668 MEALS MEDICINAL, 
than from 5 to 7 per cent of the same, so that in most cases they 
may be allowed. Other fruits poor in carbohydrates are straw- 
berries, gooseberries, apricots, and melons. Modern medical 
scientists doubt the necessity, or propriety, of excluding all 
starches, and forms of Sugar from the diet of diabetic patients. 
An exclusively animal diet produces what are chemically called 
_ acetones in the patient’s urine, these being dangerously liable 
to absorption into the blood, and (as diacetones) to action as 
narcotics on the brain. Mr. Ireland, a Canadian gentleman, 
suffered incessantly for twenty-five years from diabetic troubles, 
and difficult digestion. Taking his case into his own hands, 
as regarding starches, and starchy foods, he discovered that if 
the starch of cereals was partially predigested he could eat such 
foods without subsequent discomfort, or injury. ‘I assert,” 
he writes, “without fear of refutation, that starch-changed 
cereals are far superior to gluten in all cases where that article 
is considered necessary. I claim to change the starch to that 
stage which is almost identical with the same when effected 
by the ptyalin of healthy saliva.” There is plenty of evidence 
that cataract in the eyes may be produced in animals when 
Sugar is taken by them to excess, even though their general 
health does not suffer therefrom. Experiments have proved 
that cataracts were caused in trout by sugaring the water 
in which they lived ; and similarly in frogs with the same result. 
It has been justly inferred from these experiments that the 
progress of a cataract in the human eye can be retarded by 
restricting the use of Sugar in the food, and drinks. In advanced 
diabetes, when an excess of Sugar is detained in the blood, 
cataract is commonly induced, and the sight becomes thereby 
obstructed. Per contra, is it not admissible to suppose that in 
cases of spontaneous cataract when Sugar has been taken only 
sparingly, as a habit, with what was eaten, and drunk, the 
sagacious administration of Sugar as a medicine systematically 
pursued may be helpful? It is remarkable that persons affected 
with diabetes have a subtle characteristic odour: Sir Lauder 
Brunton has instanced a doctor who can diagnose the disease 
by their scent. The said doctor strolls down among the crowd 
of out-patients at a large hospital, and will select six diabetics 
by their smell. It is an allowed fact that antiseptics, such as 
boric acid, and the like, if given in limited quantities, help to 
correct the excessive output of Sugar in diabetes mellitus. 
