DIET IN RELATION TO AGE AND ACTIVITY. 325 



extent myself with the practice of what is called " vegetarianism " in 

 diet, and knowing how valuable the exclusive or almost exclusive use 

 of the products of the vegetable kingdom may be for a considerable 

 number of the adult population of our own and of other countries in 

 the temperate zones, and for most of that which inhabits the torrid 

 zone, I object strongly to a dogmatic assertion that such limitation of 

 their food is desirable for any class or body of persons whatever. 

 Moreover, an exclusive or sectarian spirit always creeps in sooner or 

 later, wherever an " ism " of any kind leads the way, which sooner or 

 later brings in its train assertions barely supported by fact, the equiv- 

 ocal use of terms, evasion in short, untruthfulness, unintended and 

 unperceived by the well-meaning people who, having adopted the 

 "ism," at last suffer quite unconsciously from obscurity of vision, and 

 are in danger of becoming blind partisans. 



Thus the term " vegetarian," as used to distinguish a peculiar diet, 

 has no meaning whatever unless it implies that all the articles of food 

 so comprised are to be products of the vegetable kingdom ; admitting, 

 of course, the very widest scope to that term. In that sense the vege- 

 table kingdom may be held to embrace all the cereals, as wheat, barley, 

 rye, and oats, maize, rice, and millet ; all the leguminous plants beans, 

 peas, and lentils ; all the roots and tubers containing chiefly starch, as 

 the potato, yam, etc. ; the plants yielding sago and arrowroot ; the 

 sources of sugar in the cane and beet, etc. ; all the garden herbs and 

 vegetables ; the nuts, and all the fruits. Then there are the olive and 

 other plants yielding the important element of oil in great abundance. 

 An admirable assortment, to which a few minor articles belong, not 

 necessary to be specified here. An excellent display of foods, which 

 suffice to support life in certain favorable conditions, and which may 

 be served in varied and appetizing forms. And to those who find 

 their dietary within the limits of this list the name of vegetarian is 

 rightly applicable. But such is by no means the practice of the self- 

 styled vegetarians we usually meet with. It was only the other even- 

 ing, in a crowded drawing-room, that a handsome, well-developed, and 

 manifestly well-nourished girl "a picture of health" and vigor in- 

 formed me with extreme satisfaction that she had been a " vegetarian " 

 for several months, and how thoroughly that dietary system agreed with 

 her. She added that she was recommending all her friends (how natu- 

 ral !) to be vegetarians also, continuing, "And do you not believe I am 

 right?" On all grounds, one could only assure her that she had the 

 appearance of admirably illustrating the theory of her daily life, 

 whatever that might be, adding, "But now will you tell me what your 

 diet consists of ? " As happens in nineteen cases out of twenty, my 

 young and blooming vegetarian replied that she took an egg and milk 

 in quantity, besides butter, not only at breakfast, but again in the 

 form of pudding, pastry, fritter, or cake, etc., to say nothing of 

 cheese at each of the two subsequent meals of the day : animal food, 



