130 



Fountain of Youth in Bananas 



"The Banana" is the title of a six-page broadside,- six news- 

 paper columns to the page, issued in Boston in connection with 

 the conservation of food campaign. It is filled with articles and 

 terse paragraphs setting forth the high food value, joined with 

 wholesomeness and cheapness, of the banana. One of the arti- 

 cles, being from the New York Tribune, is reprinted below. 

 In connection with Edison's recommendation therein of the ba- 

 nana as a rectifier of the digestive system, it can be stated that 

 the late Hon. James I. Dowsett of, Honolulu used to give prac- 

 tically the same advice to his friends — eat one or two ripe bana- 

 nas an hour or more before the regular breakfast. 



Following is the article from the New York paper already 

 mentioned : 



The banana received a tribute yesterday from a great man. 



General Rafael Reyes, former President of Colombia, now here 

 to aid in obtaining the approval at Washington of the treaty 

 which is to give Colombia $25,000,000 for the loss of Panama, 

 attributes his present fine physical condition at sixty-five years 

 to the banana. At the same time, he paid his compliments to 

 Thomas A. Edison, who it was that gave the Colombian states- 

 man the secret of health and longevity, which General Reyes said 

 he is anxious to give to the world. 



True it is that General Reyes today looks in better health and 

 more vigorous than he did when he was here two years ago. 

 And when this was mentioned to him, he enthusiastically told 

 of the valuable information given him by Mr. Edison. It was 

 something General Reyes did not know, although he comes from 

 a great banana-producing country. 



Three Great Properties of Banana. ■ 



"General," said Mr. Edison, in giving his simple health for- 

 mula, "the stomach is like the boiler of a steam engine. It must 

 be kept clean to work with regularity. Chemical analyses have 

 been made of all the fruits and vegetables of the temperate and 

 tropic zones, in search for one which should give strength to vital 

 cells by containing the three elements essential thereto — nour- 

 ishing food and tonic "to purify the blood, phosphorus for the 

 brain, and, what is more important, an efficient and mild laxa- 

 tive for the stomach. 



"These three qualities have been found in the banana, espe- 

 cially in the one called 'Pacifico,' which grows in Colombia, and 

 the one called *De La Isla,' which grows in Lima. 



"Every morning, two hours before rising, eat one or two very 

 ripe bananas — the peel must be black — and masticate them very 

 carefully. Immediately afterward drink one large glass of very 



