COMPOUND ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 69 



kind of nutrition in which the operation of accessory ali- 

 mentary principles is so conspicuous. It cannot be denied, 

 however, that the appetites sometimes engendered by great 

 mental exercise very frequently lead to the most disastrous 

 results. 



Aliments derived from the Animal Kingdom. The arti- 

 cles of food derived from the animal kingdom are numerous 

 and varied. At the head of the list may be placed the dif- 

 ferent kinds of meat, a name generally applied to the flesh 

 of the mammalia ; next, the flesh of birds, those most com- 

 monly used being domesticated, like the fowl, turkey, etc. ; 

 next, the flesh of fishes, a great variety of which are edi- 

 ble; and next, certain reptiles which are more or less com- 

 monly used as food, such as different kinds of turtles, and 

 sometimes frogs. Some of the mollusks form important 

 articles of food, more particularly oysters and clams. Some 

 of the Crustacea are very commonly used, such as lobsters, 

 craw-fish, crabs, etc. Bees furnish honey, which is not an 

 uncommon article of diet ; but beyond this the class of in- 

 sects contributes little or nothing to our food. Finally, cer- 

 tain animal products, particularly eggs and milk, are impor- 

 tant aliments. 



Meats. With hardly any exceptions among the mamma- 

 lia, the flesh of herbivorous animals is the only variety which 

 is considered fit for food. All animals of this class are not 

 considered edible. The flesh of the horse, of rats, and many 

 others is excluded from the table in civilized countries. 1 



1 In Paris, the attempt has frequently been made to introduce horse-flesh as an 

 article of food a movement which found favor to some extent among men of 

 science. Among the advocates of this article may be mentioned, as the most 

 prominent, the eminent naturalist and physiologist, Isidore Geoffrey Saint Hilaire. 

 It has been found impossible, .however, to establish a reputation for horse-flesh 

 which would give it a place among the meats exposed publicly for sale ; but it 

 is pretty generally acknowledged that this article is consumed, in spite of the 

 prejudice against it, under other names. (PATEN, op. cit., p. 59.) 



