FOOD ACCESSORIES AND DRUGS 287 



Animals as a rule take substances into their bodies only 

 to satisfy hunger or thirst or appetite ; man alone takes, in 

 addition to his nutriment, food accessories and drugs for 

 the sake of their special effect upon the nervous system or 

 other organs. Many of the numerous food accessories which 

 human ingenuity has discovered or devised are harmless 

 enough in the form used, but others contain substances 

 which are capable of poisoning the body. It is an important 

 part of the study of personal hygiene to learn of what 

 these substances consist, what is their action on the human 

 organism, and wherein lie their special dangers. 



2. The drug habit. It is a lamentable fact that large 

 amounts of drugs are swallowed by men and women apart 

 from any medical need which compels their use. In a sub- 

 sequent chapter we shall show reasons for avoiding an undue 

 dependence upon drugs as a remedy for various minor ills. 

 Bad as this practice is, with its tendency to rely upon the 

 uncertain action of a drug instead of taking proper hygienic 

 care of the body, it is far worse to make habitual use of 

 drugs for their special effects upon the healthy body, for 

 the habit is one which is only too easily cultivated. There 

 is no reason why a healthy human being, living a normal 

 lif e amid healthful surroundings, should need to use drugs 

 habitually, and a little consideration will show that the 

 practice is dangerous. 



3. Dangers of the drug habit. When we eat meat or vege- 

 tables, or when we breathe air, we take into the body 

 materials needed for normal living. These things have 

 always formed part of the food of the race and, unless 

 wrongly taken, do good and not harm. When, on the other 

 hand, we take a drug, such as chloroform, or cocaine, or 

 opium, or alcohol, or coffee, or tea, we take something which 

 is foreign to the body, in so far as it has not been a regular 

 constituent of animal food in the past. It is not needed, as 

 protein and salt and water are needed; there is no special 



