REPORTS OF AUXILIARY SOCIETIES. 361 



constitutes the chief food of the inhabitants of many tropical regions. It con- 

 tains a large proportion of starch, previous to complete maturity, and when 

 dried in this state and ground, makes plantain meal much like wheat flour. 

 Land that would raise wheat enough to support two persons for a year, if 

 given to growing plantain would produce enough to support 50 persons for the 

 same length of time. Bread fruit, mango and figs, are high in nutritive value. 

 Dates, "the bread of the desert/' contain 58 per cent of sugar, and consti- 

 tute the chief food of the Arabs. 



Most of the fruits of our own production contain from one to seven per cent of 

 sugar, less than one per cent of albuminous constituents, and from ^3 to 89 

 per cent of water. Only certain cherries and most grapes contain from 10 to 

 15 per cent of sugar. 



If not nutritive, what influence do fruits have on the system? They act as 

 dilutants to what otherwise would be a too concentrated diet. They act as lax- 

 atives. They are refrigerant. The vegetable acids they contain afford the best 

 protection against the condition of the system known as scurvy. 



In certain diseases of the kidneys, in gout and rheumatism ; in fact, in any 

 condition where it would be desirable to obtain the effect of alkaline salts, a 

 diet consisting largely of fruits would be indicated, for the salts of the fruits 

 are converted into carbonates, and are absorbed as such. Yet we must be 

 judicious in our use of fruit. As we have already seen, fruit must be fully ripe, 

 and yet not over-ripe, if we would avoid injury from its use. The prevalence oi 

 summer complaint during the height of the fruit season, is attributable largely to 

 eating too ripe fruit. Certain parts of the fruit should never be eaten. While 

 strong digestive apparatus may receive, retain and pass wholly indigestible sub- 

 stances without apparent inconvenience, yet the time will come when from 

 your continued abuses, it will rebel, and its owner will find to his sorrow that 

 he has a stomach. Do not exhaust its stored strength by needlessly forcing it 

 to wrestle with things that you know it cannot digest. Do not eat your peaches 

 and apples, skin and all ; the skins are wholly insoluble ; do not insist on sub- 

 jecting your stomach to the irritation of grape and cherry stones, or to orange 

 and lemon seeds. They are foreign bodies, not foods. Their impaction in 

 parts of the intestines have led to fatal results. Discard your grape skin ; do 

 not eat orange peels. The fleshy part of any of our fruits when at a proper 

 stage of development can be eaten moderately with great benefit, and even if 

 eaten freely, no disturbance would result to a healthy stomach. Yet care should 

 always be taken not to eat large quantities of fruit alone. Certain fruits are 

 better adapted to delicate stomachs than others. Grape pulp is readily digested 

 and can be taken freely by invalids. Orange juice is agreeable and beneficial, 

 but the fibrous portion is not easily digested. Plums do not digest as well as 

 grapes; they tend to disorder the bowels and cause griping. The same is true 

 of cherries. Peaches contain a large proportion of soluble constituents, and are 

 usually readily accepted by weak stomachs. Uncooked apples do not digest 

 readily ; but in the cooked forms are wholesome and excellent. Roasted apples 

 are slightly laxative and are very acceptable. Pears are more digestible than 

 apples, and are a very delicate and agreeable fruit. Gooseberries are whole- 

 some, but should be cooked if eaten in any quantities. Raspberries and black- 

 berries are excellent, and can be eaten freely except in certain inflammatory 

 conditions of the bowels and stomach, when the indigestible seeds would act as 

 irritants and aggravate the disorder. Strawberries are probably the most 



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