FLOUR CONSIDERED FROM THE ^ANDPOINT 



OF NUTRITION. 



LUCIEN M. UNDERWOOD. 



There is a German proverb involving a play of words in 

 similar sounds which says: " Was ein Mann isst, er isf,.'' 

 This is translatable into our tongue as, What a man eats 

 he is. Without entering into the philosophic consequences 

 that would result from a complete acceptance of such a doc- 

 trine, we can content ourselves with learning a few lessons 

 that are suggested by the large germ of truth that is in- 

 volved in the proverb. The question of "what shall we eat 

 and what shall we drink and [with what clothes] shall we 

 be clothed" is perhaps the most important personal ques- 

 tion that can be considered by the American people. Al- 

 though it might not be so considered at first thought, it is a 

 question of biology, and moreover one of the most important 

 practical questions biology has to consider, for it involves 

 directly the welfare, happiness and productiveness of al 

 of our people, as dependent upon the biological principle 

 of nutrition. There can be no question but that the amount 

 and quality of food directly affects man's actions ; courage, 

 disposition, mental activity are more or less directly de- 

 pendent on what and how much food a man eats and the 

 time and manner in which he eats it. There is much more 

 wisdom than humor in the answer to the question : "Is life 

 worth living?" that was asked in the funny column of the 

 newspaper; and answered: "It depends upon the livei-." 



The customs of a people regarding food, change from 

 time to time and ought to change, for people ought to take 

 advantage as soon as possible of any discovery of science, 

 or of any improvement in the method of the production or 

 manufacture of articles of domestic use. The man who 



