1903.] Professor Sheridan Delepine on Dangers in Food. 247 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, February 13, 1903. 



Donald W. C. Hood, C.V.O. M.D. F.R.C.P., Vice-President, 

 in the Chair. 



Professor Sheridan Delepine, M.B. B.Sc. 

 Civilisation and Health Dangers in Food. 



" Wherefore it appears to me necessary to every physician to be skilled in 

 nature, and to strive to Icnow, if he would wish to perform his duties, what man 

 is in relation to the articles of food and drink." — Hippocrates, 460 b.c. 



Civilisation as a Didurhing Element of Health Factors and 

 of Natural Evolution. 



What was said of the duties of the medical man, over two thousand 

 years ago, may now be considered to be applicable to those of the 

 statesman. 



One of the effects of civilisation has been the gradual abandonment 

 of rural life by a large number of individuals and their aggregation 

 in cities. 



With this shifting of population have been associated new condi- 

 tions of life. These new conditions do not seem to have been 

 altogether favourable to the evolution of our race; at any rate 

 statistics of mortality from disease seem to point clearly to the fact 

 that mortality is greater in populous centres than in thinly populated 

 rural districts placed under similar climatic and hygienic conditions. 



As we create for ourselves new conditions of life, we must at the 

 same time consider carefully not only the benefits but also the 

 dangers associated with these changes. Modern life is gradually 

 increasing the distance between us and nature. 



It is obviously necessary that we should keep a careful watch 

 upon the artificial modification of natural factors which we introduce 

 in our existence, so as to eliminate those which are detrimental before 

 the race as a whole has suffered deterioration. 



" Quality of Food a Matter of National Importance. 



Food has often to travel over great distances, or to be stored up 

 for a considerable time, before it is consumed. Various methods of 

 preservation, some distinctly harmful, have therefore been devised. 

 Many natural products are considerably altered by artificial processes, 

 which deprive them of some of their normal qualities ; some articles of 

 food are entirely manufactured by chemical processes. 



Vol. XYII. (No. 97.) s 



