124 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



those laws of nutrition which constitute the foundation of good living. 

 It is a subject full of interest and promise for the sociologist and 

 economist, as well as for the physiologist. We need a far more com- 

 plete knowledge than we possess at present of the laws governing 

 nutrition; we need fuller knowledge of the methods by which the 

 most complete, satisfactory and economical utilization of the diet can 

 be obtained; we need to know more concerning the minimum diet and 

 the minimum amount of proteid or albuminous foods on which health, 

 mental and physical vigor can be permanently maintained; we need 

 to know more fully concerning the influence of various forms of food 

 on growth and recuperative power; we need more complete knowledge 

 regarding the role of various dietetic and digestive habits, fixed or 

 acquired; the effects of thorough mastication, insalivation and the in- 

 fluence of two versus three meals a day upon the utilization of food 

 and hence upon the bodily health. Further, we need more concise 

 information as to the effect of the mental state upon digestion and 

 nutrition. These and many other problems of a like nature confront 

 us when we attempt to trace the influence of a proper nutrition upon 

 the condition of the body. These problems, however, all admit of 

 solution, and in their solution undoubtedly lies the remedy for many 

 of the personal ills of mankind. 



The foregoing thoughts have been suggested by observations re- 

 cently made in the writer's laboratory on the amount and character 

 of the food actually required by a healthy man in the maintenance 

 of bodily equilibrium in periods of rest and physical work. Our ideas 

 at present are based primarily upon observations as to what civilized 

 peoples are accustomed to do, and not upon what they need to do in 

 order to meet the demands made upon the body. Sir William Robert& 

 has well said that the palate is the dietetic conscience, but he adds 

 that there are many misfit palates, and we may well query whether 

 our dietetic consciences have not become generally perverted through 

 a false mode of living. The well-nigh universal habit of catering to 

 our appetite on all occasions, of bowing to the fancied dictates of our 

 palates even to the extent of satiety, and without regard to the physio- 

 logical needs of the body, may quite naturally have resulted in a false 

 standard of living in which we have departed widely from the proper 

 laws of nutrition. Statistical studies carried out on large groups of 

 individuals by various physiologists have led to the general acceptance 

 of dietary standards, such as those proposed by Voit of Munich, and 

 Atwater in this country. Thus the Voit diet for a man doing mod- 

 erate work is 118 grams of proteid or albuminous food, 56 grams of 

 fat and 500 grams of carbohydrates, such as sugar and starch, with 

 a total fuel value of 3,055 large calories or heat units per day. With 

 hard work, Voit increases the daily requirement to 145 grams of pro- 

 teid, 160 grams of fat and 450 grams of carbohydrates, with a total 



