FOOD AND FEEDING. 377 



FOOD AND FEEDING. 



By Sib HENRY THOMPSON. 



I THINK I shall not be far wrong if I say that there are few sub- 

 jects more important to the well-being of man than the selection 

 and preparation of his food. Our forefathers in their wisdom have 

 provided, by ample and generously endowed organizations, for the 

 dissemination of moral precepts in relation to human conduct, and 

 for the constant supply of sustenance to meet the cravings of religious 

 emotions common to all sorts and conditions of men. In these pro- 

 visions no student of human nature can fail to recognize the spirit of 

 wisdom and a lofty purpose. But it is not a sign of ancestral wisdom 

 that so little thought has been bestowed on the teaching of what we 

 should eat and drink; that the relations, not only between food and a 

 healthy population, but between food and virtue, between the process 

 of digestion and the state of mind which results from it, have occupied 

 a subordinate place in the practical arrangements of life. No doubt 

 there has long been some practical acknowledgment, on the part of a 

 few educated persons, of the simple fact that a man's temper, and con- 

 sequently many of his actions, depends on such an alternative as whether 

 he habitually digests his food well or ill; whether the meals which he 

 eats are properly converted into healthy material, suitable for the 

 ceaseless work of building up both muscle and brain; or whether un- 

 healthy products constantly pollute the course of nutritive supply. 

 But the truth of that fact has never been generally admitted to an ex- 

 tent at all comparable with its exceeding importance. It produces no 

 practical result on the habits of men in the least degree commensurate 

 with the pregnant import it contains. For it is certain that an ade- 

 quate recognition of the value of proper food to the individual in 

 maintaining a high standard of health, in prolonging healthy life (the 

 prolongation of unhealthy life being small gain either to the individual 

 or to the community), and thus largely promoting cheerful tender, 

 prevalent good nature, and improved moral tone, would require almost 

 a revolution in the habits of a large part of the community. 



The general outlines of a man's mental character and physical 

 tendencies are doifbtless largely determined by the impress of race 

 and family. That is, the scheme of the building, its characteristics 

 and dimensions, are inherited; but to a very large extent the materials 

 and filling in of the framework depend upon his food and training. 

 By the latter term may be understood all that relates to mental and 

 moral and even to physical education, in part already assumed to be 

 fairly provided for, and therefore not further to be considered here. 

 No matter, then, how consummate the scheme of the architect, nor 



