NUTRITION 



4315 



NUTRITION 



while the kernels within, the familiar house- 

 hold nutmegs, after being dried in an oven, are 

 packed and shipped as spice to all parts of the 

 world. 



Although the trees do not begin bearing until 

 they are about nine years old, they have heavy 

 crops after they start, for each tree produces 



DETAIL OF THE NUTMEG 

 (a) Nutmeg covered with mace ; (b) same, with 

 mace removed; (c) cross section of nutmeg; 

 (d, e) mature fruit in shell ; (f) ovary. 



about five pounds of nutmegs and one and one- 

 half pounds of mace yearly. In countries where 

 the tree is raised, the fleshy part of the fruit is 

 often preserved and eaten as a sweetmeat, while 

 a transparent oil, called oil of mace, is ob- 

 tained from the kernel. Singapore, the largest 

 market, exports about 1,500,000 pounds of nut- 

 megs and 500,000 pounds of mace every year. 

 About $375,000 worth of nutmegs are imported 

 into the United States in a year. 



"The Land of Wooden Nutmegs." Connecti- 

 cut was given this nickname in its early days, 

 because some enterprising but dishonest Yankee 

 tradesman in that state engaged in the manu- 

 facture of so-called nutmegs made out of vari- 

 ous kinds of wood, which they sold for the 

 genuine article, until the deceit was discovered. 



NUTRITION, nutri'shun. Human nutri- 

 tion includes all the processes by winch t In- 

 human body absorbs food, water and tin- <>\y 

 gen of the air, builds them into its living tissues 

 and uses them for fuel. The substances winch 

 da for these purposes are many and varied. 

 y may all, however, be grouped for i>ur- 

 poees of discussion under four heads: (1) build- 

 ing materials, (2) repair materials, (3) materials 

 needed to keep the bodily machinery in good 

 running order, and (4) fuels. These four 

 groups of substances may be compared with the 

 following materials used by a lifeless machine, 

 such as locomotive: (1) those used in its origi- 

 nal construction steel, copper, brass and oth- 



ers, (2) those used in replacing its different 

 parts as they wear out, (3) those used in clean- 

 ing and oiling it, and (4) the coal, gasoline or 

 other fuel used to operate it. 



The Human Body like a Steam Engine. The 

 human body resembles the steam engine in 

 many ways. For instance, it consumes fuel in 

 the form of fat, sugar and other combustible 

 food materials and uses the energy thus ob- 

 tained in doing work in lifting its own weight 

 against the force of gravity, as in walking, 

 running, or going upstairs, and in overcoming 

 resistances of many other kinds. It has, how- 

 ever, at least one very great advantage over a 

 lifeless engine, for it possesses the power of 

 growth and of self-repair. Imagine a locomotive 

 small enough to be used as a plaything and yet 

 so perfectly built that it can consume coal and 

 move toy cars. Now suppose that with the 

 coal which is daily supplied there are pur- 

 posely mixed small amounts of steel, brass, 

 copper and other metals in such form that the 

 engine can absorb them and make them parts 

 of itself. Under these conditions it could, while 

 doing its own work, increase in size and strength 

 till it reached the proportions and power of 

 an ordinary-sized locomotive. Go a little 

 further and imagine that, having attained full 

 size, it can mend its various parts as they wear 

 out, just as it originally enlarged them, by se- 

 lecting the necessary materials from the fuel 

 supplied to it. The formation of a picture like 

 this helps a person to understand the processes 

 of nutrition in the human body. 



From the moment of birth a child consumes 

 fuel, obtaining it during the first day or two 

 from its own body, but later from its mother's 

 milk or other food. At the same time its body 

 selects from the food certain building sub- 

 stances and uses them to enlarge and to 

 strengthen itself. Like the locomotive of our 

 imagination, it has the power to change itself 

 from a small to a large machine without at 

 any time being put out of commission. It fol- 

 lows, however, that if it is to exercise this won- 

 derful power that of working and growing at 

 i h. same time it must be supplied with fuel 

 from which it can obtain not only energy but 

 also the materials needed to make the various 

 parts of its working machinery its muscles, 

 tendons nerves, bones and teeth, to mention 

 a ic\v out of many. 



The Needs of the Body. The right propor- 

 tions for the food of babies are now tlriin 

 understood, for the chemical analysis of moth- 

 er's milk supplies the formula. For the food 



