FOODS: THEIR CLASSIFICATION 431 



circumstances death comes much sooner than in complete starva- 

 tion, if there is no lack of water. When starvation threatens the 

 Body conserves all its substance carefully. This power is not 

 shown when the only elements lacking are the salts. The Body 

 then continues to eliminate them at the usual rate along with 

 the waste products from the other food stuffs, and a fatal defi- 

 ciency comes on quickly. 



In general the craving for salt is associated with a vegetable 

 diet. This is shown very strikingly in the case of grazing animals 

 that in the wild state are known to travel long distances in quest 

 of "salt licks." Carnivorous animals, on the other hand, not only 

 have no craving for salt, but will reject food containing an excess 

 of it. This is said to be true also of Eskimos, whose diet is exclu- 

 sively of flesh. 



The relationship of the salt craving to a vegetable diet is ex- 

 plained on the basis of the high potash content of vegetables. The 

 potash salts react in the Body with the sodium chlorid, forming 

 compounds which are rapidly eliminated by the kidneys. This 

 constant drain on the sodium chlorid of the Body gives rise to a 

 craving which insures its adequate replenishment. We must 

 admit, nevertheless, that civilized man habitually consumes much 

 more salt than is absolutely necessary. The excess should be 

 classed as a condiment, among the occasional accessories. 



The Organic Essential Accessories. Vitamines. For a long 

 time it has been known that rigid confinement to certain restricted 

 diets leads to serious bodily disturbances, even though the amounts 

 of food are ample and all the nutrients sufficiently represented. 

 Outbreaks of scurvy among ships' companies on long voyages 

 were early recognized as due to inadequacies of diet; specifically 

 to lack of fresh meats and vegetables. The precise reason for the 

 disturbed metabolism of scurvy was not made clear until another 

 dietary disease came under investigation in which the situation 

 could be analyzed more exactly. This is the disease beri-beri, a 

 disease in which the nerve trunks become inflamed, with conse- 

 quent impairment of conductivity. Paralyses and various dis- 

 turbances in the normal nutrition of the tissues follow. There is 

 definite proof that this disease is the result of limiting the diet too 

 strictly to polished rice. The inclusion of rice hulls, or of almost 

 any other food substance prevents its occurrence or cures it if 



