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learning. While this is obviously a fact ,
it is yet the paramount duty of every in
dividual as a matter of self-interest , if
upon no higher ground , to conserve
health ; and the knowledge which places
within the grasp of each man and woman
the power of avoiding disease and pro
longing life , is one which must in time
repay a thousandfold the labor expended
in its study. If what I have written
appears to contain unnecessary repeti
tion , my excuse must be that there now
exists in the United States a religious
sect , claiming to number a million ad
herents , which insists that all disease is
apparent , not real ; that a properly reg
ulated diet is folly ; and that knowledge
of physiology and anatomy is injurious
to one's health. "While the devotees of
this cult were never so numerous as to
day , the deaths in New York state dur
ing 1900 were 6,647 more than in 1899 ,
and 8,000 above the average for the past
five years. What part of the increased
death-rate is due to neglect of ordinary
precautions by Mrs. Eddy's followers , I
cannot say ; but the figures which I have
quoted prove that well-known laws of
health are being systematically violated
by thousands of persons.
HealtH-Rules Practical.
What I am about to write has been
prepared in order to place within the
grasp of each reader practical and easily
understood details of the principles which
regulate the prevention of disease in
both the person and the house.
Apart from the labor of every-day life
in which brain and muscle engage , an
immense amount of work is performed
in the mere'act of keeping alive. No
where in nature is work performed with
out proportionate waste , or wear and
tear of the machine which does the
work. This assertion is as true of the
human body as of the locomotive ; and
just as the machine whatever it may
be requires to be supplied with the
conditions necessary for the production
of force , so the living body similarly de
mands a supply of material from which
its energy the power vof doing work
can be derived. As the locomotive ob
tains the necessary conditions from the
fuel and water which it consumes , so the
living body derives its energy from the
food upon which it subsists. Food ,
therefore , is anything taken from the
outside world , from which the human
body derives the substances required for
the repair of the waste which the con
tinued work of life entails. In the
young , food serves another purpose it
provides material for growth , and it also
affords substance from which the supply
of force is derived. In the adult , while
food supplies.actual loss of substance , it
is especially devoted to the duty of
maintaining the equilibrium between
work and repair which constitutes
health.
Scientific Dieting.
Tiirning to general rules for scientific
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meal-taking , the most important is
founded upon the obvious fact that in
the food we must find the substances
necessary for the repair of our bodies ,
and for the production of the energy
through which work is performed.
Food-substances , from this point of
view , fall into two well-marked classes
nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous.
Another classification divides them into
organic and inorganic , the former being
derived from animals and plants , while
the latter is derived from the world of
non-living matter. Animal and plant
substances , then , represent organic
foods ; while water and minerals , both
of which are absolutely essential to the
support of the body , represent inorganic
food materials. From living-matter
alone do we derive the materials essen
tial to the generation of force. Never
theless , the inorganic water and miner
als are necessary in carrying out the
chemical changes which are continually
.taking place within the body.
Taking the usual classification of
foods into the nitrogenous and non-
nitrogenous groups , we find examples of
the first class in such substances as al
bumen , seen almost daily in the "white"
of egg ; casein found in milk ; gluten ob
tained from flour , etc. All these sub
stances are very similar in chemical
composition , and it seems as if the
process of digestion reduces them to an
almost identical state. On this account
they can , to some extent , replace each
other in the daily diet of mankind.
The nitrogenous foods are often called
"flesh-formers , " and the name is a suit
able one , for , as the result of experi
ment , it has been ascertained that the
chief duty performed by albumen and
allied nitrogenous substances is that of
building up and repairing the tissues of
the body. It is true that they also pro
duce heat , as a result of being chemi
cally changed in the blood , thus aiding
in the production of force or energy. In
addition , it is fairly certain that in
some complex manner the nitrogenous
parts of our bodies assist or regulate in
some very exact manner the oxidation or
chemical combustion of the tissues.
The reader should note'that the so-called
nitrogenous foods are composed , chem
ically of the four elements , nitrogen ,
carbon , oxygen and hydrogen , the pres
ence of the first element giving the char
acteristic name.
Non-Nitrogenous Foods.
The non-nitrogenous foods include
four groups viz. : (1) ( ) starches and sug
ars ; (2) ( ) oils and fats ; (8) ( ) minerals ;
(4) ( ) water. The starches and sugars in
clude not only starch and sugar as we
know them , but also various gums and
some acids , such as acetic and lactic.
Group (1) ( ) includes all substances tech
nically classed as carbohydrates , which
contain , in addition to carbon , oxygen
and hydrogen , in the same proportions as
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in water. These foods go directly to
maintain animal heat , and to give energy
to the animal frame. Although starch
as found in bread and potatoes is a most
important food , the heat-creating power
of all starches and sugars is inferior to
that of the fats and oils. The car
bohydrates aid in the digestion of the
nitrogenous foods , but the exact manner
in which they do so is not yet satis
factorily explained. Perhaps it should
be mentioned that starches and sugars
are converted into fat within the sys
tem , so that persons who suffer from
obesity should consume them in mod
eration. That oils and fats are heat-
producers is shown by the experience of
mankind concerning the large consump
tion of those articles of diet by northern
nations. Further , fats being chem
ically burned in the blood , give rise to
the force which we exert in ordinary
muscular work. Nor is this all. The
fatty products of our diet assist in the
duty of removing waste .products from
the . As to the
body. heat-creating pow
ers of oils and fats , as compared with
starches and sugars , the former may be
regarded as very much superior , the
figures being about 26 to 1.
Mineral Foods.
The mineral proportions of our food
play an important part hi the mainten
ance of the frame. We require iron
for the blood , phosphorus for the nerves
and brain , and lime for the bones. A
variety of other minerals are found in
the blood and other fluids of the body ,
but their use has not yet been accurately
determined. It is certain however , that ,
although the quantity of some minerals
( potash for example ) , required for the
work of the body is extremely small , de
rangement of health follows complete
deprivation of them. Common salt
( chloride of sodium ) forms an important
part of many of the secretions , and it
aids the formation and chemical integ
rity of the gastric juice of the stomach.
But many persons eat far too much of
it , with the result that the kidneys are
overworked in its excretion , and serious
disease makes its appearance.
Importance of Water.
Water , of course , is a most important
food , for it can , in the absence of all
other nourishment , sustain life for a
period numbering many days. While a
man will probably die in less than eight
days if deprived of water , and of solid
food , he may live for fifty days upon
water alone. The great importance of
water may bo demonstrated by the fol
lowing facts : It constitutes about two-
thirds of the weight of the body ; it
enters into the weight of the brain to
the extent of 80 per cent ; bone contains
10 per cent of it ; and 76 per cent of the
blood is water. Entering into the com
position of every fluid and tissue of the
body , and being perpetually given off by
means of the kidneys , lungs and skin ,
