NATURE AND DESTINATION OF FOOD. 109 



ing body possesses, of converting saccharine compounds into oleaginous, the 

 ingestion of a certain amount of Oleaginous matter as such is necessary, or 

 at least is favorable, to the maintenance of health. We see this provided 

 in laru'e quantity, in the first aliment prepared by nature for the offspring of 

 the Mammalia ; in the yolk of the egg of all Oviparous animals ; whilst, as 

 the laborious investigations of Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert 1 have shown, the 

 amount of fat contained in ordinary butchers' meat of good quality, to 

 which such a high percentage of nitrogen is usually attributed, is exceed- 

 ingly great, varying from one-third to one-half of its weight. In the ordi- 

 nary diet of every nation on the globe, whether this be animal, vegetable, 

 or mixed, we find one or more articles of an oleaginous nature ; and there 

 is a natural craving for such substances when they are completely withheld, 

 which indicates that they serve some important purpose in the economy. 

 Although this craving is so far affected by climate that it leads to the largest 

 consumption of oily matter where the extreme of cold has to be endured, it 

 exists with no less intensity even in tropical regions ; and we find the Hin- 

 doo adding his modicum of "ghee" (or rancid butter made from bisons' 

 milk) to the rice which constitutes his staple article of diet, with the same 

 relish that the Esquimaux feels for his massive lumps of blubber. It does 

 not seem difficult to understand the rationale of this fact. For whilst the 

 Adipose and Xervous tissues are the only portions of" the Animal fabric into 

 which fatty matter enters in any considerable proportion, yet its presence 

 has an important influence on the assimilation of albuminous matters, and 

 seems essential to every act of tissue formation. There is strong and in- 

 creasing reason to believe that a deficiency of oleaginous matter, in a state 

 fit for appropriation by the nutritive processes, is a fertile source of diseased 

 action, especially of that of a tuberculous character; and that the habitual 

 use of it in a larger proportion would operate favorably in the prevention 

 of such maladies, as the employment of cod-liver oil unquestionably does in 

 their cure. A most remarkable example of this is presented by the popula- 

 tion of Iceland ; which, notwithstanding the concurrence of every one of 

 the circumstances usually considered favorable to the scrofulous diathesis, 

 enjoys a most remarkable immunity from it, without any other assignable 

 cause than the peculiarly oleaginous character of the diet usually employed, 

 iv. Another of the results of Experience, of which Science has not yet 

 given a definite rationale, is the necessity of employ ing fresh vegetables as an 

 article of Diet ; the almost invariable consequence of the entire omission 

 of them, being the development of that peculiar constitutional disorder 

 which is known as Scurry." That the deficiency of something which fresh 

 vegetables can alone supply is the essential cause of this disease (its opera- 

 tion being promoted, however, by other conditions, such as absolute defici- 

 ency of food, confinement, bad ventilation, depression of spirits, etc.), may 

 now be regarded as a well-established fact; and it is one which ought to 

 have an important influence on our dietetic arrangements. For if the total 

 withdrawal of these articles be productive of such a fearful depravation of 

 the blood as perverts every function to which the blood is subservient, a 

 diminution of them below the standard requisite for the maintenance of 

 health must necessarily involve a depravation similar in kind though less 

 aggravated in degree; and this, if slight, may be expected to manifest itself, 

 not so much in the production of idiopathic disorders, as in favoring any 

 peculiar tendency to disease which may exist in the system, and in prevent- 

 ing or retarding recovery. 3 The employment of fresh fruits and of green 



1 Phil. Trans., 1859, pt. ii, p. 495. 



2 For a full inquiry into this subject, see the Brit, and For. Med.-Chir. Rev., vol. 

 ii, p. 439. 



3 This "scorbutic tendency " was fully recognized by the past generation of Pby- 



