NATURE AND DESTINATION OF FOOD. 381 



when not absolutely vicious, being (there is strong reason to believe) an expo- 

 nent of the latter, just as the simple desire for food is the exponent of the need 

 for it in the system. 



404. When the 'results of experience, then, are combined with the teachings 

 of science, they seem to justify the following conclusions. 



I. That a due adjustment of the Albuminous, Oleaginous, and Saccharine con- 

 stituents of the food, to the varying conditions under which Man exists, is of 

 the first importance ; and that the question of the derivation of the first two of 

 these constituents from the Animal or from the Vegetable kingdom is one of 

 secondary character j each being capable of yielding them in adequate amount, 

 and the only condition requisite being, that the articles of food shall be so selected 

 as to supply the needful quantity. Thus a diet whose staple consists of potatoes 

 or rice, contains by far too small an amount of albuminous matter in proportion 

 to the farinaceous ; but if to this be added a moderate quantity of meat, the pro- 

 portion is assimilated to that which exists in wheaten bread, which may be taken 

 as the standard for Man's alimentation in all but extremely cold climates. The 

 failure of wheaten bread to supply what the system there requires, depends on 

 nothing else than its deficiency in the oleaginous constituent j for although such 

 a craving for fat meat is experienced by travellers in those climates, as has led 

 to the belief that it is necessary for their support, yet recent experience has shown 

 'that a vegetable oil answers the same purpose, bread made from maize flour 

 (which contains a large proportion of oleaginous matter) having been found to 

 be just as efficacious as fat meat, both in supporting the muscular strength, and 

 in maintaining the heat of the body. 1 On the other hand, maize-bread is found 

 by experience to be far less adapted than wheaten bread for consumption in warm 

 climates, being too " heating" in its character ; thus confirming the view already 

 stated, as to the superiority of farinaceous matter as the principal combustive 

 material, where the external temperature is high. The same kind of difference 

 should be made in the winter and summer diet of the inhabitants of the tempe- 

 rate zone. For when the external temperature is low, an ample supply of ole- 

 aginous matter is indicated, and may be advantageously taken in the form of butter, 

 cocoa, fat meat, or maize bread. On the other hand, during the heat of summer, 

 the more nearly the diet is assimilated to that of the natives of tropical climates, 

 in the substitution of fruits and farinacea for oleaginous articles, the less will be 

 the liability to disordered health in the autumn. 3 



n. Experience teaches, however, that it is not a matter of entire indifference, 

 whether the Albuminous constituent be drawn from the Animal or from the 

 Vegetable kingdom ; for the use of a highly-animalized diet has a tendency to 

 raise, and that of a vegetable diet to lower, the proportion of red corpuscles in 

 the Blood ( 161) ; whilst, by a due adjustment of the proportion of the two 

 classes of components, the evil effects of the exclusive use of either may be pre- 

 vented. 



1 The Author makes this statement on the authority of Sir J. Kichardson, who informs 

 him that 2J Ibs. of maize-flour are considered to be the equivalent of 8 Ibs. of meat. 



2 There can be no doubt that a large proportion of the diseases of the digestive apparatus, 

 which are so fatal among European residents in India and other tropical climates, result 

 from the habitual ingestion of a much larger quantity of food, and this especially of a rich 

 and stimulating character, than the system requires. The loss of appetite consequent upon 

 the diminution of the demand for combustive material, is set down to the deleterious influence 

 of the climate, and an attempt is made to neutralize this by artificial provocatives. So, it 

 seems probable that many of the " bilious attacks," which, in this country, are so frequent 

 in early autumn, and which are commonly set down to the account of fruit (although the 

 subjects of them have often abstained entirely from that article), are really the result of 

 the presence of an excess . of hydrocarbonaceous matter in the system, consequent upon 

 over-feeding during the summer, and must be looked on as the natural means by which it 

 is got rid of. 



