334 PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY 



vegetables rich in proteids, but at the same time poor in cellulose, 

 and hence fails utterly to attain his end. 



It would be more correct if the transition to the vegetable diet is 

 combined with a treatment which will increase the need of substance, 

 as has been done from non-scientific sides and without knowledge of 

 the physiological principle. 



The only rational cure for the disturbances which can ultimately be 

 traced to the lack of muscular activity is to devote one's self to this 

 muscular work outside of one's daily occupation, as is possible by aid 

 of the various sports. It is no accident, but rather a necessary physio- 

 logical phenomenon, that the need of active sports has always devel- 

 oped wherever there is a class of society made up of those doing no 

 intense physical work. Indeed, we can readily follow this in history; 

 when the citizens of the Greek cities devoted themselves to athletic 

 sports, when the knights of the Middle Ages jousted, there was always 

 an aristocracy who did no manual labor. The home of our modern 

 sports is England, the oldest industrial country. In Germany the first 

 steps in the direction of sports were made at the universities, where 

 thousands of young men did mental work. The scope of the sport of 

 to-day is very much broader, however, for its followers include mer- 

 chants and the workers in the various industries. Sports lead directly 

 to a change in the food requirements of the individual; every bicy- 

 clist, every mountain climber knows that on his trips he can eat things 

 which do not appeal to him at all when at home. I must be content 

 here to restrict myself to these indications disclosing the scientific 

 principles of this subject, which is apparently so far removed from our 

 point of departure. By unwearying work the physiology of nutrition 

 has established a scientific experimental foundation upon which other 

 sciences may now build. 



