92 



FOOD AND DRINK 



of the body, as it is generally computed ; the average weight 

 of an adult man being placed at 140 pounds. A man, there- 

 fore, consumes an amount of solid and liquid nutriment every 

 twenty-four days equal in weight to that of his body, a corre- 

 sponding amount being excreted, or removed from the system in 

 the same time. (Bead Notes 3 and 4). 



3. A Lifetime Allowance of Food. "M. Soyer, in his 'Modern 

 Housewife,' makes a calculation as to how much food an epicure of 70 

 years of age has consumed. This imaginary epicure, who is supposed to 

 be a wealthy personage, is placed by him on Primrose Hill at ten years 

 old and told to look around him at the vast assemblage of animals and 

 other objects he will in the course of a lifetime send down his throat 

 the sight of which is, of course, described as appalling. Among the other 

 things, he is to devour 30 oxen, 200 sheep, 100 calves, 200 lambs, 50 pigs, 

 1,200 fowls, 300 turkeys, 263 pigeons, 120 turbot, 140 salmon, 30,000 

 oysters, 5,745 Ibs. of vegetables, 243| Ibs. of butter, 24,000 eggs, and 4| 

 tons of bread, besides fruits, sweetmeats, etc., and 49 hogsheads of wine, 

 548 gals, of spirits, and about 3,000 gals, of tea and coffee. This is a 

 mere outline of what we are told is destined to be consumed. To show 

 there is no exaggeration, Soyer assures us that he has from experience 

 made up a scale of food for the day for a period of 60 years, and it 

 amounts to 33| tons erf meat, farinaceous food, and vegetables, etc." 

 Journal of Chemistry. 



4. A Daily Ration for an Adult Man. " We may arrive at something 

 like an average daily diet by taking the case of the man in good health, 

 weighing 154 Ibs., and measuring 5 feet 8 inches in height. Simply to 

 maintain his body, without loss or gain in weight, his ration of food 

 should not contain less, during 24 hours, than the following proportions 

 and quantities of the main ingredients : 



THE AVERAGE DAILY DIET FOE AN ADULT 



"Water, it will be remembered, enters into the composition of every 

 article of food as well as in the liquids we drink. In reality, the weight 



