1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



831 



I have any), that I may fairly and candidly 

 consider the whole matter. The first question 

 was in regard to the cocoanut as an article for 

 food. As the answer does not particularly con- 

 cern us just now, we pass it by. The next was: 



" What will the world use as a substitute for 

 leather if we stop using animals for food ? " 



I at once surmised that at least most present 

 took it for granted that the teacher was oppos- 

 ed in toto to the taking of life in order to fur- 

 nish food to humanity. The answer was given 

 quite at length, and in it Dr. K. in strong terms 

 advocated his belief. As a surgeon and physi- 

 cian, perhaps Dr. Kellogg has few superiors in 

 the world, and very likely he is ahead of the 

 whole world in devising means for preparing the 

 products of the field for heathful and delicious 

 articles of diet; but I soon decided in ray own 

 mind, that, like some other great men, he has 

 an offhand and sometimes even reckless way of 

 making statements. He closed his answer by 

 saying we could dispense with leather very 

 easily, and that common paper, even the slip 

 with the question on, that he held in his hand, 

 could be made stronger and more serviceable 

 than leather by simply immersing it in acids, 

 sulphuric and nitric. I think he said Germany 

 was even now making shoes of paper, much 

 superior to leather. Now, the last may be true; 

 but the former I am sure is a mistake, or a great 

 exaggeration at least. 



The next question was in regard to a remedy 

 for sour stomach. 



The doctor said there were two kinds — one 

 the result of fermentation of the food, the other 

 a surplus of gastric juice. I was a little sur- 

 prised to hear him at the outset state that the 

 Salisbury diet of lean meat was one method of 

 cure: for pui'e lean beef, as it contains neither 

 starch nor sugar, could not take on fermentation. 

 At one period, years ago, he himself used tbe 

 treatment largely — perhaps as many as a thou- 

 sand patients in all. his own wife being one 

 among the number;* but of late years he had 

 abandoned it. He gave several of the reasons 

 that induced him to give up the treament. 

 First, a sour stomach never kills anybody. 

 I was surprised at this declaration. If this is 

 true, diseases which we have most of us sup- 

 posed to result from sour stomach do kill, 

 and I confess I hardly see how a patient is 

 going to build up very fast with fermenting 

 substances filling the stomach and bowels. 

 Secondly, an exclusively lean-meat diet, long 

 continued, renders the patient unable to eat 

 and digestany thing else. This has been far from 

 my experience and observation. Finally he 

 said a meat-diet makes people " ferocious." 

 This does not accord at all with my last Home 

 Paper. The lady who superintends the juve- 

 nile department of our Medina schools has he- 

 come the verv reverse of " ferocious " under the 

 meat diet. For the first few weeks. I grant, 

 the patient feels weak and irritable; but with 

 good digestion that comes in time, and good 

 blood, come patience, gentleness, and all the 

 Christian graces. 



He said, further, if it were not for the heavy 

 doses of hot water prescribed to rinse off the 

 poison, such quantities of lean meat would 

 prove fatal to the patient. It happens, howev- 

 er, that I was a Salisbury patient on clean pure 

 meat over 20 years ago. iaefore the advantages 



* Pemit me here to call attention to a common 

 and, itwould seem, a wide-spread fallacy. Neither 

 Dr. Lewis nor Dr. Salisbury has ever prescribed or 

 recommended raw beef ; and yet even Dr. Kellogg' 

 more than once uses tlie expression, "tlie Salisbury 

 raw-beef diet," or soniething to tliat effect. It is 

 true, he once partly corrected it. Now, if he in his 

 treatment gave his patients raw beef, lie certainly 

 was not following Salisbury. 



of hot water had been discovered. I then 

 drank water as I pleased — drank it cold or not 

 at all, and turned out to be a pretty " tough and 

 lively corpse " at the end of 18 weeks. At that 

 time I was told to eat what 1 pleased, but to be 

 careful about getting back into the old rut 

 again. 



It seems a little sad that two great men, both 

 benefactors to the human race, should disagree 

 in this way. 



In regard to the excessive use of sugar, they 

 agree exactly. The same may be said in re- 

 gard to fats and greasy food; and in the great 

 dining-hall for the helpers I found one table 

 where they had discarded cabbage, turnips, 

 potatoes, etc., as being unwholesome and indi- 

 gestible. You see in this they agree with 

 Salisbury and Lewis exactly. They also agree 

 in regard to the value of whole-wheat flour, the 

 importance of cooking rice and other grains a 

 long while, say several hours, for the use of 

 those with weak digestion, etc.; but more of 

 this anon. 



The last question of the evening was in re- 

 gard to the use of honey for food. Our readers 

 will recall some or the severe strictures from 

 Dr. Kellogg, that went the rounds of the pa- 

 pers some years ago in regard to the matter of 

 honey as food. Well, the teacher frankly ad- 

 mitted he had changed his mind in regard to 

 honey. Some recent experiments with diabetic 

 patients has revealed the fact that, where a 

 liver is so much diseased that it refuses to 

 eliminate pure cane sugar, it will still fulfill its 

 office on honey— that is, where sugar would be 

 almost fatal to a diabetic patient, he can eat 

 good honey almost with impunity. You may 

 recall the fact that I have written of a similar 

 experience of my own, in regard to the use of 

 honey. Will our readers having impaired di- 

 gestion please try dispensing with sugar, and 

 use good honey instead? If your honey is not 

 first-class, make it so by sterilizing, or. in other 

 words, heating, not enough to injure it. but so 

 as to kill even imperceptible fermentation, and 

 make it wholesome. 



On my first arrival I inquired about hot 

 water. 



"Oh, yes! here it is," said friend Keck. " as 

 hot as you want it, and distilled water at 

 that;" and I found most beautiful drinking- 

 fountains. right in the way of convenient ac- 

 cess, dispensing pure water, either hot or cold, 

 at anytime of day or any season. I can't tell 

 you in this issue all this great institution is do- 

 ing for the health of humanity; but I am going 

 to tell you of friend Keek's special department. 

 He superintends the factory where the health 

 foods are made. These are almost all the work 

 of Dr. Kellogg's untiring and active zeal in de- 

 vising means to make sick people well. 



Some time ago I asked Dr. Lewis about their 

 gluten biscuit, and he said they would be an 

 excellent thing for patients to take after they 

 are able to take some vegetable food with their 

 meals. Friend Keck gave me a beautiful room 

 after I had been through the cracker-factory, 

 and, after my usual nap, I was served in my 

 room with about the nicest steak I ever found 

 anywhere. As I am now allowed a slice of 

 graham bread with my meat I decided to try a 

 dish of gluten musn instead. Pure gluten is a 

 vegetable food containing neither starch nor 

 sugar;' but as I am allowed a little graham 

 bread I chose the 40-per-cent gluten meal. 

 Now, I have long imagined there might be a 

 food product in the world that would be rich 

 and nourishing, easily digestible, and some- 

 thing I could take safely with my meat. As I 

 looked at the gluten mush.it seemed as if it 

 were going to " fill the long-felt want." I tast- 



