in THE THEOKY OF HUMAN NUTRITION 113 



is digested and absorbed by the intestines. The quantity of 

 nitrogen lost in the faeces is considerably larger than is the case 

 with a mixed diet. We have seen that vegetarianism does not 

 increase the capacity for digesting vegetable foods, or decrease the 

 faeces or the percentage of nitrogen lost in them. It is obvious 

 that this is due to the fact that the protein of foods consisting of 

 vegetable tissue is enclosed in membranes of cellulose which the 

 digestive juices of man are unable to attack. 



This drawback to a vegetable diet can, however, to a great extent 

 be obviated by a wiser choice of articles of food and more especially 

 by preparing them in the form of broth (the pulmentum of the 

 ancient Eomans). Taniguti's researches at Tokyo afford sufficient 

 proof of this statement. 



(6) The most serious objection to vegetarianism is the relative 

 poverty in protein of the main articles of vegetable food, which makes 

 it necessary to take an excessive quantity of food in order to intro- 

 duce the normal minimum of protein necessary for the maintenance 

 of nitrogenous equilibrium. If this minimum quantity really 

 exceeded an average of 100 grms., as was asserted by Voit, vege- 

 tarianism would stand condemned. The weight of this objection 

 is, however, very much lessened by Chittenden's proof that a daily 

 quantity of protein amounting to less than half that laid down by 

 Voit is sufficient not only to support life, but also to enable the 

 organism to flourish, and to perform both muscular and mental 

 work. If to a diet consisting only of maize, potatoes, chestnuts, 

 and green vegetables, such as Albertoni and Eossi found to be the 

 staple food of the poorest of the peasantry in the Abruzzi, we add 

 a fair proportion of vegetables such as beans, lentils, and peas, we 

 have a diet which is sufficient without overloading the digestive 

 organs with an excessive amount of food. 



(c) Another objection which may be made to a vegetable diet 

 is the comparative insipidity of vegetable foods ; they do not 

 sufficiently stimulate the taste, with the result that the digestive 

 juices are not secreted in large enough quantities and the digestion 

 becomes defective. The objection may, however, easily be met 

 by the addition of suitable flavourings made of aromatic substances. 

 Even our poorest peasants use a large quantity of pepper and 

 pepper-corns. The Japanese, who live mainly on rice, are extremely 

 skilful in the addition of different flavourings for the preparation 

 of most appetising dishes. 



We will now consider the advantages claimed by the advocates 

 of vegetarianism for such a diet compared with a mixed diet. 



(a) One of the advantages vaunted by vegetarians is that a 

 vegetable diet corrects the tendency to arthritic, gouty, and rheu- 

 matic diathesis. Some maintain that the substances which form uric 

 acid are absent in vegetable proteins. There is, however, nothing 

 to prove this theory at the present stage of our scientific knowledge. 



VOL. v I 



