Mr Dalton on the Secretions of' the Human Body. 63 



J >/^The weight of the individual articles were taken at each meal 

 separately, and entered in a journal, distinguishing fluids from 

 solids. 



It will be quite unnecessary to give a detail of the individual 

 articles and their weights just as they were entered in the jour- 

 nal, because it would be found httle more than a repetition of 

 names and quantities. A very short time showed that the daily 

 demand for food, both sohd and fluid, was nearly uniform as to 

 quantity, and that the supply might have been made absolutely 

 so, without any inconvenience. But the diurnal evacuations 

 were by no means so near uniformity. 



An aggregate of the articles of food consumed in the fourteen 

 days is given below ; and the mean proportions for one day are 

 also given, neglecting small fractions. 



Thus it appears that the average daily consumption of solid 

 and fluid articles was 91 ounces, or a little short of 6 lb. avoir- 

 dupois. The distribution of the aliments into solids and fluids 

 as above, is evidently to be understood in a popular sense; as 

 it is well known that all the solids contain a greater or less quan- 

 tity of water, and all the fluids a greater or less portion of solid 

 mattei'. In fact, water must be considered as the basis of all 

 the fluids. During all this period, a daily register was kept of 

 the urinary secretion, and of the evacuation of thelwwcls. The 



