THE STORY OF OUR FOODS 15 



might be imagined. To say that we eat because we 

 are hungry and drink because we are thirsty, only 

 doubles the difficulty which before was single ; for 

 the inevitable inquiry would follow in the shape of 

 the question, " Why are we hungry and why are we 

 thirsty?" 



THE ANSWER. A comprehensive view of life, 

 founded upon scientific knowledge, teaches us that 

 our body is a machine that is always working. It 

 requires very little thought to convince us of the 

 truth of this statement. When we go to sleep, for 

 example, and seek to recuperate our worn-out forces 

 in the repose of the night, our heart, even though 

 its work lessens, still continues to beat ; our chest rises 

 and falls in the act of breathing ; and certain organs 

 of our body, such as the liver, although their work 

 is slowed down, continue to act through the watches 

 of the night. There are certain of our brain cells, 

 which, representing the night shift of the workmen 

 of the nervous system, keep watch and ward over 

 our destiny. Thus, even in sleep the work of the 

 body is not suspended. Its bodily work is continued 

 with increased force during our waking life, and, in 

 addition, we are then face to face with another fact, 

 namely, that the work we have to do in the world is 

 superadded to that represented by the mere bodily 

 labour of maintaining our life. We are therefore 

 encompassed and environed by a continual atmo- 

 sphere of bodily work and labour. It is of course 

 an undeniable axiom that all work means waste. 

 The waste attending the work of any ordinary 

 machine is represented in two forms. In the first 

 instance, there is waste of the actual machinery 

 itself: the substance of the machine undergoes 

 wear and tear. But there is also a constant 



