power. Some have more phosphates, and therefore give more mental and nervous energy. 24 ANALYSIS OF WHEAT. But the average distribution of these elements more nearly corresponds with the requirements of the human system, under ordinary circumstances, than any other grain ; and life and health can be continued on wheat alone for an indefinite period, with good water and good air. Wheat will, therefore, be the standard by which to compare other articles of food. Analysis of Wheat. The average Cowiposiiion of one hundred Parts. Water, 14.0 Gluten, . 12.8 Albumen, 1.8 Starch, 59.7 Sugar, 5.5 Gum, 1.7 Fat, 1.2 Fibre, 1.7 Minerals, 1.6 ■or, ■ Water, 14,0 Nitrates, or muscle- makers, 14,6 Carbonates, or heat and fat-producers, 69.8 Phosphates, or food for brains, nerves, &c 1.6 These principles are made up of the fourteen ele- ments which constitute the human system, and the proportion of the muscle-making, the heat-producing, and brain and nerve-feeding elements, are about the average proportions required, in moderate weather, with moderate exercise of physical and mental facul- ties. But the distribution of these elements is not equal in all parts of the grain ; and this, we shall see, is very important to be understood, as ignorance of this fact has led to the Bacrifice of the most important ele- ments. This we can understand by reference to the following wood cuts : Fig. 1 being the natural size of MCSCLE-MAKING FOOD LOST FROM FLOUR. 25 wheat, and Fig. 2 being magnified to three or foui diameters. ' Vig. 1. Fig. 2. © o Flg.5. i'ik'iiii.il Southern Com. Flint Corn. a. Nitrates, or Muscle-makers. h. Carbonates, or Heat or Fat-producers. c. Phosphates, or Food for Brains and Nerves. These drawings are intended to show the position and the relative quantity of the three important prin- ciples — the muscle-makers, occupying or constituting a crust around the outside of the grain, being from twelve to fifteen per cent, of the whole grain ; the heal or fat-producers, occupying the centre, being from sixty to seventy per cent. ; and the food for the brains and nerves, occupying the chit or germ, being from one And a half to three per cent. The limits of these prin- ciples are not, however, as circumscribed in the grain as aj)pears by the drawing, a small per cent, of nitrates l)eing mixed with the carbonates, and a part of the jihosphates being mixed with the nitrates ; indeed, the phosphate of lime, which goes to form bones, is almost nil mixed with the nitrates in the crust ; while the solu- ble phosphates, which feed the brain and give mental ♦igor, are mostly found in the germ ; and this arrange- 26 BRAIN FOOD LOST FEOM FLOUE. ment is found to exist in all the grains and all the seeds of grasses, — the smallest seed under the microscope showing the same organization as that exhibited in the cut of wheat, — the smaller seeds, however, containing much larger proportions of the nitrates and phosphates, being intended for the support of birds of great activity. The practical importance of understanding this arrange- ment will be better understood by reference to a drawing of the transverse section of a grain of wheat magnified to eighteen diameters from the section in Fig. 1. Kg. 6. / y . To understand how large a part of the phosphates and nitrates is lost in bolting to make superfine flour, '% will be necessary to explain that gluten, which is the principal nitrogenous element in wheat, is tenacious or adhesive ; while the starch, the carbonaceous element, is globular and crumbly ; the consequence is, that in grinding, the glutinous crust is separated in flakes, and is sifted out, leaving the flour composed almost entirely of starch, vi^hich contains no food for brain or muscle. IMPORT ANCE OI' SUPPLYING LOST ELEMENTS. 27 The outer layers of the wheat, constituting twelve or fourteen per cent, of the whole grain, which are repre- sented by the darkened lines, a, in the plates, contain a large part of all the muscle -making elements of the wheat ; and, being adhesive, it is easily separated from ihe more crumbly particles of the starch below, which is represented by the white part within the outer lines, 6; consequently, it is separated from it in grinding and bolting, and much of it is lost with the bran. The germ also, which contains, with the gluten, the soluble phosphates, which is represented by the darker lines, c, in the drawing, is also tenacious, and much of it goes off with the bran. The insoluble or bone-making phosphorus, being mixed with the nitrates, is also lost. Nothing, therefore, can be more clearly proved than that in using perfectly white, superfine flour, we sacrifice the most important elements of the wheat merely to please the eye. And yet this is the kind of flour which probably makes more than nine tenths of all the bread in American cities, besides the large amount used for cakes, puddings, and pastry. The farmer knows that wheat will not grow in soil ,»ut of which is taken any of the essential elements that constitute that grain ; and he either supplies these ele- ments, or he makes no attempt to raise wheat. Yet how many of our citizens are attempting to raise chil- dren on superfine flour, and butter, and sugar, neither of which contains food for the muscles, or bones, or brains, sufficient to keep these organs from actual ttarvation ! 28 THE EVILS OF EATING DEFECTIVE FOOD. Every one also who keeps fowls knows, that to get a supply of eggs, and raise chickens, hens must be supplied with other food than Indian corn meal, which contains too many of the carbonates, or fattening ele- ments, and too few of the phosphates and nitrates, to supply the shells of the eggs or muscles of the future chick. They are therefore fed with ground bones and egg-shells for the one, and meat or insects for the other purpose. But how many expectant and nursing moth- ers, not knowing or considering their responsibilities, live on superfine flour bread, and butter, and puddings, and sweet sauce, and cakes, and confectionery, which contain little else than the three articles of food before mentioned, and in which are only found the carbonates, or fat and heat-producing elements, and only very little of food for the muscles and tissues, or bones, or brain I The results are inevitable. One half of the children die before they are five years old, and many before that age have, for the want of the phosphate of lime, defec- tive teeth and soft and rickety bones. If they live to grow up under the same disregard to their natural requirements, their muscles are poorly developed, their tissues are weak, and susceptible to disease for the want of the nitrogenous elements of food ; their bones, and brains, and nerves are weak, and subject to disease for the want of the phosphates ; while, by over feeding with the carbonates, the whole system is heated and excited, and ready to be inflamed by the first spark of disease ; and the inevitable results are inflammations, fevers, neuralgic pains, consumptions, defective teeth, CARBONACEOUS FOOD. 29 reactive exhaustion, chlorotic weaknesses, and diseases and pains innumerable. It seems to me that the arch fiend, who is represented as " walking about seeking whom he may devour," has never devised a more effectual plan for tormenting and devouring the human race than this. The penalties for the breach of Nature's laws are always severe in proportion to the importance of the purposes to be subserved by them, and they must follow the transgression as effect must follow the cause. No less severe punishments than those mentioned above could be expected to follow the utter disregard for that wonderful arrangement by which in a single grain of wheat could be supplied all the elements necessary for the growth or^pport of all the organs and functions — an arrangement which even Infinite Wisdom could not effect but by a process that required countless ages of time. To these penalties we shall have occasion to refer again when treating of diet for the sick. Batter, Sn^ar, and Saperfiue Floor. The only articles, the common use of which brings upon this community the terrible evUs to which I hare veferred, are fine white flour, butter, and sugar. These Hrticles, made up almost entirely as they are of heat- producing nourishment, are wholesome and necessary food to the extent of more than three fourths of all our solid nutriment, that great proportion of the carbonates being required to supply fuel and. fat ; but they contain BO few of the elements that support the muscles and 30 HOW TO ENJOT EATING. solid tissues, and so few that give us vital power, that either alone, or all three combined, could sustain life only for a very limited period — probably not two months. These three important elements of food are found in abundance combined with the other impor- tant elements which the system requires, and in many they are found combined in just the proportion re- quired ; indeed, in all food in such proportions aa to adapt them to the different temperatures and circum- stances in which we may be' placed ; so that we have no necessity, or even apology, for separating what God has thus joined together. Starch, of which fine white flour is mostly composed, is found in the entire grain of wheat, and in many other grains and leguminous seeds, combined with muscle-making and brain-sustaining elements, in just the right proportions. Butter is found in milk, also combined with all other necessary elements in exactly the right proportions ; and sugar in vegetables and fruits ; and, it is a fact that our relish for, and enjoyment in, eating these different combinations of necessary food are in exact proportion to their adaptedness to our wants at the time we take them. But for the perversion of our appetites, caused by eating these three articles in an unnatural state, we should always desire most what we most need, and could always eat all we want of what we best like. And, even after our tastes have become perverted, we find, on giving Attention to this subject, that the more nearly we HOW TO ADAPT FOOD TO THE WEATHER. ifl conform to Nature's requirements in the selection of food, the more we enjoy the pleasures of eat- ing ; so that in the pleasures of the table, as in all other pleasures, they enjoy the least who most anx- iously inquire, "Who will show us any good?" while they enjoy most who only expect pleasure in the line of duty. We all instinctively desire, also, more of these heat-producing articles in cold weather than in warm, and eat, without considering the reasons for doing so, much more of the fats of animals, and butter, and buckwheat-cakes, with sirup, in winter than in sum- mer ; and as spring opens we begin to desire cooling green vegetables and acid fruits, and this desire in- creases till in very warm weather we loathe the food we most esteemed in winter ; and if our appetites fail in warm weather it is because our housekeepers persist in supplying us with the same fat meats and the same farinaceous puddings, with sauce of butter and sugar, which were furnished in winter. Let our house- keepers just keep in mind the fact that these articles only stand in the way of gratifying our tastes and inclinations in regard to food, and they will find tliat the science of cooking is very simple, and the wants of a family are very easily provided for. But we need not abandon either of these perverted arti- cles entirely. Let us only consider how to correct the errors into which we have fallen, and use " all the ireatures of God which are good and not to be de- spised, " so as to make them contribute to our health 32 THE MODE OF ANALYZING GEAIN8. and happiness. Of this perverted trio of good things wheat is the most important, because most extensively used, and by far the most valuable. Miaroscopic Analysis of Wheat. Fig. 7. a. The outer coat, or true bran, con- taining iron, silica, and some other ele- ments required in the human system, and not found elsewhere in the wheat, but composed mostly of indigestible woody Magnified 150 diameters. fibre, which iS also useful as waste to keep the bowels in action — even the outer bran should therefore be saved, (page 35.) 6. Gluten cells, surrounded by diffused gluten and bound by it to the true bran, so that in sifting or bolting a large portion is lost. Nine tenths of all the muscle-making ele- ments reside in this coat or crust, and also the phosphates of lime and soda, of which bones are made ; the most of which are lost in fine white flour. c. Cells forming the central mass of the wheat, composed mostly of starch, with a little albumen and gluten intermixed, and also some of the phosphates connected with the gluten. Starch, though a valuable element of food, and the principal element in vegetable food to keep up animal heat, is so perfectly destitute of the essential element for sustaining life, that living on that alone, as proved by experiment, any animal will die in thirty days. A DIFFEEENT METHODS OF ANALYSIS. 3D glance at this plate will enable any one to understand and believe the estimate of M^ge Mouri^s to be true, that there are fourteen times as much of the phosphates and nitrates " in commercial bran as in commercial super- flne flour ; " and this important fact is proved by three separate and distinct calculations : by M^ge Mouri^s of France, by chemical analysis of the bran and flour ; by Dr. A. A. Hayes, of Boston, who first suggested the idea of applying tests to the whole grain, showing the arrangements of elements as delineated in Fig. 2,* and other plates, the truth of which statements I have carefully tested, as have other chemists ; and Mr. Thomas J. Hand, of New York, an amateur micros- copist of great assiduity and skill, who has spent many years in microscopic observations on wheat, and to whom I am indebted for the original drawings of plates 6 and 7, and also for many other facte. and observations, fully substantiating the facts abovft stated. There can be, therefore, no proof more clear i,nd positive than that superfine white flour is deprived of a large portion of the most important elements of food. Bread-making. The most important use of wheat is for bread- making. For this purpose, on many accounts, it ia better than any other grain, and being better, is more extensively used in every civilized country. As bread is the stafl^ of life, wheat, of which it is most extensively made, is called the " queen of cereals • '' » Appendix A. page 343. 34 BREAD-MAKINO. and though by producing sickness, and suffering, and death, her reign is one of terror, especially in this country and in Europe, it would not be desirable to dethrone her ; but it would be desirable to inaugurate such a change as to make her reign a reign of mercy. The necessity and importance of a change in regard to the use of white bread can be understood by consider- mg a few facts. It is estimated that ninety-five per cent, of bread used in Boston is made of wheat flour, out of which has been taken, by the process of grinding and bolting, all but about five per cent, of its muscle-making and life- supporting elements, so that fifteen barrels are required to furnish as many of these elements as one barrel of unbolted wheat meal. This will be fully compre- hended by reference to the grain of split wheat, drawn under a microscope, Fig. 6, and the proportions of nitrates, and carbonates, and phosphates, delineated by different colored lines in plates on a previous page. Carbonates white, nitrates in lines, and phosphates in darker lines. The nitrates and- phosphates are in- separable by mechanical means, being bound together by gluten, of which it is mostly composed, while the carbonates, being mostly starch, which is granular, and loosely adherent, is easily separated from the glu- tinous crust by the process of grinding and bolting. In making superfine flour twenty-five per cent, of the meal goes off in the sittings, of which fifteen per cent. 18 of the nitrates and phosphates, and ten per cent, of carbonates. BRAN AS FOOD FOE HOESES AND CATTLE. 35 A glance at Fig. 6 will also show us the value of bran as food for horses, working cattle, and fowls, and growing pigs, and give us some hints as to the right way of using it. These animals require about the same proportions of nitrates and carbonates as man, under similar circumstances as to temperatures, &c., from twelve to eighteen per cent, of the one to sixty to eighty of the other. The microscopic analysis above referred to gives only about ten per cent, of the muscle-making elements and phosphates, while chem- ical analysis gives fourteen ; but they are both correct, microscopic analysis recognizing only these elements as they exist in the outer shell of the grain, while chemical analysis recognizes them as mixed with the carbonates.* That superfine white flour bread does not contain all the elements necessary to keep the system in order, under any ordinary condition of life, is universally ad- mitted by all who have given attention to the subject ; and that there are objections to the usual manner of making bread, is also well known by all scientific men ; and the question has become an important one. How shall wheat bread be made a rebable "staff of life," instead of the broken reed which it is now admitted to be? * Since writing the above Mr. Hand has sent me a microscopic analysis oi the flakes of bran in the excrements of horses and cattle, in which he finds the very important fact that the silex and iron, which in the cereals reside almost exclusively in the outer hull, are all taken out by digestion, leaving only the woody fibre to keep it in. form. This may explain the fact that aorses and cattle never have chlorosia or bad teeth. 3(j TWO NEW PLANS OF BREAD-MAKING. Two iVew Plans of Bread-Making Have been devised by scientific men. One by an American, and the other, by M^ge Mouri^s, of Paris. Both of these have been extensively tried. The new American plan consists of an attempt to re- store to the fine flour the phosphatic elements of which it was deprived by bolting, through the introduction of phosphorus or phosphoric acid obtained from calcined bones. This is open to very grave objections, and, involving as it does the fife and health of those who adopt it, cer- tainly demands a candid, but critical and faithftd chem- ical and physiological consideration. My first objection to this plan is, that it does not at- tempt to restore the muscle-making elements of the flour, of which it is mostly deprived by the process of bolting, but leaves out these important parts as a sacrifice to a ridiculous caprice of the community, — a whim, on ac- count of which, flour deprived of its most important ele- ments of nutrition, and those which give its most delicious relish, is preferred and universally used only because it is frhite, colored bread being unfashionable ; and this idea appears the more absurd, when we consider that this same flour is frequently colored to make many common and fashionable articles of food, as gingerbread, rich cake, etc. The first impulse of science would seem to be to teach as to use wheat, as every other gift of God, just as He made it, adding nothing to it, and taking nothing from OBJECTION TO THE NEW AMEKICAN PLAN. 37 t ; and this, I propose in another place to show, is per- fectly practicable. Serious Objection to the New American Plan for Bread- Making. But my great objection to this plan is, that instead ot recommending that the phosphatic elements usually taker out with the nitrogenous elements in bolting should b? restored in Nature's own way, or rather that they shoulo not be taken out at all, the attempt is made to restor" them from the laboratory, by phosphates chemically disor- ganized, — a plan utterly at variance with Nature's laws, and therefore utterly impossible ; and if it were simply a failure, the objection would be of less consequence ; but. like all other attempts to thwart the purposes of God, th? very effort brings its penalty. God's plan, as clearly revealed in his book of nature, as I have elsewhere partly explained, is this : having, at infinite expense of time and labor, made the world for man,* and supplied the soil with every element which the human system requires ; and having ordained that the vegetable kingdom should be his great laboratory . in which these elements should be fitted for, and placed in harmony with the assimilating powers of the differ- ent organs, so that these elements should be gratefully received as they are wanted, to supply the requisite nutriment; God, in infinite wisdom, in order to pro- tect the organs from all elements not thus organizert in some vegetable, has made these very elements poi- sonous, so that they shall be rejected by the different » Writing after the manner of men. 00 lilSOBQAKIZED ELEMENTS POISONOtTS. organs at whose gate they shall call for admittance, and they are therefore made poisonous more or less according to their relative importance in the human economy. Phosphorus, being the element on which the brain and nerves depend, and, therefore, the physical source of life itself, is, when not thus organized according to Nature's plan, the most virulent poison of any element found m the human system, indeed one of the most virulent poisons in nature ; and it is susceptible of proof that the form of phosphorus which is recommended, in maKnig pnospnatic bread, is not one of the mildest, out one ot the strongest and most poisonous combina- tions. Dr. J. Francis Churchill, of Paris, who has devoted more time than any one else to experiments on the differ- ent preparations of phosphorus, with a view to find the oest form for the treatment of consumption, makes him- self believe that while the combinations of phosphoric acid, the acid which is used in this plan for bread-mak- ing, is very poisonous — the combinations of phosphorous acid, whii^h he (Dr. Churchill) recommends as medicine, being much milder, are perfectly innocent, if carefully used; but he has the candor to quote from Dr. Buck- heim, a celebrated chemist, the following opinion from four other celebrated German chemists, in regard to his own milf^"" form of phosphorus : — " Woehler and Frenich, basing their opinion as much upon their own experiments as upon those of Weige land Krug, have concluded that phosphorous acid has a poi* OPINIONS OF LEARNED CHEMISTS. 39 onous effect analogous to arsenic, . . . and acts upor the economy exactly like phosphoric acid. . . . The same also holds good with the salts (phosphatic salts) of soda." And this opinion completely covers the ground of the phosphatic bread. "The phosphoric acid used is pre- pared from the only practicable source of phosphorus — the bones of beef and mutton. They are. boiled; then calcined." This burning of course disorganizes the bones, and the phosphorus is then in the condition of all disorganized phosphorus, unfit for assimilation and poisonous. Now, if we apply to this case the law 'to which I have referred, that elements once'diso^anized can never be restored to their normal condition till they have been returned to the soil, and reorganized in some plant, and, unless thus organized, can never be made to enter into the composition of any organ of the human system, we can understand how the inventor de- ceives himself. Being an analytical chemist, and not a physiologist, he does not understand that chemical laws must always yield to vital laws, as all lower law must subserve the higher : the laws which control the ele- ments of the earth must yield to the laws which control the life of man, for whom the earth was made. " The French army was at one time supplied with soup-cakes, prepared from bones, with the aid of Papin's digester. The bones thus liquefied at an elevated tem- perature and pressure, supplied phosphates in quantity greatly beyond the normal wants of the soldiers' diet , 40 ORGANIZED PHOSPHOKyS IN BONES. but Nature appropriated such portions of the uutrimenl offered as she required, and the remainder was rejected." Does this prove that disorganized phosphates are whole- some ? Then it also proves that nitric acid is whole- some : for nitrogen is known to be the basis of beefsteak as well as of nitric acid. It does, however, illustrate the dependence of chemical law on vital law. Phosphatic salts in bones were organized there through the grass and the grain which the animal ate, which contain these substances ; and the process of cooking or softening did not disorganize them. They were, there- fore, ready in the soup, to be taken up and appropriated by the organs which needed these elements, and were wholesome ; but the pliosphatic salts, made as they are from calcined bones, are of course disorganized, and, in- stead of being wholesome, are poisonous, just as the nitrogen in aqua-fortis, not being organized, is a poison , while the beefsteak, being composed of organized nitro- gen, is eminently wholesome, although the elements of beefsteak and aqua-fortis are the same, and in not dissim- ilar proportions. " The advantages of the new method " of bread-making over those of the ordinary method of making it " light " with acids and alkalies mixed, or sour milk and saleratufi, or tartaric, acid and soda, are not to my mind obvious ; while the disadvantages are in just the proportion as phosphoric acid is more poisonous than the acids in common use for that purpose. FRENCH PLAN OF BKEAD-MAKING. 41 M^ge Mouries' Plan of Bread-Making. The other new method to which I referred — that ol Mege Mouries, now quite extensively adopted in Paris — is not liable to the objections which have been made to* the American plan. It neither leaves out of the flour any important elements, nor adds thereto anything injurious. It simply restores elements of the " groats and bran," as nearly as possible in their original propor- tions, to the superfine flour out of which they have been taken ; but the question to my mind is, why be at such trouble and expense to get out the bran, and then be at equal trouble and expense to get it back again ? All the object claimed to be gained by Mouries' pro- cess is, that while it makes a ferment to raise the bread or make it light, it takes out the color of the bran, and leaves the bread white ; but it also takes out the sweet natural taste of the unbolted wheat bread, and is also objectionable on the ground that the bran from mouldy and otherwise diseased wheat cannot be detected in detached bran as in unbolted flour. But thus to attempt to improve what God has made perfect, is too absurd, philosophically, to be worthy of any ex- tended comments ; and though less dangerous than the similar effort of his American contemporary. What advantages, then, has either the new French or new American method over the common method of Dread-making by yeast? Both make science subservient to " prejudice against color ' of bread, and seem to think that, at any rate, 42 THE OBJECT GAINED BY THE PEEJVCH PLAN. bread must be white ; while the one, to some extent, saves the evils of the loss of the muscle-making ele- ments of wheat, and the other saves the evils of yeast, and substitutes an evil a thousand times worse than that of yeast ; and while it has no advantages over the common substitutes for yeast, in the production of carbonic acid gas, as cream of tartar and soda, sou? milk and saleratus, or any other mixture of acids and alkalies, is as much more injurious as phosphoric acid is more injurious than the acids in common use. The object to be gained by using any of these materials for raising bread, is simply this : Flour, especially superfine flour, when wet becomes compact, or solid ; and if thus cooked, as in some kinds of pastry, and thus eaten, will allow the juices of the stomach, which produce digestion, to have access only to the surface of the morsel, and of course must be slow of digestion ; but if the particles of flour are sep- arated from each other, as in light bread, the juices have access to every part, and the process of digestion is commenced in every part immediately. To effect this object, some substance is intimately mixed, by kneading, so as to intervene between the particles, which, when heated in the oven, or by gentle heat beforehand, will be changed into gas, and thus separate the particles from each other ; then, if the flour be sufficiently glutinous to hold the gas till the Dread is baked, the particles remain separated, and the bread is light ; but superfine flour is deprived of much of rts gluten, and therefore is not sufficiently tenacious without the most scrupulous care to be well raised or THE OBJECT OF RAISING BREAD. 43 to retain its lightness after standing. Unbolted wheat flour, having in it all its natural gluten, is much more easily managed, and indeed may be raised without the addition of any other than natural and useful elements, as we shall further explain. Two aerial substances are produced by fermenta- tion, carbonic acid and alcohol. These expand the flour and make it light, and though both are poisonous, they do no essential harm to the bread, because they are removed from it, or should be, before eating. The alcohol is all removed in baking, and the carbonic acid gas is very soon displaced by oxygen and nitrogen, on being exposed to the air, and if the bread is placed in the air, the pores will be filled with pure air instead of carbonic acid gas. Bread raised with yeast, therefore, is not unwholesome, unless eaten too soon after bail- ing, while bread raised with phosphatic, or any other acid or alkaline salts, leaves these foreign, unnatural elements in the bread after the carbonic acid gas is evolved. Yeast, however, consumes in fermentation a portion of the gluten and sugar of the flour, which, in superfine flour, are already greatly deficient; but this evil in unbolted wheat flour is of very little conse- quence. Unbolted flour bread, raised with yeast, loses perhaps six per cent, of its muscle-making element. Bolted flour bread, raised with phosphatic salts, has lost seventy per cent, of these elements. What, then, is the True Method of making Bread ? My "ideal loaf " is made from wheat perfectly fair, und free from smut or other disease ; not having been 44 THE EFFECT OF YEAST ON BREAD* wet and moulded either before or after harvesting, and not having been heated before or after grinding ; care- fully kept clean after being properly ground so as to need no sifting, and, not being bolted, it retains every part that belongs to it, and needs no addition, except cold water and a little salt. Such bread has been made light, and of course digestible, sweet and delicious to the taste, and, con- taining as it does in just the right proportion every element required by the human system, and being sufficiently porous to allow access to every part by the juices of the stomach, and containing in its cells neither carbonic acid gas, or in its substance any phosphorus,* or soda, or potash, or other deleterious materials, is perfectly adapted to fulfil every requirement of nature, without, so far as I know for general use, a single drawback. Such bread I have known placed on the table of a large, particular, not to say fastidious family, with the nicest and whitest family bread, and every member take it in preference. Light bread cannot be thus made from bolted flour for want of the natural gluten, and this is an additional evidence that "true bread" requires for its construction no additions to, or sub- tractions from, its natural elements ; indeed, the con- clusion is to my mind irresistible, that after such infinite pains in collecting in the soil, and making laws by which they should be collected in a single grain of wheat, all the elements in just the right proportions and combinations necessary to supply the wants of the * Disorganized Phosphorus. NATUEAL BREAD. 45 human system, our heavenly Father would not leave this food so imperfect as to require either addition or subtraction in order to render it digestible. Recipe for making IVatoral Bread. Bread, light, sweet, delicious, and eminently whole- some, may be made by mixing good unbolted wheat meal with cold water, making a paste of proper consistence, which can only be determined by experi- ments, pouring or dropping it quickly into a heated pan,* that with concave departments is best, and placing it quickly in a hot oven, and baking as quickly as possible without burning. The heat of the oven and pan suddenly coagulates the gluten of the outside, which retains the steam formed within, and each parti- cle of water being interspersed with a particle of flour, and expanded into steam, separates the particles into cells, and being retained by the gluten, which is abun- dant in this natural flour, till it is cooked, the mass remains porous and digestible, and, containing no car- bonic acid gas, is wholesome when eaten immediately, and of course equally so on becoming cold. But for family bread, if not eaten till it has stood in pure air tiU the carbonic acid gas in the cells is exchanged for the oxygen of the air, there is no important objection to bread made from good unbolted wheat meal with fresh yeast. It contains all the ele- ments necessary for feeding the muscles and brains, and for producing all the fat and animal heat required, and contains no materials essentially deleterious ; and • The pan must be sissing hot, and the oven as hot as possible. 46 THE DUTERBNT METHODS OF BEBAD-BIAKING. bread thus made from good superfine flour is only negatively deleterious, having lost its food for muscles and brains ; and it need not, therefore, be discarded if at the same meal these elements are supplied in lean meat, fish, or cheese, or other food containing similar elements ; but if eaten with butter or sugar only, and nothing else, vyould soon make of us bloated and stupid idiots. Different hinds of superfine flour retain different 'proportions of food for brains and muscles, and all retain some. Indeed, bread could not be raised from flour absolutely deprived of gluten, vphich contains these elements. Gluten absorbs water, and causes the paste to swell. That flour is therefore best which is most glutinous, and it is also most economical, as it will make the most bread. The proportion of gluten in wheat varies greatly according to cultivation and time of harvesting, and to the amount of nitrogen in the soil in which it grows. And by a beautiful provision of Nature, it varies also in a much greater degree according to the climate in which it grows, and this is true of all other grains. In northern climates, where more heat ia required, a larger proportion of starch and other car bonates are found, so as to get with the requisite amount of food for muscle and brain more heat-pro- ducing elements. Many hundreds of analyses have been made in Europe by different chemists with very remarkable results. In England and the more northern states the DIFFERENT QUALITIES OP FLOCE. 47 average amount of gluten in the best flour was but ten per cent. , while some samples from Italian and Turkish wheat yielded as high as thirty-five per cent, of gluten. In this country, also, a similar difference, but not so great, has been observed between the nourishing qualities of flour from southern and northern wheat. Chemical analyses have not, so far as I know, been made to determine the comparative amount of gluten in southern and northern flour ; but the comparison is made by a different process, and the difference be- tween flour from Georgia wheat and that raised in Canada is at least twenty-five per cent.* The report of the Patent Office for 1848 states that Alabama flour yielded twenty per cent, more bread than flour from Cincinnati. Upon this principle the quality of flour may be tested in a tube graduated like a thermometer, only being large enough to hold an appreciable amount of dry flour, which, on being wet, will swell and rise in the tube in proportion to the «,mount of gluten contained in the sample used ; or the experiment may be varied by noticing the degree of expansion under regular increments of heat. Upon the same principle housekeepers judge of the " strength" of flour, which is only another term for expressing the amount of gluten or strength-giving element, by aoticing the height to which a given quantity will rise in a similar vessel in which it is being prepared for baking; and when we consider that flour with the most gluten is not only twenty-five per cent, more jconomical than flour with the minimum of that im- • Sonthern flour also contains more phosphorus than Northern. 18 SOUTHERN FLOUR BETTER THAN NORTHERN. portant element, but is also sweeter and more digesti- ble in the same proportion, it becomes a matter of great importance to be able to judge of its richness in gluten. Another fact worthy of notice in this connection, and which may be made of some practical importance, is, that the gluten of southern wheat, or of any other southern grain, does not, to so great an extent as in northern wheat, reside in a crust around the surface of the grain, but is more enclosed in the starch in the centre — a provision of nature probably for the protection of the germ from inclement weather. This is shown in the plate, Figs. 3 and 4, in the drawing of corn. Super- fine flour, therefore, made from southern wheat, is much richer in gluten than the samis quality of flour from northern wheat, while the difference is much less between the unbolted flour from the different regions ; and this I think accounts for the well-known fact that Italian maccaroni is much more nourishing than American. Wheat is also made into very valuable food in the form of grits, or cracked wheat. In this form we get, in their natural state, all the elements of the human system ; even the iron and silex are ^11 there, which are sifted out of much of the unbelted flour in the outer or true bran. This bra^ is also the natural stimulant to keep the bowels in proper action, and, for the few exceptional cases in which it proves too irri- tating, the " cerealina," or grits, from wheat, deprived of its outer hull, is the very perfection of food. Thia ANALYSIS OP RTE. 49 new article has been lately introduced, and is used to Bome extent in Philadelphia. Farinn, Also, as made by Hecker, is an excellent prepara- tion, in which most of the elements of wheat are retained in a form very acceptable to delicate stomachs. It is deprived of some of its gluten, but being made from the varieties of wheat which are richest in that element, is valuable, especially for those who find the grits too irritating. Rye. Next to wheat, especially for bread-making, rye is the best of the cereals. It is a favorite article of diet of the people of northern Europe, especially Russia, where it is called "black bread." It contains more of the heat-producing but less of the muscle and brain- feeding elements than wheat, as may be seen by com- paring the following analysis with that of wheat : — One hundred parts of rye contain Water, . . . 13.00 . Muscle-feeders, 13.80 >or,«^ Heaters, . . . 71.5 Food for brains and bones, . 1,7 Water, . . 13.00 Gluten, . . 10.79 Albumen, . 3.04 Starch, . • 51.14 Gum, . . . 5.31 Sugar, . , . 3.74 Fat, .... 0.95 Woody fibre, 10.29 Mineral matte r, 1.74 Containing more waste materials than wheat, it is more 50 ORIGIN OF CORN. Stimulating or laxative to the intestinal canal, and may therefore be useful in a constipated condition. Fig. 8. ruscaxora Com. Maize, or Indian Corn. Fig. 9. Fig. 10. Northern Com. Fig. a Southern Com. This cereal is generally supposed to be a native ot America ; but having seen and planted a sample that was taken from folds that had enveloped a mummy for at least three thousand years, which sprouted and grew, and which produced the grain on a bundle of stalks like those of broom corn, or as if the seed-bearing stalks of the broom corn had been tied together and had adhered, as I have described in another chapter, I am of opinion, that, like the other cereals, it was cultivated from grass, at a period too remote to be traced to its origin, and that it came from the same species as broom-corn and sorghum. It contains less muscle-making materials and more heaters and fat- makers than wheat, and consequently is much used in fattening cattle and pigs, for which purpose it is better than any other grain. Why this grain is better than wheat for fattening animals is seen by the fact that it contains more than six times as much oil. Starch, sugar, and fat are classed together as carbonates, or fat and heat- producers, but the efioct of each is diiFerent from the ANALYSIS OF CORN. 51 Other of these elements. Fat giving two and a half times as much heat as starch, there should be added at least sixteen, making the heaters eighty-nine. The average composition of one hundred parts of Indian corn is about, — Water, . . . 14.0 Gluten, . . . 12.0 Starch, . . . 60.0 Sugar, 1 Gum, J ■ ■ 0.3 Fat, .... 7.7 Fibre, . . . 5.0 Mineral matter, 1.0 >or,<' Water, 14 Muscle-makers, . 12 Heaters, .... 73 Fat-producers, Food for brains and bones, . . 1 Sugar and starch generally furnish the necessary heat, and have less tendency to be converted into fat, while the oils, as butter, the fat of meats, &c., are without much change deposited as fat. If sugar or starch alone are supplied, they will not only supply heat, but fat ; but if oil be added, sugar and starch will supply the heat, and the oil the fat that is necessary, while on the other hand, if sugar and starch be deficient, and oil supplied, it will supply the heat as well as the fat of the system. Sugar and starch, and especially sugar, are supplied for keeping up the necessary ani- mal heat in summer and the oils for winter. Indian com, especially northern corn, is excellent ?ood for cold weather. Nature, however, provides that the corn of southern climates has less of the fat 52 INDIAN COEN AS FOOD. and heat-producing elements, as will be seen by refer ence to the plates, Figs. 2, 3, 9, 11. Indian corn has too little gluten to make good light bread alone ; but mixed with rye meal, which is very glutinous, the most wholesome and best of bread is made, which in many places in New England consti- tutes the staff of life to the laboring classes. Hom- iny, especially "large hominy," which is merely the grain cracked into two or three pieces, is excellent food, and if made from southern corn, as it generally is, contains a full share of muscle-making material, and is well adapted to laboring men ; it also contains a large share of the life-giving principles, and is well adapted to sedentary and literary employments. "Small hom- iny," which is mostly used in New England, is general- ly made from flint corn, which contains less of the food for muscles and brains, and more of the heaters, and is therefore best in cold weather. Hulled corn also con- tains the elements of the com, except those which reside in the hull ; and being soaked in some alkali, the oil is removed, and it is therefore good summer food. Well washed from the alkali used to decorti- cate it, it is imobjectionable and wholesome to those who like it. Buckwheat. Buckwheat, or "brank," as it is called in England, is cultivated more for feeding fowls and birds in winter than for food for man. It is inferior to wheat in its nutritive Fig. 12. BUCKWHEAT. 53 elements, containing more heaters and not half the muscle and brain-feeders. Eaten alone, therefore, it is not much better than superfine flour ; but with beefsteak or fish, to furnish requisite nutriment, it will serve to keep up the heat for a winter's day. In one hundred parts of buckwheat are, — Water, .... 14.2 Gluten, .... 8.6 Starch, .... 50.0 Gum, 2.0 Sugar, .... 2.0 Fat, 1.0 Woody fiibre, . 20.4 Mineral matter, 1.8, >or,< Water, .... 14.2 Muscle-makers, 8.6 Heaters, . . . 75.4 Food for brains and bones, . 1.8 Containing a large amount of woody fibre, which is waste, buckwheat is good for constipated habits. Barley. This cereal compares well with wheat in nutritive elements, but does not form light bread, and therefore IS nowhere used for that purpose, but is in many places used for making barley-cakes, which are valuable for persons inclined to constipation, containing, as it does, more of waste, which is the natural stimulant of the bowels. Barley is peculiar also for the amount of phosphates which it contains, — more than twice the amount contained in wheat, — and therefore might be made useful to literary men of sedative habits, adapted, 54 BAELEY. as it is, both to promote the action of the brain and bowels. For this purpose it would be useful and palatable in the form of cakes or porridge. Pearl barley, which is barley deprived of its outer coat, is also very valuable in sickness when vitality is low. One hundred parts of barley contain, — Water, . . . . 14.0,^ Gluten, &c., . 12.8 Starch, 48.0 Sugar, 3.8 Gum, . 3.7 Fat, . 0.3 13.2 Fibre, Mineral matter. 4.2. >or,< Water, .... 14.0 Muscle-feeders, 13.0 Heaters, . . . 69.5 Food for brains, &c 3.5 The Oat. This plant is found wild in the northern parts of Europe, and is the only cereal except rice that has been traced to its origin; all others having been so changed by cultivation as not to be recognized in their original seeds or plants. It flourishes in northern climates, and degenerates in warm. Unlike the wheat, its muscle-making materials are not connected with the hull, and are not therefore removed in making fine flour. Oat meal is rich in food for muscles and brains, and this may explain the fact that Scotchmen, who are raised principally on oat-meal porridge and oat-meal cakes, artf remarkable for mental and physical activity. It is much used also in the northern counties of Eng- OAT. 55 land, and furnishes the most material for hard work of any known grain. One hundred parts of oat contain, — Water, ... Gluten and al bumen, Starch, Sugar, Gmn, . Fat, . Fibre, 13.6 17.0 39.7 5.4 3.0 5.7 13.6 'Water Material for muscles, . . ' I Heaters, . . . Food for brains, &c., .... Mineral matter, 3.0> 13.6 17.0 66.4 3.0 Some inferences of great practical importance may be drawn from these facts in regard to the adaptation of different grains for gruels, &c., in the different forms of disease, which will be more fully discussed in a chapter devoted to this subject. By comparing the above analysis with that of wheat, and that show- ing the loss of important elements in superfine flour, the following conclusions will be irresistible : Of heat- producing material, oat meal and unbolted wheat meal contain about the same ; but in one pint of oat-meal gruel there is as much of muscle-making material as in five gills of unbolted meal gruel, and as in three quarts of fine flour gruel. Rice. Eice is the only cereal except oats that has been traced to its original plant. It is found wild on the bordei's of lakes of the East Indies, and is very 56 RICE. extensively cultivated in marshy grounds in Asia, the southern parts of Europe, and in some of the south- ern states of America. It is more largely consumed by the inhabitants of the world than any other grain, wheat, perhaps, excepted; but it is poor in materials for the support of brain or muscle ; and rice-eaters are everywhere an effeminate race. It contains, as will be seen by the following analysis, less than half the muscle-supporting elements of wheat, and only one quarter of the supporters of brain and nerve, and con- taining, as it does, a large amount of starch, can only support a life of indolence and feebleness. One hundred parts of rice contain, — Water, Gluten, Starch, Sugar, Gum, . Fat, . Fibre, 13.5 6.5 74.1 0.4 1.0 0.7 3.3 r Water, . . . . I Muscle-feeders, i'Or,-^ Heaters, . . . For brains and bones, . . . Mineral matter, 0.5^ 13.5 6.5 79.5 0.5 Eice may be useful as a part of a meal, with beef- Bteak or vegetables that contain no starch ; or, in some cases of sickness, when the stomach is weak, and when little is wanted of food but to keep the bellows of life blowing ; but for mental or muscular strength it is the poorest article in the common lists of nutritive food ; and this shows the worthlessness of " standard tables," as they are called, and as they are found in our physio- "standard tables" of nutriment. 57 logical school-books and health journals, showing, as they profess to show, the amount of nutriment in different articles of food, — but making no distinction between nutriment which feeds the system and the fuel which really consumes the system. — See table of com- parative " amount of nutriment," in Hall's Journal of Health, page 211, in which rice is said to contain eighty-eight per cent, of nutriment, while beans con- tain eighty-seven per cent. ; whereas, by analysis, rice contains but seven per cent., whUe beans contain twenty-seven and one half per cent, of real nutriment. This table would indicate that, except in regard to ease of digestion, it would make very little difference whether we ate rice or beans ; whereas one pound of beans would support life, in action, as long as four pounds of rice. This is only a specimen of articles in the "standard tables," and shows the importance of a new " standard " by which to judge of the nutritive value of articles of food. Beans. Having given an analysis of aU the cereals in com- mon use for food, let us now examine the leguminous Beeds, or those produced in pods. These are all rich in nutritious materials ; but their muscle-making ele- ment is not gluten, as in the grains, but casein, as in cheese — a substance not so easily digested as gluten, and therefore adapted to strong healthy persons with good powers of digestion. 58 BEANS. >0T^>< 'Water, .... 14.8 Muscle-makers, 24.0 Heaters, . . . 57.7 Food for braiDS and bones, . 3.5 One hundred parts of common field beans contain, — Water, . . . .14.8 a Casein, . . . .24.0 Starch, .... 36.0 Sugar, .... 2.0 Gum, 8.5 Fat, 2.0 Woody fibre, . 9.2 Mineral matter, B.5J Two pounds of beans will therefore help do more muscular work than three pounds of wheat, and more brain work than three and one half pounds. But, as they contain less by twenty per -cent, of their requisite amount of heaters, they are very appropriately eaten with fat pork, or some other heat-making food. Different varieties of beans contain some different proportions of the same elements ; but all are very nutritious. Beans are also eaten green, when the starch is not formed. In that state they are much less nutritious, and require with them butter or some other heat-giving material ; but are useful food in warm weather, as are all green vegetables, with other more nutritions food. Peas Contain very nearly the same elements in the same proportions as beans. They are, however, more easily digested, and are too rich in true nutrition to be eaten alone, but require some less nutritive article, like potatoes, and also an addition of heat-givers, as butter, or the fat of animals. PEAS. 59 In one hundred parts of peas are, — Water, .... 14.1 Casein, .... 23.4 Starch, .... 37.0 Sugar, .... 2.0 Gum 9.0 Fat, 2.0 Woody fibre, . 10.0 Mineral matter, 2.5. >or,^ 'Water, .... 14.1 Muscle-makers, 23.4 Heaters, . , . 60.0 Food for brains and bones, . 2.5 Peas also, when green, are excellent in warm weather, containing less starch and less casein, but more sugar than dried peas. They also require butter or other heaters. Lentils. Lentils also contain much casein, even more than peas. They are not much used for food, except at the Fast, where they are the favorite food in connection with rice ; and they seem to be intended to supply the deficiencies of each other, rice containing too few and lentils too many muscle-making materials, in propor- tion to their carbonates, as will be seen by reference to their tables of analysis. Lentils contain, in one hundred parts, — fWater 14.0 Muscle-feeders, 26.0 ► or, <^ Heaters, . . . 58.5 Food for brains and bones, . 1.5 Water, . . . . 14.0 Casein, . , . 26.0 Starch, . . . 35.0 Sugar, . . . . 2.0 Fat, . . . . 2.0 Gum, . . . . . 7.0 Woody fibre. . 12.5 Mineral matt( 3r, 1.5 60 LENTLLS. It will be seen that while rice contains but half iti true proportion of muscle-making element, — 6.5 i 100, — lentils contain much more than their propor tion, or 26 in 100. When used together, there fore, as is customary with the Hindoos, they give Bufficient muscular power for such an inactive people It will be seen, also, that both lentils and rice are deficient in food for brains ; and this may likewise be a providential arrangement to adapt the proportion of food to the proportion of brain to be fed. This idea is perhaps corroborated by the fact that the higher classes in the East, who furnish brains for the lower, and do all their thinking, use food containing more of the phosphates, the little seeds of the huge grasses, of the sorghum species, called millet, which forms a large part of their food, being admirably adapted for that purpose, used in connection with rice. It is a curious fact, developed by scientific researches, that the smaller the seed in proportion to the plant of which it is the germ, the larger is the proportion of phosphates which it contains. Millet, being the small germ of the large plant sorghum, abounds in elements of food for the brain, the physical germ of human vitality. A practical use may be made of this principle, especially with those who use much of fine flour, or butter, or sugar, in either of which is found only a trace of the phosphates, — remembering that in all our nourishment we need but two per cent, of phosphates. We can get suflficient of these elements to produce a sensible effect from the seeds of fruits and berries STARCH. 61 many of them, like those of the tomato, are digestible without crushing; others, like those of currants and most berries and apples, should be crushed with the teeth. The core of the apple should always be chewed, and the fibrous envelope rejected. The pits of all fruits and nuts are rich in phosphates ; a small quantity are therefore useful as a dessert after a meal of too carbonaceous food. Starch. Of the three principal heat-giving principles of food, starch, sugar, and fat, starch is the most abundant and most important in all vegetable food. It constitutes, indeed, more than nine tenths of all the carbonaceous principles of our grains and leguminous seeds on which we mostly depend. The ultimate elements are the same in starch, sugar, and fat, — carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, — and their use in the system is not in building up the structure of the body or in repairing its waste, but is in fact the fuel which keeps up animal heat. This, however, is not a subordinate office, requiring, as it does, more than three fourths of all our food to accomplish it ; and the adjustment of scientific principles, so as to keep the internal temperature of the body in summer and winter, in violent exercise or at rest, at just 98° Fahr- enheit, is wonderful; and yet it is found that under flo circumstances does it vary more than one or two ■degrees. The most important principle in the production of fi2 GKANXTLES OP STAECH. heat is starch, which is found in all vegetable food except the fruits. It exists in ii-regularly shaped granules, varying in size from ^o^oo ^^ T57 °^ ^° ^°°^ ^^ diameter, in different species of plants, each plant furnishing its own peculiar granules. These granules are insoluble in cold water, but are readily diffused through it, so that by bruising or crushing the grain or potato that contains it, and washing in cold water, the starch is separated from the other principles, and, being of greater specific gravity than water, settles to the bottom of the vessel containing it, and may thus be obtained in greater or less amounts from all edible vegetables and grains. On being mixed with water of a temperature of 180°, starch becomes glutinous and loses its gran- ular character, and in this state is much used in the arts to give firmness and inflexibility to fabrics of clothing, &c. Starch is turned blue by iodine, and the extent of its presence in any grain can therefore be easily tested by carefully slicing and soaking the grain and applying a solution of iodine. From wheat and corn, &c., thus treated, the drawings were made for Figs. 2, 3, 4, &c. The nitrogenous and phosphatic principles may be de- lineated by other appropriate tests. When starch is taken as an article of diet, its carbon is burned in the lungs in contact with the oxygen of Nitrates. ;} Waste. Water, . Gluten, . Albumen, Starch, . Sugar, ^Carbonates. Fat, . Fibre, Gum, . Mineral matter, . Phosphates. Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Rye. Water, 2oz. 35 gr. Gluten, . Albumen, Starch, . Sugar, . Fat, . . . Gum, . . Woody fibre Mineral matter, '\m Nitrates. >■ Carbonates. •< " ' " I Waste. \ Phosphates. 1 318 213 8 79 262 66 371 1 284 122 SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN CORN. 103 The average Amount of Hhitriment in One Pound of Northern Gorn (Maize). Water, .... 2oz. 105 gr Gluten, .... . Nitrate. 1 402 Starch, .... >l ^ 9 262 Sugar, .... . /-Carbonates. < 21 Fat,* . J . 1 101 Woody fibre, . . Waste. 350 Mineral matter. . Phosphates. 70 The average Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Southern Corn. !■ Carbonates. ■< Water, Gluten, Nitrate. Starch, . . Sugar, . . Fat, .... Woody fibre, Glim, ... Mineral matter, . Phosphates. 3 L ' i Waste. I 3 oz. gr. 4 215 218 200 20 21 200 250 * Or oil, two and one half times more fattening than starch oi ingar. I Nitrates. < 104 BARLEY, OATS, AND BEANS. The Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Barley. Water, . . Gluten, . . Albumen, . Starch, . . Sugar, ^Carbonates." Fat, . . . Mineral matter, . Phosphates. Average Amount Nutriment in One Pound Oat Meal. Water 2oz. 100 gr. Gluten, 1 f 2 > Nitrates. < Albumen, ... J I 350 2oz. 215 gr. 2 110 100 7 215 215 30 215 Sugar ^ Starch > Carbonates. •< Fat, J Mineral Matter, . Phosphates 360 100 360 200 The Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Beans, Water, Casein, Nitrates. Starch, . . . Sugar, . . . Fat, .... Woody fibre, Gum Mineral matter, . Phosphates, > Carbonates. Waste. PEAS AND BUCKWHEAT. 105 The Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Peas, Water, Casein Nitrates. Starch, ^ Sugar, > Carbonates. Fat -J Woody fibre, . 'Waste. :}■ 2oz. 112 gr. 3 324 5 403 140 140 1 263 1 193 175 Grum, . . . , Mineral matter, . Phosphates. Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Buckwheat Water 2oz. 118 gr. Gluten Nitrates. 1 165 Starch, -\ f 8 • . . > Carbonates. < 140 Sugar, Fat, . 70 Gum 1 r 140 \ Waste. \ Fibre, J I 126 Mineral matter, . Phosphates. 126 106 mCE AND POTATOES. The Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Rice, ► Carbonates. < Water Gluten, Nitrates Starch, .... Sugar, .... Fat Gum, .... Fibre Mineral matter. 2 oz. 26 gr. 1 rii L i Waste. -I 360 370 30 40 215 20 Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Potatoes. Water 12 oz . Ogr Starch _^ r ^ 205 Sugar, .... > Carbonates. •< 215 Fat • J I 2 Albumen, . . . . Nitrates. 142 Woody fibre, . Gum, . . , . . ■1 f \ Waste. \ J I 354 20 Mineral matter, . Phosphates. 354 SWEET POTATOES. 107 Amount JSPutriment in One Pound of Sweet Potatoes, Ounces. Grains. Water, .... 10 340 Starch, 1 r 2 249 Sugar, > Carbonates. < 1 277 Fat, J I 18 Albumen, .... Nitrates. 105 Fibre, .,...-) f 35 \ Waste. Gum, J I 77 Mineral matter, . Phosphates. 210 Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Parsnips. Water, . Albumen, Sugar, Starch, Fat, . Fibre, . Gum, . Mineral matter, Nitrates. >^ Carbonates. •< 13 . >• Waste. Phosphates. {\ 53 87 210 245 35 123 52 70 108 TURNIPS. — CAEEOT8. The Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Turnips. Ounces, Grains. Water, 14 213 Albumen, &c., . Nitrates. 77 Sugar, Carbonates. 28 Gum 1 f 107 \ Waste. \ Fibre, J I 168 Mineral matter, . Phosphates. 35 Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Carrots. Water 14 6 Albumen, .... Nitrates. 42 \ Carbonates. \ Fat, J JO 14 } Carbonates. \ J " I Waste. -I Gum 1 r 70 \ Waste. \ Fibre J I 231 Mineral matter, . Phosphates. 70 Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Cow's Milk, Water 13 533 Casein, Nitrates, 350 Butter, ^ f 245 >• Carbonates. •{ , Sugar J I 215 Mineral matter, . Phosphates. 70 MILK. 109 Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Human MilJe. Water, Casein, Nitrates. Butter, . . , ■ Carbonates. :}' Ounces. Grains. 14 41 210 1 <^ 210 /o 300 35 Sugar, . . , Mineral matter, Phosphates. Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Goafs Milk. Water, 10 Casein, Nitrates. 325 Butter \ [-0 230 > Carbonates. -; Sugar, J to 280 Mineral matter, . Phosphates. 70 The casein and phosphates are in larger proportions in the milk of the cow and goat than in human milk, to adapt them to the diiFerent conditions of their young. The calf and the kid, being active from their birth, re- quire the nitrates for feeding the muscles, and the phos- phates for ifttal power, at first ; while the child, being dormant and helpless, requires less of these principles ; and therefore, to substitute the milk of the cow or goat for food for the child, about one third water is required, and a little sugar — a little more for cow's than goat's milk, — but the difference between the milk of the cow 110 ANIMAL FOOD. and that of the goat is too little to make it an object to be at much trouble for the choice. The proportion? vary in different cows, and therefore it is important, in raising children on cow's milk, to get the milk that Buits, and then use the same cow's milk constantly. The Four Priucipal Meats, of average Fataess, com* pared with Vegetable Food. The A-Tnount of Nutriment in One Pound of Beef of average Fatness. Ounce! . Grains. Water, . . . 8 Fibrin and "i Albumen, J ■ Nitrates. 1 122 Equal to same am't casein, gluten, or albumen — 1 oz. . 122 grs. Fat, .... Carbonates. 4 340 Equal to 2i times as much sugar or starch, or 11 oz. Mineral, . . Phosphates. 350 •■ ^^^'• Gelatine, . . Waste. 1 122 The Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Veal. Water, . . . Ounces 10 Grains 9 Fibrin and ^ Albumen, J^^*'^^*^^- 1 199 Fat Carbonates. 2 281 Mineral, . . Phosphates. 312'- Gelatine, . . Waste. 1 82 Equal to 2^ times as much sugar or starch — 6oz.266 MUTTON. PORK. Ill The Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of Mutton, Ounces. Grains. Water, . . Fibrin and Albumen Fat, . . Gelatine, Mineral, 16 _}Ni Nitrates. Carbonates. Waste. Phosphates. 385 6 1 176 52 241 Bqual to 2i timet as mucli sugar oi starch — 16 oz., or 1 lb. The Amount of Nutriment in One Pound of PorTe. Ounces. Grains. W^ater, . . . 6 69 Fibrin and ^ . ,, \ Mtrates. Albumen, J 315 Fat, .... Carbonates. 8 Gelatine, . . Waste. 315 Mineral, . . Phosphates. 312 Equal to 2i times as much sugar or starch — 20 oz., or li lbs. ■ Rations for the English Soldier. — The amount and proportion of carbonates and nitrates necessary to keep the English soldier in a fighting condition, are found to be five ounces of nitrates to twenty ounces carbonates . and this amount is therefore daUy furnished, both in England and in India, and the English colonies ; and the English sailor has the same allowance. Rations of the Dutch Soldier. — When in war, it is five ounces of nitrates and twenty-one ounces carbo- nates ; but when in peace, or in garrison, it is only three 112 soldiers' rations. and one half ounces nitrates and twenty ounces carbo« nates ; but with this diet he is below fighting condition. Rations of the French Soldier. — The diet of the French soldier is very different from that of the Eng- lish or Dutch, they using much more of liquid food ; still the proportion or amount of nitrates and carbo- nates is not very dissimilar. He gets about four and tlu-ee fourths ounces nitrates and twenty-four ounces carbonates, and on this is always kept in a fighting condition — probably wasting three or four ounces of the carbonates. English Soldiers in the Chelsea Hospital have their nitrates reduced to three or four ounces, but their car- bonates remain the same ; as also the sailor in the Greenwich Hospital ; but, having no exercise, they need less carbonates as well as less nitrates, it being known that the deipand for both nitrates and carbo- nates is equally increased or diminished in proportion to the amount of exercise. Rations of Gree7iwich Pensioners. — They have three and one half ounces nitrates and twenty ounces carbonates. Rations of Chelsea Pensioners. — They have four and one half ounces nitrates and twenty and one fourth ounces carbonates. Rations of Old Men of Gillespie's Hospital, Edin- burgh. — They have three ounces nitrates and twenty ounces carbonates. Rations of Paupers. — In all the workhouses of England, Scotland, and Ireland, the average is daily HOSPITAL RATIONS. 113 three and one half ounces nitrates and sixteen and one half ounces carbonates. Rations of Boys of Ten Years old. — In the English schools two and one half ounces nitrates and fifteen ounces carbonates are allowed daily. Rations of Boys in Christ's Hospital in London.—" Only two and one half ounces nitrates and fourteen ounces carbonates are allowed ; but the average age is not stated. Massachusetts State Prison. Average Number of Prisoners, 545 . Food consumed in one Week : — Each man. Carbonates, NitTHtea. Founds. lbs. oz. IDs. oz. oz. Flour, 13 bbls. . 2600 5 4 2 6 Meal, 60 bush. . 3000 5 8 3 8 8 Beans, 9 " . . 576 1 8 5 Peas, 3 " . . 192 5 H 1| Eice, 41 " . . 306 1 8 7 n Potatoes, 100 " . 6000 10 2 8 0| Fresh beef, . . . . 925 1 8 7 3 Fish (fresh and salt) , . 1100 2 10 4 Fat pork, . . . . 525 1 1 Hard bread, . . . . 40 1 1 0| Lard, 60 2 2 28 00 13 081 29| Each man consumes in one day thirty ounces carbo- oates and four and one fourth ounces nitrates. 114 STATE PRISON RATIONS. By comparing the above bill of fare with the stan- dard already given, it will be seen that the muscle- making elements are three fourths of an ounce below the standard, while the carbonates are at least one third too high. It should be considered that living in a moderate and uniform temperature, and using only moderate muscular exercise, neither nitrates nor car- bonates need be above the average, — probably not more than twenty ounces of carbonates are consumed : all the remainder is cast oflf as waste ; and not being the natural waste, tends to derange the stomach and bowels, and clog and render dormant the whole sys- tem. The prisoners may be fat, and may look healthy, and indeed may be, and should be, with their regular habits, healthy, and the bill of mortality be much below the average ; but they cannot have much muscular or mental energy. By changing the first two articles on the bill, a saving of more than one hundred dollars would be made in a week, and a bill be made giving them more agreeable food, and giving them more of the nitrates and phosphates, and therefore more energy of mind and muscle. Half the amount of unbolted wheat flour, made from good wheat, would give more than the same amount of nitrates, with about one pound less of car- bonates, and the bread would be equally satisfactory ; and then half the amount of Southern corn (thirty bushels) meal, made from the variety of corn repre- sented by Fig. 3, would give more nitrates and more phosphates than is obtained from sixty bushels of Northern corn, and the bread would be lighter and ARMY RATIONS. 115 better, — which would also reduce the amount of car- bonates perhaps one pound more. And the bill might be still further improved by substituting for the four and one half bushels of rice as many bushels of peas, which would add an ounce to the nitrates and subtract another pound from the carbonates, as may be seen by the analysis. The Bill of Fare of Chinese Passengers from China to California. Carbonates. Nitrate.. Rice, 11 lbs. 17 oz. \^^ OZ. Beef or fish, Jib. 11 oz. \ oz. Salted vegetables, Jib. 1 oz. oz. 87 gr. Tea, .... Joz. Water, . . . 3 qts. 191 oz. 2 oz. 87 gr. Having a full supply of carbonates, and only half the amount of nitrates necessary for active life, probably they sleep most of the time. American Army Rations. Carbonates. Nltmtel. Pork or bacon, . J lb. if all fat, 12oz. Ooz. Fresh or salt beef, \\ lb. average fatness, 7 oz. 2 oz Bread or flour, . 1 lb. 8 oz. or 1 lb. 6 oz. 2 oz. Hard bread, . . 12 oz. 11 oz. 1 oz. Corn bread, . . 4 oz. 1 oz. \ oz. 8 qts. of beans ia one hundred rations ; or, in lieu, 10 lbs. rice twice a week ; or, in lieu, 150 oz. dried potatoes and 100 oz. dried veg_etables : I lb. tea, 15 lbs. sugar. 116 AMEEIOAN DIETETICS. These rations are very unscientifically made up. If I understand the bill, a man may have three fourths of a pound of fat pork and twelve ounces of hard bread on the same day, and nothing else, and get twenty- three ounces of carbonates and only one ounce of nitrates ; or he may have one pound and one fourth of fresh beef and one pound and one half of flour bread, and get twenty-nine ounces of carbonates and four ounces of nitrates ; or he may have the same quan- tity of fat pork, which contains no nitrates, and bacon, which, if of average fatness, would give a good share of nitrates. It is evident that in any combination the rations give too large a proportion of carbonates to beget activity and energy, and a large amount of flour or hard bread must be wasted. A great improvement would be made by leaving out three fourths of the flour and all of the rice, and giving instead Southern corn bread or hominy and beans and peas. This would give much more muscle power, and would save a large amount of expense. The great dietetic fault of the nation lies in eating too much carbonaceous food, especially with that part of the people who have followed old English habits. Probably the Massachusetts state prisoners live more nearly in accordance with physiological laws than any five hundred men outside ; but we see that they waste one third of their food in superfluous carbonates. By all the bills of fare for soldiers and prisoners, Bnd all other tables by which it could be ascertained how mujli of muscle-making nutriment is required ELEMENTS OP FOOD. 117 under different circumstances, it is seen that men in sedentary life, in this country or Europe, are not con- tent with less than four ounces of the nitrogenous ele- ments of food, and, in considerable degree of activity, they demand, and wiU. have, five ounces ; and in the same way it is ascertained that from four to five times as much of the carbonates are required as of the nitrates. If food is set before us containing these proportions of elements, we shall eat only just enough to furnish the system with the elements required ; but if we have before us food containing ten times as much of the carbonates as of the nitrates, we should then eat twice as much of the carbonates as are required, in order to satisfy the demands of the appetite for the necessary supply of nitrates. We will demonstrate this proposition. To get muscle-making food in right proportions, take natural food — Carbonatea. Kltrates. 1 lb. milk, . . . oz. 245 gr. oz. 350 gr 1 lb. beef, roasted, . 4 oz. 340 gr. 1 oz. 122 gr 1 lb. potatoes, . . 3 oz. 145 gr 1 lb. unbolted bread, . 10 oz. 165 gr. 2 oz. 110 gr 1 lb. apples, . . . 3 oz. 145 g T. 21 oz. 313 gr. 4 oz. 335 gr. To get muscle-making food in unnatural proportions, 118 PROPORTION OF ELEMENTS. take food in common use, some of which is in a natural state, others not : — Carbonates. Nitrates. 1 lb. roasted beef, 4 oz. 340 gr. 1 OZ. . 122 gr. 1 lb. milk, 245 gr. 350 gr. 2 lbs. superfine bread. 22 oz. 370 gr. J lb. butter, . . . 4 oz. Ogr. ^ lb sugar, 4 oz. Ogr. 1 lb. potatoes, 3 oz. 145 gr. 1 lb. apples, . 3 oz. 145 gr. 41 oz. 143 gr. 3 oz. 258 gr. In thia bill one half the carbonates must be wasted. Of the first bill, you may take of either of the articles as much as you please without varying the proportions of carbonates and nitrates, and conse- quently are in no danger of wasting food or embar- rassing the system . by eating too much, the appetite being satisfied when the requisite amount of nitrates is supplied ; or you may vary the amount of different articles, taking more of one and less of the other, with- out varying the proportions of the nitrates, and there- fore still eat all the appetite demands. For example, suppose, instead of a pint of milk and a pound of bread in a day, you take double the amount of milk and one and one half pounds of bread, you would then get four ounces and four hundred and twenty-eight grains of nitrates, — almost the requisite amount, EEEOES OF DIET. 119 from bread and milk alone ; indeed, for a warm day, at rest, the amount of nitrates and carbonates would both be too large ; or, with one half or one fourth of the beef, you would take more of the other articles in proportion, and could thus safely trust your appetite to the full extent of its demands without harm. But with the last bill of fare, you must take double the quantity to get the requisite amount of muscle- making and brain-feeding nutriment, and consequently one half of all the food taken would be lost. All the sugar and butter, and more than half of the flour, would be thrown from the system as waste, and not only lost, but by giving extra and unnatural work for the excre- tories, embarrass their functions and render them liable to disease ; while the presence of these heating articles renders every organ more liable to inflammation and disease, and the efforts of the stomach and bowels to dispose of these offensive materials, together with the fermentation of these undigested elements, would cause flatulence, acidity, dyspepsia, and the thousand and one pains, inflammations, liver and bowel complaints, which are liable to attack us, especially in warm weather, when the system is not as well able to resist these mfluences. When we consider how many families, especially among the poor, live very nearly on the same kind of food summer and winter, eating in warm weather butter, fat pork, superfine flour, lard, &c., is it strange that in the height of the warm season we have bowel *nd liver complaints, gastric and typhoid fevers, dysen- 120 ANALYSIS OF FOOD. teries, dyspepsias, &c. ? I think that, (jonsidering the articles wasted are among the most expensive, I am sustained in the assertion that more than one half of the expense of food in Boston, to say nothing of all the diseases, would be saved by adapting our food to the wants of the system, and that we should enjoy life, and especially the pleasures of eating, as we never can while living in disregard of Nature's laws. Analysis of Articles of Food in a Dry State. Wheat, . . . Barley, . . . Oats, . . . Northern com, Southern corn. 16.9 14.9 19.6 14.0 39.5 77.2 60.6 58.8 78.9 46.5 1.9 4.9 3.5 1.2 4.7 4.0 19.6 5 I ' Wheat is the beet grain for bread, in unbolted meal. In fine flour, only useful when the stomach and bowels are in an irri- table state, as in diar- rhoea, cholera morbus, .&c. Barley is excellent for students, as it abounds in food for the brain, and in waste to keep the bow- els active. {Oats are good for ao- tive men, either with muscle or brain. Northern com is fat- tening, containing as it 59 • does more than five times as much oil as is found in wheat. ■ Hominy from south- ern corn is excellent J food in warm weather, 9.t> I abounding in food foi muscle and brain, and .having few carbonates. ANALYSIS OP FOOD. 121 Articles. Tuscarora corn, Buckwheat, Rye, Beans, Peas, I 6.0 10.0 15.9 o 90.7 61.8 64.2 Lentils, . . . Rice, . . . Cheese,* about 28.2 27.2 30.2 5.6 48.5 46.9 47.7 90.2 44.1 1.3 2.1 2.0 I 2.0 r Tuscarora corn is used ^ mostly for making Utarch. (■ Buckwheat is useful na -I I only for a ride in the ^ cold, having few nitrates for the muscles. Rye is exceUent for persons inclined to con- stipation, and with com meal makes good bread, nourishing and digesti- Lble. 4.1 2.9 45.4! 1.7 0.5 7.4 20.8 22.2 22.7 3.7 17.9 ' Beans and peas, con- taining double the amount of nitrates and phosphates, and treble of waste necessary, are appropriately used with pork or butter to supply the carbonates, &c.; and being- hard of digestion, are excellent for active people whose stomachs are strong. If eaten too heartily the waste gives pain. ' Lentils and rice grow together naturally, and are evidently intended to supply each other's defi- ciencies. Neither, alone, would be capable of sus- taining life, but for op- posite reasons; the one containing double, the other one half the ni- trates necessary. * Cheese has more than twice the amount of nutriment of any other known BDbstance. It must therefore be used in small quantities, and ^th such articles as fruits, or fine flour, which contain little nitrogen. It is hard of digestion, bnt almost any one who is in good health can teach the stonoach to digest it by taking very little at a time early in the day. 122 ANALYSIS OF FOOD. Articles. Sweet potatoes, Parsnips, . Carrots, Potatoes, . Turnips, . Beef, Lamb, . Mutton, Veal, . Pork, . 4.6 10.2 6.3 6.6 12.5 54.3 54.3 56.8 51.6 67.1 70.4 69.7 62.7 41.7 40.0 39.6 37.8 41.7 49.1 44.9 8.9 4.8 6.8 3.5 6.2 5.7 6.1 5.4 6.7 6.0 19.4 14.6 18.2 28.2 40.6 '' These and all other green vegetables and fruits^ contain all the requisite elements of nourishment, but with such an amount of w^ ter and waste, that the capacity of the human stomach is insufficient to contain the necessary supply, while animal food is too concentrated to give the necessary dis- tention and waste; but eaten together they each supply the deficiency of the other class of food. Fat being the source of supply of carbon in animal food, and supplying as it does two and one h.alf times as much heat as sugar or staxch, the true amount is obtained in this table by multiplying the figures of the next table by 2^.* While therefore beef is re- ported to have twice as much carbon as nitrogen, It actually has five times as much. For this reason animal food is too concen- trated, and having also too much phosphorus, requires vegetable food to dilate and ANALYSIS OF FOOD. 123 Analysis of Articles of Food in their Natural State. Artioles. Wheal;, Barleyj Oats, Northern com, or maize, Southern corn, . . . . Buckwheat, Rye, Beans, Peas, Lentils, Eice, Potatoes, Sweet potatoes, . . . Parsnips, Tnmips, Carrots, Cabbage, Cauliflower, . . ^. . . Cucumbers, Milk of cow, . . . . Human nulk, . . . . Veal, Beef, Lamb, Mutton, Pork, Chicken, Codfish, Haddock, Sole, . Plaice, Flounder, Turbot, Trout, Whiting, Smelt, Salmon, Eels, Herring, Halibut, ...... Nitrates. 14.6 12.8 17.0 12.3 34.6 8.6 6.5 24.0 23.4 26.0 5.1 1.4 1.5 2.1 1.2 1.1 1.2 3.6 0.1 5.0 3.0 17.7 19.0 19.6 21.0 17.5 21.6 16.5 14.0 17.0 14.0 15.0 14.0 16.9 15.0 17.0 20.0 17.0 18.0 1».0 66.4 52.1 50.8 67.5 39.2 53.0 75.2 40.0 41.0 39.0 82.0 15.8 21.8 14.5 4.0 12.2 6.2 4.6 1.7 8.0 7.0 14.3 14.0 14.3 14.0 16.0 1.9 1.0 0.6 0.8 very little some fat very little 0.8 very little very little some fat some fat some fat some fat Phosph. Water. 1.6 14.0 4.2 14.0 3.0 13.6 i.i 14.0 4.1 14.0 1.8 14.2 0.5 13.5 3.5 14.8 2.5 14.1 1.5 14.0 0.5 9.0 0.9 74.8 2.9 67.5 1.0 79.4 0.5 90.4 1.0 82.5 0.8 91.3 1.0 90.0 0.5 97.1 1.0 86.0 0.5 89.5 2.3 65.7 2.0 65.0 2.2 63.9 2.0 63.0 2.2 64.3 2.8 73.7 2.5 80.0 2.6 82.8 2.5 79.7 5 or 6 80.0 3 or 4 78.0 5 or 6 79.0 4.3 78.0 5 or 6 78.0 5 or 6 75,0 6 or 7 74.0 3 or 4 75.0 4 or 5 75.0 3 or 4 74.6 Waste. 3.4 16.9 15.6 5.1 8.1 22.4 4.3 17.7 19.0 19.5 3.4 7.1 6.3 3.0 3.9 3.2 0.5 0.8 0.6 124 FISH AS FOOD. Articles- Oyster, . . . Clam, , . . . Lobster, . . . Eggs, white of, . Eggs, yolk Qf, . Butter, . . . Artichoke, . . Asparagus, . . Bacon, . . . Carp, . . . . Cheese, . . . Cherries, . . . Chocolate, . . Cream, . . . Currants, . . Dates, fresh . . Figs Green gages . . Ham, . . , , Horseradish . . Kidney, . . . Lard, . . . . Liver, . . . . Onions, . . . Pearl barley. Pears Pigeon, . . . Prunes, . . . Badishes, . . . Suet, . . . . Venison, . . . Vermicelli, . . Whey, . . . Nitrates. Carbonates Phosph. Water. 12.6 _ 0.2 87.2 12.0 yery little 2 or 3 - 14.0 veiy little 5 or 6 79.0 13.0 - 2.8 84.2 16.9' 29.8 2.0 51.3 - 100.0 - - 1.9 19.0 1.8 76.6 0.6 5.4 0.4 93.6 8.4 62.5 0.5 28.6 18.0 0.8 2.9 78.3 30.8 28.0 «7 36.5 0.6 21.0 1.0 76.3 8.8 88.0 1.8 - 3.5 4.5 - 92.0 0.9 6.8 0.3 81.3 _ 73.7 - 24.0 5.0 57.9 3.4 18.7 0.3 26.8 - 71.1 35.0 32.0 4.4 28.6 0.1 4.7 1.0 78.2 21.2 0.9 1.4 76.5 _ 100.0 - - 26.3 3.9 1.2 68.6 0.5 5.2 0.5 93.8 4.7 78.0 0.2 9.5 0.1 9.6 - 86.4 23.0 1.9 2.7 72.4 3.9 78.6 4.5 13.0 1.2 7.4 1.0 89.1 - 100.0 - - 20.4 8.0 2.8 68.8 47.5 38.0 1.7 12.8 - 4.6 0.7 94.7 Wa«t« 0.7 1.1 1.4 10.7 2.3 15.0 1.8 16.0 7.6 3.9 1.3 Fishes. Of the fishes, there has not yet been made analyses sufficiently accurate to make a reliable table. The ni- trates of common white fish, like cod and haddock, are in about the same proportion as in beef and mutton, and of the phosphates rather more ; while the more active fish, as the trout, pickerel, shad, &c., contain more nitrates and phosphates in proportion to their activity. The amount of carbonates depends ou the amount FISH AS FOOD. 125 of fat; the gelatinous principle, although containing carbon, is not digestible, and therefore furnishes no carbonaceous food; the nitrates consist mostly of al- bumen, which is easily digested, but furnish less mus- cular power than fibrins of red-blooded meats. Fishes, therefore, afford better food for students and sedentary men than for those who work hard. Except the fatty fishes, most of them require to be cooked with lard, fat pork, or butter, and to be eaten with potatoes, or some farinaceous food, to furnish the requisite carbonates. There is a class of fishes, bow- ever, like the salmon, halibut, &c. , which are quite well supplied with the carbonates ; they are easily digested, or not, as they contain more or less fat ; and the cod, haddock, trout, shad, &c., are excellent food, if rel- ished, for invalids, convalescents, &c. ; while the fatty fishes and the preserved fishes are more suitable for those who take active exercise in the open air, and have better powers of digestion. Peeseeved Fish. — Various methods are devised for keeping fish, as pickling in salt, drying, smoking, Ac. Pickled fish are objectionable, having lost most of their nutritive element and their soluble phosphates. The brine in which fish as well as beef has been pic- kled has been analyzed, and found to contain most of the albumen and the phosphates which are adapted to give vigor to the brain and nervous system ; but not the fibrine, which makes muscles, or the phosphates, which make bones. Fish, therefore, which has been in brine, IS suitable for laboring men, but not for sedentary per- lons, or those who use their brains. 26 LITE AND POWBE TO MOVE. " Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you." This promise was made to man on the basis of im- mutable law. In every living thing, life and power to move is found to depend on the same elements, — phosphorus and nitrogen, — and of course every living thing is capable of imparting life and power to move to every other living thing which has digestive powers by which to appropriate these elements ; and, as has before been intimated, this power of imparting life and mus- cular power in any article of food is in proportion to the phosphorus and nitrogen contained in it. On the other hand, " every moving thing that liveth " contains these elements in proportion to its own vital activity and muscular power, so that we need not analyze every living thing in order to know its dietetic value. This principle is not only established by chemical analysis, but by observation on the habits of animals, and the experience of every man. (See page 84, 85.) Who has not experienced the difference of power and activity of mind and muscle produced by different kinds of food? For example, by a dinner from the muscles of an ox, that have been developed by hard work, and one from the muscles of a dormant hog? Indeed, the difference is perceptible between the used and the unused muscles of the same creature. The breast of the chicken or turkey, which is made up of the unused muscles of the wings, is white, dry, and comparatively insipid, containing but little phos- phatic or nitrogenous food, while the muscles which IS PORK WHOLESOME? 127 move the legs are dark, juicy, rich in flavor, and con tain a very much larger proportion of the Hfe-giving and muscle-making elements. On the other hand, the breasts of the birds which live on the wing are rich in these elements, and their thighs and side bones are covered with poor, dry meat. This principle holds good in relation to all animal food, from quadrupeds, fishes, fowls, and reptiles ; and it may be useful in assisting to determine the comparative value of differ- ent articles, and in adapting them to our circum- stances, A full understanding of this principle in the com- munity will relieve the doctor from that inevitable question, which meets him wherever he goes. In the sick room or at the dinner table, in the horse cars or at the social circle, wherever he is, somebody bores him with the question, Doctor, is pork wholesome? Are potatoes wholesome? &c., &c. ; questions which can be answered yes or no, or both yes and no, with equal propriety, unless, with the answer, he goes into a disquisition on the peculiar properties of each, and the circumstances which make them wholesome at one time and hurtful at another. A rattlesnake, all but the head, would make a deli- cious and wholesome meal to a man who was starving, and could get nothing else, whUe the most delicate woodcock would be poison to a man prostrated with typhoid fever. That abstract question, then, so often fisked (is this or that kind of food whoiesome) , is only •{onsummate nonsense. 128 THE GEEEN TURTLE. " Every moving thing that liveth," and " every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth," ia wholesome under some circumstances, and unwhole- some under other circumstances. Of Reptiles. Crustacea and mollusks, and indeed " every creeping thing," either from necessity or choice, in some part of the world, is eaten by man ; but in this country and in England only a few species are used. Turtle. Of reptiles, the turtle only is eaten, unless under this title we class eels. The green turtle is brought from the West India Islands and the Bahamas. It as seldom crawls on the land as the eel, and, indeed, has no feet, having in the place of them little paddles, with which it swims with great swiftness ; and being very muscular and active, its flesh is very nitrogenous and phosphatic, and not being fat, is an excellent article of food taken fresh from its native element. I have eaten it cooked in four different ways — fried, broiled, fricasseed, and in soup, and found it a pala- table and highly nutritious article of food. In this sountry it is seldom used except in soup. It is very different in its taste, and far inferior in its nutritive qualities, after being kept out of water, on its back, in the cruel manner in which it is kept on the passage. Fresh from the water, some parts of the LOBSTER. 1'29 turtle resemble the flesh of the chicken, other parts have a fishy taste, other parts are albuminous, like the white of an egg, and all parts seem to be nutri- tious. Crustacea. Many of the species of this class are esculent, and some are excellent food. In this country and England are used the common lobster, the thorny lobster or sea crawfish, the river crawfish, the large edible black- clawed crab, the common or small edible crab, the prawn, and the shrimp. They have all the same characteristics. Being active in their habits, and having powerful muscles, their flesh abounds in nitrates and phosphates, but is rather hard and compact, and there- fore requires good powers of digestion, and they are adapted for food to active, healthy persons to assist in the labor of the day, but they are most miserably misapplied to evening entertainments in the form of salads. The lobster is the most valuable of this class of food, and is much the most extensively used. Molluscous Animals. In this country the only species of this class used as food to any extent are clams and oysters ; and in Eng- land, besides the oyster, the mussel, the cockle, the scallop, the periwinkle, the limpet, and the whelk. But the oyster holds the highest rank in this class of food, and is used among all classes, forming a branch of trade very extensive and important. 130 OYSTERS. This class of animals differs from the Crustacea in this, that while the Crustacea have powerful and active muscles, the moUusks have almost no muscles at all, having no motion except the opening and shut- ting of the bivalves, and a slight contractile power by which they imbibe their food. Of course they have not as food the muscle-making elements of the Crus- tacea or other active fish; and although their chemi- cal composition indicates phosphatic salts, they are mostly salts of lime, which go to form the shell and to make bone rather than afford food for the brain and nervous system. Oysters, therefore, are very unsatis- factory food for laboring men, but will do for the sed- entary, and for a supper to sleep on. They contain but twelve and one half per cent, of solid matter, including fibrin, albumen, gelatine, mucus, and osma- zome, and much of that is gelatine, which affords no nourishment, while butchers' meat contains on an aver- age twenty-five per cent. , and the poorest fishes contain fourteen per cent, of pure nitrates. The nitrates in oysters are in the form of albumen, like the white of the egg; they are therefore more easily digested in a raw state than when cooked, but stewed are not indigestible, and for feeble persons and convalescents are better stewed than raw, as in this Btate they are relished with less stimulating condi- ments. To oysters, as to all sheU-fish, and indeed to all kinds of fish, there is the serious objection thai great care must be used to avoid eating them after the POISON FISH. 131 elightest decomposition has commenced, otherwise they may occasion serious disturbance of the digestive or- gans, and even in some cases terrible "and fatal diseases- There is also occasionally a very serious poisonous effect from fish perfectly fresh and apparently healthy, in vfhich chemistry can detect nothing deleterious. I have known but few cases of the kind in Boston, and they were occasioned by eating mackerel ; but in the Bahama Islands I saw a man, who, fifteen years before, ate a meal from a fish called there blue fish, though very different from the blue fish of New England coast, which in two hours brought on excruciating internal distress, with painful eruption of the skin, and these turns of awful distress had occurred occasionally ever afterwards, entirely unfitting him for any kind of business, and making his life a burden. Not one in a hundred of these fishes is poisonous, but no man has sagacity sufiicient to detect the good from the bad ; and therefore the inhabitants eat none of these fishes till they submit them to a curious test. They place a piece of fish in the way of a species of ant which is common there : if the ant eats it, they eat it with impunity ; if the ant rejects it, they of course do not eat it ; — an example which gives force to the idea of Pope, — " Eeason raise o'er instinct as you can ; In this 'tis God directs — in that 'tis man." 132 FOOE CLASSES OF FOOD. Classification of Food in common use. 1st Class. — That in which the proportion of heat- producing elements is too large for the common wauta of the system, and which alone would sustain life only for a time, shorter or longer in proportion to the amount of other elements which they contain. Lard, butter, sugar, or any animal fats being capable of sustaining life, without other food, only from twenty to thirty days ; and superfine flour, being mostly composed of starch, has been proved by experiment on animals to be capable of sustaining life, without other food, only from fifty to sixty days. These are the Carbonates, described in another chapter. 2d Class. — That in which the muscle-making ele- ments are too large in proportion to their carbonates. Some of these articles would be capable of sustaining life only for a limited period without articles of the first class to keep up the steam. These are the Nitrates, described before. 3d Class. — That in which the proportion of ele- ments which support the brain and nerves, and give vital energy both of mind and muscle, is too large •br the common duties of life. These are the Phos- phates. 4th Class, — That in which there is too much waste material in proportion to nutritive principles, and which, therefore, if eaten alone, produces diarrhcea and debility, but which, taken with other more nutrt PRINCIPAL AETICLES IN EACH CLASS. 133 tive food, subserves the important purpose of giving; distention, and keeping the bowels in action, and the system free and cool, by preventing a surplus of stim- ulating food. The representative articles of these four classes a»e as foUows : — 1st Class. 2D Class. 3d Class. 4th Class. Carbonates. Nitrates. Phosphates. Waste. Butter and Lean meats. Shell fishes. Green vege lard. Cheese. Lean meats. tables. Fat of all Peas and Peas and Fruits, ber- meats. beans. beans. ries, &c. Vegetable Lean fishes, Active fish- oils. &c. es, birds, Fine flour, &c. &c. Under ordinary circumstances, in moderate weather, with moderate exercise of muscle and brain, the proper proportions of carbonates, nitrates, and phosphates seem to be the average proportions found in unbolted wheat meal, viz. : Sixty-five of the carbonates to fifteen of the nitrates, and two of the phosphates to seventeen or eighteen of water and waste, — or something more than four times as much of the car- bonates as of the nitrates, and two per cent, of the phosphates, the amount of water not being of much consequence, as it is supplied as it is demanded, and taken as drink when it is not supplied in the food. 134 FOOD WHICH PRODUCES STUPIDITY. A consideration of this classification will help us to understand and correct many important errors in diet. Every observing person has noticed that after a meal in which the predominant articles were chiefly composed of fat meat, fine flour, butter or sugar, he is stupid, or sleepy, and indisposed to exercise either mind or mus- cle ; and the reason is plain : as very little food for either brain or muscle is found in either of the articles named, and this torpor will be found to be in exact proportion to the excess of these carbonates over their proper proportion. And this is the inevitable conse- quence of separating the important principles which God has joined together, and furnished in every article of appropriate food, in the right proportions, as nour- ishment for every faculty. If the fat meat had been eaten as it was made, mixed with an appropriate amount of lean, and instead of the flour, the bread had been made of meal from the whole wheat as it was created, and milk had been substituted for the butter, and the sugar taken as it was intended to be taken, with the vegetables and delicious fruits, mixed with such other elements as the system required, then the appetite might have been indulged to the fullest extent, and no organs or faculties would have been op- pressed and overburdened while others were not sup- plied, and every part of the system would have been prepared, without stupor or sleepiness, to perform the duties assigned it. If we take our food as it is made, with the elements aiixed by Infinite Wisdom, we need use our judgment PEEVEETED AETIOLES OF FOOD. 13fc nxily in cooking it so as best to develop its flavor and fit it for digestion, and our appetite would safely direct us, both as to the articles to be eaten and the amount required. But presuming as we do to know better than our Maker how to mix the different elements of food, we have spoiled some of our best articles of nourishment, and have at the same time so perverted our appetites and tastes that they are no guide, at least so far as relates to the use of the articles with which we have thus interfered. The only articles of diet in this country which to any extent are thus perverted are wheat and milk, and these are perverted in the same way, by taking out and rejecting the nitrates and phosphates, and using the carbonates only. The effects, especially in our cities, are manifest in our liability to inflammatory diseases ; in our feebleness and weakness of muscle, for want of the nitrates ; in our defective, aching teeth, for want of lime, &c. ; in our physical and mental debility, for want of the phosphates ; and in our ash-colored, chlo- rotic girls, for want of the iron, — all of which ele- ments, except the carbonates, being entirely wanting in butter, and almost all in very nice white flour. See plate of wheat, Figs. 2, 6, and 7. 136 rooD jFoe cold weatheb. Practical Application of the Analysis of Food to tlie different Conditions in Life. Food for Out-of-door Worh, with the Thermometer below Zero. Let us first take a case requiring the most concen- trated nourishment, or, in common parlance, the most hearty food. A man works in the open air in the coldest winter weather : what articles of diet will best sustain him ? Under these circumstances he must exercise his mus- cles to their fullest capacity or he will freeze, and he wUl therefore require more than twice as much muscle- making food as he would need with moderate exer- cise : then he would require of the most concentrated heat-producers five times as much as of the flesh- makers. Fat of animals is the most concentrated article of carbonates, and yet we are astonished at the amount necessary to support animal heat in cold climates. It is said that an Esquimaux woman will eat a gallon of whale oU in one day, or ten or twelve pounds of tallow candles, besides the necessary muscle-making food. The stomach will not, therefore, in active life in the cold, contain food sufficient to sustain life, except in its most concentrated form. For a man, therefore, chopping wood in the cold, fat and lean meats are the articles mostly to be depended on, fat containing two and one half times the heating power of the vegetable FOOD FOE COLD WEATHER. 137 carbonates, sugar and starch, while the muscle of meat contains, of course, the concentrated elements for working power. Of vegetable food adapted to accompany pork and beef, beans, peas, and northern corn bread are best, as may be seen by reference to the analytical table, beans and peas containing more of the nitrates and phosphates than any other vegetable food, and Indian corn contain- ing more carbonates, especially more oil, than other grains. Cheese is also a good concentrated article with corn bread. These articles of food are not easily digested, but are the better on that account, the stom- ach being subject to the same law as other organs and faculties, — "the more work to do, the more strength to do it." Exposure to cold, without exercise, requires differ- ent and more digestible articles. Carbonates, such as sugar, buckwheat or flour cakes, rice, &c., and even the less digestible articles which cannot be eaten in summer, as cheese, beans and pork, &c., may be eaten with impunity in winter, upon the principle stated above, much more food being required in winter than in summer, proportionate powers of digestion are given to correspond. And hence we seldom find trouble from dyspepsia in cold weather, especially with those who exercise in the open air ; and it is always best, in order to strengthen the stomach, to take arti- cles of food that will tax the full power of digestion, just as it is best to take active exercise in order to strengthen the muscles. One who lives on rice, can 138 FOOD FOE WARM WEATHER. digest nothing else ; but one who can eat and digest beans, cheese, &c., can generally digest everything. What Articles of Food are best adapted to Warm Weather 9 If it be true that in cold weather we need, and the appetite demands, concentrated carbonaceous food, aa has been explained in the preceding chapter, it is also true, as might be expected, and as we all know, that the appetite demands in warm weather a very different class of articles of food ; and the reason is obvious. Four fifths of our food being devoted to the produc- tion of heat, we need four times as much in cold weather as in warm. If, therefore, we ate the same articles in summer as in winter, and only what our nature required, the stomach and bowels would collapse into one quarter of their size, and could not properly carry on their functions. Nature, therefore, provides for warm climates and the summers of cold, food in which all the elements are greatly diluted, and in which the proportions of carbonates are much smaller than those provided for cold weather. This you will see in the analysis of southern and northern corn, in a very remarkable degree (Figs. 3 and 4) . While the propor- tion of northern corn is six of the carbonates to one of the nitrates, the proportions of these principles in south- ern corn are nearly equal : it would therefore require six times the bulk of southern corn as of northern to eupport the same degree of heat ; and this disparity is FOOD FOR WARM WEATHER. 139 Btill more strikingly seen if we compare northern corn with some of our common vegetables. Corn contains seventy-three per cent, of carbonates, turnips four per cent., and cucumbers one per cent. Consequently it would require eighteen pounds of turnips, or seventy- three pounds of cucumbers, to furnish as much heat as one pound of northern corn meal. The comparative proportions of carbonates and ni- trates in wheat, and indeed all the cereals that grow both in northern and southern climates, as well as those of all other natural products of the soil, plainly declare the will of God in regard to summer and winter food, as do also our appetites and tastes. In the spring we lose our desire for butter and buck- wheats, and begin to crave some acid fruits and green vegetables. And yet how many thoughtless housekeep- ers at the north go through nearly the same routine of cooking in summer as in winter, with just about as much butter and lard and fat beef, and even pork, and fat gravy, and flour puddings, with butter sauce ; not because they like it as well, or think it as wholesome, but only because " their mothers did so before them I " And so powerful is this thoughtless and absurd habit in the Southern States, that it is said that however plen- tiful may be the supply of milk, and cheese, and green vegetables, fresh lean beef, and fruits, &c., a southern family always has on the table a smoked ham or a " side of pork," and their vegetables are cooked swimming in fat ; and to force an appetite, they use the most stimu- lating spices and condiments. In short, their food in 140 MAN EXPECTED TO UNDEESTAOT) THE LAW. the hottest weather is suitable only for the coldest northern winter weather. Is it strange that diseases prevail ? We need in summer or winter, whether using mus cles or brains, or neither, every day food containing carbonates for the lungs, nitrates for the muscles and tissues, and phosphates for the vital powers, but we need them in very diiFerent proportions, according to the temperature in which we live and our habits of life. These elements are furnished at our hands, varying in proportions so as to be adapted to the different temper- atures and habits ; and for animals that have instincts and not intellects to guide them, from the elephant to the smallest animalcule, these different elements are so mixed and prepared, and the appetite so adjusted to them, that they always want, and always have, and always eat the right kind of food at the right time, and the right quantity. But man, who has intellect, is expected to under- stand the laws of his being, and to adapt his food to the wants of his nature, varying it according to circumstances. We are creatures of habit, and our systems have wonderful power in adapting themselves to circumstances ; and therefore we do not all die, how- ever thoughtlessly we live, and however perseveringly continue the wrong habits to which we have been accustomed; and our appetites falling in with our habits, the evils of wrong living are perpetuated. Still it is true everywhere that the average amount of health and the average lengthy of life are in exact EESPONSEBILITY OF WIVES AND MOTHERS. l41 proportion to the care we take to live in accordance with the laws of our being. This statistics show, and our own observations confirm. But what a responsibility these considerations place upon wives and mothers, who have, or ought to have, the direction of these matters I To them, in provi- dence, as in the word of God, the injunction emphati- cally is, " Keep my commandments, for length of days, and long' hfe, and peace shall they add to thee," and to thy family. This important promise is fulfilled literally to those who study to obey physical laws, however figurative its fulfilment may be in regard to moral law. Does any one doubt that peace to the digestive organs, and freedom from fevers and summer com- plaints, and many other fatal diseases, would result from a strict observance of the law, so clearly re- vealed, that fat meats, and butter, and fine flour, and other stimulating carboniferous food should be avoided in warm weather, while such articles should be substi- tuted as contain the carbonates in a less concentrated form, combined with such acid fruits and vegetables, and the grains which contain less oil and starch, and more of the nitrates and phosphates ? With half the study that is required to learn a com- plicated piece of needlework, or a difficult piece of music, any intelligent housekeeper could learn the dietetic laws, and institute an arrangement adapting them to the mental or muscular employment of her family, so as to give them the requisite variety of 142 FOOD FOR OLD PEOPLE. wKolesome food for summer and winter ; for work of brain or work of muscles ; and add immeasurably to the length of life and to the comfort and health of her family. But how little attention is given to this im- portant subject ! Adaptation of Food to different Conditions and Employments in Life. Food for Old People. Is your fat, good-natured old grandfather living on fat beef and pork, white bread and butter, buckwheat cakes and molasses, rice and sugar, till he has lost all mental and physical energy, and desires to sit from morning till night in the chimney-corner or at the reg- ister, saying nothing and caring for nothing? — change his diet, give him fish, beefsteak, potatoes, and un- bolted wheat bread, or rye and Indian, with one half or three quarters of the carboniferous articles of his former diet, and in one week he will cheer you again with his old jokes, and call for his hat and cane. Is he lean, and cold, and restless, and irritable? — give him the fattest meats, with the best of but- ter, and as much sugar and molasses as he desires, not taking away entirely food for the brain and muscles, but adapting them to his circumstances. Perhaps his brain has been overworked, and exhaus- tion and fitful action follow. If so, he needs some form of phosphatic food to which he has not been FOOD FOE NURSDfG MOTHEES. 143 accustomed, as oat-meal porridge, or oat-meal cake, with milk, or a diet of fish, and pearl barley, or pea Boup. Or perhaps his restlessness comes from inactivity of the bowels : if so, he needs fruits, vegetables, un- bolted wheat bread, &c., with care to keep his mind at ease, and to have only such company as is sootliing and agreeable. Or perhaps his irritability arises from the use of too much meat and other phosphatic food : if so, keep him on a diet in which the phosphates are deficient, as rice, flour bread and butter, &c., with other food adapted to his other conditions and habits. But that a regard to these different conditions, and an adaptation of food to conform to them, will very much contribute to com- fort and happiness in the declining years of life, there is not a shadow of doubt. Food for Children. Is your nursing babe, eight months old, feeble and inactive, its teeth coming through the gums already black and defective, and its soft, flabby flesh indicating a want of muscular fibre ? — change your own food at once, and give up butter, and fine flour, and cakes, and puddings with sweet sauce, and take instead beefsteak, oat-meal or barley porridge, with milk and unbolted wheat bread, grits, pea soup, &c., which abound in phosphates and nitrates, and in one week you shall see un improvement in the condition of the child ; but if your own health will not admit of such a change, wean 144 ' FOOD FOE CHTLDEEN. the babe, and give it the milk of the cow, oat-meal gruel, &c. ; and for the next child, be sure and com- mence furnishing the material for bone and muscle at least fourteen months earlier, and its teeth will not be defective, or its muscles feeble and flabby. Nor are defective teeth and undeveloped muscles the only or the greatest evils that accrue from neglect to furnish suitable material for the foundation of that structure which is so important as to be denominated the " temple of God." " Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" All nature, as well as the word of God, testifies that the crowning work of creation was man ; indeed, all other creative work was but a preparation for man, and so far at least as relates to this planet, all creative work ended in making man. But man was not created from nothing, but from elements which had for ages been collecting in the " dust of the ground ; " and having at first taken these elements directly from the soil, and constructed a per- fe&t man, God, with wisdom as incomprehensible to man as that by which the first maa was created, insti- tuted laws by which all necessary elements should be taken out of the soil by plants, and so organized as under certain laws and conditions to be able to con- Btruct other perfect human beings, and thus perpetuate the race, as we have before explained. These fourteen elements, which were at first taken directly from the soil and atmosphere, are now all found deposited in the grains, and flesh of animals, FOURTEEN ELEMENTS EEQUIEED. 145 and fruits and vegetables, and for the construction of a perfect human being must all be used, at first through the mother's system, and afterwards directly from the food in which they are deposited. This wonderful arrangement can be better understood by further explanation. A grain of wheat, as proved by analysis, contains every one of the elements found in the human system. Plant a grain of wheat in soil in which is no lime, or phosphorus, or nitrogen, and the plant may grow from the carbon and hydrogen, and other elements which it can get from the sod, the air, and water, but the grain would not be developed, and analysis would show that phosphorus, lime, and nitrogen would be wanting in the plant and grain as it was wanting in the soil. Now, as in such imperfectly developed grain the phosphorus, and lime, and nitrogen, which were intended for forming brains, and bones, and muscles, are not there, is it not certain that such grain could not develop brains, and bones, and muscles? — for if wheat does not contain phosphorus, lime, and nitrogen, unless the soil in which :^t grows contains these elements, is it not certain that the human system cannot be developed by food wanting m these or any other important elements ? In soil containing as little phosphorus, lime, and nitrogen as are found in superfine flour bread and butter, the grain of wheat would not be developed at all ; and can a child, for which wheat was made, be developed on white bread and butter? Milk of the tow contains all the elements of the human system, 10 146 PEEMATUEE DEATHS. and in the right proportions ; and if concentrated, or if the stomach were large enough to contain these elements in their diluted state, in sufficient quanti- ties, would support the life and health of smy man indefinitely. Primarily it was intended to develop the calf, and it does develop every part perfectly ; but feed the calf on cream alone, or butter, and it would die in two weeks. Can butter, then, develop a human being? And yet how many expectant and nursing mothers thought- lessly provide themselves and their precious little ones with food made up mainly of superfine flour, butter, and sugar, without knowing or thinking that sugar and butter have no elements at all for muscles, or bones, or brains, and white flour very little. If they ate nothing else, of course their children would all die within a month ; and as it is, only one half in all Christendom, and not one eighth in all Heathendom, have vital power to carry them through the first five years. , Those that live have a life of struggle with disease and suffering in just the propor- tion as they are deprived of food containing elements adapted to develop the whole system, and give power to resist and overcome disease. The inevitable eiFects of the diet almost universally adopted is, to stimulate all the organs by the undue proportion of carbon, of which the butter, fine flour, and sugar are composed, which form so large a part of our diet, and which render all organs more susceptible to inflammations and other diseases ; while the deficiency of the nitrates EFFECTS OF HEATING FOOD. 147 ttnd phosphates, weakening the organs and diminishing the powers of life, renders them less able to resist and throw off diseases as they occur. Take, for example, the lungs, whose duties are to keep up the steam and "run the machine," — duties, the importiince of which is seen by the fact that, if for a single moment they cease to act, every operation of the system is suspended and life becomes extinct. Over- burdened with work in order to dispose of the great excess of fuel imposed upon them, the tissues are feeble for want of their appropriate food; and is it strange that they faU, and become diseased? Or, take the brain and nervous system, which, being overheated with carboniferous blood, and weakened by want of phosphorus, become sluggish and inactive, or act fitfully, and headache and neuralgia ensue ; or, being nervous and irritable, a thousand ills, real and imaginary, render life a burden. Or, take the liver, whose office is to eliminate effete elements from the system and assist digestion. Over- burdened with work, especially in the spring, after the eteam has for months been kept up to the highest practicable point, it gets tired and sluggish, and the bile becomes obstructed, and jaundice and many other oUious difficulties ensue, and thus all organs are made more susceptible to disease, and less able to resist it, by too much of the carbonates and too little of the nitrates and phosphates. While, therefore, all animals, in their natural state, living as they do according to natural laws, rai«e all 148 APPROPRIATE FOOD FOR CHILDREN. their young, and bring them perfectly developed to full maturity, a perfectly developed young man or woman, at full maturity, with perfect teeth and sound lungs, and well developed muscles and brains, is a rare excep- tion to the general rule ; and to every reflecting mind the reason must be obvious : we neglect to learn, and utterly disregard the plain laws of our beings and these terrible sufferings and bereavements are the natural and just penalties for our disobedience. Can any other explanation be given, why beings sup- ported by the same elements, and subject to the same physical laws, should be found in such different physi- cal conditions? Mothers' milk, if the mother live on proper food, is undoubtedly the best, as it is the natu- ral food for children till teeth are formed, which indi- cate a maturity that requires some other food ; but sickly mothers, and those who live on white bread and butter, would subserve the interests of their children by weaning them, and substituting the milk of the cow. For young children the cow furnishes milk with too much of nitrogenous matter ; and the reason for this provision is obvious, as I have explained. When other food than milk is required, that contain- ing some nourishment for the muscles and brain should always be selected, which can readily be known by reference to the tables of analysis ; but starch, and arrowroot, and sugar, and cream, all of which are fiometimes given in ignorance of their character, con tain no element of food but carbon, and would only tend to develop torpidity and foolishness ; but, on the FOOD TO DEVELOP VITAL POWER. 149 other Land, beefsteak and oat-meal, and such other articles of food as contain large proportions of nitroge- nous and phosphatic elements, tend to develop the muscles and brain too rapidly, and render the child liable to congestion of the brain ; and a special regard should be had to this consideration where the child is very active and precocious. Such children always die young, unless special care is taken of their diet and general management. Food for Children deficient in Vital Energy and Muscular Power. That muscular power is increased by exercise has been long known. More than seven hundred years before the Christian era the Olympic games were celebrated, consisting in throwing quoits, leaping, wrestling, boxing, &c., which were held on a certain day corresponding to the 11th of July, and lasting five days, for which the competitors prepared them- selves by training in the gymnasium for ten months. For a thousand years at least these games, with a few temporary interruptions, were regularly celebrated, occupying the minds of the whole Grecian nation ; and at that age the training of muscles was considered vastly more important than the training of mind. Of the diet used in this training but little is now known ; but Pliny says, " the gladiators ate only barley bread, and hence they were called Hordearii," hordeum being the *srreek name for barley. 150 FOOD TO DEVELOP MUSCLES. Jackson, the noted English trainer of prize-fighters, feeds his men on the lean muscle of fat beef and mut- ton, with coarse barley and wheat bread. It is not likely that ancient gladiators or modern prize-fighters understood either the chemical elements of the human system, or the adaptation of those articles of food to supply the requisite elements of muscular power ; but it is interesting to notice that experience brought them to the same conclusions as chemical analysis.* The muscles of beef and mutton contain the same elements as human muscles, and are therefore adapted to nour- ish them, whUe unbolted wheat and barley furnish also a due proportion of flesh-making materials ; and also in each of these articles are the phosphates, which give vital force, wheat containing them in proportions neces- sary for common exercise, and barley and the flesh of beef and mutton more than double the proportion of those of wheat. If, then, both science and experience show that mus- cular power can be increased by muscle-making food, is it not reasonable that feeble children should be made stronger by application of the same principle? What duty, then, can be clearer than the duty of feeding our dormant, sleepy, and feeble children on food containing a fuU share of nitrates and phosphates, as lean meat, oat meal, barley cakes, beans, peas, &c., rather than the stupefying carbonates, as fat meat, fine flour, butter, sugar, or puddings and pies, cakes, &c., which Rre made up of these articles ? • Jockeys also reduce their weight by living on flsh and lean meat vith UttU carbonaceous food. IMPURE BLOOD. 151 How the Blood becomes Impure. We find by cliemical analysis that the blood is com- posed of the fourteen elements which make up the different parts of the system, and such other elements as have been taken into the system with improper food and drink, and are allowed to go into the circulation, although not wanted for the use of any organ or func- tion, because they cannot be removed in any other way than through the lungs, or skin, or kidneys, and must go into the circulation to get out of the system. They are, of course, not permanently found in the blood, but vary in proportions and character accord- ing to the care we take in regard to our food and drink. If we ate only natural food, and drank only pure water, and breathed only pure air, the blood would consist of the fourteen elements only which constitute the solids and juices of the human system. It is evident, therefore, that pure blood is made from pure air, pure water, and natural food, and that while nothing else is admitted into the system, the blood cannot be impure ; and if the blood in any case is found to be impure, it is because the food, or drink, or air are not plentifully supplied, or are not pure or natural, and in just the proportion as they are not pure and. natural, or are not supplied in sufficient quantity. We come, then, at once to the only way in which the blood can be kept pure, or renovated when found to be 152 PURE BLOOD. impure. If the blood is impure in consequence of additions to its natural element derived from the food, or air, or water, our first duty is to see that the source of impurity is stopped, and then Nature will soon re- move the impurities. If it is impure from want of supply of its natural elements, then our duty is also plain, for every necessary element is supplied in natural food, and we have only to use our judgment m selecting the articles which contain such as are leeded. How can we know what Elements are wanted to make the Blood Pure? Just as we determine what is wanted to supply any requisition — by comparing the supply with the demand. If a merchant were required to furnish a dozen different articles of merchandise, including gloves, and should by mistake deliver only eleven articles, he would have no difficulty in determining that gloves were the item wanted, if the other articles had all been supplied. Suppose we have a daughter of sixteen, ash-colored, feeble, and undeveloped. If we look over the list of elements, and the proportions of them required to keep the system and blood in perfect condition, as shown by the table of analysis of different articles of food, Rnd as compared with elements of the human system, we shall probably find that, instead of the necessary elements for the blood and the vital powers, she has been accustomed to food made up to a great extent of WHY BLOOD IS NOT PXIEB. 153 butter, superfine flour, and sugar, which contain but very little nutriment for the blood or vital powers, mixed perhaps with other articles containing the requi- site elements, but out of proportion to the wants of the system. Being supplied to repletion with carbonaceous food, there was no room for other requisite principles, and the results were inevitable. Her blood is colorless and impure, and she is feeble and chlorotic, because her food was deficient in the elements which constitute good blood. I have investigated scores, and perhaps hundreds of such cases, and invariably find the principal cause to be, that from childhood they have been fed on white bread and butter, sweet cakes, flour puddings, pie- crust, confectioneries, &c., which had kept the system in a heated, feverish condition, with a deficiency of fruits and vegetables, that assist in eliminating from the system the impurities engendered by the excess of carbon in the system, and a deficiency of coarse bread, milk, fish, lean meat, &c., which contain the phospho- rus, iron, and other mineral elements necessary for the purity of the blood ; and they had generally lost their appetites for the necessary articles of food, and had acquired instead a morbid desire for something strange and unnatural, as chalk, slate pencils, pungent spices, pickled limes, &c. The evils of these habits are gen- erally increased by want of exercise to carry off accu- mulated impurities, and the blood becomes too poor to be able to carry on the functions of the system. The tissues of the lungs break down under the burdens 154 HOW TO PUEITT THE BliOOD. imposed upon them, consumption ensues, and we lose our daughters, murmuring, perhaps, at the mysterious providence by which we are so afiflicted. I How to Purify the Blood. We have seen that impurity of the blood consists of excess of some elements and deficiency of others, and that by comparing the list of elements required with the list habitually supplied, we can ascertain what ele- ments are wanting and what are in excess ; and having an analysis of all the articles of food in common use, which contain all the elements of the human system in diflFerent proportions, we have but to use our com- mon sense in selecting such as will supply the deficient elements, or avoid the excessive > The intelligent farmer finds that some of his land will not produce wheat ; and by analysis he will be sure to find that the elements of wheat are wanting, or are excessive. If wanting, he supplies them in such ma- nure as is known to contain them, and is sure of a crop of wheat; or, if excessive, he plants the ground with other crops that need the excessive elements, and after they are thus removed he can get a crop of wheat. What should we think of the farmer whose land needed phosphorus, and nothing else, for a crop of wheat, who should follow the advice of his neighbors, as ignorant as himself, and use lime, and ashes, and salt, and a dozen other things that contained no phos- phorus, because somebody else had used some of these HOW TO PtTRIFT THE BLOOD. 155 articles on land perhaps entirely different, and had found them useful. No article in the world could do good unless it contained phosphorus, but might do harm if ifr contained elements already sufficiently sup- plied, and perhaps already in excess. But this is the method almost universally adopted by mothers, in order to purify the blood of their children. That mother is indeed a rare exception, who does not, when her daugh- ter is pale, and she fears impurities of the blood, or perhaps to prevent such an evil, resort to something which somebody says is good for the blood, for she has tried it, without stopping to consider the absurdity of the experiment, or whether it may not, as it must, do harm by troubling the stomach with elements never intended for the human system, and therefore necessa- rily injurious. In this way are annually expended millions of dol- lars in Purification, or Plantation Bitters, " Important Medical Discoveries, that cure all humors but the Thunder Humor," Oxygenated Gas, Compound Sarsa- parUla, and the thousand and one other advertised sovereign remedies, not one of which contains a single ' element of the blood, or can by any possibility do good, and all must, from their want of adaptation to the plain requirements of the system, if not from their poisonous character, do more or less harm ; and that they cannot as medicines do good, can be shown by principles as simple. But this subject wiU be consid- ered elsewhere. 1.56 MINEKAIi EI.EMENTS. All Elements of Food must have been organized in some Vegetable, or tliey are rejected. Not only is it impossible to purify the blood by the use of articles recommended by ignorant empirics, as we have endeavored to show, and useless to attempt any purification except by the common-sense expedient of supplying deficient elements, and removing or with- holding redundant ones, statements, the truth of which will be understood and appreciated by all, learned or unlearned ; but it is also true, as I shall endeavor to prove, that no element, however much it may be wanted in the system, can be made to become a con- stituent of the blood, or be appropriated by any of the tissues, unless that element has been organized in some plant, and is thus fitted to be received according to the law of nature. I make this proposition with diffidence, because it has not been considered by our scientific physicians ; and every day, chlorotic girls and other patients are furnished with disorganized iron, and other elements from the shops, with the expectation that they will supply the deficiency of the elements which are supposed to be wanted to restore the blood to its normal condition ; and one learned professor, as I have before stated, is endeavoring to supply the posphorus, which had been taken out of the wheat, where it was organized and prepared to supply the system with that important ALL ELEMENTS MUST BE ORGANIZED. 157 element, by adding to the flour salts made from dis- organized phosphoric acid. I have elsewhere referred to the great plan of nature, by which all the elements necessary to be used in making or repairing the system were depos- ited in the soil before man was made, to be taken up in the sap of plants, and vegetables, and fruit trees, and deposited in the seed, and fruits, and juices of these trees and plants, in just the proportions necessary to supply every organ and function ; then to be eaten, and digested, and made a constituent of the blood, and appropriated by the organs and tissues ; then to be cast off by the excretions, and again deposited in the soil, to be again taken up by vegetation, and continue their rounds perpetually. Now this is undoubtedly the best arrangement for supplying the human system with all necessary ele- ments that even God could make — an arrangement, to short-sighted man, wonderful and incomprehensible ; and is it for us, who have not intellect sufficient to understand one of the processes by which this plan is executed, to say that any part of it is unnecessary? — that iron and phosphorus, prepared from crude, unor- ganized materials, in the laboratory of any chemist, are just as well adapted to supply the wants of the human system, as these elements prepared in Nature's own laboratory? Why not, then, take carbon and nitro- gen, or the other elements, directly from the ground, and repair the whole system, or make a new man, by a shorter aud cheaper process? 158 WHAT CONSTITUTES A POISON. The Penalty for taking into the Stomach Elements of Food not organized. After such infinite pains to perfect a plan for supply- ing the human system with every necessary element, it seems to me reasonable, and perfectly consonant with Nature's other laws, that an ordinance should be insti- tuted requiring that no elements should be admitted into the system except in accordance with this arrange- ment, and that every attempt to introduce them should be visited by punishment, more or less severe, according to the importance of the element ; and this we find to be true. Not an element is allowed to be incorporated into, and become a part of the blood, or any organ or tissue, that is not fitted for digestion in some vegetable ; and if any element is offered that is not thus prepared, a rebellion ensues, more or less energetic and severe, according to the importance of the element. This rebellion, or excitement, is injurious to the system, and all the organs and functions involved ; and this is what is meant by the word poison, and constitutes the penalty. Phosphorus, for example, is a very important ele- ment, being the element on which the action of the biain depends, and the physical source of vitality, and an important constituent, as well, of bones and other Eolid tissues. In a common-sized man there are found to be nearly two pounds of solid phosphorus, doing its MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS MOST POISONOUS. 159 important work quietly and harmlessly ; but take two grains of the two pounds which have been disorganized as can easily be done by calcining a bone, and attempt to put them back and reorganize them, by giving them at once to a healthy man, and such an excitement is pro- duced, especially of the brain, that delirium, inflamma- tion, and death might ensue within a single hour ; but give ten times that amount, organized in oat-meal or barley cake, or any other natural food containing it, and the system will quietly and gratefully appropriate what it needs, and reject the remainder without excitement or harm. And can we resist or gainsay the evidence thus fur- nished, that oat-meal and barley cakes, and unbolted wheat flour, are the appropriate means of introducing phosphorus into the system, rather than phosphatic bread, the phosphorus in which was taken from cal- cined bones? The Penalty of taking Disorganized Iron. Iron is a necessary, but less important, ele&ent of ihe human system than phosphorus. It is found in the bran of wheat and other grains, and vegetables, and, being transferred from them, is found also in the mus- des and blood of animals, and in the curd of milk, and Other natural food, in quantities as large as can be appropriated by the system ; and this is proof to my mind that Nature intended it to be furnished through these articles of natural food. 160 IRON IS POISONOUS. Being less important than phosphorus, the penalties for attempting to introduce it in any other way are less severe and less manifest, but are still sufficiently appar- ent to corroborate my position. Dr. J. Francis Churchill, a French author, who has given great attention to the effects of different mineral elements on the human system, in an article headed "Danger of Iron in Consumption and Chlorosis," says, that M. Trousseau, another very celebrated French physician, whose authority in this country to-day is as high as that of any man living, has carefully investi- gated the effects of iron, and from a synopsis of a report of these investigations he makes the following quotations : " M. Trousseau has just given utterance to an authoritative and positive statement, which will, no doubt, surprise the profession everywhere. He declares that iron in any form, given in chlorotic affec- tions, to patients in whom the consumptive diathesis exists, invariably fixes the diathesis, and hastens the development of the tubercles. The iron may induce a factitious return to health ; the physician may flatter himself that he has corrected the chlorotic condition of his patient ; but to his surprise, he will find the patient soon after fall into a phthisical state, from which there is no return. This result, or at least its hastening, M. Trousseau attributes to the iron. The assertion is a most startling one. M. Trousseau is nevertheless so certain of what he says, that he denounces the administration of iron in chlorosis as criminal in the highest degree." (The Italics are as in DISORGANIZED ELEMENTS NEVEK USED. 161 the quotation.)* This opinion is confirmed by my own observation in a practice of forty years, and furnishes proof suflScient that iron as well as phosphorus must be introduced into the system only as organized for digestion in some plant, or a penalty must be paid. The excitement that follows the taking of iron is less active and less dangerous than after taking phospho- rus, because it is less important to the system to reject it immediately ; but it illustrates the arrangement of Providence, and establishes the same principle. Can phosphorus, iron, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, ___or any other of the fourteen elements which constitute the human system, be made to form a con- stituent of the blood, or any organ or tissue, unless introduced as they are organized for that purpose, in the atmosphere and water, and in vegetable and animal food, before they have become fermented or decom- posed ? To comprehend the importance of this question, let us first glance at the various methods in which impor- tant elements are forced upon the human system, with the expectation that they will be received and appropri- ated as if they were introduced in accordance with natural laws, keeping in mind what I have endeavored to prove in the preceding chapters, that all elements offered are either kindly received and appropriated, or are rejected as poisonous. Thousands of invalids, feeble children, and especially feeble girls, are taking every day some preparation of • Since making this quotation M. Trousseau has deceased. 11 162 A PHYSIOLOGICAL EEROR. iron, with the expectation that it will supply the sup- posed deficiency of that element, and thus give them health and strength. Phosphorus, also, is introduced in superfine flour bread, with the understanding that it can be made to take the place of that element, which had been bolted out ; and it is also used to supply the supposed deficien- cy of that element in consumption and other diseases. Oxygen, likewise, in the form of gas, is taken to purify the blood and give vigor to the system. Carbon and hydrogen are taken in the form of alco- hol, with the expectation that they furnish natural heat to the system. These ideas seem to have come from Liebig, a very learned German chemist, who gave to the world much valuable information on the subject of the chemistry of food, and whose ideas for the last twenty years have been very generally adopted, but who ignored the vital law as controlling chemical laws, and classed alcohol with sugar and other carbonaceous food, because it con- tains the same elements, and who oiFered the analytical table of alcohol and sugar which I have copied in another chapter, as proof that alcohol must be nutri- tive because sugar was nutritive, notwithstanding the fact that the taste and smell, and perceptible effects of the two articles, were no more alike than any other two articles containing different elements. The same argu- ment is still used by eminent chemists, which may be condensed from an argument already quoted, as follows : Phosphorus, taken from bones without de- EEEONEOTje OPINIONS. 163 oomposition, is wholesome, as proved by experiment ; therefore phosphatic bread, although containing phos- phates chemically decomposed, cannot be unwhole- some. Arguments relied on to sustain the Use of Disorganr ized Elements, and to prove that such Elements may he and are incorporated into the Blood and Tissues. Practically, as has been said, it is generally conceded that elements wanted by the human system can be sup- plied, and will be received, whether they have been prepared in any vegetable organization or not ; but when the question is put directly to our chemists and scientific physicians, as it lately was before the commit- tee of the Legislature on licensing the sale of alcohol, " Is alcohol, or any other disorganized element, actu- ally appropriated by the organs or tissues as food, and incorporated into them as nutrition?" the answer is, " That question is not settled ; " very few being ready to make the assertion that it is. And the reason is obvious. There is no proof that a single element ever was made to enter into the blood, or any organ or tissue, as a part of their constituents, unless it was taken with, and formed a part of, some food organized directly or indirectly by passing through some vegetable. I find but one author who claims to bring such proof, and this proof I think can be clearly shown to be fallacious. Frederick Wilham Headland, of the Eoyal College 164 THE EFFECT OF IRON ON THE SYSTEM. of Physicians in London, has written a book on the action of medicines, which has recently been published in this country, and which is adopted as a standard work. It goes more thoroughly into the subject than any other author. He places alcohol as a stimulant and narcotic, with- out the pretence that it can be appropriated by the system, to make any part of its tissues or fat, or even be used as fuel to produce animal heat ; but in proof that iron from the shops does enter into the blood as a part of it, he says, "In some cases of chlorosis the blood was analyzed before giving iron and after it had been given for a few weeks, and the blood was found to contain more of red globules after taking the iron than before." And this is accepted as proof positive that the red globules, or at least the color of the glob- ules, were produced by the iron thus introduced. But scores of cases can be brought, where, under a different treatment, the results were the same, and even more striking, without using a particle of iron ; and my explanation is, that the effect of the iron was that of a mere stimulant, promoting sanguification, from food taken in the mean time containing iron. Of abun- dance of testimony on that point, I will bring only one witness. Dr. Churchill, whom I have already quoted as con- demning iron on account of its tendency to develop tubercles, says, in his book on "Pulmonary Phthisis and Tubercular Diseases," that phosphoric acid and its preparations " are the most valuable blood-creating IRON MUST BE TAKEN AS FOOD. 165 agents known, as is shown by the fact that more rap- idly than any other medicine it increases the quantity and color of the blood ; " and he gives cases to prove it quite as remarkable as those referred to by Dr. Headland, and thus the proof that iron produces the red globules directly is entirely neutralized. Now let us bring into one view the different parts of that wonderful, and to us incomprehensible arrange- ment, made "in the beginning," when " God created the heavens and earth," by which all the solid elements that man should ever require should be placed where, by laws ordained for that purpose, they should be pul verized, and mixed, and scattered, and deposited, and after countless ages be fitted to supply all his physical wants. And then " the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground," and instituted laws by which the elements of which he was made, and which would ever afterwards be needed for his repair and reconstruction, should be taken up in the sap of herbs, and grasses, and fruit trees, and deposited in seeds, and juices, and grains, and fruits, or in the flesh of animals, and birds, and fishes, in such abundance and profusion over the face of the earth, that anywhere, and in all circum- stances, to the end of time, these elements should be ready at his hand, requiring only the use of his intellect and physical faculties to procure them and fit them for his digestive organs. With this arrangement, so perfectly adapted to all the exigencies of human life, so clearly revealed as the plan of Infinite Wisdom, is it reasonable that we short- 166 BEEFSTEAK AND NITRIC AOED. sighted beings should presume to say that any part of it is unnecessary or unimportant, and that elements not prepared in accordance with it are just as good, and this on no other ground than that they have the same chemical character as organized preparations of the same elements ? — while the evidence before us is abun- dant that the same elements, with the same chemical combinations, are wholesome food or virulent poisons as they are or are not organized according to this won- derful plan ? Beefsteak and nitric acid both owe theii distinctive characteristics to nitrogen ; but one is whole- some nourishment, the other a virulent poison. Sugar and alcohol contain not only the same elements, but very nearly the same chemical combinations ; but they neither taste alike, or smell alike, or, if taken into the stomach, produce any effects on the system in common. In short, one is good carbonaceous food, the other-is a poison. What foUy, then, to attempt to decide on the influence of any substance by its chemical combination ! Chemical must always obey vital law, as lower law the higher. Note to Fifth Editioh, Makch 12, 1869. — In a recent lecture before the American Institute, Professor Horsford offered the following extraordinoiy indorsement of his claims by Baron Liebig: "It is certain that the nutritiv* value of flour will be increased ten per cent, by your phosphatic bread prep- aration, and the result is precisely the same as if the fertility of our wheat fields had been increased by that amount! " There is no claim that phosphatic yeast powder adds any element of nutrition but phosphorus, and the average amount of all the phosphorus in unbolted wheat meal is less than two per cent. Eight per cent, therefore of the Professor's improvement is an improvement on natural wheat. It is easy to prove that not a particle of nutriment is added by this or any other chemical process; but if it were, what would be gained? Why b« at such pains to get out the phosphorus, and then at such pains to get it back iRain ? Why not take wheat as God made it? WATEK. 167 WATER. We have seen that mineralogy, geology, and nat- ural history all corroborate that incomprehensible statement of the word of God, that man was made from the " dust of the ground ; " and I have endeav- ored to delineate also the great law of nature by which the solid elements of the human system are constantly supplied ; and we have seen that less than one quarter of the weight of the system is composed of solid matter, more than three quarters being water. We come now to consider the arrangement, equally wonderful, and above human comprehension, by which water, without which life could not have been begun or continued for a single day, should, with unfailing cer- tainty, always be supplied. And here we shall also find in the book of nature the same interesting and complete corroboration of the word of God. Away back in the ages of eternity, farther than the imagination of the human mind can reach, — " in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," the sun, moon, and stars, and every element of matter contained in them ; but for ages the condition of things was such that all we could understand, and therefore all that is revealed, is, that the "earth was without form And void." 168 PKEADAMITE ABEANGEMENT FOR WATER. The first intimation we have of the particulars of its construction, is made concerning water, in this state- ment : " And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." And this is all we know, or could be made to understand, and therefore is all the explana- tion given till the first day, or period, when "God said, Let there be light, and there was light." This, too, being incomprehensible to the human mind, unenlight- ened by scientific developments, is not explained. In the description of the second day, or period, we begin to get a glimpse of the condition of things. " And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament." " In the beginning," the earth was made of molten rocks : this is clearly under- stood by the condition in which we find it ; and of course the water existed only in a state of vapor, or in gaseous elements. To " divide the waters from under the firmament from the waters above the firmament," was, therefore, to cool the outside and form a crust of the earth, so that the vapor could be condensed into water, and thus be separated from the vapors in the regions above the earth. The second day, or period, seems, therefore, to have been devoted to a preparation of the supply of water for man, who was not to be cre- ated till the sixth day, or period, when all necessary preparations for him should be completed. The third period seems to have been devoted to the same work of perfecting an arrangement for the supply of water. "And God said, Let the waters under the "let the dry land appear^" 169 heaven be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land appear." How this was accomplished can now be read much more clearly in the " book of na- ture " than in the written word. The internal fires of the earth, pent up as they were by the solid crust that enclosed them, began, in their eflforts to escape, to throw up the surface of the earth into ridges, and hills, and mountains, and of course the waters retired from these ridges, and hills, and moun- tains, and they became dry land ; and one third of the earth being thus raised, the other two thirds were of course depressed, and there the waters gathered into oceans, and seas, and lakes : and thus was completed the third period of preparation for supplying man with water. That the nlountains were once raised from level layers, or strata, which had previously for ages been covered with water, there is not in the mind of any reflecting man, who knows the facts, a shadow of doubt. Look into any cave, or excavation, or mine, in any mountain on the face of the earth, and we can gee that the strata of different materials, such as coal, slate, &c., which must have been formed under water, and of course on a level, have been pushed up from a level to the position in which they are now seen, by Bome power from beneath, as if the wet leaves of a pamphlet had been pushed up into an inverted cup, and there left to dry. Finding such a semi-globular mass of printed matter afterwards, and separating these leaves, it could be seen that they once were on a level, 170 THE POUKTH PERIOD OF CREATION. and that in that position the words must have been im- printed on them. In a similar manner can be seen, in the leaves or strata of sandstone, evidence, in the posi- tion of the strata, and in the shells and other materials imbedded in them, evidence unmistakable that these strata were for ages under water, and of course on a level, and had been pushed up to their present position, and there left to dry and consolidate. Thus was so far accomplished the work of supplying water for man, that some vegetation could grow; and before the close of the third period we find "the herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself after his kind." But the earth was not yet ready for man, for mists and clouds in the heavens had not yet dispersed, so that the sun had ever shone, or even penetrated but imperfectly the dark- ness that shrouded the earth, " for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." But the fourth period of creation seems to have been devoted to clearing off the mists from the face of the earth, so that the rays of the sun could penetrate through them, and divide the day from the night; and then for the first time appeared the sun and the moon m the revelating vision to Moses, as if they had just been created and set there, " the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night ; " and as if then "He made the stars also," their light having never before reached the earth. Then came the fiftk ARRANGEMENT FOR WATER PERFECTED. 171 period, when the sun, having cleared off the mists and cloads from the earth, a system of distillation could be commenced from the surface of the ocean and the earth, and pure water be taken up to be condensed, and fall in dews and rains, and be collected into rivulets, and streams, and rivers, and the great system be inaugu- rated which to the end of time shall circulate the waters from the ocean to the air and from the air to the ocean, supplying men, and animals, and the minutest insect, without cessation, with this necessary element. Then, and not till then, was the earth prepared for animals, whose life depends on a constant supply of water for the circulation of the food, for perspiration, and the necessary secretions ; and not till then were created "every living creature that moveth," "and every winged fowl after his kind," that could in any way contribute to the support or comfort of man. And then, everything being made ready, God said, using for the first time the plural pronoun, as if the councUs of heaven were called for the crowning work of creation, " Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth." Let us now review the history of this preparation for the advent of man, and notice the perfect har- mony between the revelation to us through Moses, twenty-five hundred years after the work was finished, and the revelation to us in the mountains, and rocks, 172 THE REVELATION TO MOSES. and rivers, and the chemical character of the elements that compose them. This harmony is the more striking when we consider that Moses knew but little of astronomy, mineralogy, geology, or chemistry, as is evident from his descrip- tions, in all of which he gives us not the actual condi- tion of things, or the actual development of events, but only a description of things and events as they appeared to him, or as by a kind of panoramic vision they were revealed, to be described in his own words. Thus, in his description of the sun, moon, and stars, as they appeared when the mists had cleared off so as to reveal them, as if they were then created, he says, " And God made two great lights, the greater to rule the day, and the lesser to rule the night ; " " and he made the stars also." " And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth." This was on the fourth day, but on the second day, he says, "God said. Let there be light;" and this was when " God moved upon the face of the waters," and the mists were so far condensed that light from the sun began to shine through them. It is evident, therefore, that Moses wrote in his own language a description of appearances, as revealed by a kind of panorama, as suggested by Hugh Miller in " The Testimony of the Rocks." First, he saw the earth, so enshrouded in mists that not a ray of light could penetrate to its surface, and it appeared " without form and void ; " then, next, as it appeared when the mists were partly condensed into THE REVELATION TO MOSES. 173 water, so as to let in a little light ; then, as the moun- tains and hills were raised, and the waters settled into Beas and oceans ; and finally, when the arrangement was fully perfected, so that every blade of grass, and every little insect should be sure of a supply of water, and the earth was fully prepared for the advent of man, for whom all this preparation was made. Now, astronomy, geology, and chemistry all demonstrate that all that was thus revealed to the vision of Moses, and all he describes as appearances, were in perfect accordance with, though not a revelation of, scientific truth. The earth must have been enshrouded in dark- ness, for water cannot exist at a temperature above 212° ; and of course a temperature sufficiently high to melt the rocks must have driven all the water into vapor around the earth. Now, if the little fog which gathers over a city, as it sometimes does over the city of London, can so obstruct the light as to leave the inhabitants groping in darkness, what must have been the darkness when the whole ocean was in vapor around the earth? And as the surface of the earth cooled, and the vapor tondensed, after a while the light of the sun must have begun to shine through, according to the description of the first day, and there would be a manifest divis- ion between the water and the fog, described as the firmament dividing the waters below from the waters above, which constituted the work of the second day. And when the hills and the mountains were raised, as geology teaches they were raised, to form the dry land 174 OPINION OP CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHBES. of every continent, then the waters must necessarilj have been " gathered together in one place." The sun must have been in the heavens when "darkness was upon the face of the earth," but it could not "divide the day from the night," and " be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years," till the mists should have been dispersed so that its light should shine on the earth. And then, to complete the harmony of the testimony of Moses and the testimony of nature, in the chemical composition of plants and animals, we find a description of the earth as being covered with vegeta- tion, and the animals as being created, which was to finish the preparation of the earth for man, just when the arrangement was completed by which vegetation and animals could be perpetually supplied with water. If, then, we take the view of Dr. Kurtz, that the narrative of Moses was " simply prophecy described backwards," and of Chalmers, Pye Smith, and Hugh Miller, and other Christian philosophers, "that the Mosaic account of creation can only be regarded as a record of appearances," we find in the record of Moses respecting the formation of water, and the arrangements for its perpetual supply, and in the records of geology and chemistry, the most perfect harmony and consis- tency. That this view is true, not only of the revela- tions of Moses but of all Old Testament revelations, is now almost universally admitted by all Christian philosophers ; and, being admitted, there is no longer among them the least anxiety lest the truth of the Bible should be overturned or weakened. But until this was A REVELATION OP APPEARANCES. 175 understood, there was a constant jealousy lest some astronomer or geologist should discover some discre- pancy between the written word of God and the book of nature. Thus, when Galileo announced the discov- ery through his telescope that the earth revolved around the sun, the Christian philosophers of his day, with that strange perversion of intellect by prejudices which always characterized the human mind, demanded as security for their precious Bible that he should retract his opinion, and let the sun go on its revolutions arovmd the earth, and even demanded that he should do so on pain of death. Not one of them dared to look into the telescope, lest they might be convinced of the revolution of the earth ; for if the earth did re- volve, then Joshua's testimony was not true. Joshua said, when " the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and did not go down about a whole day," . . . "there was no day like that before it or after it." Gal- ileo said the sun had always stood still, and the revo- lution of the earth divided the day from the night ; and 60 determined were these philosophers to preserve the Bible from harm, and so darkened were the minds of these the best men of the age, that they deliberately concluded to take his life as a choice of evils, — the life of one man, even one of the best of men, being consid- ered of little value compared with the value of the precious word of God. But now that it is under- stood that Joshua only described a miraculous event, as it appeared to him, there is no difficulty on that il76 "good's book of nature." point in the mind of any intelligent Christian, whether philosopher or not. In our day, also, we have seen the jealousy awakened among intelligent Christian men, and even philoso- phers, upon the statement being made that the earth, according to its geological construction, could not have been formed in a single week. All Christendom was thrown into alarm and excitement again, lest the Bible might be discredited, and many an anathema was heaped on the names of good men who dared to interpret the Bible by the revelations of Nature. I remember, as if it were but yesterday, though now forty- five years since, the day and the room in which I began to read the then recently published " Book of Nature," by J. Mason Good, in which the idea first struck my mind that the six days of creation, as recorded by Moses, really meant six periods, or ages, of indefinite and inconceivable length. The idea did literally strike my mind with such force as to produce an efiect almost stunning ; and for that day I read not another word in the book, but gave up my mind to the strange reveries which it excited. I trembled lest the Bible should fall under such a plausible statement of geological revela- tion; but, looking into the subject, I found that the record of Moses and Joshua must be xmderstood as a record of appearances ; and since then I have felt no apprehensions for the revelations of the Bible, and no difficulty in reconciling them with the revelations of geology or chemistry. A CHEMICO-VITAL, PROCESS. 177 Uses of Water iu the Human System. By the table of analysis of the human body, we see that three fourths of its weight consists in water. With- out water no vital process could be carried on for a single moment. The blood must be liquid or it could not circulate, and not circulating, no elements could be supplied, and none could be removed ; and then oxygen and hydrogen are very important elements in the com- position of the organs as well as the blood. And thus water occupies a position in the economy of the system which fully explains the importance which seems to be attached to it in nature, rendering it necessary to insti- tute that complicated arrangement for its production, circulation, and minute distribution over the face of the earth which we have been considering. But one of the most important, and to me the most interesting purposes subserved by water, is that chemico- vital process by which the temperature of the body is regulated so as, under all circumstances and external temperatures to which it can be exposed, internally to remain of the same temperature. That certainly is an admirable adjustment of vital and chemical principles, which, without regard to external clothing, or external temperature, or the kind of food taken, or the amount of exercise used, shall keep the internal temperature at 98°, so that in the same individual, under all ordinary circumstances in health, it will not vary from that pomt more than one or two degrees, in summer or winter, at rest or in violent exercise. 12 178 A CHEMICAL LAW. Id a series of experiments on one hundred and four- teen individuals, of both sexes, of different ages, among various races, in different latitudes, and under various temperatures. Dr. J. Davy found that a thermometer placed under the tongue indicated a temperature vary- ing only from 96.5 to 102 — only 6J° ; and the extremes of these cases virere found very rarely, and always in individuals of great peculiarities of constitution. The process by which this adjustment of temperature is made, as I have said, is partly vital and partly chemi- cal. That part which is vital I will not attempt to ex- plain ; but the chemical process is in accordance with a law instituted " in the beginning," and instituted espe- cially for this very purpose (if we believe that the earth was made for man, and all the laws which govern it). This law is easily understood, and is worthy of par- ticular consideration. If a solid is changed into a liquid, or a liquid into a gas, heat is required, which is taken from surrounding objects to supply it. If you place a pot of cream within a vessel, in which it will be surrounded by ice and salt, both of which being solid, the action of the salt on the ice changes it into water, which, requiring more heat, takes it from the cream, which is the nearest object, and freezes it into ice-cream. If you allow moist clothing to remain touching the surface of the body, the moisture, by the heat of the body, or by the atmosphere, is changed into vapor, jind produces a dangerous sensation of cold. I have often amused the class to whom I was lecturing by aa COLD PRODUCED BY EVAPORATION. 179 application of this law, in freezing water in a warm lecture-room. Take two watch crystals, and put in one a little water, and in the other a little ether, which being light, boils at the temperature of the atmosphere when the pressure is taken off. Put these together, under an air-pump, and take off the pressure : the ether will boil, and give off vapor, which, abstracting the heat from the water, causes it to freeze ; so that in the same temperature we have the processes of boiling and freezins: at the same time. This principle is used in warm climates in cooling water and other drink. A porous jug, called a monkey, or a bottle with a wet cloth around it, is always seen hanging in the window where the breeze is drawing through, and the evaporation from the surface of the jug or bottle abstracts the heat from the water within ; and I have drank it as cool as was desirable, with the eun directly overhead. We have seen also the operation of this principle in heating and boiling water. Apply heat to water, and its temperature increases till it comes up to 212° ; then a violent agitation commences, and steam is evolved more or less rapidly in proportion to the heat applied ; and this evolution keeps the water at the same tem- perature, so that no amount of heat in the open air can raise the temperature above 212°. And this is the principle which regulates the tem- perature of the human system, and keeps it at 98°, regulated by the operation of a vital law which we do not understand, and the evaporation of water, as before 180 POWEK TO RESIST THE EFFECTS OF HEAT. described, so as to keep the internal parts of the body at 98°, while water, under the regulation of physical law alone, is kept, when boiling, at 212°- By this law all animals can, to some extent, adjust themselves to different temperatures ; but each species, being intended to occupy only a limited range of heat and cold, each being limited to a few degrees of lati- tude, have not the necessity for that power to a very great extent. But man, who is destined to have domin- ion over all animals in all latitudes, must have power to adapt himself to a great range of temperature. In many parts of the tropical zone, the thermometer rises every day, through a large portion of the year, to 110°, and in British India it is occasionally recorded at 130° ; while the arctic voyagers frequently record it as low as 55° below, and Captain Franklin at 58°, and one record by Captain Back is made as low as 70° ; making a range of temperature in which men live from 130° above to 70° below — two hundred degrees. Workmen in furnaces are accustomed, in some places, to enter a room where the floor is red hot, and the temperature of the air stands at 350° ; and the " Fire King " Chabert was in the habit of entering an oven, at a temperature of from 400° to 600° ; and it is not an uncommon feat to take beefsteak into an oven and wait for it to be cooked ; indeed, the temperature which Chabert was accustomed to endure would crisp a steak to charcoal. This almost miraculous power of resisting the effects of heat is evidently not purely chemical, as is shown EFFECTS OF COLD ON THE HEALTH. 181 by the different effects of the same temperature on the living and dead muscle ; but that chemical law comes into play in this power to sustain extraordinary heat, is shown by the fact that the evaporation of water on the surface of the body is in proportion to the degree of heat to which it is exposed, and of course the heat is evolved from the body according to chemical laws. It is, therefore, a power partly chemical and partly vital, — great changes can therefore be endured with impunity only by persons with good vital powers and in good health. Young children suffer greatly by changes of temperature, and many an infant is killed by treatment which would be safe at maturity, the nurses or mothers exposing them to the influence of cold air or cold water, not knowing their want of power to resist the cold, or perhaps having the idea that exposure will render them tough. Old people also suffer from exposure to changes, and statistics show that from the age of eighty and upwards more than twice as many die in January and February as in July and August; indeed, the mortality of all ages is greater in winter than in summer. M. Quetelet gives, as the results of a large number of statistical observations in Brussels, the following table of the mean monthly mortality at different ages, reckonifig the average of the whole year at one hun- dred per month : — 182 MONTHLY MOETALITT. Mean Monthly Mortality in Brussels. First S to 8 8 to 12 25 to 30 so to 60 90 Tears Montb. 139 Tears. Years. - Years. Years. and above January, 122 108 105 130 158 February, 128 113 106 104 122 148 March, 121 130 ' 127 111 111 125 April, 102 127 134 106 102 96 May, 93 112 121 102 93 84 June, 83 94 99 102 85 75 July, 78 82 88 91 77 64 August, 79 73 82 96 85 66 September, 86 76 81 95 89 76 October, 91 78 76 93 90 74 November, 93 91 80 97 100 103 December, 109 101 96 97 115 129 This difference in the rate of mortality in summer and winter physiologists have generally supposed to depend on the changes of temperature and the want of power to resist them, especially in infants and old people, and to a great extent this explanation is un- doubtedly correct ; but experiments to which I have else- where referred, made in the Foundling Hospital and in the Zoological Garden of London, thirty-five years «go, by which the length of life of infants and mon« keys were increased one hundred per cent, in two years, by a new system of \Tentilation, would seem to indicate POWER TO RESIST THE EFFECTS OF COLD. l6'S another reason for the difference of mortality in infants and old people in summer and winter. Probably in Brussels, where the winters are long and cold, as a matter of economy in heat the houses are not well ven- tilated, and infants and old people, not being able to go out, are exposed constantly to impure air, which would help to account for the facts presented in M. Quetelet's bill of mortality. In July and August old men and infants breathe pure out-of-door air ; in January and February that luxury perhaps cannot be afforded. There is, however, no doubt that the power of gen- erating heat and of resisting cold is very different at different ages ; and this depends entirely on the degree of activity. The young Guinea pig, which can run about and pick up food for itself as soon as it is born, is no longer dependent on its mother for heat, or the power of resisting the effects of cold ; but young dogs, cats, and rabbits, which are born blind, do not for some weeks acquire the power of resisting the effects of cold, and would die but for the warmth imparted by the mother. The infant is the most helpless of all ani- mals, and is longest in arriving at maturity sufficient to resist the cold air, and it cannot be too carefully pi'otected, unless in our care to protect it from cold we deprive it of pure air, which is quite as essential as a regular temperature. Demand for Water in the Hnman System. Besides the great demand for water, especially in warm weather, for the purpose of evolving heat, as 1 184 AMOUNT OF WATER EXCRETED. have described, it is wanted in large quantities to supply the excretions, and thus carry oiF effete matter from the system. Three quarters of the system is water ; and if the waste of water were no more rapid than that of the solids, we should require half a gallon in a day, the waste of solids being reckoned at nearly two pounds, but the waste of water in warm weather and in active exercise is many times greater than the waste of the solids. The amount of water excreted by the kidneys varies, being to some extent in the inverse proportion to the excretions from the skin. In summer it is less than in winter ; the quantity, therefore, excreted in twenty-four hours cannot be exactly ascertained. It is estimated at about thirty ounces in summer, and forty ounces in winter, for a person who only drinks what nature requires ; but many persons drink, from mere habit, twice as much as is needed, which must of course pass off in excretions. From the skin is excreted, in ordi- nary circumstances, from one pound and three fourths to five pounds in twenty-four hours, and in extraordi- nary circumstances, as in the case of glass-blowers, furnace workmen, &c., it has amounted to sixteen or twenty pounds. More than half as much as the ordi- nary excretions from the skin is also excreted from tlie lungs, besides an indefinite and very variable amount from the bowels. We require, therefore, from four to twelve pounds of water daily to keep all the organs and functions in healthy working order. WATEE IN THE HUMAN SYSTEM. 185 Importance of Using Pure Water. Water, to perform perfectly the duties assigned it in the human economy, must be perfectly pure ; nothing but oxygen and hydrogen combined can pass through the system to accomplish the various purposes which I have described, and every element combined with them in water must be disposed of by the excretories, and must be a source of embarrassment and disease to the delicate organs whose duty it is to expel all intruding elements from the system. Our study, therefore, should be to get water as pure as possible. Nature has provided, in two ways, never-failing sources of supply of pure water, — in the juices of all natural food, animal or vegetable, and in the condensation of vapor in the atmosphere. By comparing the analysis of the human body with that of different articles of food, we shall be interested to find on an average as much water in the different articles in their natural state as in the system, and that to compensate for the increased expenditure of water in summer, the amount of water in the fruits and vegetables intended for summer food is vastly greater than is found in the grains and fat meats that are intended for winter. The average amount of water in fruits, and vegetables, and berries, is more than ninety per cent., while seal oil, of which an Esquimaux will eat a gallon in a day, son tains no water at all. This interesting provision «f nature will be impressed on our minds by bringing 186 WATEE IN FOOD. together the different articles of food, with the amount of water in each, as in the following table, from analy- ses already given : — Quantities of Water in One Hundred Pounds of Vegetable Food. Pounds. 1 Indian meal, ... 14 Eye, . . . 13 X^63jSj • • 14 Eice, . . . 13 Beans, . 14 Lentils, 14 Buckwheat, 14 Barley, 14 Oatmeal, . 13 Oyster, 87 Egg, . . 67 Milk, . . 87 Beef without fa t, 74 Veal, " 75 Mutton, " 71 Pork, 76 Chicken, " . 73 Codfish, . . 79 Haddock, . 82 Potatoes, . Carrots, Turnips, Parsnips, . Mangel-wurzel Cabbage, . Apricot, Green Gage, Peach, . Cherries, Gooseberries, Cucumber, Apples, Pears, . Butter, . Lard, Almond oil, Olive oil, . Mutton suet. Fat of all meats, Founds. . 75 . 86 . 87 . 79 . 85 . 92 . 75 . 71 . 80 . 75 . 81 . 97 . 84 . 84 None. From the above table it will be seen that five sixths CAN WATER BE SUPPLIED IN FOOD? 187 of the food usually eaten consists of water ; and there- fore, using an average amount of vegetable food, wa get more water than the natural proportion of that ele- ment in the human system. And if our liquid excre- tions were ho greater in proportion than the solid, we should need no drink. Noticing this fact, soiae of our ultra dietetic reformers have inferred that the intention of Nature was that water should be supplied through food alone ; and Alcott succeeded in abstaining entirely for a whole year from all kinds of liquids except such as were furnished in natural food, as milk, vegetables, fruits, &c. ; but I often thought, when seeing him moping about the streets, looking like a walking mummy, that his personal appearance did not very highly recommend his principles. He said, however, that he did not experience the sensation of thirst more than two or three times, and that after copious perspi- ration from working in hot weather. His food was entirely vegetable, and he ate six pounds in a day, which would give him five pounds of fluid daily, — an amount, it would seem, abundantly sufficient for such a desiccated specimen of humanity. — He needed more nutriment rather than more water, his gastronomic capacity not being sufficient to contain, in such food, the requisite amount of nutrition. But that Nature intended partially to supply water to the system through the medium of food, is evident from the fact to which I have before alluded, that food produced in warm climates, and intended for warm weather, when water is most needed to supply the 188 WATERED MILK. excretions, contains a much larger proportion of watei than food intended for cold climates and cold weather. This is seen in the above table, the green vegetables and fruits showing from eighty to ninety-^even per cent, of water, while the fat of all animals contains none. Still, there are very few animals, whatever their food may be, who do not drink water. Mice, quails, parrots, and a faw other birds and quadrupeds, are said to drink no water ; but cattle, which live OE grass alone, containing more than ninety per cent, of water, still require drink, and perish without it ; which to me is proof positive that food was not intended to supply all the water needed in the system. It is, however, best to use as far as practicable food containing water, especially in places where pure water cannot be obtained, as water combined in natural food is absolutely pure, and perceptibly different from the purest water obtained outside of this natural organiza- tion. This, in regard to milk, has been proved by experiment. Carefully add to a dish of pure fresh milk a few drops of pure Cochituate water, and almost immediately, under a microscope, can be seen commencing a change which will result in decomposi- tion. Place a dish of pure milk, containing eighty- seven per cent, of water, as it came from the cow, where it will keep sweet twenty-four hours, and place beside it another dish of the same milk, adding only one per cent, of pure water of the same temperature, imd the milk last named will be changed in less than twelve hours. When our milkmen, therefore, dilute NO WATER IS ABSOLUTELY PURE. 189 their milk, they not only defraud by selling water for mUk, but they actually adulterate it in the true sense of that term. From this fact housekeepers and milkmen may get an important hint. It is not only necessary, in order to keep mUk from changing, to have the dish or can containing it well scalded and sweet, but also per- fectly dry, a single drop of pure water being sufficient to start the process of fermentation, or change, and the more impure the water the greater will be its influence. No water can be obtained perfectly pure, as even that which comes directly from the clouds contains slight traces of mineral, animal, and vegetable matter. Carbonate and muriate of ammonia have been obtained by distillation from pure river water, and this ammonia is the cause of that feeling of softness which is even greater than in pure distilled water. Collected in the cleanest and purest vessels, it also contains organic matter and the germ of animal and vegetable life sufficient to produce putrefaction, animal- cule and vegetable moulds ; and when collected in large cities it is less pure than in the country, containing as it does, besides the impurities already mentioned, creosote, carbonic acid gas, and other materials result- ing from combustion, decomposition, and evaporation. Still, next to water contained in milk, and the juices of fruits, rain water is the purest. Snow Water. Snow, being rain congealed, contains the same am- moniacal impurities ; but being congealed in the upper 190 SOURCES OP DTOEGANIO MATTEE. and purer regions of the atmosphere, it brings down with it less of the organic impurities, but being in other respects the same, cannot be injurious to health, as is commonly supposed. It will not, however, quench thirst unless melted before it goes into the mouth, the loss* of heat in melting counteracting entirely the natu- ral effect of water, so that the natives of arctic regions, according to the testimony of Captain Ross, "prefer enduring the utmost extremity of thirst rather than attempt to remove it by eating snow ; " but after it is melted it is as nearly pure as any water, and quenches fhirst as well. Spring Water. Water falling in rain on the surface of the earth percolates through the soil and substratal gravel or sand, till it comes down to an impervious stratum, carrying with it of course all soluble substances that have been taken up but not filtered out by the sand through which it passes. It passes along this imper- vious substratum till it comes to some opening in a vaUey, or remains to be obtained through a well. It is of course affected by the salts of the soil, and by the Boluble minerals in the gravel, or sand, or rock through which it passes, and the quality of the water depends on the character of the soil and the gravel. If the soil be thin and poor, and the foundation rock and gravel be granite, as in New England, there are few soluble salts or minerals to be taken up, and the water is pure ; but if the soil is rich, and the subsoil and rocks are WHAT ELEMENTS AEE WANTED IN WATEE. 191 mixed with soluble mineral compounds, as in most of the rich valleys of our great rivers, the water is filled with organic and mineral matters, and is the source >f many diseases. River Water Is generally a mixture of rain water and spring water, and of course varies in its impurities according to the character of the soil of which it is the wash, and rocks and gravel through which it is filtered, and according to the amount of impurities which it receives in its passage to the ocean. From water the system obtains nothing of value but oxygen and hydrogen. This, I think, has been shown by the explanation of the law which makes provision for the fourteen elements in pure air, pure water, and in organized vegetable matter. I cannot, therefore, agree with Dr. Lankester in his " Guide to the Food Collection in the South Kensington Museum." * That waters from rivers, surface wells, and deep artesian wells, containing saline and mineral matters in solu- tion, " provided they are not in quantities so large as to act injuriously on the system, may become a source of supply of these constituents to the body." Having proved, as I think I have, that Nature accepts of no * I take pleasure in acknowledging my indebtedness to Dr. Lan- kester for many analyses of grains, &c., and for many other interest- ng facts which have been of great serrice in the preparation of this treatise; also to Drs. Johnston, Pereira, and other distinguished English authors. 192 HOW WATER IS USED EST THE STOMACH. supplies of elements but in accordance with her own definite provision for these elements, as before ex- plained, I cannot think that she trusts to chance sup- plies, and would allow the human system to depend for the supply of any elements on waters, some of which contain no inorganic elements, and some quite too many. On the contrary, the first process in the use of water in the system is to remove all elements but oxygen and hydrogen from drinks of any kind as soon as they are taken into the stomach. If the drink con- tains sugar, or the juice of meat, or any other appropri- ate element of food, these elements are first abstracted and digested, and if it contains inorganic substances, or organic substances not needed in the system, they are first cast off by the excretories, so that whatever we drink, nothing but pure water is used, or can be used, by the system. If we take brandy, or wine, or beer, or coflfee, or tea, or whatever else we take, it quenches thirst because it contains water, and to just the extent of the water. It is therefore important that our drinks should contain nothing deleterious. The importance of pure water, as a means of pre- serving health, will be understood by all who have given attention to the laws which I have endeavored to explain, by which all elements not organized in pure water, pure air, and appropriate food, are rejected by the system as poisonous ; but we have also facts which place the subject in a very strong light. In a case at the Nottingham Assizes, in July, 1836, it was proved that dysentery in an aggravated form was caused in IMPURE WATER THE CAUSE OF DISEASE. 193 catde by the use of water with putrescent vegetable matter, produced by the refuse of a starch factory ; proving my position true, that nutritious elements, if disorganized, become poisonous. The fish (perch, gudgeon, pike, roach, and dace), and even frogs in the pond through which the brook ran, were destroyed. All the cows, calves, and horses which drank of this water became sick, and in eight years the plaintiff lost twenty-four cows and nine calves, all of dysentery. It was also shown that the mortality was in proportion to the quantity of starch made at different times, and that when the water containing the putrescent matter was not allowed to pass into the brook the mortality ceased, and the frogs and fishes were restored. Dr. Bell, surgeon to the barracks at Cork, found dysentery prevailing among the soldiers, tUl he sus- pected that it arose from water contaminated by the drainage from the city, and, changing the water to that of pure spring water, had no more of the disease ; and in our late rebellion, it was found that whenever the soldiers were obliged to drink water containing organic impurities, as in the swamps of Chickahominy, they soon became sick of dysentery, or some other disease of the digestive organs. 13 194 HARD WATER. Waters containing Inorganic /Substances tisually denominated Hard Waters. Those waters which are usually obtained from wells, contain salts of various kinds, derived from the soil and subsoil thi-ough which they percolate, and of course are more or less injurious as they contain elements and combinations more or less active. The most common salt found in hard water is sulphate of lime, the ele- ments of which and the elements of soap have a mutual affinity for each other, and when soap is used with such water a double decomposition takes place, — the sul- phuric acid unites with the alkali of the soap, setting free the fatty acids, which, uniting with the lime, form an insoluble earthy soap, which floats on the surface, and the soap losing its influence, the water feels hard and very imperfectly performs the functions of ablution. These salts also have a very unfavorable effect in the animal economy, as the elements not being wanted in the system have to be cast out through the excretories, causing, in their passage out, diseases of the kidney and of the skin, and it is found that gravelly deposits and eruptions of the skin are frequent in proportion to the inorganic substances in the water habitually used. Horses seem instinctively aware of the evils of hard water, and prefer even turbid river water to hard well water. Mr. Youatt, an English writer, in his book on the Horse, published in London, 1831, says, " Hard water, drawn fresh from the well, will assuredly make the coat of a horse, unaccustomed to it, stare, THE PUEEST WATER COKKODES LEAD PIPE. 196 and it will not unfrequently gripe and otherwise injure him." And Mr. Chadwick, in his report to her Majes- ty's principal Secretary of State for the Home Depart- ment from the Poor Law Commissioners, on an inquiry into the sanitary condition of the laboring population of Great Britain in 1842, observes that "water con- taining animal matter, which is the most feared, appears to be less frequently injurious than that which is clear- est, namely, spring water, from the latter being oftener impregnated with mineral substances." These consid- erations are sufficient to show that pure water is impor- tant for the preservation of health ; but in one respect pure waters are more dangerous than those containing salts, especially the salts of lime. Pure water wUl, under some circumstances, corrode lead pipes, and dis- solve more lead than those containing salts of lime, especially carbonates, which form a crust on the surface of the pipes, and thus protect them from the action of water, while even rain water, on surfaces of lead exposed to air and water alternately, as in lead gutters, cisterns,' pipes, &c., acts with considerable energy, as may be seen by examining any pipe at the surface of a cistern of water, or any cistern lined with zinc or lead, at the surface of the water, or the top of a closed cistern, where the steam or moisture gathers. The drops of water which condense on the top of a cistern of water are impregnated with the oxide of zinc or lead (both to somfe extent poisonous), and dropping nto the water, impregnate the whole mass, and render it unfit for drinking purposes. There are also places 196 THE DELETERIOUS INFLUENCE OF LEAD. in all lined cisterns, and all pipes where two metals are united or come in contact, forming a galvanic bat- tery — as in soldered joints, supporting bars of iron, copper faucets, &c., and the action on the water, how- ever pure, in these parts will cause decomposition of the metals ; and thus in the purest water, if we obtain it through lead pipes, or zinc-lined cisterns, or copper boilers, we get some very deleterious mineral matters, which affect the system, even though we get them in very minute quantities. The worst of this influence is, that it is cumulative ; and no particular effects being perceived, perhaps, for a long time, we come to doubt whether water which we have used with apparent impunity for months, and per- haps years, can in any way be injurious ; and many a disease, such as colic, numbness, pain in the bones, constipation, fits, spasms, cramps, &c., is charged to something else, or the cause of which is not known, is really induced by the cumulative influence of lead, zinc, or copper from our water pipes or cistern linings, &c. Cases frequently occur in which whole families are afflicted with some mysterious and complicated diseases, from which they suffer for months and years, and which destroy all their comfort and all their useful- ness, and even the life of some of the members, before they suspect the cause ; but when scientific investi- gation is finally obtained, the cause is found to be lead pipes, from which they had used water from the same well for years, much of the time enjoying good health. Not one half of the evils from metallic water pipes METAIXIO SEEVIOE PIPES. 197 are known, or ever can be known, till they are utterly discarded, and we experience the blessings of health which come from pure water. Every scientific man, and every other man who realizes these evils to the community, ought to "cry aloud and spare not," till our city authorities, and every individual householder, shall open their eyes to see them, and shall banish forever all unprotected metallic service pipe. Let the people once make up their minds they will drink no water poisoned with lead, or zinc, or copper, whatever it may cost to get pure water, and there will be found means of procuring pure water ; but as long as we deceive ourselves as we do with the idea that however others may suiFer from water impregnated with lead, or zinc, or copper, we are safe, — our well of water, and our Cochituate, or Croton, or Schuylkill water does not corrode pipes, — we shall continue to take water poisoned with le^id and »ther mineral matters. The truth is, we who laugh at the silly ostrich for poking her head under the sand, and thinking herself safe because she. can see no danger, are after all but little wiser. We blind our eyes to a thousand evils, and bear their consequences rather than take the trouble to remove them. Ask a man who lives on the border of Chickahominy Swamp, or any other notoriously vile and sickly local- ity, about the health and comforts of his home, and he mH tell you he has " a heap " of good and pleasant things about him, and no annoyances or sickne.ss *>f 198 GALVANIC ACTION ON WATER PIPES. any kind. " They have the dysentery and bilious fever over the other side, a few miles off, and the mosquitoes are awful ; " but he has none of these troubles. Ask a man, as I did, who had always lived on the Mississippi River, and always drank water so thickened with organic and inorganic impurities that it looks like gruel more than like water, why he did not filter the vile stuff, and he will tell you, as he told me, " There was never sweeter, or better, or more healthy water drank in the world ; it is much better without filter- ing, as it has more body to it." I asked him if in his neighborhood they were not subject to dysenteries, bowel complaints, bilious fevers, and the like. He said. Yes ; but the water had nothing to do with such troubles. Ask the Cochituate Water Board about Boston water, and they will tell you truly that it is the purest water used by any large city on the face of the earth ; that, according to Prof. Benjamin Silliman, it is capable of dissolving only forty-six hundredths of a grain of lead in a gallon, and therefore cannot corrode leaden pipes ; but they will not tell you that, open any cistern or any pipe that is not all the time full, and you will find the lining coated with carbonate of lead, and that near the soldered joints a galvanic and chemical action is con- stantly going on, so that the pipes are eaten off and burst very frequently (in my house the pipes are eaten iff and burst five or six times a year, and always neai some soldered joint) . OEGANIO MATTERS IN WATER. 199 Deceive ourselves as we may, there is no v?ater inca- pable of acting on lead, or zinc, or copper, under some circumstances, and these metals should never be used for, or connected with service pipe ; and the sooner the people fuUy understand this fact the better. But how shall we protect ourselves in the mean time ? It takes a long time for the most palpable truths to get control of corporations, proverbially conservative. Meantime we should never use water to drink or for cooking that has stood for any length of time in the pipes, and never use at all for these purposes water that comes from a leaden or zinc-lined cistern. Water containing organic matters can be filtered through sand and charcoal. Boiling also purifies water, the salts that are held in solution by car- bonic acid, as the carbonate of lime, or carbonate of iron, or lead, the heat of boiling water driving off the carbonic acid, and leaving the lime, or iron, or lead deposited on the vessel in which it is boiled. In travelling in regions where the water is impreg- nated with lime, or organic materials, it is a good precaution to drink no water that has not been boiled, and a better plan still, to get as much as possible of the necessary supply for the system from milk, and vegetables, and fruits, from which we get water absolutely pure, and fitted to be appropriated, without any process of purification, in the stomach. Another reason for not drinking water which contains organic matters, without boiling, is, that all such waters con- tain animaculae, and the eggs of insects and vermin, 200 WATEE ALONE QUENCHES THIRST. some of which are capable of resisting the action of the gastric juice, and will live and grow in the stomach ; thus leeches, and snakes, and other disgusting creatures have been known to be taken in impure or stagnant water in which they are hatched, and live in the stomach for a long time, causing great annoyance and distress. No animalcules are found in water absolutely pure, and none are known to exist that are not destroyed by boil ing water. And now, having explained the process by which, at such infinite expense, water is furnished to every living thing, everywhere and at all times, and having show^n that pure water, and nothing else, can dilute the blood and prepare it to circulate, carrying to every part the nourishment needed, and taking from every part the effete materials no longer wanted, and that nothing else can supply the hydrogen, and other elements, as they are needed in the system, and that, therefore, all other drinks subserve these different purposes because they contain water, and in just the proportion as they contain water, all other drinks might be summarily disposed of as useless and injurious ; but wedded, as every nation is, to some artificial drink, and biased, aa scientific men are, in favor of that to which they them- selves are accustomed, there is need of applying chem- istry, physiology, and common sense to our drinks, aa well as to our solid food. For, though it be true, as we have said, that pure water is the only true drink, and that therefore there can be no substitute for it • and though it be true that all the living creatures which SUBSTITUTES FOE WATER. 201 God has made, some of which, as we have seen, are Buhject to the same physiological laws as man, and take the same kind of food, all take water alone for drink, and are all contented with it; still, to conform to his cosmopolitan character, man sometimes needs some modification of water for drink to avoid and counter- act the influence of impure water, to which, in our present ignorance of the means of correcting the evU, we are sometimes subject. Even a teetotaller ought to he excused for breaking his pledge if so situ- ated that he could get nothing else, and must choose between wine, although it did contain a little poison- ous alcohol, and impure waters, containing mate- rials a thousand times more deleterious than a little alcohol. The substitutes for water, commonly adopted in civ- ilized nations, are alcoholic drinks, including distilled spirits, beers, cider, wines, — and tea, coffee, and choc- olate ; each of which deserves, and shall have, a passing notice. Tea. That infusion which is usually denominated Tea, which is used by five hundred millions of the inhab- itants of the earth, is made from the leaves of several varieties of a small shrub found in China and India, and now cultivated in many other parts of the world. The leaves are not gathered till the plant is four years old; and the plant is renewed every tenth or twelfth y^ear. The shrub is closely allied to the well-known 202 TEA. Camellia Japonica. The difference between teas of the two general classes in common use — the green and black teas — is accounted for in different ways by different authors. Lankester says the difference is partly the result of soil and growth, and partly from the mode of curing. "Black tea consists of leaves slightly fermented, washed and twisted. Genuine green tea is made of exactly the same leaves, washed and twisted without fermentation ; but commercial ' green ' teas are often black teas colored with Prussian blue." While Mr. Reeves, whose opinion, according to the authority of Pereira, is entitled to great weight, expresses his surprise "that any person who has been in China, or indeed any one who has seen the differ- ence in the color of the infusions of black and green tea, could suppose for a moment that they were the product of the same plant, differing only in the mode of curing, particularly as they do not grow in the same neighborhood of each other." But whether the differ- ence consists in the manner of preparing, or the species or varieties of plants, chemical analysis shows that green tea, as it comes to us, contains more tannin, and more of that peculiar principle which is found combined with tannin, which is called theine, or theina, which is the same principle found in coffee, and called caffeine. The tannin is injurious on account of its astringent effects, and the theine and caffeine are injurious to ttiany people on account of their peculiar influence on the nervous system, inducing restlessness and wakeful- ness. On that account green tea disagrees with more AMOHNT OF TEA CONSUMED. 203 people than black tea, and, in this country, is almost given up for black tea. Dr. Lankester estimates that in the United. Kingdom above thirty-two thousand tons, or seventy-three mil- lions of pounds, are annually used, or about two pounds and three quarters for every person in the kingdom; and he has given a table showing the relative consump- tion of tea in different countries ; and I transcribe below his estimate for the United Kingdom, France, B.ussia, and the United States. Annual Consumption, in Ounces, per Head of the Population. United Kingdom, .... 35| oz. France, 1 " £,ussia, 4 " United States, 16 " The property which distinguishes the different kinds of teas from each other, and gives them their flavor, is found in the form of volatile oil. This flavor, or osma- zome, is, as I think can be shown, the source of all the benefits that can be derived from tea, and the source of one class of evUs which arise from its use in excess. By the chemical analysis of pure tea, of any variety, we find no elements capable of doing harm to the system, except tannin and osmazome. Osmazome in tea seems to be a flavor universally admired, and therefore the cause of its extensive use all over the world. It ia 204 DELETERIOUS PROPERTIES IN TEA. only injurious when taken in excess, being the element diffused through all natural food, and which is useful in giving a relish and in promoting digestion ; but in excess, produces nervous excitement and subsequent depression. These effects are, however, evanescent, and soon pass away unless the cause is continued. But tannin, or tannic acid, is a medical agent, perma- nent in its effects, and undoubtedly injurious to the system in proportion to its use. It is found combined with theine, the peculiar principle of tea, and consti- tutes more than twenty-five per cent, of the dry leaf. According to Dr. Lankester, one pound of good tea contains — Water, oz. Theine, " Tannic acid, . . . 4 " Casein, 2 " Aromatic oil, Sugar, . . , Fat, . . . , Woody fibre. Mineral matter, Gum, . . " " " 3 «' " 2 " 350 gr 210 87 175 52 211 280 87 350 385 The chemical difference between black and green teas may be seen by the following table from Mulder, comparing two kinds of green tea with two kinds of black : — BLACK AND GEEBN TEAS. 205 Japanese, Chlorophyll, "Wax, Resin, Gum, Tannin, Theine, Extractive matter, Apotheme, . Ext. obtained by chloric acid, Albumen, Fibrous matter. Volatile oil, hydro- 2.22 0.28 2.22 8.56 17.80 0.43 22.80 .00 Black. 1.84 .00 3.64 7.28 12.88 0.46 19.88 1.48 3.24 0.32 1.64 12.20 17.56 0.60 21.63 .00 1.28 .00 2.44 11.08 14.80 0.65 18.64 1.64 23.60 19.12 20.36 18.24 3.00 17.08 0.79 2.80 28.32 0.60 3.64 1.28 18.20 27.00 0.98 0.65 By this table we see why green tea is more injurious than black, containing as it does nearly one third more tannin, and from one third to one quarter more volatile oil, while of the other important element, theine, there is a little more in the black tea. That it is not theine, but tannin and volatile oil, that produces tremor, anxiety, sleeplessness, &c., is therefore proved, black tea containing most theine, and yet producing least of these nervous symptoms. On the other hand, I cannot believe with Liebig that theine or caffeine have any im- portant influence in the change of the tissues or in the composition of the bile, and "are better adapted to this purpose than all other nitrogenized vegetable principles." 206 COI*FEE AND TEA USEFUL FOR IHEIE FLAVOR. We have seen that every principle, important to the human economy, is so carefully provided for, that wherever man may choose to live, he 6nds all these principles prepared for his use ready at hand ; but caffeine and theine are only found in tropical climates, and are indeed quite local in their production. Wo find, also, that more than three quarters of all the people in the world live and enjoy health without ever tastiiig these principles. Liebig's theories, therefore, in this matter, as in many others, are not sustained by facts or general principles. Theine, caffeine, or any other peculiar principles found in tea or coflfee, cannot be proved to be essential to health in any circumstances or conditions of life ; but I am not, on the other hand, prepared to prove that to everybody they are essentially injurious. The truth, it seems to me, lies between the extrem- ists, on the one hand, who think theine and caffeine, to use again the words of Liebig, " are capable of supply- ing the place of the nitrogenized product produced in the healthy state of the body," and the extremists, on the other hand, who condemn tea and coffee " as evil, and only evil, and that continually." Tea and coffee are sometimes useful ; but not for nutriment, or to take the place of nutriment : Nature furnishes no substitutes. They are useful for their osmazomes, and are useful or injurious as they are used or not used in accordance with the purposes of that principle ; and here, perhaps, as well as anywhere, I may explain what is meant by osmazome, and its purposes in the economy of nature. 08MAZ0ME. 207 The Principle which gives Relish to Food and Drink. Much too little has hitherto been thought by physi- ologists, and almost nothing has been written on that beautiful provision for our happiness by which every- thing that is useful as food or drink is made agreeable to the palate, so that the higher our relish for any given article, the more perfectly is it digested and made to supply the wants of the system, we have therefore a natural guide to the right kind of food at the right time, and, on the other hand, have a disrelish for articles which, not being suited to our condition, would be injurious. But a little reflection will show us that, in this adaptation of our palates to the peculiar taste or osmazome of every distinct article of food, we have a faithful sentinel, inviting the admission of friends and protecting us from the approach of enemies. Place before a child, who has never tasted of sugar, or butter, or superfine flour, or any other elements of food that have been separated from their natural con- nections, and whose tastes are therefore unperverted, mUk, unbolted bread, meats, fruits, or any other nat- ural food, and he will choose just that article which is best adapted to his condition at the time, and may be trusted to eat as much as he pleases. ' At first, after being weaned from his primary milk, he will prefer the milk of the cow, and after a while need, and choose with it, some more concentrated food, as unbolted wheat, or other bread from grains in their natural state, and then meats, and potatoes, and fruits, 208 HOW THE TASTE IS PERVEETED. according to their season ; and he never will desire any other than natural food till his appetite is per- verted by sugar, or butter, &c., which, being separated from their natural elements, contain their osmazome in a state too concentrated. After that, his bread will be insipid without butter, and his milk must have eugar, and the natural relations of his tastes to nat- ural osmazomes is broken up. And so dependent are the digestive organs on the osmazome to which they are used, that, after becoming accustomed to butter, sugar, tea, coffee, or any other food or drink in which is a concentrated and agreeable flavor, they will not readily digest food without them. Thus we become accustomed to,' and dependent on, articles of food and drink which are temporarily useful, but permanently injurious. Many a man becomes so accustomed to alcoholic drinks, as wines, beers, and even laudanum, that he suffers from indigestion and loss of appetite unless they are constantly supplied. Now this, as I understand it, is the source of benefit from tea and coffee. The agreeable osmazome promotes digestion, as all other agreeable flavors do ; and with a dinner or breakfast of food which, from improper cooking, or for any other reason, is not relished, a small cup of pure aromatic coffee or tea is undoubtedly a real benefit. The French people seem to understand this principle better than the English or Americans, not only in regard to tea and coffee, but in regard to all kinds of food and drink, adjusting the articles to each other, bo COFFEE AND TEA. HOW TO BE MADE. 209 as not to burden the system with redundant carbonates while the nitrates and phosphates are deficient, and always making them relish by delicate condiments. Instead of drinking with a breakfast three or four cups of coffee or tea, boiled so as to extract all the tannin and lose most of the aroma, they take only moderately of an infusion made so quickly as to ex- tract only the aromatic properties, while the more dele- terious tannin remains with the dregs. And this, after all, to my mind is a solution of that vexed question which has so puzzled and deceived Liebig and other physiologists. That coffee, tea, fragrant wines, and other alcoholic drinks, &c., do under some circumstances take the place of food, or at least enable men to keep the flesh and strength with less food than without them, there is no doubt ; but that this is done according to the theory of Liebig, "by retarding the metamorphosis of the tissues," or by furnishing actual nourishment from alcohol or any peculiar principles in coffee or tea, there is not a shadow of proof. On the uther hand, the evidence is clear, that not in proportion to the alcohol, or theine, or caffeine contained in these arti- cles is the benefit to be derived from them, but in pro- portion as the osmazome of each is agreeable to those who take them ; and the benefit is derived from the perfect digestion of food which is caused by this agree- able osmazome. No man of careful observation has failed to notice that a little food, well relished, will keep us in better condition than large quantities of the most 14 210 OUE DUTY TO EAT GOOD POOD. appropriate elements so badly cooked, or so miserably served, as not to be eaten with relish ; and this ex- plains the well-known fact that Frenchmen live and keep in good condition at one third less expense than Americans or Englishmen. Having now given my views of the sources of benefit to be derived from tea, coffee, and all other agreeable beverages, and shown that they are useful in promoting digestion by their osmazome, and not by any special principle contained in them, it wUl be useless to go into an analysis of each beverage. The whole matter may be summed up as follows : The system needs the three classes of elements included in the terms Nitrates, Carbonates, and Phosphates, and pure water; and these elements, to be rightly appro- priated, must be presented to the digestive organs flavored so as to be agreeable to them ; and this flavor is as important as the other elements. The experiment has been tried of shutting up a dog, with good natural food, containing all needed elements but osmazome, but having been cooked and re-cooked tUl all taste and smell were removed ; the stomach would not receive it, and the dog pined away until it was evident he would starve without this element, although all others were supplied. And this one ex- periment, it seems to me, is worth more than a volume of commentaries on the importance of osmazome. It shows us not only that it is duty to eat good food, con- tainmg nutritive elements in right proportions ^ but it is duty to eat it also with a good relish. DEUOATE FLAVOES MOST WHOLESOME. 211 Does any one say he cannot afford to eat good ripe fruit, and berries, and well-flavored meats, and vege- tables? let him make a calculation, comparing the amount of fine flour, butter, sugar, and other carbona- ceous food consumed by his family, with the requisite amount of that class of elements, as shown by the tables, and calculate the amount of money thus use- lessly expended, and he will find that, by bringing his commissary department under physiological rules, he will have surplus funds sufficient to procure every nat- ural luxury which is needed to enable him to enjoy, to the fullest extent, the very highest gustatory pleasures of which he is capable. And here again we are liable to err. Our gusta- tory pleasures are not in proportion to the amount of osmazome in our food or drink. Nature's flavors are very delicate, and the very choicest relish is that pro- duced by very slight traces of osmazome. For exam- ple, take nutmeg, a very slight grating of which will flavor a large bowl of porridge. Attempt to increase the relish by increasing the quantity of the spice, and you utterly fail, making your beverage less and less agreeable as you increase the quantity of nutmeg, till it becomes disgusting, and positively injurious to the digestive process ; and this is true of all other condi- ments, and indeed all other good things. Delicate flavors are agreeable and useful in promoting diges- tion ; but every article which is capable of promoting health and happiness, in appropriate quantities, is capa- ble of doing harm in unnatural quantities, just as every 212 HOW WE DECEIVE OURSELVES. Other blessing is converted into a curse by being per- verted and misused. Just here human nature, especially Yankee huinan nature, is prone to deceive itself. A man finds him- self very happy with his family in a little tasteful cottage home, with an income sufficient to meet his expenses, and save a little every year for future contin- gencies ; but he wants a larger income, that he may increase his conveniences, enlarge his establishment, and lay up more money. But does his enjoyment increase with his means? On the contrary, his cares increase, and his real enjoyment diminishes at every step, till long before he becomes a millionnaire he is decidedly miserable. The doctor thinks by taking medicine twice a day his patient may get well in two weeks ; but the patient piefers to wait only one week, and therefore takes his medicine four times a day : but if the directions were judiciously given, the patient finds himself worse and not better at the end of the week. A cup of very weak, v^ell-flavored tea or coffee may be very agreeable, and promote digestion, and be of real service, especially if taken with food which is not well relished ; but if we follow our inclinations, and attempt to increase the enjoyment and the advantage of the beverage by increasing its strength or its quantity, we may get instead nervous excitement, restlessness, and indigestion, and a thousand other troubles, and the evils will increase, while the pleasures and benefits will di- minish, pro rata. And thus we find everywhere the same WHEN WE NEED OSMAZOME. 213 law, encouraging us to be content with Nature's simple arrangements for our welfare and happiness, and warn- ing us of the danger of disregarding them. My posi- tion in regard to condiments and aromatic drinks is this : If we could always get good natural food, adapted to our constitutional condition, and have it cooked so as best to develop its natural osmazome, and if we could get with it pure water, we should need nothing else to enable us to enjoy to the fullest extent our gustatory pleasures, and the enjoyment arising from the highest degree of health and activity of all our faculties ; but that, with unsavory food and impure water, we derive great benefit from delicately flavored condiments and aromatic beverages in moderate quan- tities ; that a choice in these beverages is to be deter- mined by consulting the taste of each individual ; that in preparing these beverages the question is how to get the osmazome without getting the deleterious qualities with which it is connected ; and that the advantages to be derived from osmazome are never in direct proportion to the amount taken, but are more nearly in the inverse proportion, while the deleterious elements connected with almost all the beverages in common use increase in direct proportion to the quantity used. The deleterious element in tea and coffee we have already shown to be tannin, and this element can be avoided by making these beverages quickly, never allowing but a few moments in steeping. By this process the osmazome, being volatile, is all obtained, 214 AEOMATIO BEVERAGES. while the tannin, being extractive, remains with the dregs. Made in this way, and used moderately, there are very few individuals to whom they are injurious. Beer, Cider, Wine, &c. Of the other aromatic beverages in common use, — beer, cider, wine, &c,, — the deleterious principle is alcohol ; but the principle which distinguishes each, and' constitutes its value, is osmazome ; all other prin- ciples of any consequence, are sugar, starch, &c., which they hold in common with articles of food, and which are derived from the grains and fruits from which they are made ; but the osmazome in these beverages, as in those already considered, constitutes their commercial and their real value. The only chemical difference between the highest and the lowest priced wines con- sists in the "bouquet," or osmazome, but alcohol is the principle for which these beverages are universally demanded ; and as there has been, and is still to some extent, a difference of opinion among chemists and physiologists respecting the relation of this principle to the human system, it will be necessary to give it a careful consideration. (See page 220.) Cocoa and Chocolate. The chocolate plant, of which cocoa is the seed, is a email tree, with dark green leaves, growing in Mexico Caraccas, Demerara, and other places. It produces COCOA-NIBS. 215 an elongated fruit, in shape like a cucumber, but more blunt, which grows from the stem or main branches. The seeds, or beans, that furnish the cocoa, are im- bedded in the fruit in rows, in a spongy substance, and are about fifty or sixty in each fruit. When ripe, the seeds are taken out, cleaned and dried. The best cocoa is made from seeds shelled and roasted, but inferior cocoa is made by grinding with the seeds a part of the shell. Cocoa-nibs are made from seeds merely roasted and crushed after being shelled ; Cocoa- paste is the seed ground down, and mixed with sugar ; and if flavored with vanilla, it is called Chocolate. Cocoa differs from tea and coffee in that i( is rich in nutritious food, and having in it no tannin or other deleterious elements, its theobromine, or characteristic property, being connected with albumen — a muscle- making element ; as the characteristic element of tea, theine, is connected with tannin. Containing also a large share of butter, and four per cent, of phosphates, it is supplied with all the requisite elements of food, and to those who like its flavor, it is a very agreeable and useful beveiagCi having all the advantage of tea and coffee, vfithout their deleterious qualities. Its nu- tritive elements are, however, too concentrated to agree with very delicate stomachs, as may be inferred from the following analysis. One hundred parts cocoa contain, — 216 ANALYSIS OF COCOA. Water, . . . 5.0' Albumen. . . 20.0 Thepbromine, 2.0 Butter, . . . 50.0 ^ "Water, . . . 5.0 Woody fibre. -4.0 Nitrates, . . 22.0 Gum, . . . Starch, 6.0 7.0 ► or,< Carbonates, . Phosphates, • . 69.0 . 4.0 Red coloring mat- ter, . . . 2.0 - 100.0 Mineral matter, . 4.0 tt 100.0, One pound of Cocoa-nibs, or two pounds of Cocoa- paste, contain, — Water, 350 gr. Nitrates (Albumen and Gluten) , . . 3 oz. 85 Theobromine 140 gr. Alcohol. I have already adverted to alcohol as being the re- sult of the chemical decomposition of sugar. (See page 70.) We come now to consider and establish the fact that, though sugar and alcohol are composed of the game elements, viz., hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon, the one is a useful carbonaceous food, while the othei 18 a poison. ANALYSIS OF ALCOHOL. 217 Alcohol is sugar disorganized by the process of fer- mentation, and is subject to the same law as phosphorus and iron. It is composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, as is also sugar, from which it is made, — elements which are wanted in the system, as well as phosphorus and iron, and if tak%n into the stomach organized, as in sugar-cane or beet, are all gratefully received and easily digested ; but taken in a disorgan- ized state, as in alcohol, they cause immediate excite- ment, by the efforts of all the organs to expel them as intruders. Let us see how nearly alike, chemically, are sugar and alcohol, and the change effected by the process of fermentation. One atom of sugar contains, — Carbon. Hydrogen. Oxygen. 12 atoms. 12 atoms. 12 atoms. These are converted, by fermentation, into two atoms of alcohol, containing, — Carbon. Hydrogen. Oxygen. 8 atoms. 12 atoms. 4 atoms, and four atoms of carbonic acid gas, which accounts for the lost carbon and oxygen, the carbonic acid gas con- taining, — Carbon. Hydrogen. Oxygen. 4 atoms, and None. 8 atoms, and 8 " 12 atoms. 4 " 12 atoms. 12 atoms. 12 atoms. 218 liebig's theoet. Thus we see that the same elements are found in sugar as in alcohol, and combined in the same propor- tions ; but sugar, being organized for digestion, is agreeable to the natural taste, and is readily appropri" ated as carbonaceous food, while alcohol, being disor- ganized, creates a rebellion, and is rejected from the system as an intruder ; so that we find in alcohol, as in the preparations of phosphorus and iron, the elements are agreeably and usefully appropriated by the system or rejected as poisonous, as they are or are not organ- ized in Nature's own laboratory. And this considera- tion, it would seem, should forever settle the question whether alcohol is nutritious, and clearly show that vital law is higher than chemical law, and must control it ; and that therefore the same chemical combinations of elements may be poisonous or nutritious as they are or are not subject to vital law, as we have before seen in combinations of phosphorus and iron. Liebig's Theory respecting the Nutritive Qualities of Alcohol. It is now more than twenty-five years since Liebig commenced his valuable chemical investigations of food, And its relations to the human system. He discovered that some elements of food — carbon, hydrogen, &c. — were appropriated for the purpose of producing heat, while others were devoted to the growth and strength of the muscles ; and finding sugar and alcohol both to be composed of these carbonaceous elements, he classed PEOFESSOE CAEEENTEE'S OPINION. 219 them together as heat-producing articles of food ; and that idea has since been adopted by many, perhaps most chemists, and some physiologists ; but I have en- deavored to show (pages 37-41) that the same com- bination of elements may be, and are, nutritious or poisonous as they are or are not organized by the pro- cess which Nature has provided ; and that while sugar is a valuable principle in food, alcohol contains no power of sustaining life, but, on the other hand, produces in the human system "evil, and only evil, and that contin- ually ; " and this I shall endeavor to prove. Professor Carpenter, of the London University, has published a book on physiology, which as late as 1860 has been republished in Philadelphia, edited by Profes- sor Francis Guerney Smith. From that Physiology, which is now the standard work in this country and England, I copy these words : — " It may be safely affirmed that alcohol cannot answer any one purpose for which the use of water is required in the system, but, on the other hand, it tends to antag- onize many of those purposes." "Alcoholic liquids cannot supply anything which ia essential to the due nutrition of the system." " The action of alcohol upon the living body is essen- tially that of a stimulus, increasing, for a time, the idtal activity of the body, but being followed by a corresponding depression of power, which is the more prolonged and severe in proportion as the previous excitement has been greater." The U. S. Dispensatory, compiled by Professor 220 ALCOHOL ONLY A STIMULANT. Wood, of Philadelphia, the standard work on that subject in the United States, also expresses similai opinions on the character and effects of alcohol. Pro- fessor Bigelow's Materia Medica, the standard work when I was a member of Harvard School, expresses a similar opinion. All agree that alcohol is a stimulus which, literally, means a goad, a whip. When a horse gets stuck with a load too heavy for him, we us« the goad or whip to excite the muscles to take the load up the hill. But, when once up, the careful driver will be sure that next time the load shall be lighter, or the horse made stronger with oats. What should we say to the teamster who persisted in the opinion that the whip afforded nourishment to the horse because he could be made to draw a heavier load by whipping, and therefore persisted in whipping him more severely as his strength became exhausted ? But if this is not the position of those who think that alcohol is nutri- tious I cannot understand them. Is alcohol useful in j^fomoting digestion, or in con- sumption or general debility 9 Keeping in mind the fact that, upon the highest medical authority alcohol is only a stimulant, I have no difficulty in determining how far alcohol is useful and how far injurious. I have sat by the bedside, and, watching the sinking pulse, and fearing lest Nature might not be able to carry the load, have put in the goad, and in three min- utes have felt the circulation rise ; but in a few minutes more it would sink again, and the stimulant must be DR. bell's opinion. 221 reaewed, or it would sink lower than before. By care- ful watching and spurring I have kept up the heat and circulation till a little nourishment could be digested, and perhaps the patient saved. But this is all the use I have ever made of alcohol as a medicine. To whip and spur poor human nature all the way down through consumption to the grave, increasing the stimulus at every step as nature flags, seems to me absurd, cruel, and unphilosophical in the extreme. If stimulants should be thus applied to a jaded horse, its owner would be tried for cruelty to his beast ; and yet there are said to be hundreds and thousands of men, women, and even children, now subjected to a similar mode of treatment in Boston and vicinity. In an essay which obtained the prize of two hundred dollars, and which. Dr. Churchill says, displays great research upon the subject of the effects of alcohol. Dr. Bell comes to the following conclusions : — " 1 . The opinion so largely prevailing as to the offects of the use of alcoholic liquors, viz., that they have a marked influence in preventing the deposition of tubercle, is destitute of any foundation. " 2. On the contrary, their use predisposes to tuber- cular deposition. " 3. Where tubercle already exists, alcohol has no effect in modifying the course usually run by that sub- stance. " 4. Neither does it mitigate the morbid effects of tubercle upon the system in any stage of the disease." Professor Wood, in his Dispensatory, says the 222 DE. BIGELOW'S OPINION. habitual use of alcoholic drinks produces deplorable consequences. Carpenter's Physiology says the physio- logical objection to the habitual use of even quite small quantities of alcoholic drinks rests upon the following grounds : " They are universally admitted to possess a poisonous character." " They tend to produce a morbid condition of the body at large." " The capacity for enduring the extremes of heat or cold, or mental or bodily labor, is diminished rather than increased by their habitual employment." In a lecture of Professor Jacob Bigelow, in 1825, he used the following words, which I recorded at the time : — "Alcohol is highly stimulating, heating, and intoxi- cating, and its effects are so fascinating that, when once experienced, the danger is that the desire for them may be perpetuated." " Many patients have become grad- ually and imperceptibly intemperate under the sanction and guidance of a physician." How often has my heart been saddened by witness- ing illustrations of Professor Jacob Bigelow's statement concerning patients being led to intemperance by the guidance of their physician. Not long since an inter- esting lady, not thirty years old, came to me for advice. She had been subject, for two or three years, to terrible internal cramps from indigestion, and was advised by her physician to take gin. At first she only took it when the cramps occurred, and it relieved her, but Boon she took it to prevent their recurrence, and it eeemed for a time to succeed ; but as she never knew AN EXAMPLE. 223 when the pains were coming, she never knew when to stop the gin : and after two years her system had become so accustomed to the stimulus that no quan- tity short of that which produced actual inebriation would either prevent or relieve the distress. In that condition I found her, and of course advised to break off the habit at once, and take appropriate remedies. In two days she returned, and said she had had no return of the cramps, but felt as if she should die unless I allowed her gin, .or a substitute. I put the case as it plainly stood. She must break away from gin then, or be a slave to it for life. She braced her- self up to the resolution — "I will die now, sober, rather than live to be a drunkard ; " and many a time since has she thanked me for assisting her in that reso- lution. And many a similar case has come under my observation, only differing in this, they never were able to break away from the snare that had caught them. Is alcohol useful bi/ preserving the tissues, and thus increasing the term of life 9 There may be a sense in which this question may be answered in the affirmative, but it seems to me difficult to conceive a case in which tissues thus preserved would be of value sufficient to pay the expense of the process ; but this idea having been recently advanced by a learned professor, deserves a passing, though not a Benous notice. Professor Yeomans, of New York, says, "It has oeen demonstrated that alcoholic drinks prevent th« 224 PEOFESSdR TEOMANS'S OPINION. natural changes going on in the blood, and obstruct the nutritive and reparative functions." Carpenter's Physiology says, "Alcoholic drinks dimin- ish the waste of the tissues." That is, alcohol suspends the action of the whole system, brain and muscle, and tends to bring us down to a state of torpidity, like snakes and toads, who have wonderful powers of pre- serving their tissues by masterly inactivity. The pro- fessor did not prescribe the form in which alcohol should be taken, nor the regime to accompany it ir order best to succeed in preserving the tissues ; but, " holding the mirror up to nature," T think I can see and supply the deficiency. In the first place, you should sit perfectly still, for every motion tends against the preservation of the tissues ; then you should live in the most impure air possible, for every breath of air containing oxygen burns up the waste of the tissues, and counteracts the vlesired influence ; and then you should keep the tissues well preserved in lager beer, this form of alcoholic drink being best adapted to bring us into a state of torpidity. You have seen, perhaps, a toad, a motley-faced, blubber-lipped toad, sitting in the corner of the garden, in one spot, hour after hour, and day after day, with just energy enough to wink, and to catch a fly if he comes within an inch of his nose ; — a perfect personifi- cation of a bloated, beer-drinking, Pennsylvania Dutch- man, who will sit, it is said, in the chimney-corner from morning till night, with just energy sufficient to HOW ALCOHOL PRESERVES THE TISSUES. 225 raise the beer to his lips, and to call for more when his mug is empty. How long he can succeed in preserv- ing his tissues has not been fully ascertained ; but his prototype, the toad, sometimes succeeds wonderfully. Before a rain, a toad will sometimes muster up energy sufficient to crawl up into the fork of a tree, and there fill his big mouth with air, and blowing it through his lips, will utter a kind of trumpet sound, to notify us that a rain is coming ; and when it comes, he crawls under the rough bark in the fork of the tree, and there waits and winks till the rain is over. Now it is said to have happened that, waiting too long, and the old bark becoming dry, he is bound in and can never get out. Year after year he stays there, winking in summer and suspending his work in the winter. Meantime the tree grows over him, and after many years, perhaps, is cut down, and there the toad is, still alive and winking. Now this is not exactly an illustration of the power of alcohol to preserve the tissues, unless the toad has the power of manufacturing his own alcohol out of the carbon and hydrogen with which he was all the time surrounded, but it does illustrate the condition towards which all tissues must be brought to be preserved by ulcohol. And the question comes up. What is the use of such tissues ? What is a Dutchman good for who does nothing but drink lager beer? Professor Jaak- Bon's cabinet of morbid tissues is too small to accom- modate him, and that is the only place for morbid tissues preserved in alcohol. The professor's predecessor used to teach us that it 15 226 OAfiNARO. w^as not desirable to preserve the tissues ; that the more we exercised and wore out the tissues, and the purer the air we lived in, and the more we avoided the stupe- fying influence of alcohol, the oftener the tissues would be renewed, and the more healthy and useful we mighi become. The only argument now depended on to prove that alcohol in any beverage is useful to the system, is founded on experience, and experience in this case, as in all others in which there is no careful observation, is merely " the post hoc ergo propter hoc error " which imputes the cause of everything to that which comes just before it. This was the reliance in the recent struggle in the Massachusetts legislature to establish the character of alcohol for usefulness as nutriment, and the eminent counsel referred to the extraordinary case of Carnaro, who lived fifty-eight years on twelve ounces of solid food and fourteen ounces of light wine each day, and he quotes Professor Lewes as saying, " he wonders that intelligent men, in view of such facts, can doubt that alcohol is nutritious." The wine which Carnaro drank, as indeed all other sugared alco- holic beverages, contained excellent aromatic nourish- ment. Why then impute the results to alcohol, of which in light wine there is but very little ? All we can say in favor of the little alcohol in light wines is, that it would probably do no harm, as the stomach may become accustomed by habit to the presence not only of alcohol in moderate quantities, but other poisons, as opium, tobacco, and even arsenic, so aa ALCOHOL NOT NUTRITIOUS. 227 lo digest food and perform its functions in spite of them, and those who take these poisons may live per- haps as long as Carnaro ; but does that prove that opium and arsenic are nutritious? I once heard" of a farmer v/ho claimed that sawdust and Indian meal would fatten hogs, for he had tried the mixture ; but when asked what proportions were best adapted to the fattening process, he said he thought the less sawdust and the more meal the better. Let two starving men have nothing but alcohol and water, and let one drink the pure water and the other a mixture of alcohol and water, and the water drinker will live the longest — the experiment has been tried many a time, accidentally on man, and for the sake of experiment on other animals. The opinion of Liebig, that " alcohol is burnt in the lungs, giving off carbonic acid and water, and serving to support the temperature of the body," is proved to a demonstration to be wrong. All arctic explorers con- cur in the opinion that alcohol has a decidedly injurious effect on men exposed to the cold. Sir John Koss testifies that he experienced in his own person the beneficial effects of abstaining wholly from Bpirituous drinks, and he proposed to his men that they should try the same experiment, which was done with very gratifying results. He says, " When men under hard and steady labor are given their usual allowance or draught of grog, or a dram, they become languid and faint, losing their strength in reality, while they attribute that to the continuance of their fatiguing 228 ALCOHOL WILL NOT FUENISH HEAT. exertions. He who will make the corresponding expe- riments on two equal boats' crews, rowing in a heavy sea, will soon be convinced that water-drinkers will far outdo the others." Rev. W. Scoresby, before a committee of the House of Commons, testified as follows : " My experience has been in severely cold climates, and there it is ob- servable that there is a very pernicious effect in the reaction after the use of ardent spirits. I did not use them myself, and I was better, I conceive, without the use of them. I am well assured that such beverages as tea and coffee, or, I doubt not, milk and water, are in every way superior, both for comfort and health, for persons exposed to the weather, or other severity. Spirits are decidedly injurious in cold climates. The men who have been assisted by such stimulants, have been the first who were rendered incapable of duty= They became perfectly stupid, skulked into different parts of the ship to get out of the way, and were gen- erally found asleep. In case of a storm, or other sudden difficulty, I should most decidedly prefer the water-drinkers to those who were under the influence of any stimulant." Dr. Eush says, in his "Medical Inquirer," "There cannot be a greater error than to suppose that spirituous aquors lessen the effects of cold on the body. On the eontrary, they always render the body more liable to be affected and injured by cold. The temporary warmth they produce is always succeeded by chilli- Viess." EXAMPLES. 229 Backus gives some striking facts illustrating this point, which I will quote. "In the winter of 1796, a vessel was wrecked on an island. oiF the coast of Massa- chusetts. There were seven persons on board Five of them resolved to quit the ship during the nighi;, and seek shelter on the shore. To prepare for the attempt, four of them drank a quantity of spirits, and the fifth drank none. They all leaped into the water : one was drowned before reaching the shore ; the other four came to land, and, in deep snow and piercing cold, directed their course to a distant light. All that drank spirits failed, and stopped, and froze, one after another ; the man that drank none reached the house, and about two years ago was still alive." "A few years ago a brig from Russia, laden with iron, ran aground upon a sand bank near Newport, Rhode Island. The master was desirous to unload and get her off. The weather, however, was extremely cold, and none could be found to undertake the task, as the vessel was at a distance from the shore, covered with ice, and exposed to the full effects of the wind and cold. A packet-master of Newport, who abstained from the use of spirituous liquors, at length engaged to unload the brig, and procure his men to do the work. Six men were employed in the hold, which was full of water. They began to work with the free but temperate use of ardent spirits, supposing . they would need it then if ever ; but after two hours' labor they began to give out, chilled through. After having warmed and refreshed themselves, they proceeded to ALCOHOL WOESE THAN NOTHING IN THE COLD make another attempt, using cider only through the day. They now succeeded better, but still suffered much from the effects of the cold. On the second da} the tritn consented to follow the direction of their em- ployer, and drank nothing but milk porridge, made rich, and taken as hot as the stomach would bear it. Although the weather was equally as severe as before, they were, after this change in their diet, enabled to continue their work from four to seven hours at a time, and then come up from it not at all chilled. With this same beverage, handed round every half hour, they continued their work from day to day, with not one drop of intoxicating liquor, until the iron was all handed out and brought on shore. Not one of them had a finger frozen." " In the winter of 1825 two vessels were comingr into the harbor of New York during an extremely inclement night, the temperature being several degrees below the freezing point. The captain of one of these vessels supplied his crew with warm alcoholic drinks during their exposure, while that of the other dealt out nothing but hot coffee to his men. The result was, that on arriving next morning, a large proportion of the crew of the former vessel were severely frost-bitten, while that of the other wholly escaped, not a single man having suffered any injury from the cold." These facts were published in the New York papers at the time, ftnd are within the recollection of many of our readers (See Appendix to American edition of J. Pereira's Treatise on Food and Diet. Appendix by C. S. T^ee.'' ALCOHOL INJURES THE STOMACH. 231 That alcohol jper se is not nourishing, but poisonous, I have never known questioned except where some point is to be made, as in the late struggle for a license law in the Massachusetts legislature. Professor Yeomans, of New York, in a very able paper on Alcohol and the Constitution of Man, says, " Chemical experiments have demonstrated that the action of alcohol on the digestive fluid is to destroy its active principle, the pepsin, thus confirming the observations of physiologists, that its use gives rise to the most serious disorders of the stomach, and the most malignant aberrations of the entire economy." " It is evident that, so far from being the conservator of health, alcohol is an active and powerful cause of disease, interfering as it does with the respiration, the circulation, and the nutrition ; nor is any other result possible." " Nothing can be more certain than that it is a powerful antagonist of the digestive process." "It prevents the natural changes going on in the blood." "It impedes the liberation of carbonic acid, a deadly poison." " It obstructs the nutritive and reparative functions." "It produces disease of the liver." "It has a powerful affinity for the substance of the brain, being, indeed, essentially a brain poison." If these effects do not prove alcohol poisonous, where shall we look for proof that any substance is poisonous? But experiment can never settle this question, nor any other question pertaining to vital chemistry. He who made man and knows how to keep him in repair, has plainly 232 ALCOHOIi NEVER USBPCIi IN ITSELF. given us laws of nutrition, and, as in all other impor- tant matters, has fixed a penalty for the breach of His laws. If alcoholic drinks are useful then, they are useful not on account of, but in spite of, the alcohol contained in them, and are useful in proportion as sugar, starch, and other nutritious principles, together with osmazome, predominate over alcohol ; and thus we have a standard by which to test the value of alcoholic drinks. That article is best which contains the most agreeable osma- zome and the least alcohol, the elements of nutriment being of little consequence, unless, as sometimes hap- pens, the stomach will receive nutriment through the medium of aromatic beverages better than in any other combination. This, however, in my experience and observation in a practice of forty years, is never only a temporary expedient, and in cases of extreme debil- ity, which give place to more substantial nutriment, containing no alcohol, the moment the digestive powers so react as to be able to bear them. It may therefore be desirable to have an analysis of the wines and other beverages in common use. ANALYSIS OF WINES. 233 Wines. European wines, in one imperial pint, contain, ac- cording to Lankester, — Water. Alcohol. Sugar. Tartaric Acid Port, . . 16 oz. 4 oz. 1 OZ. 2 gTH. 80 grs. Brown Sherry, 15|^ oz. 41 oz. 360 grs. 90 grs. Pale Sherry- 16 oz. 4 oz. 80grs. 70 grs. Claret, . . 18 oz. 2 oz. — 161 grs. Burgundy, . 171 oz. 2Joz. — 160 grs. Hock, 17| oz. 2Joz. — 127 grs. Moselle, . . 18J oz. Ifoz. — 140 grs. Champagne, . 17 oz. 3 oz. 1 oz. 133 grs. 90 grs. Madeira, • . 16 oz. 4 oz. 400 grs. 100 grs. These wines are prepared from the juice of the grape by direct fermentation. The juice before fermenting is called "must." Wines vary according to the flavor of the grape from which they are made, the sugar and acid they contain, and the degree of fermentation by which the sugar is changed into alcohol. Those with much sugar are called "sweet" wines ; those with little, dry wines. To some wines sugar is added to correct their acidity ; others are sweet because fermentation has not exhausted the natural su- gar. On the degree of fermentation also depends the amount of alcohol. To Port Wine, Sherry, and Ma- deira, alcohol is added to give them strength ; but not 234 SPIRITUOUS BEVERAGES. to Claret, Hock, and the light wines from Europe. The acid in grape wines is the tartaric, which forms an insoluble salt that collects on the wine-casks ; and is the source of our cream of tartar and tartaric acid. Wines from apples are called cider, and those from pears are called perry ; each having its distinctive taste from the osmazome of its own fruit. Analysis of Distilled Spiritaons Beverages. Water. AIoohoL Sugar. Brandy, . . 91 OZ. 10| oz. SOgrs Gin, best. . 12 OZ. 8 oz. — Gin, retail. 16 OZ. 4 oz. i oz. Rum, . 5 oz. 15 oz. 1 • I _ J i _ / Distilled spirits are made by applying heat to fer- mented liquors, and collecting the alcohol as it conden- ses in cold pipes and runs back into a receiver. Alcohol is thus obtained from molasses, from malt, from all the grains and fruits, and also from potatoes ; and anything, indeed, which contains either starch or sugar, can be converted by fermentation into alcohol. As it is employed in the arts in its concentrated form, it has no special flavor, and is then called " Spirits of Wine." Gin is obtained from fermented grain, to which is added the berries of juniper, which give its characteristic flavor. It is sometimes flavored also with cinnamon, cloves, &c., and is then called "Cordial" or "Cordiaj Gin." BEEES AND ALES. 235 Whiskey is distilled from grain, mostly in this coun- try from corn, and obtains its flavor from fusil oil, which gives it a peculiar smoky taste. Rum is distilled from fermented sugar and molasses, which, very frequently, is flavored with pine apples. In New England it has been extensively made without the flavor of pine apples, and is known all over the world as New England Rum. Brandy is distilled from wine, and its peculiar taste is imparted by the essential oil of the fruit from which it is distilled. This taste is, however, imitated by the us«> of sorrel and other vegetables that contain prussic acid. Arrack is obtained from fermented rice, butternuts, and the sap of various species of palm. Analysis of Beers and Ales. Water. Alcohol. Sngar. Acetic Acid. London Stout, . ISJ oz. IJ oz. 281 grs. 54 grs. London Porter, 19J oz. J oz. 267 grs. 45 grs. Pale Ale, . . 17J oz. 2J oz. 240 grs. 40 grs. Mild Ale, . . 18f oz. IJ oz. 280 grs. 38 grs. Strong Ale, . . 18 oz. ^ °^- ^ 136°grs. 5 ^* S^^' The above analysis of beers and ales is made from beverages containing no elements but those which are derived from malt, hops, and water, the alcohol being obtained from starch, which, in the process of malting, is changed into sugar, and then, in the process of fermenta- tion, changed into alcohol, the sugar also coming mostly 236 AOIDOIiOUS DRINKS. from starch, but partly from tte barley, as it is found there, and is not all changed to alcohol by fermentation. The color and flavor of the different beers and ales is obtained by roasting, more or less', the malt. Acidulous Drinks and Fruits. That vegetable acids perform, important services in the human system is evident from various considera- tions. They are found in almost all fruits and vegeta- bles, and all nations, savage and civilized, make con- stant use of them in some form, and this has been true in ancient as well as modern times. Moses speaks of vinegar as being in common use in his day, and Boaz, smitten by the charms of "the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab," and desirous of expressing his appreciation of her kind- ness to her mother-in-law, said to her, "at meal time come thou hither and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar." (Euth ii. 14.) This universal appetite, however, only goes to show a demand of the system for some acid, but it does not prove the whole- Bomeness of vinegar as produced by the process of fer- mentation, as we shall see on further investigation. It has been clearly proved by repeated experiments that some vegetable acid is necessary for the preserva- tion of health, or, at least, that the complete abstinence from succulent vegetables or fruits, or their preserved juices, is the cause of scurvy — a disease which nothing will cure but the vegetable acids. VINEGAK. 237 It is also proved that acids that are organized in fruits and vegetables are much more efficient in preventing or curing scurvy than acetic acid (vinegar,) or any other acid not thus naturally combined with esculent princi- ples ; indeed, it is certain that some such organized combinations are necessary either to prevent or to cure scurvy ; and I think it is evident further that an abun- dance of these acids are furnished in organized food, so that if we took every day apples or other fruits, either green or preserved by desiccation, or exclusion from the air as in canned fruits, or ate with our meats every day plenty of potatoes, squashes, or other vegetables, we should need no vinegar, or any disorganized or con- centrated acids. But with a diet deficient in these sub- acid and succulent principles, vinegar is, to some extent, beneficial. Vinegar, like alcohol, is the product of fermentation, and, like alcohol, comes also from the same element. Sugar and starch, and everything that contains sugar or starch, will, by a fermentation called the vinous fer- mentation, produce alcohol, and by a second or acetous fermentation the same material will produce vinegar. At first sight we seem to have here an exception to the law, which I have elsewhere described, which makes all substances which are disorganized poisonous, in order to protect the system from their deleterious influences ; but the exception is only apparent, and goes to illus- trate still further the design of nature in making such elements only poisonous as are injurious if they could be admitted into the system. Vinegar is not admitted 238 VINEGAE. into the system as a principle to supply any organ with nutrition, or to furnish heat; but only as a chemical agent, to combine with the alkalies evolved from the liver and other excretory organs, to eliminate these effete elements from the system, and thus purify the blood and cleanse the system from the impurities which would otherwise remain in it. Vinegar, therefore, is merely a chemical agent, and, as such, useful in the absence of natural, organized acids, and not a nutritive principle; but alcohol is neither a chemical agent in the system nor a nutritive principle — the one being useful is received, if taken in proper quantities, without exciting the sys- tem to reject it, while the other, having no useful pur- pose to subserve, produces an excitement, and is expelled as an intruder. Still, vinegar is not an organized ele- ment, and not harmless. Vinegar, therefore, is not necessary, and not useful as a beverage or a condiment, except in cases where the organized acids are not to be obtained, and cannot take the place of them eitlier as a preventive or curer of disease. The liberal use of lemon juice, or tomatoes, or any other organized acid fruits will prevent the scur- vy for an indefinite period, as has been proved on sailora in very long voyages ; but we have abundant testimony that on similar voyages the liberal use of vinegar will not prevent this terrible disease. These experiments show that vinegar is not the form of acid naturally adapted to the requirements of the system, and that it should only be used when the acid fruits and succulent vegetables cannot be obtained. riNEGAB. 239 The best vinegar in this country is obtained from the cider of apples, and in farming communities each house- holder makes his own vinegar by exposing a barrel partly filled with cider to the sun and open air ; fer- mentation is started by a little of the mucilaginous coat or skin which forms on the surface of vinegar, called '"mother," and which consists of myriads of exceeding minute vegetables, in which are generated the micro- scopic animalcules called eels, which may be the cause of some of our obscure diseases ; at least, there is no evi- dence that the heat of the stomach or the gastric juice is capable of destroying them ; and no heat short of boiling water will kill any animalcule, and we seldom use vinegar except on cold food. There is evidence that some animalcules are capable of resisting the gastric juice, and of living, and growing, and producing many troublesome diseases in the stomach and intestine canal. It is at least safest, therefore, to depend for bur neces- sary acids on the fruits and vegetables, of which we can always procure an abundance at an expense vastly less than that of the superabundant carbonates which we waste in using flour, sugar, and butter, which are not only wasted, but which produce a state of the system .hat makes these acids necessary. If we should give up all superfluous carbonates, therefore, we should need no vinegar, as all necessary acids would be furnished in the food that would naturally take the place of these articles. In England, vinegar is mostly made from malt or new barley subjected to acetous fermentation, which produces the same acid, the acetic, as that of the 240 VINEGAE. cider vinegar ; but to give it life and character a little sulphuric acid is allowed in England, by law, to be added. This is much more injurious than acetic acid, having a stronger affinity for many elements in the sys- tem, especially for the lime in the teeth, than acetic acid. Vinegar in large quantities is known to be injurious, and in the long-continued use of small quantities ; hj disturbing the functions of digestion and preventing the proper formation of chyme, it stops the supply of nu- triment, and produces paleness and wasting. On this account it is in repute among such sUly young ladies as prefer to be pale and sickly, rather than rosy and plump, and many such, by its constant use, succeed most lamentably in reducing themselves to their own foolish standard of beauty. The following case is quoted from Portal by Pereira : "A few years ago a young lady, in easy circumstances, enjoyed good health ; she was very plump, had a good appetite, and a complexion blooming with roses and lilies. She began to look upon her plumpness with suspicion ; for her mother was very fat, and she was afraid of becoming like her ; accordingly she consulted a woman, who advised her to drink a small glass of vinegar daUy. The young lady followed her advice, ftnd her plumpness diminished. She was delighted with the success of the remedy, and continued it for more than a month. She began to have a cough ; but it was dry at its commencement, and was considered as a slight cold, which would go oflF. Meantime, from dry it be- ACIDULOUS PEUITS. 241 eame moist; a slow fever came on, and a difficulty of breathing; her body became lean and wasted away; night sweats, swelling of the feet and legs succeeded and a diarrhoea terminated her life. On examination all the lobes of the lungs were found filled with tuber- cles, and somewhat resembled a bunch of grapes." Now that fruits can be so well kept by simply can- ning them and excluding the air, and such abundance and such a variety of fruits are now produced, we can have, at an expense very trifling compared with their value, all the acids the system requires, at all times of year, in a form at the same time agreeable and whole- some ; and have, therefore, no necessity for using acid in the form of vinegar, which certainly has no advan- tages over fruits and vegetables, and which has, to say the least, some very suspicious characteristics as a sani- tary agent. The expense of one of the half dozen bar- rels of flour which almost every family wastes in the year would do much towards supplying the necessary acids of any family, if judiciously expended in pleasant sour apples or good ripe tomatoes, with cans or bottles to keep them in, and dried apples from carefully select- ed fruit. Let every family have these agreeable acids on their table every day, morning and noon, during the whole season in which the summer fruits are absent, and let every member, young and old, eat all they will, and there would be no necessity for vinegar, or any other objectionable acid, which a morbid appetite only will crave. Inquire into the habits of the school-girls who flock 16 242 UNCOOKED FRUITS. to the grocers at every recess, for lemons, pickled limes, and cucumbers, and you shall find every one of them living on fine flour, butter, sweet cakes, and confeo- tionery, with no natural acids to eliminate these carbo- naceous principles from the system ; or if they do have any of these acid fruits, they are taken with the last meal at night, when the powers of digestion are ex- hausted, and not able to get from them their appropriate elements ; and taken then, perhaps, in the shape of some jelly, between two layers of rich cake, the car- bonaceous elements of which are more than sufficient to counteract any benefits that might be derived from the acid. Fruit, as I have elsewhere explained (see page 211), and in fact every other class of food, is most whole- some in the condition in which it has the richest and most agreeable flavor. Fruits have the best flavor un- cooked. There may be some exceptions, in- which the osmazome is best developed by cooking, of which, to my taste, the tomato is an example ; but apples, peaches, pears, and almost all the fruits and berries, have their richest flavor developed by Nature's own cu- linary process ; and science has now devised so many means of preserving fruits, and all other articles of food, that no good reason can be given why we may not , at all times of year, have a constant supply of natural acids in a variety sufficient to satisfy the most fastidious tastes. And it is to be hoped the time will speedily come when all fruits, vegetables, or meats preserved in vinegar, salt, sugar, smoke, or alcohol, will be discarded NUTRIMENT LOST IN COOKIKG. 243 as being unnatural and unwholesome articles, either as necessaries or luxuries of life, either imparting, as they all do, injurious elements, or chemically changing or withdrawing the nutritive elements, or at least changing their relative proportions, so as to be unfit for digestion. Elements of Food Lost in Cooking. In another chapter (page 16) it is shown that food must contain three classes of elements, those which will feed the brain and nerves, those which feed muscles and tissues, and those which furnish heat and fat. These elements may be found combined so as to be soluble in water, cold or hot, or both, and therefore, if cooked in water, are lost. The muscle-feeding ele- ments of all meats and fish consist in fibrin and albu- men (see tables, page 77), and in the flesh of aU young animals, as veal and lamb, and in all kinds of fish albumen predominates. Albumen is soluble in cold water, but coagulates and becomes solid in hot Y^t®^"- ^o^ example, the white of an egg, which is albumen, may be dissolved and lost in cold water, but on being dropped into hot water immediately coagulates and becomes insoluble. All meats, therefore, lose a portion of their nutrition, and some a very large portion, by being soaked in water, or by being put into cold water to boil, and if boiled at all, should be put into boiling water, unless the water in which thev are boiled is to be saved as 244 NUTRIMENT LOST IN COOKING MEATS. Boup. In that case, the flavor and nutritive properties of the soup are much better by being first soaked in cold water and boiled in the same water. Besides albumen, other valuable elements are lost in water, whether hot or cold, as is shown by chemical analysis. If the flesh of animals or fish be cut up fine, and washed and filtered, the water is found to contain not only the albumen, but the osmazome which gives the flavor, the phosphates which feed the brains and the nerves, and all the soluble salts of the blood, while there remains nothing nutritious but fibrin and the insoluble salts, which constitute the basis of bones. By boiling, instead of roasting or frying meats or fish, we lose therefore that which gives them relish, much of the true nourishment, and some other valuable elements. On the other hand, by soaking in cold water, and boiling gradually, and retaining the liquid, we get all the valuable properties of meat. The liquid contains all the soluble properties, and indeed all the important properties necessary for sickly or sedentary persons ; and the solids contain the fibrin and lime which are wanted for muscular power and strength of sinew and bone. Another practical error in regard to soups, relates to the nutrition in the gelatinous portions of eoup obtained from the cartilages and tendons -of the joints of meat, which are usually selected under the impression that the more gelatinous the more nutri- tious the soup, whereas it is found to be true that gela« tine is in no sense nutritious. Its only use in the living system seems to be mechanical, forming protec- POETABLE SOUP. 245 tion to the joints as a kind of cushion, and attaching the muscles to the bones, and, as food, answering as waste material to keep the bowels in action. This is true of all animal jellies, as calf's foot, isinglass, &o. Portable Soup, or Extract of Beef. Thirty-two pounds of beef, without bone or fat, if put into cold water, gradually heated and boiled for a long time, and finally strained, and the liquid boiled down to dryness, will make one pound of true extract of beef, containing all the nutritive properties necessary for one who is sickly or sedentary. One ounce of this extract, with a little salt, will make a quart of soup or beef tea, which is rich and palatable, retaining the natural flavor of well-cooked beef, and which may be otherwise seasoned to suit the taste. This extract will keep, in a dry place, for an indefinite time, and if made, as it may be and is in the Western States where beef is cheap, need not be very expensive ; and by the saving in expense of tran^portion, might be made a profitable way of disposing of beef. It is kept by almost all apothecaries, and if it could be depended on as genuine, might be the best, surest, quickest, and most economical mode of supplying wholesome animal food to the sick and feeble ; but unfortunately a cheaper and far inferior article is sold under the same name, which contains only enough of wie genuine extract to give it flavor, all the rest being gelatine, which contains no nourishment. 246 EXTRACT OF BEEF. The genuine may be known from the spurious arti- cle by the following test : Of the pure extract about eighty per cent, is soluble in eighty-five per cent, alcohol, while that made from gelatine will yield to that menstruum only from four to five per cent. Portable soup might be used, and to some extent is used, for provisioning ships on long voyages, where fresh meat and vegetables cannot be had. This idea was first suggested by Professor Liebig, who ascer- tained by chemical analysis that the brine in which beef is salted contains the soluble constituents of the beef, even to a greater extent than concentrated soups. Salted beef, therefore, especially after it is boiled, contains nothing but fibrin, which is not much wanted in sedentary life, as that of a sailor on a long voyage. With such meat and hard bread let us see what he gets and what he loses of necessary elements. He gets in the meat fibrin, which is but little wanted while inactive, and some insoluble salts, as phos- phate of lime, which are needed also only in proportion to active exercise, and in the hard-tack he gets little but starch, which contains carbonates for breathing, but almost no food for the brain and nervous system, and none of the acids and alkalies that are necessary to eliminate the impurities from the blood and give life and activity. The system, consequently, becomes dormant and inactive, and filled with scorbutic sores, and other diseases, such as are induced by food desti- tute of the principles found in fresh meats and vege- tables, especially if used without taking much muscular exercise. HOW TO MAKE BEEF TEA. 247 Another excellent substitute for fresh food is found in desiccated vegetables, which saved many a life from diarrhoea and other scorbutic diseases in the late South- ern rebelUon, and which are still more useful at sea, where fresh food cannot be obtained. Of these, pota- toes are best, but carrots, turnips, pumpkins, and squash are all good, and many families dry them for use in that season of the year in which green vegetables are not easily kept fresh. Beef Tea. The best and quickest mode of preparing nourishing beef tea is to chop up lean beef into fine pieces, first broiling it lightly to develop the osmazome, add to it an equal weight of cold water, slowly heat to boiling, and after boiling three minutes strain and season to taste. In this manner the elements are retained and the nat- ural flavor, and a soup is obtained of as much strength and better flavor than by boiling the same piece of meat for hours. Acidnlons Drinks. The juices of all fruits, and some vegetables, contain acids which are useful in eliminating from the system various alkaline impurities, by combining them and making them soluble, and they may have some other uses in the system which are not perfectly understood ; but they never enter the system as an element of nutri- tion, but seem to act on chemical, or perhaps chemico- 248 OXALIC ACID. — CITEIC ACID. — TARTARIC ACID. vital principles. Different fruits contain different acids, as malic, oxalic, tartaric, citric, &c. but so far as is known they are all alike useful. Oxalic acid exists in a number of plants, as common sorrel, wood sorrel, &c., but the only plant employed at the table containing this acid is garden rhubarb, or pie-plant, whose leaf-stalks are used for tarts, pud- dings, sauce, &c., which are perfectly wholesome, not- withstanding the fact that oxalic acid in a disorganized state is very poisonous ; which is another example of the principle I have endeavored to bring out, that an ele- ment may be wholesome or poisonous as it is or is not organized in some vegetable. The oxalic acid of the shops is obtained by the chemical action of -nitric acid on sugar or molasses, changing them from nutriment to poison. Citric acid. — This acid is a constituent of the juice of the lemon, the orange, the lime, the citron, the shad- dock, and other fruits, which owe their sourness to this acid. The cranberry, the red currant, the strawberry, the raspberry, the cherry, the bilberry, and the tama- rind also contain it, mixed* with an equal quantity of malic acid. Tartaric acid. — This is the acid of grapes, tama- rinds, and pine-apples. It also exists, in combination with potash, as bitartrate of potash, or cream of tartar, in grapes, tamarinds, and mulberries, which, collecting on the sides of the cask during the fermentation of wine, IS termed crude tartar, or argol. This cream of tartar »nd tartaric acid, as it is called, when purified and sepa- MALIO ACID. 249 rated from the potash, is much used as a substitute for the juice of the lemon, and if it be not disorgan-i ized in the process of purification, may not be objec- tionable. Malic acid, or acid of apples, is very extensively distributed in the vegetable kingdom, being found 'in apples, pears, quinces, plums, apricots, peaches, cher- ries, gooseberries, currants, strawberries, raspber- ries, blackberries, pine-apples, barberries, elderberries, grapes, tomatoes, tamarinds, and other fruits, and is frequently accompanied with citric acid ; and of course it is the acid of wine, cider, and beer in an unfermented state. These acids exist in most of the fruits, in connection with a principle called pectine, which means coagulum, which gives them the property of becoming gelatinous, or of making jellies. Jellies may be made of currants (red, white, and black), apples (both sweet and sour), pears, quinces, plums, apricots, the cucurbitaceous fruits (as melons and cucumbers), gooseberries, toma- toes, oranges, lemons, guava, and tamarinds. The carrots, turnipsj beets, onions, and other vegetables, also contain pectine and pectic acid. By boiling with malic acid pectine is changed into an acid that is solu- ble in water, and the vegetable albumen contained in fruits assists also in making the change ; and this ex- plains why the juice of a fruit, by prolonged ebullition, often loses its property of gelatinizing (or, as the cooka »ay, why it will not come). Another reason why jelly will not come is, that fruit is used before it is perfectly 250 WHY JELLIES WIMj NOT ALWAYS COME. ripe. Unripe fruit contains very little pectine, but it is formed by the action of the acids on the pulpy matter while in the process of ripening ; and if the fruit be gathered early, this process goes on afterwards fill it becomes soft. Currants, for example, will not make jelly when they first turn red.,, It is then that the pec- tine begins to form, and this formation continues till decomposition commences. Vegetable jellies afford the means of making agreeable acidulous drinks, and are useful in sickness. They afford but little nourishment, but are not objectionable. Animal jellies, as calf's-foot, &c., are nearly worth- less, containing no nourishment, and no flavor except what is imparted to them while being made. A.cetic acid, as I have explained, is the product of fermentation. It is not found in any sound fruit, and not in the juices of any of them, as wine, cider, &c., till they have first undergone the process of vinous fermentation, which produces alcohol, and the acetous fermentation, which changes the alcohol to vinegar or acetic acid. Whenever, therefore, fermentation is prevented, as it can be in preserving houses such as have recently come into use, we might have in the juices of the grape, apple, pear, and indeed of any fruits or ber- ries, the most delicious beverages, containing acids in their natural state, and other elements, refreshing and useftil both in health and sickness, without the disorgan- ized and unhealthy principles of alcohol and vinegar. This thought has not before suggested itself to my HOW TO KEEP UNFERMENTED WINES. 251 mind ; but it impresses me as very important in conneo tion with the use of the preserving house. Let us ex amine this subject, and see what is in it. Fermentation. All matter is under the control of vital or chemical laws. While life continues, either in animal or vegeta- ble matters, vital law is supreme, but when life ceases, chemical law assumes control ; and in all matter that has had life chemical law manifests itself in fermenta- tion, either vinous, acetous, or putrefactive, and the conditions in which these chemical changes take place are the same in each. There must be present, and in contact with, or a part of, the substance to be fermented, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon or nitrogen, or both. And these must be in an atmosphere above a temperature of 32°, and to have the process go on with any degree of rapidity the temperature must be above 60°. A well-constructed preservator prevents the presence of oxygen and hydrogen, and keeps down the tempera- ture almost to 32°, and thus three of the conditions on which fermentation depends are wanting ; and ex- periment has shown that it effectually prevents the putrefactive fermentation. The inference, therefore, is irresistible, that it will prevent the vinous and ace- tous fermentations. Why not, then, every man have his cask of Catawba or Isabella wine, or his cider, from the most fragrant and delicious apples, or pears, or the juices of currants, cherries, gooseberries, strawberries, 252 HOW TO PRESERVE AIX KINCS OF DRINKS. raspberries, blackberries, pine-apples, peaches, quinces, or any other fruits? and, placing each in his preserva- tor, with an arrangement to draw them through the side, have, the year round, his choice of fifty different beverages, all of which would be delicious and whole- some, containing in their natural condition the acida which the system requires, without the addition of alco- hol, or vinegar, or any other disorganized or deleterious elements ? FOOD EST SICKNESS. 253 DIET IN SICKNESS. Having examined the laws that are to guide us in the selection of food in health, for the different condi- tions, employments, and temperatures in which it is our lot to live, let us now see if there may be considera- tions which will be of service in sickness. The first hint in regai-d to food in sickness, we have in the fact that the appetite is taken away, which is a clear intimation that food will no longer be beneficial, but injurious ; and if sudden sickness occur while the stomach contains food, or if a serious accident occur, which would be followed by inflammation, Nature guards against the evil by causing the stomach to throw off the food, and thus stop the supply of nour- ishment that would keep up the inflammation. A man faUs on his head, or accidentally receives a blow that jars the brain, or a wheel runs over his foot and crushes it, or any other serious accident occurs, that would naturally result in inflammation, and the first efforts of Nature for protection and cure are seen in vomiting, which relieves the stomach of all food, and thus cuts off the supply of blood from the affected organ. Can we have a clearer intimation that in such cases all food should be withheld ? In the first stage of any serious disease we have, 25J: NEVER EAT WITHOaT AN APPETITE. therefore, no question of duty, and can see the absurdi- ty of urging sick friends to eat, when food is not only not desired, but absolutely loathed, as it generally is in all serious illness ; and we find that such advice, if fol- lowed, is always succeeded by evil consequences. In the mean time there is generally strong thirst, thai is best satisfied with pure cold water ; and this also is a clear intimation that pure cold water is the best thing, and the only thing, that Nature in such cases requires ; and I have never seen a case in which the slightest harm came from gratifying this demand to the fullest extent, — not by filling the stomach at once, especially with very cold water, but by gratifying the desire in a more effectual way : by constantly sipping it, however cold it may be. And I have indulged many a patient, and have found great advantage in keeping up, without five minutes' cessation, the cooling influence of cold water on the tongue and in the stomach. After a time, longer or shorter, according to the vio- lence of the fever, Nature becoming exhausted, demands a little nutriment ; but the stomach cannot digest food for want of gastric juice. Dr. Beaumont had for many years a young man who had the stomach opened by a musket shot, which carried away the surrounding integuments anS left it open for inspection, by simply raising a kind of trap-door made by folds of the integuments that remained. This gave him an opportunity, which no other physiologist ever had, of witnessing the process of digestion under all circumstances, in sickness or health, and noting many NO GASTRIC JUIGE IN FEVER. 255 phenomena not before known in regard to the use of the gastric juice, and its effects on different substances, liquids and solids, the time required for digesting differ- ent articles, the first process of digesting liquid nour- ishment, &c. Dr. Beaumont says, " In febrile diseases very little or no gastric juice is secreted. Hence the importance of withholding food from the stomach in febrile com- plaints. It can afford no nourishment, but is actually a source of irritation to the organ, and consequently to the whole system." In another place he says, "The drinks received are immediately absorbed, or otherwise disposed of, none remaining in the stomach ten minutes after being swallowed. Food taken in this condition of the stomach remains undigested for twenty-four or forty-eight hours, or more, increasing the derangement of the whole alimentary canal, and aggravating the general symptoms of the disease." The first process of digesting liquid food is to absorb the liquid and leave the solid in the stomach ; indeed, both liquid and solid food is digested by first being brought into a semi-fluid state. If too liquid, by the process just described of carrying off the liquid ; if too solid, by bringing into the stomach from the system, uD" less they are supplied from without, the liquids neces- sary. But there are some forms of nourishment which are absorbed without digestion, and go directly into the Bystem to supply the demands of nature. Of this class of nutritive articles in common use, are barley-water, toast-water, beef-tea, and infusions of any of the grains. 256 THE GALLS OF NATURE TO BE REGARDED. In all of these articles the elements abstracted and ap propriated are evidently the nitrates and soluble phos phates, the carbonaceous elements not being soluble) and the only carbonaceous or heat-producing element that seems capable of being directly appropriated to the supply of heat without digestion is sugar. Here, then, we have a clear indication of the diet which nature requires in febrile diseases — and these indications are corroborated by the natural appetite. At first, there is a loathing of everything but pure cold water ; and anything but cold water, even barley- water, is disagreeable to the stomach. Then, after a while, a little barley or toast-water is agreeable and refreshing; and then, after a little longer time, the luscious fruits are relished, and the sugar in them is appropriated, without taxing the digestive powers, to sustaining the necessary heat, and checking the ab- sorption of fat. At first the heat is supplied from the absorption of fat from the system, and the patient rapidly loses fat and becomes emaciated, the adipose matter of the body being absolutely burned up to keep up the heat while the digestive powers are pros- trated, and unable to digest the farinaceous food on which the system generally depends. After a while the gastric juice is secreted sufficient to digest starch, which next to sugar is the most digestible carbonaceous food, having only to undergo the process of being con- verted by the saliva and gastric juices into sugar, as it always must be to be prepared to supply the lungs witt fuel ; and then the appetite will demand gruel made IN SICKNESS TAKE WHAT APPETITE DEMANDS. 257 from some of the farinaceous grains, and thus we shall find, by watching the appetite, that it will call for the right thing at the right time, as long as its calls are heeded ; but if physicians or nurses act on their owp judgment, and give farinaceous food before the system is ready for it, the disturbance and flatulence produced will prevent the natural calls, and we lose all the advantage of the natural appetite. Adopting these ideas more than twenty-five years ago, I have never since refused a patient a little of anything which the appetite really demanded, even to the most indigestible substances, as cucumber, dandelion greens, cheese, &c., and have never seen a case in which they were injurious even temporarily. A careful discrimination must, however, be made between the fitful whims by which a perverted appetite will by turns desire a thousand things, and lose it again before they can be obtained, and the steady desire by which it craves the same thing hour after hour and day after day if not obtained, and judgment must always be used in regard to the ^antity given at first ; at least I have always feared the consequences of indulging the appe- tite to the fullest extent after long abstinence, but have been astonished at the impunity with which it may be indulged for any particular article of food, however inappropriate it might seem to be. I had at one time the care of an old nurse sick with pneumonia, and so sick that for weeks she would take Bcarcely a particle of nutriment, and for a long time 17 258 THE APPETITE IN SICKNESS. was reduced so low as not to be expected to live from one day to another. I told her, as I had frequently told patients of whom she bad the care, to take a little of anything the appetite demanded, but gave no particular directions. One day, after an abstinence from food for nearly four weeks, T found her de- cidedly better, and for the first time able to talk and exhibit her usual vivacity. She told me that soon after my visit, twenty-four hours before, she felt a strong desire for a cucumber with salt and vinegar, and ordered her daughter to get a good large one, which she ate with a feeling that it was just the thing required ; and, not being satisfied with one, she ob- tained another, and another, till she had eaten three or four, and she assured me she felt not a pain or any in- convenience from the repast, and from that day she took other food and rapidly recovered. There was less danger, indeed, from that indigestible article, which contained very little nourishment, than would have been from eating immoderately of more concentrated nourishment, though it might have Bwen much more digestible. This statement is illustrated by another case : — A young man, recovering from a fever, seventeen miles from home, was urged by his parents to go home before he had been able to take but very little nourish- ment. Contrary to advice, while stopping to rest eeven miles from home, being overcome by the de- mands of his appetite, and having no one to restrain him, he obtained and ate heartUy of beefsteak, pota- HOSPITAL DIETETICS. 259 toes, bread and butter, &c., and in one hour was dead. A restoration so suddenly of the natural elements of the blood probably produced apoplexy. These cases forcibly illustrate the statement on page 128, that any article of food may be wholesome or poisonous accord- ing to the circumstances under which it is taken. The cucumber was wholesome — the beefsteak a deadly poison. These cases also show that while the appetite may be trusted in regard to the article to be eaten, it cannot be trusted in regard to the quantity, especially after the system has been exhausted by disease ; so that though the unperverted appetite may in health be trusted with natural food to the extent of its demands, in sickness it can only be trusted in relation to the appropriate article to be eaten, and not in regard to the quantity required. We therefore need some dietetic rules by which to regulate the diet of the sick. In almost all hospitals, patients are divided into classes, and have a diet for sach under different names. In /St. Thomas's Hospital of London They have Fun diet Breakfast. '2 pints beer, 14 oz. bread, water gruel. Dry diet. 14 oz. bread, 2 pints of beer, water gruel. Milk diet. 12 oz. bread, t pint of milk. Fever diet. 12 oz. bread, 2 pints of beer. 260 LONDON HOSPITALS. Dinner. Supper. . . < Pull diet J- lb. beef, when dressed, twice a week ; 4 oz. butter, or 6 oz. cheese, thrice a week ; 1^ lb. mutton, when boiled, twice a week.* Dry Diet. 4 oz. butter four times a week ; rice pudding and 4 oz. butter thrice a week. Full diet. 1 pint of broth, four times a week. Milk diet. 1 pint of milk four times a week ; rice puddings thrice a week. Fever diet. f lb. beef for tea. Milk diet 1 pint milk. In London Hospital They have per day r Common diet. 12 OZ. bread, 1 pint por- ter men, ^ pint porter women ; gruel. Breakfast. Dinner. Low diet. 8 oz. bread ; gruel. Common diet. 8 OZ. mutton, with pota- toes, five times a week ; 8 oz. potatoes and soup, with vegetables, twice a week. Middle diet Same as common. Low diet Broth. Milk diet 12 oz. bread ; gruel Middle diet. The same, except 4 oz. meat instead of Soz. Milk diet 1 pint milk. * All the London hospitals have, when ordered by the physician, In addition, chops, steaks, fish, wine, spirits, porter, &c. DIET OF HOSPITALS. 261 Supper. They have r ^ Common diet 1 pint of broth. Low diet. Milk diet Gruel or broth. 1 pint milk. In St. Bartholomew's Hospital Middle diet. DaUy. Common diet. Milk porridge, 12 oz. bread, 6 oz. mutton or beef, 1 pint broth with peas or po- tatoes, four times a week ; 2 pints beer for men, 1 pint for women ; 1 oz but- ter thrice a week. ThlQf or fever diet. MUk porridge, 12 oz. bread, 1 pint milk, with tapioca, arrow root, sago, or rice, as may be prescribed ; bar- ley water. They have f Full diet 14 OZ. bread, 1^ OZ. but- ter, 1 qt. table beer, 8 OZ. meat when it is (, dressed. Brotb diet Milk porridge, 12 oz. bread, 2 pints broth, 1 pint beer, 1 oz. butter. Milk diet Milk porridge, 12 oz. bread, 2 pints milk, with tapioca, ar- row root, sago, or rice; barley water ; 1 oz. butter ; bread pudding 3 times a week when or- dered. In Guy's Hospital I- .3 Middle diet 12 OZ. bread, 1^ oz. but- ter, 1 pint table beer, 4 oz. meat, and i pint broth. For each diet, gruel or tarley vater, as required. Low diet. 12 ounces bread, 1 oz. but- ter, tea and su- gar. Milk diet. 12 ounces bread, 1 oz. but- ter, 2 pints of milk. Fever diet 6 ounces bread, 1 oz. but- ter, tea and su- gar. 4 lb. beef for beef tea, or arrow root, or sugar when ordered. 262 DIET OP HOSPITALS. They have At Bt. George's Hospital Daily. Extra diet. 12 oz. bread. 2 pints beer for men ; 1 pint of beer for women, Breakfast. jlPi^ttea.lJ ( pints milk. 12 oz. meat, with bone, roasted, 4 days; boil ed, 3 days ; J lb. potatoes. Dinner. Supper, ■{' pint gruel, pint milk, Ord'yDiet. Fish diet. Fever diet. Broth diet. 12 ounces 12 ounces 12 ounces 12 ounces bread, 1 bread. bread. bread. pt. beer. barley water ad libitum. 1 pt, tea, I lpt.tea,J 1 pt. tea, J Ipt.tea.i pt, milk. pt. milk. pt. milk. pint milk 6 ounces 4 oz. plain Arrow 1 pt.br'th, meat, ^ boiled root, &c., 6 ounces lb. pota- white as direct- light toes. fish, as plaice, haddock, flounders ed. pudding. 1 pt. gru- 1 pt. gru- 1 pt. tea. 1 pt. gru- el, \ pint el, I pt. i pint el, I pint milk. milk. milk. milk. UUkdlet 12 ounct* bread. 1 pt, tea, I pint milk 1^ pints rice,milk 4 days, \ lb. bread or rice pudding 3 days. 4pt.milk. They have Daily. In Westminster Hospital Breakftst. • llbmer. . Bnpper. Middle Low diet Low diet Spoon, or Full diet diet Fixed. Casual. fever diet. 12 oz. bread. 10 ounces \ pound \ pound bread. bread. bread. 1 pint milk 1 pt. milk 1 pt, tea, 1 pt. tea, porridge, or porridge. with su- with su- rice gruel. or thin gar and gar and gruel. milk. milk. \ lb, meat, J lb. meat. No fixed 1 pt.broth Barley roasted. roasted diet. or i lb. water. broiled, or or boil- bread, or chops; Jib. ed, or rice pud- potatoes. chops; 1 lb. pota- toes. dings, or Ipt. beef tea,or fish 1 pint milk 1 pt. milk 1 pt. tea, 1 pt. tea, porridge, or porridge with su- with su- rice gruel. or gruel. gar and mUk. gar and milk. Incurables^ diet. I lb. bread, I lb. meat, i lb. pota- toes, ipt, milk, 1 pt, porter. DLET OF HOSPITALS. 2ti3 They have DaUj. . . .■ Breakfast. In the Middlesex Hospital Dinner. , Bapper. Meat diet Soup diet. Milk diet. Simple diet. Cancer diet 12 oz. bread. 12 ounces 12 ounces 6 oz. bread. 12 oz.bread, bread. bread. ilb. meat, J lb, pota- toes, 1 pt milk. 1 pint milk. 1 pt. milk. 1 pt. milk. 1 pt. barley water. Physicians' Pa- 1 pt soup. 1 pint milk 1 pt. gmel. tients. made with with rice 1^ lbs, potatoes, 4 oz. beef, puddings 4 oz. dressed alternately four days. beef or mutton, with 1 pt. and batter roasted and of broth. pudding boiled, alter- with bar- three days. nately, 4 days; ley water. 4 oz. meat in sonp 3 days. Snrgeons' Pa- tients. 1 lb. potatoes, 4 oz. dressed beef or mutton, roasted and boiled alter- . nately. 1 pt. gmel alter- 1 pt. gruel. 4 pt. milk. 1 pt, gmel natelywlth 1 pt. or 1 pint or barley , barley water. gruel. water. In King's College Hospital They have C Foil diet. Middle diet Mill; diet Low diet 1 1 pint beer, or 14 oz. bread. 1 lb. bread. 8 oz. bread. Dally. i pt. porter; 14 oz. bread. Breakfast, j IPt-inUkPor- ( ridge. , , ( i lb. meat, J lb. '^^'■■•■i potatoes. Biipper..,!lP*-"^"'P'"- \ ridge. 1 pint milk porridge, J lb. meat, J lb. potatoes. 1 pint milk porridge. 1 pt. milk. 1 pt. milk. 1 pt. gmel, 1 pt. gruel. 1 pt. broth, 1 pt. milk porridge, Fever diet 1 pt. gmel 2 pts, bar- ley water. 1 pint milt porridge. 264 EXPLANATION OP DIET TABLES. In JSTorlh London Hospital They have Fuliaet, 16 oz. bread, J pt, Daily. milk, i lb. meat, and ^ lb. potatoes, four days; 1 pint of rice or soup three days. Middle diet. 16 oz. bread, J pt. milk, 1 pint soup or rice, Low diet. 8 oz. bread, J pt. milk, oatmeal gruel. MUk diet. 17 oz. bread, 3 pints milk. According to Pereira, from whose treatise on die- tetics the above tables are taken, and who was con- nected with one of these hospitals, these several diets are employed for the following reasons : — Full, Common, or Meat Diet. — "On many occa- sions where it is desirable to restore or support the powers of the system, patients are permitted to satisfy their appetite for plain vegetable and animal food. In many indolent diseases, in scrofula, in some affections of the nervous system, as chorea and epilepsy, and in the stage of convalescence after acute maladies, &c., this kind of diet is frequently directed. In these cases beer and sometimes wine are permitted, and spirit is occasionally required. In some diseases of, and acci- dents occurring ^in confirmed drunkards, it is frequently found injurious to withhold the stimulus to which the patient's system has been long accustomed, and thus wine, gin, rum, or brandy are ordered according to ifircumstances . " This full or common diet is in general founded, I think, upon correct general principles, as understood ut the time of its adoption ; but in the light of some new scientific revelations might be greatly improved. EXPLANATION OF THE TABLES. 265 For example, in each table of full diet for all the London hospitals is given from twelve to sixteen ounces of bread, and from the remark of Pereira, page 149, that " the fine bread, prepared from flour only, is the most nutritive and digestible," I conclude that fine white bread is the article prescribed, and this conclu- sion is favored by the remark on the same page, that " notwithstanding that bread is denominated the staff of life, alone it does not appear to be capable of supporting prolonged human existence. Boussingault came to this conclusion from observing the small quan- tity of nitrogen which it contains ; and the reports of the inspectors of prisons, on the effects of diet of bread and water, favor this notion." These remarks are true of flour bread, but not true of bread made from wheat in its natural state, as is seen by analysis, page 24. That a great improvement in this diet would be made by substituting unbolted wheaten bread, or cracked wheat in part, I think will not be disputed by any one who will consider the facts already referred to. (See pages 26 and 27.) It is diffi- cult also for us in Boston, who have pure water, and have never seen beer or porter used with meals to any extent, in sickness or health, to understand the neces- sity or advantage of giving in sickness .two pints of beer to men or one and a half pints to women habit- ually, especially as in almost all kinds of sickness patients desire to return to primitive food and drinks, vyhatever their habits when well, and prefer pure water; but with such water as the best that can be 266 ALCOHOL IN BOSTON HOSPITALS. furnished with their best arrangements in any hospital in London, we should realize the necessity of some beverage which would at least cover up the taste and smell of the water. Considering, therefore, the ad- vantages of pure water which Boston possesses, and the little excuse we have for giving any substitute, our use of alcoholic beverages is much more obnoxious to criticism than that of any hospital in London. By the diet list it will be seen that no alcoholic beverages are given out regularly ; but by the superintendent's report of disbursements, we see that in the year 1866 the sum of seventeen hundred and forty-nine dollars and seventy-seven cents was paid out for liquors, and seven hundred and seventy-one dollars and eighty-one cents for ale and porter — twenty-five hundred and twenty- one dollars and fifty-eight cents. Nearly fifty dollars a week for one hundred and twenty-eight patients. Now, considering the effects of alcoholic drinks on the human system, according to the views of Professor Carpenter, who is the standard authority in the college under whose auspices this hospital is conducted, I ven- ture the assertion that less than one dollar a week would cover the expense of alcohol in all forms in which it would be of any essential service to the patients. Cg-rpenter says, in his Physiology, page 77, " The operation of alcohol upon the living body is essentially that of- a stimulus, increasing for a time, like other stimuli, the vital activity of the body, and especially that of the nervo-muscular apparatus, so that a greater effect may often be produced in a given time ALCOHOL ONLY A STIMULUS. 267 Under its use than can be obtained without it, but being followed by a corresponding depression of power, which is the more prolonged and severe in proportion as the previous excitement has been greater. Nothing, therefore, is in the end gained by their use, which is only justifiable where some temporary emergency can only be met by a temporary augmentation of power, even at the expense of an increased amount of subse- quent depression, or where (as in the case of some individuals whose digestive power is deficient) it affords aid in the introduction of aliment into the system which nothing else can so well supply. These excep- tional cases, however, will be less numerous in propor- tion as due attention is paid to those other means of promoting health which are more in accordance with nature." Will any physician contend that from seventy to one hundred applications of stimuli are necessary daily to " goad " the flagging powers of nature in these one hundred and twenty-eight patients up to their duty? A stimulus is literally a goad, and, according to Carpen- ter, and every other sensible physiologist, alcohol is a btimulus, and is never to be used only as a discreet horseman would use a goad or a whip when other inducements fail to excite the necessary exertion ; and will any one contend that "these exceptional cases" in a year are so numerous as to require an expense to meet them of twenty-five hundred and twenty-one dol- lars and fifty-eight cents ? But the expense, it seems to me, is a trifle too insig- nificant to be mentioned (except as a means of estimating 268 DANGEK OF USING ALCOHOL. the extent of the practice) compared with other evils resulting from such practice. Professor Jacob Bigelow, in a lecture to a class of young men in Harvard Medi- cal School, in 1825, of which I was one, uttered words on this subject that have so influenced my practice, that in forty years I have never used or recommended as much alcohol to be taken internally as is prescribed in the Boston City Hospital in one week ; and while I have the pleasure of knowing that I never made a drunkard by precept or example, I have equal assur- ance that no patient of mine has ever had an additional pain or an additional hour of sickness for the want of alcohol in any form. To quote again Dr. Bigelow : " Alcohol is highly stimulating, heating, and intoxicating, and its effects are so fascinating, that, when once experienced, the danger is that the desire for them may be perpetuated. Many patients have become gradually and impercepti- bly intemperate under the sanction and guidance of a physician." These assertions are denied only by those whose . practice makes a denial necessary for justification, and they are as true in relation to hospital as to private practice ; and being true, the inference is irresistible that scores of intemperate drinkers are made every year by the practice of giving convalescents alcoholic beverages. They feel better for a while after a glass of wine, or ale, or whiskey, and, having " the sanction and guid- ance of a physician," they continue the habit after leaving the hospital, with a determination, perhaps, to discontinue it as soon as they recover their ptren;?th BOSTON CITY HOSPITAL. 269 but, unfortunately, they never recover so as to be able to do without their beverage, or at least so as not to make ill health an excuse for continuing the habit, and it grows upon them till they go down to a drunkard's grave, cursing, perhaps, the doctor who first set them out on the road to destruction. Such cases I have frequently seen, and have heartily thanked God that such an awful responsibility never rested on me. Boston City Hospital. Diet List. Dinner. Mondays. . Soup, potatoes, bread (wheat, Graham, and brown) , and puddings. Tuesdays. . Boiled corned beef and vegetables, bread (three kinds) . Wednesdays. Fresh fish (fried and boiled), potatoes, bread (three kinds) , and puddings. Thursdays. . Roast beef, or mutton, vegetables, and bread as above. Fridays. . Salt fish and potatoes, bread as above, and puddings. Saturdays. . Stewed meat and vegetables, bread as above. Sundays. . Roast beef or mutton, vegetables, bread as above. Breakfast and 8wpper. Each day of the week tea and coiFee, at the discretion of the physician ; shells, cocoa, bread (wheat, Graham, and brown) , milk' and sugar, butter, &c. Cold meat, Bteak or chop, if ordered. 270 BOSTON OITT HOSPITAL. Bread always in abundance ; potatoes always ; other vegetables in their season. In additi6n. broth, either of mutton or chicken, is made each day, that it may be in readiness for patients, if prescribed by the physicians. The above is what is called the House Diet, which takes the place of the " Full Diet," " Ordinary Diet," or " Common Diet," of the London hospitals. But there are no tables of "Middle Diet," "First Diet," "Milk Diet," "Low Diet," "Fever Diet," or "Broth Diet," as in the London hospitals. But in every ward is a bill of fare, which is filled up every morning and evening by the nurse, under the direction of the physi- cian, and generally according to the wishes of each patient, thus : — Orders for Food for Patients. Ward — . Date. House Diet. Beefsteak. Mutton chop Chicken. Oysters. Broth. Mush. Gruel. Farina. No. of Patients. Date. Baked potatoes. Eggs. MUk. Boiled rice. Toast. Coffee. Tea. Shells. Cocoa. No. of Patients. The foregoing diet list and bill of fare may be con- eidered the best dietetic arrangement in this country, THE GREAT DIETETIC FAtILT OF BOSTON. 271 the City Hospital being the last great establishment finished in the country, and the trustees having taken great pains to examine the diet tables of all, and make improvements on them. Like every other hospital, its diet is modified by the habits of the community in which it is situated. The great dietetic fault of Boston consists in using much too large a proportion of carbonaceous food, which is the result of the use of superfine flour, butter, and sugar, instead of the natural combinations of these elements, as found in the grains, and fruits, and milk, from which these principles are separated. On page 34, I have estimated the proportion of white bread to all other bread used in Boston to be ninety-five per cent. The cook in the hospital estimates the proportion of bread used by the patients to be ninety per cent, of flour bread, while the proportion used by the other members of the family is much greater, making the estimate nearly the same as that for the whole city. A great improvement would undoubtedly be made by substituting bread made from unbolted wheat, ground from selected wheat, — that which is denominated Gra- ham bread being generally an inferior quality of flour, mixed with bran, which is a different and very inferior article. Of twenty-six hundred and forty-eight dol- lars and fifty cents paid for bread, probably two thou- sand dollars are lost in the excess of carbonaceous food, which does much harm by creating a tendency to inflammations and fevers, and by prolonging this class of diseases. Of the twenty-nine hundred and seventy- 272 MILK IN THE CITY HOSPITAL. eight dollars and eighty-eight cents paid for butter, all that part of it used with flour bread is lost, and worse than lost, adding only to its redundant carbonates, and increasing its heating qualities ; but any part that may be used with lean meats or vegetables, may be useful, being more digestible than the fat of meats, and being useful in supplying the carbonates, which are deficient both in lean meats and green vegetables. The amount of sugar used does not appear, being included with other groceries, but probably enough to add consider- ably to the superabundant carbonates. The amount of milk used in this hospital is very great, being, m the whole year, thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and fifty-two quarts, at a cost of twenty- nine hundred and seventy-six dollars and seventy cents, or four and one half quarts a week for every inmate. This is an excellent investment ; and if, with all this milk used, there were as much of unbolted wheat bread, or cracked wheat, or hominy from southern corn, as the ap- petite demanded, the improvement would be very great. Adaptation of Food to different Diseases. In order to make a general adaptation of food to different diseases, and different conditions of the sick, it will be useful to recur to the table of the representa- tive articles of the four different classes of alimentary substances, which will be found on page 134. The leading articles of the first class (the carbonates or heat-producers) are, the fat of meats, butter, sugar. THE LUXURY OF CONVALESCENCE. 273 and fine flour, all of which, and the last especially, are used in Boston in excess sufficient to account, undoubtedly, for many of the inflammatory diseases to which we are so liable, keeping up the steam, and heat- ing up the timbers constantly, to the point almost of ignition, and making it more difficult to quench tho flames when once started (if I may be allowed again to recur to the figure already once employed to describe the condition of the system induced by a diet unnat- urally heating) . This figure is also suggestive of the diet adapted to inflammatory diseases. Remove the combustible material and use water. This treatment Nature strongly suggests also, by the loss of appetite for all carbonaceous food, and the demand for cold water in all fevers and inflammatory diseases. The first effect of following these intimations will be to cause emaciation, the adipose substance being used to supply the lungs with fuel, which they must have every moment ; and at the beginning of sickness it is cer- tainly not an evil to lose this fat, and thus prepare the system for fresh, clean, and new clothing whenever it returns to a condition to need it. We need not be anxious to retain our old clothes if we can be sure of new ones, without extra expense, whenever we are able to make good use of them. One source of that delightful sensation which consti- tutes the luxury of convalescence, is that sense of fresh- ness and newness of every part, as the body is being reclothed with newly-formed adiposea and muscle. This anxiety, therefore, which we so often see manifested 18 274 REST OF MIND AND MUSCLE. lest we or our friends should lose flesh when sick, is at least unnecessary. Of this we can judge by adverting to our experience or observation of the difference be- tween the luxury of convalescence from a fever, in which the flesh has been removed, to be again restored, and that from dropsy, or rheumatism, or gout, where the effete old body of flesh stUl clings to us; In all attacks of inflammatory disease, then, the first direc- tion is to stop the supply of fuel, and let Nature supply the necessary heat, burning up the rubbish and cleans- ing the premises at the same time. If we need no supply of carbonaceous food in the first attack of inflammatory diseases, we certainly need none of the nitrates or phosphates, for the muscles and mind both need absolute rest, and therefore need not be supplied with elements which are only necessary in muscular or mental activity. And here, too, we have but to follow the intimations of Nature, not only in re- gard to the supply of nutriment, but also in regard to the rest which is demanded, both for mind and muscle. In regard to the exercise of muscles in sickness we are not much inclined to err, as we seldom use the muscles, or urge our friends to do so, in thSt state of lassitude which accompanies inflammatory diseases ; but forgetting or not knowing that the mind is subject to the same laws as the muscles, the mind is not left to enjoy that absolute rest which it requires, and nurses, and mothers, and friends tire patients with talk on all sorts of subjects, if they do not insist on answers from them to all sorts of questions ; but, by reference to pages MAKE EVERYTHING PLEASANT TO PATIENTSc 275 87, 88, and 89, it*will be seen that the brain requires nourishment as well as the muscles, and ia as much ex- hausted by efforts of the mind as the muscles are by active exercise. While, therefore, phosphatic food can- not be borne, the mind should be permitted to have absolute rest, being exercised only in making known the necessary requirements of the system. That friend is, therefore, kindest who keeps out of the sick chamber tUl her services are required. Nor is it right to consult the patient on the subject of seeing friends or neighbors. The very efforts neces- sary to decide the question are injurious, and until after decided convalescence, and both mind and body have been recuperated by appropriate nourishment, the world, and everything pertaining to it, mentally or physically, should be absolutely shut out of the sick chamber, and when again admitted, should be admitted very carefully and gradually. Another important consideration is to CONSULT THE FEELINGS, WISHES, AND TASTES OF PA- TIENTS IN EVEETTHING. Mind is the motive power of the world, and every- thing in it, mental or physical. And the human system, sick or well , is more dependent on the harmonious action of the mental faculties than all other influences com- bined beside, not only for its health and efficiency, but* for its comfort when sick, and for its recovery to health. First, then, put the mind of patients at ease in re- gard to everything in which they are interested, — the doctor, the nurse, the room, and everything in it, — al- lowing nothing in it disagreeable. Then allow them to 276 TAKE NOTHING WHICH OFFENDS THE TASTE. take a little of anything they desire to take, and to taste of nothing disagreeable, of food, drink, or medicine. I have already alluded to the fact that in health the ap- petite and sense of taste are placed as guardians to pro- tect the system from injurious substances (page 12) ; and can we believe it to be duty, when suffering from pain and sickness, to add to our suffering by taking dis- gusting drugs, making no effort to render them pala- table and innoxious? But the argument in favor of this practice is, that Nature has furnished drugs which, in their crude state, are disagreeable, but which, nevei-- theless, do sometimes relieve suffering and cure disease. Does this argument prove that we should take drugs in the crude, disagreeable state in which they are naturally provided? If so, it proves too much, and, therefore, nothing. Our food is furnished us mostly in a crude, unpala- table condition, but we were provided with intellects to show us how to cook it and adapt it to our tastes and requirements ; and when we rightly use our intellects, and rightly prepare our food, we both relish it and are conscious of its adaptation to our wants. So God evi- dently intended we should use our brains in preparing medicines, and in adapting them to our taste and re- quirements, and when we do so we are rewarded by the eame evidence of its adaptation to our requirements. If instead of relief we find the system disturbed, we may be sure we have mistaken the remedy, or have given it in an improper condition or quantity, just as we are always sure we have taken improper food, if, instead of gratified appetite we get disturbance from it. MAKE THE SICK ROOM PLEASANT. 277 Other animals are furnished both with food n proportion to the cold of the climate in which it 858 FOOD FOR WINTER. grows. (See plates on page 00.) So that the Green- lander may have his excessive demand for heat supplied by the excessive fatness of the seals and bears of that region, and the Canadian can be supplied by the oil and Btarch of his corn, either directly in his corn cakes, or indirectly in the fat which they furnish to his pigs and cattle. People who live in the open air in cold climates are not in danger of eating too much carbonaceous food, even the gallon of whale oil, or twelve pounds of can- dles, which an Esquimaux woman is said to eat in a day, being only enough to keep up the necessary heat. But they who live in warm houses, and seldom go out in the cold, may and generally do eat too much carbonaceous food ; and not having in winter so much of the coun- teracting influence of fruits and succulent vegetables, suiFer even more from that cause than in summer. Why is it that we suffer more from inflammatory dis- eases, especially of the throat, air passages and lungs, in winter than in summer ? Eating, as we do in winter, more fat meat, buttered cakes, buckwheats, &c., with less of fruits and vegetables, and spending most of our time in warm rooms, we keep up that heated condition of the system which predisposes it to inflammations, and exposing, as we do, perhaps, for twenty-three out of the twenty-four hours, the nasal organs, air passages and lungs, to a warm and relaxing atmosphere, and then for one hour, perhaps, exposing them to air below the freezing point, and perhaps at zero, the vessels of the mucous membranes are first expanded and filled FOOD FOK WINTER. 359 ivith blood, and then suddenly contracted and the blood expelled. This naturally causes inflammation of the parts thus exposed, rather than other parts not thus exposed, and thus in winter we have catarrh, sore throat, bronchitis, lung fevers, &c., unless perchance we get a chill on some muscles or other organs by exposure to currents of air or damp clothing ; then we may have, instead, rheuma- tism or gout, or some other disease to which we may be predisposed. Nature evidently made provision in each climate for us to live mostly in the open air ; for we find that the starch in grains and seeds, and the proportion of fat in all animals, compared with the muscle-making ele- ments, are furnished in proportion to the average amount of cold for the year of the climate in which the animals or grains grow or live. For example : The weight of wheat is mostly made up of starch and gluten ; and hundreds of analyses have been made to ascertain their relative proportions in different climates of Europe, and it is found to vary from the cold north- ern states of Scotland and Northern Russia, from ten per cent, of gluten in these northern climates to thirty- five per cent, in Italy and Turkey and the more south- ern climates, the remainder being mostly starch. And the same fact has been shown by comparing the wheat of Canada with that of Georgia and Alabama in this country. And to show that this is not an accidental circumstance, wheat from Canada has been sown and raised in Georgia, and the first year it will produce 360 FOOD FOR WINTEE. nearly the amount of starch as the same kind in Canada ; but if the product be again raised in Geor- gia, the next crop will contain, less starch, and it will thus continue to diminish, if continuously raised, till its proportions are the same as Georgia wheat ; and the change will be reversed by raising Georgia wheat in Canada ; and the same effect is produced by the same process on corn and other grain. For those, therefore, who in this climate live mostly in warm houses, and spend but little time in open air, and for warm weath- er, bread from Southern corn and Southern wheat is much more wholesome than from Northern corn or wheat. CHEONIO DISEASES CURED. 3G1 CHEONIC DISEASES CUEED BY DIET. In another chapter I have shown that extra carbona- ceous food, by keeping up the heat of the blood above its natural temperature, predisposes the whole system to fevers and inflammations, and renders these fevers and inflammations less easily cured, just as exposure of wood and other combustible substances to heat renders them liable to combustion, and makes it more diflScult to subdue the flames if once commenced. Extra carbonaceous food, then, is the predisposing cause of catarrhs, sore throats, lung fevers, and inflam- mations generally. The exciting cause is change of temperature, producing undue contraction and expan- sion of blood vessels ; but if there is suflicient recu- perative power in the system, these diseases will be prevented or immediately thrown off. Accordingly we find that the same exposure which will produce disease in one person will be entirely harmless in another ; and some facts have recently come to light which go to corroborate the idea that those who take no extra carbonaceous food have power not only to resist the encroachments of disease, but have recuperative powers that produce wonderful effects in the cure of disease : so that, living according to Na- ^ure's laws, we may not only hope to be exempt from B62 HERNIA CURED BY DIET. new diseases, but may also get rid of chronic diseases and infirmities of even twenty-five years'' standing. My attention was first called to this fact by the state- ment of Banting, the fat Englishman, who reduced his weight by abstaining from carbonaceous, and eating freely of nitrogenous and phosphatic food, that while living on this diet, a hernia, for which he had worn a truss for many years, was almost entirely cured ; and during the last year a case has come under my observa- tion still more remarkable. A gentleman who has been obliged to wear a truss for inguinal hernia for nearly twenty-five years, and who is now sixty-four years old, having for the last two years eaten no extra carbo- naceous food, has been gradually recovering from the hernia, and now for some months has left ofi" his truss entirely. At first these cures seemed to me almost miraculous ; at least I could see no connection between the cause and effect ; but on reflection, I am convinced that the explanation is this : Hernia is caused by want of tone and consequent relaxation of the abdominal muscles, occasioned, perhaps, generally by want of suffi- cient nitrogenous food. The tendons are not drawn together sufficiently taut at the ring to retain perfectly the flowing and slippery intestines, and they pass through ; but by leaving off extra carbonates, and tak- ing instead the nitrogenous food, which gives strength to muscles, their tone is restored, the tendons are drawn taut, and the bowels are retained. The following case of family idiosyncrasy I think gives some light on the influence of nitrogenous food EFFECTS OF FOOD TOO NITROGENOUS. 363 on the muscular tissues : A few years since, a physi- cian in Boston, in a good but not harassing practice, became so affected by disease of the heart that for a long time — I think a year — he could not attend to business, and at times was brought apparently to the point of death. He travelled from city to city, con- sulting all the most eminent physicians in the country, especially such as made heart disease a specialty. They all agreed that his case was anomalous ; and inasmuch as his father and one brother had died of a similar disease, they naturally supposed his would prove fatal also. But he recovered, and is now enjoying good health and engaged in active practice. Knowing that he was an extravagant eater of cheese, — tlie most concentrated nitrogenous food, — and also seeing the extraordinary effects of such food in the cases just referred to, and, therefore, suspecting that cheese might have had something to do with the case, I called on him, and obtained the following facts : — His father and his brother, as well as himself, were all extravagant eaters of cheese ; eating it at all times in the day, and in great quantities ; and they had, of course, great powers of digestion : for a stomach that can digest cheese in half-pound quantities can digest anything. And the old gentleman died at eighty-four, of what was considered organic disease of the heart, retaining his digestive powers to the last. The brother died comparatively young, with similar symptoms ; and the doctor, after struggling for a long time with similar 364 EFFECTS OF FOOD TOO NITROGENOUS. • symptoms, seemed to be approaching a similar end, when he gave up cheese for a time, and soon began to recover. Since then, for two or three years, having eaten less than half his former quantity of cheese, he seems perfectly well. The doctor's case was not, of course, organic disease, anf] my diagnosis of the three cases is this : All eating probably two or three times more nitrogenous and phos- phatic food than was necessary to supply the requisite muscular and nervous power, and, as in the cases re- ferred to, where the right proportions of this kind of food gave new tone to the abdominal muscles, and enabled them to overcome a hernia and cure it, so in their cases, excess of the same food produced an excessive tone and tension to the muscular system, and the heart, being a muscular organ, the action of which must be regular and not excessive, to perform its functions prop- erly, that was the organ on which this excess of tone and tension most clearly manifested itself, and the symptoms were precisely such as might have been ex- pected under such circumstances. The circulation was very rapid, and the pulse very full and irregular, and at times, for eighteen hours without ceasing, the heart would beat with such force as to jar the bed on which the doctor lay, and then suddenly, as if exhausted, would calm down as if to rest. With recuperative powers such as is induced by such food and such powers of digestion. Nature holds om wonderfully, and for a whole year she was able to grap- EFFECTS OF FOOD TOO NITROGENOUS 365 pie with the difficulty, till relief finally came by remov- ing the cause ; and now, if he will allow himself to take no more nitrogenous food than is necessary, say five ounces in a day, his chances of life are as good as those of any other man in the same circumstances in other respects. His brother, continuing his extra nitrogenous diet Ut the last, and, having less recuperative power, perhaps, succumbed to the first attack in two or three weeks. His father, having extraordinary vital energy, endured the strain of extra nervous and muscular power to a good old age, but, continuing his extraordinary diet to the last, he yielded also to the first attack. But other cases show more directly the recuperative effect of natural food. A gentleman of scrofulous ten- dencies, who had had for eight or ten years an open abscess, was induced, for the improvement of his gen- eral health, to abstain from extra carbon, and take food rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, and almost immediately the abscess began to heal, and in a few weeks it ceased to discharge, and this without any local application to it. Another gentleman had a kind of gouty enlarge- ment of the great toe joints, which had become chronic, and which required boots of extra width to enable him to walk. For improvement in general health, he also adopted natural food exclusively, and in a few months could wear narrow, genteel boots, without the least pain or inconvenience. These three very suggestive cases have come under my observation within the last year ; and among the 366 OHRONIO DISEASES CUEED. large number who have already adopted practically " the Philosophy of Eating " (even now reckoned by hundreds), there are probably other cases that have not been brought to my notice. These cases, though not sufficient to establish an im- portant theory, at least give us reason to hope for more benefit from living philosophically than I had dared to anticipate. They show at least that, to some extent, ab- staining from extra carbonaceous food and using instead that which is nitrogenous and phosphatic, the system has increased power not only to resist the encroachments of diseases, but also to overcome and cure them. NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION. Dec. 24, 1868. In the four months since this chapter was written, I have seen cases, showing that by the combined influence of nitrogenous and phosphatic food and homoeopathic medicines, scrofulous ulcers, tubercles, and ulceration of the lungs, scrofulous and fatty tumors, can be cured; and in one case, two ovarian tumors, producing enor- mous distension, were entirely removed in two months, leaving the patient, in more vigorous health than she had been before for years. FOOD FOK SUMMER. 367 FOOD FOR SUMMER. In warm climates Nature provides starch and sugai for necessary animal heat, not fat ; and gluten and albu- men for muscular power ; while in cold climates fat and starch are the carbonates. Ripe fruits and green vegetables have mostly sugar for their carbonates, and gluten and albumen for their nitrates. Grains and seeds have mostly starch for carbonates, and gluten and albumen for their nitrates ; and it is worthy of notice that while grain, especially corn growing in the Northern States and Canada, has a large share of oil, the corn of Southern states has not a sixth as much. Animals, also, of northern climates, eating the grain that contains fattening oil, have much more adipose covering to their flesh than the same species in southern climates. These are clear intimations that sugar and starch are appropriate principles for furnishing animal heat in warm weather, and fat and starch in cold weather. We also find a larger proportion of starch in wheat end corn (Southern corn having but half the starch in proportion to gluten as Northern corn) , and, indeed, in all grains in northern climates. We find, also, that the warmer the climate the greater the abundance of sue- 368 FOOD FOE SUMMER. culent vegetables and fruits, whose carbonates consist al- most entirely of sugar. And from all these facts we are shown that vegetables, grains, and fruits are intended for warm weather, and that meats, especially fat meats, are better adapted to cold weather. Fish, however, of every climate, furnishes appropriate food for that climate those of Northern waters being fatter than those ol Bouthern. A little reflection on these data will suggest a bill of fare for warm weather, consisting of the grains in their •natural state, — avoiding Northern corn and wheat, — vegetables, fruits and berries, as they come along, the most succulent being furnished in the warmest part of the season, with lean meats and fish, and only enough of butter or fat to make them palatable, avoiding, especially, stimulating condiments and concentrated combinations of heating food, as pastry, cakes, flour puddings, white bread and butter, &c., these carbona- ceous articles of food being undoubtedly a predisposing cause of the dysenteries, dyspepsias, liver and bowel complaints, that are so prevalent in warm weather. And it is not an argument against this theory that nursing children are as liable to these diseases as oth- ers ; for, according to the doctrine I have endeavored to establish, the influence of carbonaceous food is the game on the nursing child, through the mother, as on the weaned child directly. Nor is it an argument against the free use of fruits and vegetables, that, if taken only occasionally, and in excess, they produce or excite these very diseases ; for it is true in this case, FOOD FOE SUMMEE. 369 as in every other, that that which in regular use and appropriate quantities is wholesome, in irregular use and in excess is the source of suffering and disease. Besides, if children were constantly supplied with fresh and wholesome fruits and vegetables, they would never eat them in excess. 24 370 dyspepsia: its cause and oueb. PEEVENTION AND CUEE OF DYSPEPSIA. The grand port of entry for the human system is the stomach, and the senses of taste and smell are placed, as sentinels, to guard its portals ; and, if not tampered with and demoralized, they would not, under any pre- tence, allow a particle of matter, solid or liquid, to enter it, except food as organized and prepared in Nature's own laboratory, and drinks composed of milk, the juices of fruits and plants, and pure water; and these would only be admitted as they are needed to supply the necessary elements as fast as they are used up and cast off from the system. All animals in their natural state range at large in the sphere assigned them, and have access to every- thing, good and bad; but their appetites and tastes, as sentinels and guardian angels, allow not a particle that would be injurious to enter the stomach. Though there might be found in the same field, and even in the sti.me plant, the natural food and the deadly poison, they are directed, with unerring certainty, to take such food as contains the elements required to keep them in health, and to reject everything that would be injuri- ous. Having, therefore, all that is requisite to keep the stomach and digestive organs in health, and noth- inpf to disturb their secretions and functions, they never DYSPEPSIA : ITS CAUSE AND CURE. :',71 have dyspepsia, or any other disease, except such as are induced by accident. Does any one doubt that man would be as perfectly exempt from dyspepsia, and, indeed, from all other diseases, if he lived as entirely on natural food, and obeyed as perfectly all the lavrs of his nature? To believe otherwise is to believe that our Maker has taken less care of his most perfect work than of his inferior productions. Do you say that man has less power to discriminate between the good and the bad because his senses of smell and taste are less acute? That may be true ; but are not his intellect and reason more than an equivalent for any deficiency in his ani- mal senses? Our senses of smell and taste are, how- ever, suflBciently acute to guide us, if unperverted by the use of food out of which has been taken some of its essential elements, and by poisonous articles. And, as it is, they are faithful sentinels still, as far as they are allowed to be, and admit no food in its natural condition but at the right time and in right quantities ; so that, in regard to the grains, meats, milk, vegeta bles, and fruits, in their natural state, if we ate noth mg else, we might eat as much of them as the appetite demanded, without injury. But a faithful sentinel might admit to the gairison one who might prove to be the vilest traitor or spy ; and though, at first, he miglit be suspicious of him, might, after a while, come to like him, and treat him with kindness, if, at first, he had been ordered to admit him by a superior oflficer ; — so these sentinels of the stom ■ 372 dyspepsia: its cause and cure. ach admit, and come to have confidence in, and even ardently love, not only butter, sugar, starch, fat, and other articles which are injurious, in that unnatural, concentrated state in which we use them, but even the vilest weeds and compounds containing the most poi- sonous principles, as tobacco, alcoholic drinks, opium, hashish, &c. Under these circumstances, it may be questioned whether, with these perverted appetites and tastes, it is possible to return to natural food alone, so as to bring back the system to its normal condition, and make it exempt from the diseases and suffering to which it is thus made liable. Whether or not it is possible to restore a degenerate and diseased body to a state of perfect health, one thing is encouraging : — we find, by the testimony of all who resolve to live as nearly right as possible, that they succeed in improving their condition far beyond their expectations, and that just in proportion as they ap- proximate to Nature's standard is their approximation to health, as also to the enjoyments of eating ; and in just the proportion as they eat natural food, properly cooked, and allow nothing else to enter the stomach, are they free from dyspepsia, and the thousand and one pains and ills that are connected with it. Animals in their natural state never suffer from dyspepsia, because, from the day of their birth till the day of their death, being left free to follow their natural appetites and tastes, they never take into their stomachs a particle of matter, solid or liquid, but natu- ral food and pure water ; but the appetites and tastes dyspepsia: its pretention and cure. 373 of children are not left unperverted for a single day, — " they go astray as soon as they be born," — and that child is a lucky exception who escapes unnatural food for the first six hours of life : as if Nature was so at fault as not to provide nourishment as soon as it is needed. As a natural consequence, the symptoms of dyspepsia, such aa flatulence, colic, &c., commence on the first day of life ; and then come the catnip and camomile teas, to relieve the flatulence and pains induced by the sugar, which are sure to induce other pains worse and more enduring ; and thus, on the first day of life is inaugurated, not only dyspepsia, but, at the same time, a system of treatment which per- petuates all manner of diseases and sufferings to the end of life, and which diminishes the average length of life from " threescore years and ten " to from thirty to thirty-three years. And the foundation for these evils is also laid during the period of nursing, and even before birth, as I have before explained, by the neglect of the mother to furnish elements for a perfect organi- zation, and by furnishing, instead, elements which, not being needed, are injurious. And having, in such culpable ignorance, laid the foundation, and inaugurated a system, and formed ap- petites for unnatural food, by which these diseases and sufferings are so early commenced, we, of course, fol- low on, thoughtlessly, in the way in which our parents have started us, in the use of heating foodand delete- rious drugs, till we inevitably fall a prey to the dis- eases which are thus induced and perpetuated. And, 374 BYSPEPSIA : ITS PREVENTION AND CUBE. to every reflecting mind, the wonder is, not that so many are troubled with dyspepsia, but rather that any escape. The Process of Digestion. The most important agents in the process of digestion are the juices of the mouth, the stomach, the liver, and pancreas — the gastric juice being the most important, the others being only auxiliary. These juices are changed day by day, in certain qualities, so as to be adapted to the digestion of different kinds of food, and, like muscles which have regular duties to perform, have power given them according to the duties re- quired. If we live on food requiring little power of digestion, like rice, fine flour, fresh fish, soups, &c., the powers of digestion will, after a while, become so enfeebled that, if suddenly we take solid meat, cheese, &c., suitable juices not being, at first, furnished, indi- gestion, or temporary dyspepsia, follows ; but continue the use of these articles, and the appropriate juices will be furnished, and the powers of digestion will rally and perform the task assigned them. It is a mistake to suppose that the most digestible food is best for those who are predisposed to dyspepsia ; on the other hand, the powers of the stomach are capable of cultivation, and become strong or weak according to. the regular work imposed on them to do, just as the muscles be- come strong or weak as they are or are not actively used. But in the one case, as in the other, strength can be imparted only by regular and gradually in- DYSPEPSIA : ITS PREVENTION AND CURB. 375 Perhaps, for example, there is not one stomach in twenty which, after a lengthy absti nence from it, could readily digest cheese ; and yet there is not one stomach in a thousand that could not be made to digest it readily, by beginning its use in small quantities early in the day, and increasing the quantity daily ; and thus we may teach the stomach, as we may teach the muscles, to perform any reasona- ble task regularly imposed on it. This is an important consideration, both as a means of preventing and curing dyspepsia. Another important consideration relates to the prin- ciple which gives relish to food, called osmazome — a principle without which the digestive juices are not secreted, and without which digestion cannot go on at all. This is proved by the experiment already re- ferred to, in which the dog, shut up with meat having all its elements preserved but the flavor, would not eat it, because it could not be digested, although he was starving. Our own experience also shows us how much our digestion depends on the relish with which it is taken. And we are thus taught that it is our bounden duty to enjoy eating as it is our duty to enjoy life. But we find in the one case, as in the other, that true enjoyment comes only in connection with obedience to the laws of our being ; so that they enjoy most who only study to know what is duty, while they enjoy least who only seek after enjoyment in eating, and most as- 'siduously inquire what can be had that is good to eat. So also in the one case, as in the other, the pleasures 376 IMPORTANCE OF RELISHING FOOD. which we do enjoy, in the unnatural excitements of excess, are fraught with evil consequences, and pro- duce subsequent reaction, depression, exhaustion, oi suiFering — as, in the other case, the pleasures derived from the taste of sugar, butter, flour, and their combi- nations, give us, in just the proportion as their flavor -S excessive and unnatural, subsequent gastric exhaus- tion, debility, disease, and pain. Tc get, then, all the gustatory enjoyment we are capable of receiving, we have but to take, every day, the kind and variety of food best suited to the condition and duties of the body for that day — so kind is our heavenly Father, in providing that, in keeping his com- mandments, physical and moral, there is always great reward, and in thus making it promote our highest happiness to do right. But some one may say, "I am so wedded to my butter, and sugar, and pastry, and cakes, and they have so become second nature, that I cannot do without them." Well, if you cannot make the sacrifice of a radical reform, try a partial course, and you shall find a reward even in that. Take, for example, good, clear, light-colored wheat, and have it well ground, and kept in a close, tight cask, so that there shall be no need of sifting, and make from it unleavened bread, according to rule already given (page 45), or from good sweet yeast, and not eaten till it has been for some hours in pure air, to exchange its carbonic acid gas for oxygen, and use that, or rye and Indian, entirely, and a large majority will prefer it, at first, to fine white bread DYSPEPSIA : ITS PREVENTION AND CURE. 877 and though, at first, being harder of digestion, it may cause flatulence, yet, follow the rule for teaching the stomach to do its duty, and you will soon be rewarded in improved digestion and improved health. But in confirmed dyspepsia a more radical course will be needed ; and in just the proportion as you return to natural food will be your enjoyment of digestion, your freedom from flatulence and colic pains, and you will find yourself able to do cheerfully all the duties of life. Hundreds have tried it, and this is their unanimous testimony ; and if there are exceptions, they are only apparent, and are dependent on want of perseverance sufficient to overcome the eflPects of long-continued perversion of the digestive powers. At any time, be- fore there is actual disorganization of some organs connected with digestion, which, from continued trans- gressions, will sometimes occur, a radical change, and conformity to Nature's laws, not only regarding food, but air, exercise, friction of the skin, &c., will effect a radical cure. (For other important considerations relating to digestion, see chapter on Leanness.) 378 EEEOE OF VEGETAEIAN8. IS ANIMAL FOOD ALWAYS INJUEIOUS? In the first place, it seems to me perfectly unreason ble ihat God, in blessing Noah after the flood for his faithfulness, should give him control of "every beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air, and all that moveth upon the earth, and the fishes of the sea ; " and should tell him that " every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you, even as the green herb ; " and should cause to be deposited in all these living creatures the same elements, in the same combinations as are wanted in the human system , and as are found in the " green herb," or vegetable food, and should, at the same time, make one class to be appropriate food and the othei injurious. That each class of food does contain the same ele- ments, in the same combinations, and nearly the same proportions, has been seen. Take two articles — beef and wheat, for example. Beef contains of carbonaceoua food thirty per cent., nitrogenous sixteen, phosphatic five, and water fifty. Wheat contains of carbonaceous food seventy per cent., nitrogenous fifteen, phosphatic two, and water fourteen. Now, considering that thirty per cent, of fat is equal to two and a half times as much Btarchj in heating power, or seventy-five to that of ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FOOD ALIKE. 379 wheat at seventy, these two articles, the beef being of average fatness, in strengthening and heating qualities are nearly alike ; but the beef has more than twice the nerve and brain food as the wheat. In this last respect, however, beef and wheat differ less from each other than some other articles entirely vegetable. For example : Northern corn contains but one per cent, of nerve and brain food, while beans con- tain three and a half per cent. , and Southern corn four. Where, then, is evidence, in chemical stru-'ture of ani- mal, as compared with vegetable food, to show that the one is wholesome and the other injurious? And then as to the practical results of living exclusively on ani- mal or vegetable food — where is found the proof of the advantages of the one over the other, either in the perfection and size of the body or in the vigor or length of life which they impart ? The Patagonian is the largest, and, perhaps, th( most vigorous race of men, and they live almost ex clusively on animal food, while the vegetable-eating Hindoo is a race among the most inferior. On the other hand, the vegetable, and milk and cheese-eating Bushmen are well formed, athletic, and vigorous, while the meat-eating Esquimaux are an inferior race of men. And then statistics, while they prove, as I have shown in another chapter, that length of life, as well as health and happiness, depends on the free but tem- perate use of the good things that Nature has furnished, both of food and remedial agents, and on rejecting 380 ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FOOD ALIKE. everything injurious in food, drink, medicine, or air, give not an item of proof that vegetarians live a day longer, or have less sickness or pain, than those who eat meat, but who live, in other respects, as temperately and carefully as their vegetarian friends. Nor has such proof been furnished from any other source. CONSUMPTION OF THE BLOOD. 381 CONSUMPTION OF THE BLOOD. That peculiar greenish or ash-colored appearance which is seen in our feeble, undeveloped daughters, and which indicates the disease called chlorosis, from the color of the skin, — being a watery state of the blood, — is supposed to be caused by want of iron in the system ; and hence such girls are always found taking iron, in pills, or drops, or in some other crude preparation, with the vain hope of thus restoring iron to the blood. And as, for a while, the appetite is improved, and the strength apparently increased, the remedy is continued ; but the improvement is deceptive, and never, according to my experience and observation, effects a permanent cure. And this opinion is con- firmed by the highest medical authority, as I have quoted before. One sentence from Trousseau is so important in this connection, that I will repeat it here, there being no higher authority on this or any other medical subject. As quoted by J. Francis Churchill, a celebrated French physician, who confirms the statement, " M. Trousseau declares that iron, in any form, given in chlorotic afiec- tions, to patients in whom consumptive diathesis exists, invariably fixes the diathesis, and hastens the develop- ment of tubercles. The iron may induce a factitious 382 CONSUMPTION OF THE BLOOD. return to health ; the physician may flatter himself that he has corrected the chlorotic condition of his patient ; but, to his surprise, he will find the patient soon after fall into a phthisical state, from which there is no re- turn. This result, or at least its hastening, M. Trous- seau attributes to the iron. The assertion is a most startling one. M. Trousseau is nevertheless so certain of what he says, that he denounces the administration of iron in chlorosis as criminal in the highest degree." No attempt has ever been made, to my knowledge, to refute the opinions of these two celebrated physi- cians, and it corroborates the doctrine that I have else- where endeavored to establish, that " no elements are allowed to be incorporated into and become a part of the blood, in any organ or tissue, that are not fitted for diges- tion in some vegetable," but that, on the other hand, they become poisonous or injurious to the system. And yet, if you ask the first ten green or ash-colored girls you shall meet, what they are taking as medicine, nine will probably tell yon — iron. And the most of them, if they have taken it but n, short time, will declare they feel better for it. And this is accounted for on the same principle that alcohol, another article composed of disorganized elements, de- eeives the feeble patients who take it, by making them at first feel better, but afterwards, as the stimulus loses its power, depressing them in the same proportion as they had been stimulated. Iron, however, is a slower and more permanent stimulant, and therefore more ur sim- ple, child-like love for natural food, cooked without abstracting any of its essential elements, oj adding tny thing injurious. 414 tEAlWESS LEANNESS : ITS CAUSE AND ITS CURE. All animals but man are fat or lean as they are fed on carbonaceous food and are kept still, or on nitroge- nous food and are permitted to run at large. The farmer lets his oxen run at large, or works them, till the muscles are developed, and they are grown to a sufficient size to be profitable for beef, and then shuts them up, and feeds them freely on Indian corn meal, and they immediately begin to fatten up for beef, and within certain limits the fat accumulates in proportion to the meal they can be induced to eat. In some places, also, hogs are permitted to range in woods and fields for acorns and grass till they are sufficiently grown, and then are brought in, as poor as hounds, to be fatted up for the market ; and a calcula- tion can be made with accuracy as to how many pounds they are gaining each week, by noticing how much corn meal is consumed ; and two pigs of the same family will generally keep of about the same weight if treated in the same way. B Jt let a family of men live on the same food, and have the same amount of exercise and the same general habits, and some members will be lean as wolves, and others as fat as pigs. LEANNESS. 4I3 The same elements are found to compose the flesh of the pig as compose the flesh of man, and the same gen- eral arrangements are found for digestion and assimila- tion, and generally, especially in their fully domesticated state, the same kinds of food are given to them as to men. Pigs, however, get the skimmed milk and bran, which strengthen the powers of digestion, while men get the butter and fine flour, which weaken the powers of digestion ; and this fact gives us the means of ex- plaining the otherwise enigmatical question, — Why is it that a pig, with digestive organs and appe- tites, if not habits and dispositions, like his master, should always, with good food, be " fat and flourish- ing," while his master, with better, or at least more carbonaceous food, may be as "ill-favored and lean- fleshed " as Pharaoh's kine ? Let us see if this enigma can be explained. We are fattened, as we are strengthened, not neces- sarily by what we eat, but by what we digest ; and constantly overburdened as the human stomach is (in this country among all classes, and in the cities of Europe among the better classes) with an excess of carbonaceous food, such as butter, sugar, lard, starch, &c., which is never all digested, after a while it seems lo g< (. discouraged and to cease to try to digest it. In such cases, those who are predisposed to obesity become fat, but weak, languid, and stupid, — the carbo- naceous food being better digested than the nitrogenous or phosphatic ; while those who are predisposed to lean- ness may have muscular or mental strength, — the 416 CUEE OF LEANNESS. nitrogenous and ptosphatic in them being digested, but not the carbonaceous, — but become lean and haggard, and the redundant carbonaceous food, except that which supplies animal heat, is all wasted, and that, in such persons, is generally deficient. But pigs, not having predispositions, except to obesi- ty, and not often having their digestive powers weak- ened or embarrassed by extra carbonaceous food, digest and give credit for all they eat.. I have been told, however, that pigs may be cloyed by overfeeding, so as to lose flesh while more corn meal is before them than they can eat, and that, by continued overfeeding, they will continue to grow lean. In such cases, in order to fatten them, the food must first be withheld until they become hungry, and then, by feeding at first sparingly, and keeping the supply below the demand, their digestive powers will gradually recover, and they wUl fatten like other pigs. Here, then, we have an illustration of my position as to the cause of leanness, and at the same time a hint as to the cure of it. The cause of leanness, in this coun- try at least, is never the want of carbonaceous food, but from overloading the stomach with it, as before described. What, then, can be more rational than to take a hint from the farmer with his pigs, and keep the stomach supplied with good strengthening and fattening food only just as it is really wanted and will be digested, never eating without an appetite, and never eating any- thing but good food, so cooked and served as to be eaten with a good relish ? HOW TO SECURE A GOOD APPETITE. 417 In this way, I venture to assert, that any man, how- ever predisposed to leanness, may give his bones an adipose covering to any desirable extent. But what course wUl secure perpetually a good appetite, a, good relish for food, and good digestion ? How to secure a good Appetite. A. good appetite cannot be permanently secured without regularity in times of eating. The stomach cannot, like the heart and lungs, work continually, but is intended to have its time for labor and its time for rest. It is, however, very accommo- dating, and will furnish the requisite juices, and per- form the requisite labor of digesting food, once, twice, and even four or five times a day, if its task is given it at regular hours ; but it must have rest : and to insure vigorous digestion, that rest must be as long and con- tinuous as the regular hours of sleep. The frequency and time of meals for laboring men, — if they can have good nourishing food, and that which is not too easily digested, — are probably three times in twenty-four hours, say at six in the morning, twelve at noon, and six at night, the morning and noon meals containing tlie principal elements for muscular power, while the evening meal is such as wUl not, in the exhausted state of the system, require much digestive labor. And for sedentary men two meals are sufficient — one in the morning and one in the afternoon, at some regular hour. With this arrangement a good appetite will be 27 il8 REGULAR HOURS NECESSARY. Becured at every meal, especially if we scrupulously avoid taking food between meals, or within three hours of the tegular time for sleep. Digestion will go on while we sleep, unless the powers of the system are greatly exhausted by the labors of the day ; but sleep is never quiet and refreshing while the stomach is oppressed with food, and digestion is never well done while the system is exhausted, as we have all had occa- sion to notice. And here, perhaps, as well as elsewhere, I may ex- plain the reason for these suggestions. Sleep — " tired Nature's sweet restorer " — imparts to the system all the nervous or vital energy which is necessary for the duties of the day, and to keep all our functions in healthy, harmonious action, and secure a good appetite for food. This vital energy must be expanded during waking hours, partly in mental, partly in muscular, and partly in digestive exercise. We may so expend it all in intense and continuous mental effort as to have none left for muscular or digestive powers, as we have seen in cases where lawyers or legislators have given their whole powers of mind to an important case till Nature became exhausted, and they could neither walk nor digest food till partially restored by sleep. Or we may so expend the vital energy in muscular exertion as to exhaust the whole vital force, and not be able to think or to digest food till the vital energy is restored by sleep. Of this we have seen examples in men at a fire, or in a flood, or some other similar emergency, ivho would fall down in utter exhaustion ; and to pre- HOW TO HAVE AN APPETITE. 419 rent taxing the digestive powers in such a state, Nature provides that all food should be thrown from the stomach, and none afterwards received till sleep should restore the exhausted powers. Or we may so engorge the stomach as to expend all our vital powers on diges- tion, and become incapable of mental and physical exer- cise, and even to destroy the powers of life. Of this we have seen frequent examples. Two miserable men made a wager on eating eggs. The man who should eat the greatest number in twelve hou,*s should be sup- plied with grog for a week. Before the end of twelve hours both fell into a stertorous sleep, from which one never recovered, and the other not for some days. From these principles and facts we get some valuable hints in regard to mental, physical, and digestive man- agement, and may infer that if we desire a good appe- tite in the morning, when, having most vital power, a good appetite is most valuable, we must not eat a hearty meal at night, when the system is exhausted, but must always give the stomach its regular tasks and its time to rest ; and this is found to be true in other animals whose digestive apparatus is like that of men. The horse is kept in good condition only by being fed at regular times, and pigs also thrive much better if food is withheld except at regular hours. To secure a good appetite we must eat good food. Food, to be perfectly digested, as we have elsewhere seen, must be taken only in such quantities as the system demands, and if we take only natural food, in which is the appropriate mixture of necessary elements, 120 HOW TO HAVE AN APPETITE. the appetite can always be trusted to interpret the dt mands of the system, and in that case we should never eat too much. But eating, as we do, flour, butter, and sugar, which have but a part of the elements required, these articles can only be digested as they are eaten with food deficient in the elements which they contain, and these are very few. Consequently these redundant articles, in just about the proportions in which they are eaten, remain undigested in the stomach and bowels, causing flatulence and derangement of the secretions of the stomach, mouth, and all the digestive organs, and the sordes of the teeth, bad taste in the mouth, foulness of breath, and fastidious appetite, &c., which they always have who live on these concentrated car- bonaceous articles. How to secure good Relish for Food. The importance of eating food with a good relish we have elsewhere explained (see pages 207-211), and we have also shown what considerations are necessary m regard to cooking, condiments, etc. What we now want to know is, what course will best secure such a relish for every, meal of food as to induce digestion sufficient to supply the wastes of the system, and have a surplus for filling up the sharp angles, and for covering up the bones and muscles with a warm and comely coat, and to secure this influence permanently, according to the evident intention of Nature ? For a single meal, that which combines a good supply of HOW TO RELISH FOOD. -121 carbonaceous elements with nitrogenous and phosphat- ic, in such a manner and with such accompanimenta fts to secure the highest possible gustatory enjoyments would be most fattening ; but extraordinary gustatory enjoyments can no more be permanent than other ex- traordinary pleasures, and the reaction and subsequent disrelish for common and natural enjoyments are pro- portionate to the excess. And to attempt to keep up the relish for food by keeping up a supply of everything especially agreeable, would prove an utter failure ; for they enjoy the least who try the hardest to tempt the appetite with the greatest variety of good things. Soon becoming cloyed with everything rich and savory, while nothing else can be relished, the choicest viands, how- ever nicely prepared, become loathsome and even dis- gusting. But the appetite never cloys with food as Nature furnishes it, if so prepared as best to develop the rehsh which naturally belongs to it, especially if we cook but a small variety for the same meal, so that some variety can be had continually ; but if we cook together to-day aU the variety of meats and vegetables in common use, and mingle their flavor together, as is done in restaurants and hotels, although we may have for once an agreeable combination of flavors, yet having, as we must have, the same combination to-morrow, the next day, and continually, it soon becomes tiresome. To secure good digestion and a good adipose cover- ing, two things more are needed, — one is to eat slowly, and the other is included in that beautiful description of 422 SLOW EATING IMPORTANT. a good and happy people, they- "did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart." Good Digestion depends on eating deliberately. No one habit in this country contributes so largely to dyspepsia and leanness as that of bolting food. Proba« bly the average length of time devoted to the principal meals is not over fifteen minutes among business men, mechanics, and laborers. That such a habit must be productive of indigestion, and consequent leanness, will be made apparent by considering the object accom- plished by masticating food. One great object is to keep in the mouth, in contact with the nerves of taste, the savory morsel till its flavor has aroused the secre- tions of the juices, which are the principal agents in the process of digestion, and gathered them not only in the mouth, but also in the stomach. That the presence in the mouth, and even the sight and smell of food which we relish, does arouse these secretions, we cannot have failed to notice. Another object in masticating food is so to commi- nute it, that when received into the stomach the gastric juice will be admitted at once to every particle, and the process of digestion be commenced at once in every part of the morsel. But how different from this natu- ral condition is the food in the stomach of the man who bolts his food in morsels as large as can be made to pass down, and, in the time necessary to prepare a single ounce for easy digestion, has filled his capacious maw IMrOKTANCE OI' SLOW EATlIxU. 42S with these enormous masses of indigestible food ! I have seen masses of beef thrown from the stomach after remaining there undigested three or four days, or even a week. Can we wonder, then, that we find among our mer- chants and business men, who never can spare but fifteen minutes for their meals, so many cadaverous, desiccated, "ill-favored and lean-fleshed" specimens of humanity? The wonder is, that, not conforming to the conditions on which good healthy juices are secreted, and not comminuting the food, so that those that are formed can come in contact with the massive morsels, except on their surface, enough can be digested to keep them alive. Good Digestion is promoted by Cheerfalness. Nothing is better understood than that there is a connection between cheerfulness and good digestion ; and the trite expression, "to laugh and grow fat,'' un- doubtedly had its origin in observation, if not in philos- ophy. What an astonishing amount and variety of food can be disposed of, and perfectly digested, at one sitting of two or three hours, by a company of cheerful and happy, not to say jolly and merry, old friends, and that without alcohol, or any other unnatural stimulus, to help digestion ! I venture to say more than three times as much as the same individuals could eat and digest in the same time if each took his meals by himself. Arx! this one fact is worth more than all else I can t24 CHUERFDLNESS PROMOTES DIGESTION. write to show the dependence of the digestive powers on the state of the mind, and to prove that he must be lean and haggard who, keeping his mind constantly on his business, bolts his meals in silence and solitude, even in the presence of his family. I commend it to the careful consideration of uncomfortable mortals who never properly digest their food, and whose bones are too poorly clothed with flesh, and too poorly protected ever to allow them quiet rest, and who, therefore, envy "fat, sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights." From these considerations I venture to affirm, that any man not absolutely sick, who so trusts in Provi- dence as to be able to obey the spirit of the injunction, " Take no thought for the morrow ; " who keeps from his stomach, except as they are needed for animal heat, such heating food as butter, starch, and sugar, and who, therefore, digests all he eats ; who eats at such regular and appropriate times as to secure rest for the stomach and a good appetite; who never taxes the stomach with food when tired and exhausted ; who eats nothing that cannot be relished, and nothing the relish of which is not natural, or allows anything to enter the stomach that is not needed as food or drink ; who takes his food so deliberately as to have it properly masti- cated and lubricated, and who eats his "meat with gladness and singleness of heart," will be exempt from dyspepsia, and his bones will be covered with a com- fortable and comely coating of flesh. APPENDIX TO REVISED EDITION A, PAGE 33. — The discovery made by Dr. Hayes, that tue muscle-making elements of nourishment reside in the outer crust of wheat and other grain, is a very important one, and though its practical application has been delayed for twenty- five years, will yet result in saving thousands from Apoplexy, Chlorosis, Consumption, and hundreds of other ills which come from the use of concentrated carbonaceous food in the civilized world ; and as a counter claim for the honor of the discovery has been set up, I feel it to be my duty to go for the right, and protect my record. I have therefore obtained the following testimony on this point. Dr. Samuel L. Dana, who is known and respected by every chemist and scientific man in the coun- try, writes : " In 1841 or 1842, Dr. Hayes showed me his process in detail of testing whole grain, which was entirely new and original at the time." There was also in 1844 a re- port to the Patent Office, giving Dr. Hayes credit for the dis- covery ; but the most marvelous testimony (considering the new daim) remains to be given. In the " Report of the Geol- ogy of New Hampshire," by Charles T. Jackson, M. D., page 256, speaking of this application of tests to the whole grain, are these words : " This experiment was first made by Dr. A. A. Hayes." B, PAGE 16. — The use of the terms Nitrates, Carbonates, ttnd Phosphates, has been criticised; but the reader will re- member that the object of the book is to instruct unscientific readers, and that in using the terms as I must, perhaps, one hundred times, it is quite a saving of labor to write Carbonates and Nitrates, rather than Carbonaceous Elements, Nitrogenoui Elements, etc., and as no pretense is made for scientific ac- ' luracy, the criticism is hardly fair. 426 APPENDIX TO REVISED EDITION. C, PAGE 215. — As a means of preserving the flaTor of tea and coffee, the " Old Dominion " coffee-pot is a philosophical ar rangement ; as is also, on the same principle, the arrange- ment for preserving the flavor of meats and vegetables by Zim- merman's steamer, and Duncklee's improvement on it — an invention of inestimable value, both as a means of economy in fuel and of wholesome cookery. The principle is the same in both, but Duncklee's is more easily kept clean. D, PAGE 63. — After consulting one of the most criticaJ scientific scholars in Boston, in regard to the propriety of at- tempting to convey to common-sense minds, in the most con- cise manner possible, without technical language or more of detail than necessary, just so much of Physiology and Chemis- try as would enable them to understand the subject, I wrote the sentence referred to (p. 63), and many others of a similar character, not thinking it possible that any man of common sense would understand this to be a full explanation of all the author knew of Chemistry, Physiology, or any other of the sciences ; but a professor of some school or college out West, of whom I never before heard, covers seven pages of a respect- able monthly in Detroit, in quoting these sentences, and show- ing how much more is known of Chemistry and Physiology, than the author seems to know, etc., etc., beginning by com- paring the " Philosophy of Eating," with the philosophy of " the dawdling Mrs. Jefferson Brick," and closing with the grave advice, that the author should correct his second edi- tion, after first " informing himself in Physiology,'' etc. After all these, and a dozen more similar, imputations against the book, and the author's knowledge of Chemistry, Physiology, Botany, and even Grammar, capping the climax of disparage- ment with "We wonder a little why his book was written, unless it was to sell," the Professor shows his appreciation ot the intellect and acquirements of his professional brethren, to whom he writes as follows : " In conclusion, I would recom ttend the book as containing much that is instructive to tnosi wqfessional, as well as non-professional, readers " 1