84 
Here, we must mike a destinction. It is evident that animal food is 
not absolutely necessary. Herbivores are beings like us, having the 
same physiological laws of nutrition, heat and respiration and still they 
do not starve although they consume no meat whatever. The Hindoos, 
Arabians, Chinese and others are satisfied with rice, dates, flour, 
vegetables, and fruits. If, to these aliments they join milk, eggs, 
butter and cheese they then possess a perfectly sufficient alimentation. 
Chemists and physiologists agree in saying that in bread, peas and 
beans, there is enough azote to supply nutrition of the body. Cheese 
of all others is the alimentary substance which under the smallest 
volume contains the greatest quantity of nitrogen. Therefore the 
question is decided ; we can live and live comfortably without eating 
meat. But this proposition by no means involves the consequence 
that animal alimentation must be given up. It is understood, and 
accepted that a certain quantity of nitrogen is necessary to the repair of 
our tissues. Milk, cheese, eggs, flour, fruits and vegetables can fully 
supply this quantity of nitrogen, but that alimentation has the incon- 
venience of requiring a large alimentary mass and consequently 
necessitates a more lab >rious digestive work than if a small quantity of 
meat were added to it. ioo grammes of bread contain about i gramme 
of azote, whereas ioo grammes of meat contain 3 grammes of il. 
Therefore as far as the nutrition in nitrogen is concerned, three times 
more bread than meat would be required to meet the wants of the 
organism. Besides, in supplying our system with the necessary quantity 
of azote, by the means of feculents and vegetables alone-, we would be 
compelled to introduce into the stomach a disproportionate quantity of 
Starchy food, with all the dangers of an excess of this kind of alimenta- 
tion. In short, no one group of aliments is capable of alone properly 
sustaining healthy life and a combination of all, or nearly all the 
different constituents of diet is required to accomplish the best results. 
It remains to me, now, but to thank you for your kind attention. 
I fear that I have perhaps abused your good will by the length of my 
paper. The only excuse I have to offer is that I had unfortunately no 
time to make it shorter. As it is, all my ambition has been to interest 
Mm. If 1 have succeeded 1 declare myself happy and satisfied. 
