SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE NUTRITIVE 

 VALUE OF CONDIMENTS 1 



THE prevailing opinion respecting the substances known 

 as condiments is that they possess essentially stimulating 

 qualities, rendering them peculiarly fitted for inducing, by 

 reflex action, the secretion of the alimentary juices. Letheby 

 gives, as the functions of condiments, such as pepper, mus- 

 tard, spices, pot-herbs, etc., that besides their stimulating 

 properties, they give flavor to food; and by them indifferent 

 food is made palatable, and its digestion accelerated. He 

 enumerates as aids to digestion : proper selection of food, ac- 

 cording to taste of the individual; proper treatment of it as 

 regards cooking ; and proper variation of it, both as to its 

 nature and its treatment. 



While it is difficult to give an entirely satisfactory defini- 

 tion as to what constitutes food, the following extracts from 

 standard works will serve as guides. L. Hermann in his 

 " Elements of Human Physiology/' translated by Gamgee, 

 published in 1883, says : "The compound must be fit for 

 absorption into the blood or chyle, either directly or after 

 preparation by the processes of digestion, i. e., it must be 

 digestible. It must replace directly some inorganic or organic 

 constituent of the body; or it must undergo conversion into 

 such a constituent while in the body; or it must serve as an 

 ingredient in the construction of such a constituent." He fur- 

 ther says that water, chlorides, and phosphates are the most 

 indispensable articles of diet. Watts 2 states that "whatever 

 is commonly absorbed in a state of health is, perhaps, the best, 

 or rather the truest, definition of food." 



Chemical analysis shows that the most important and widely 

 applicable foods contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, 



1 Originally printed in The Polydinic, Philadelphia, 1883. 



2 Dictionary of Chemistry, vol. iv, pp. 147, 148. 



