594 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



our daily food. For, if one, being over-anxious on this point, wished 

 to avoid all danger by having all his food examined by a chemist, so 

 as to apportion by weight the amount of this substance and of that 

 which he should take, there is reason to fear that he would die of hun- 

 ger long before the chemist had concluded the analysis. Fortunately, 

 there is a better method of avoiding danger, and of this we wisely 

 make use under other circumstances. When we would protect our- 

 selves against the chance which gives up our houses to destruction by 

 fire, or when we would secure our dependents against the accident 

 which deprives us of life and them of a protector, we take out an in- 

 surance policy on house or life. But this insurance is not a transac- 

 tion between two or three, but between hundreds of thousands and 

 millions. A mutual insurance transacted between three persons were 

 a game of chance, between millions it is a sure calculation. We de- 

 feat chance, when we share it with others. To apply all this to the 

 matter in hand : we must not restrict ourselves to a few articles of 

 food, but must have a great variety of foods to select from ; we must 

 not partake of the same fare day after day, but must vary it as much 

 as possible. Only with a varied and alternating dietary can we be 

 sure that what is lacking in one food-stuff will be supplied in another, 

 and that what we fail to get to-day we shall have to-morrow. What 

 is commonly regarded as simply the result of a spoilt palate, viz., the 

 repugnance excited by the steady recurrence of the same dish, is an 

 uprising of the organism itself against a food which does not meet its 

 requirements ; or, rather, the consequence of a deficiency already estab- 

 lished. 



Here we have an important rule for determining a wholesome diet. 

 The foods we use must contain the indispensable elements of nutrition 

 in due proportion ; our food must be mixed, varied, and alternating. 

 And what is here said with regard to individuals, holds good also for 

 nations. The food-stuffs of an energetic population are up to the stand- 

 ard only when they are multifariousl}^ blended, and when there is a 

 due proportion of substances belonging to the three groups mentioned 

 above. Now, this relation between the nutrition and the physical and 

 mental development of a people must be apparent in the history of 

 their civilization. Where the food is insufficient, fluctuating between 

 want and excess, uniform and undiversified, the capacity of the jieople 

 for work must be inferior ; their bodily strength and their mental cult- 

 ure must be of a low grade. 



But, when we turn our eyes to the pages of history for a confirma- 

 tion of this, we meet with our first real difficulty. History tells us 

 much about deeds of heroism, bloody wars, conquests, and revolutions ; 

 of politics, manners, and customs, and even of the thoughts that have 

 occupied the minds of nations; but of their cuisine^ their bill-offare, 

 history tells us nothing. And yet a history of the foods of nations 

 would be an addition of great value to the history of human civiliza- 



