88 Life and Health 



The more common condiments are salt, vinegar, pepper, 

 ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and various substances containing 

 ethereal oils and aromatics. Their excessive use is likely 

 to cause disorder of the digestive organs. 



133. Salt. The most important and extensively used of 

 the condiments is common salt. It exists in all ordinary 

 articles of diet, but in quantities not sufficient to meet the 

 wants of the bodily tissues. Hence it is added to most 

 articles of food. It improves their flavor, promotes certain 

 digestive secretions, and meets the nutritive demands of 

 the body. The use of salt seems based upon an instinc- 

 tive demand of the system. Food without salt, however 

 nutritious in other respects, is taken with reluctance and 

 digested with difficulty. 



134. Water. The most important natural beverage is pure 

 water ; in fact, it is the only one required. It is a large ele- 

 ment of solid foods. As we have already learned, the bodily 

 tissues are made up to a great extent of water. Everything 

 taken into the circulating fluids of the body, or eliminated 

 from them, is done through the agency of water. As a 

 solvent it is indispensable in all the activities of the body. 



It has been estimated that an average-sized adult loses 

 by means of the lungs, skin, and kidneys about eighty 

 ounces of water every twenty-four hours. To make up 

 for this loss about four pints of water must be taken daily. 

 About one pint of this is obtained from the food we eat, 

 the remaining three pints being taken as drink. One of 

 the best ways of supplying water to the body is by drink- 

 ing it in its pure state, when its solvent properties can be 

 completely utilized. 



135. Need of Pure Water. As water is one of the essen- 

 tial constituents of the body, it is highly important that it 

 should be free from harmful impurities. If it contain the 



