615 



not sufficient for all of its needs, since only five elements, carbon, 

 hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur are represented. A diet 

 containing only fat, carbohydrates and protein would be so deficient 

 as to cause starvation even more quickly than if all food were with- 

 held. 



The remaining elements, together with sulfur, are often grouped 

 under the head of mineral matter, ash or salts. Mineral matter is 

 therefore a vital consideration in the human dietary. It is fre- 

 quently overlooked because there is so little definite knowledge of the 

 needs of the body for the elements represented. These elements are 

 as necessary in building and repairing tissue as nitrogen. 



While we consider mineral matter as a separate foodstuff, it is 

 not so easy to understand as the fats and the carbohydrates, sugar 

 and starch, or the various proteins, for we cannot see it. It is not 

 always a definite, tangible thing. One salt with which we are all 

 familiar and the only one which we knowingly add to the diet is 

 common table salt, which is made up of the two elements, sodium 

 and chlorin. The presence of other ash constituents of mineral mat- 

 ter we shall have to accept on faith and depend upon the chemist 

 to tell us in which foods the various ones are to be found. That we 

 need knowledge of these important foodstuffs, and should give greater 

 consideration to their abundance in the dietary, a brief mention of 

 some of their functions will show. (Cornell Reading Course for 

 Farmers' Wives, New Series II, No. 6.) 



Phosphorus is essential to the development of all the cells. If 

 the food of the growing child is deficient in phosphorus-containing 

 compounds, growth becomes stunted. 



Calcium (lime) is very important in the growth of the bones, 

 and serves many other important uses in the activity of the body. 

 If lime is not present in sufficient amounts in the diet of a growing 

 child, the bones and teeth do not develop properly and normal growth 

 may thus be interfered with. Anything which interferes with the 

 health of the bone is likely to interfere with the production of the 

 red blood corpuscles, for they are produced by the red marrow of 

 the bones. If the number of red corpuscles in the blood falls below 

 par the whole body suffers in consequence, for it means not enough 

 oxygen is carried to the cells. 



Iron is so important to proper nutrition that most persons are 

 familiar with it through the advertisements of the numerous iron 

 tonics on the market. The use of these tonics would be greatly 

 diminished by a knowledge of right feeding methods, for food iron 

 is what is needed rather than the iron which is sold in a bottle of 

 tonic. Too little iron in the diet means that the cells in the red 

 marrow of the bone lack one of the things needed in making red 

 blood corpuscles. It is the iron which is built into those little bodies 

 which gives them their power of holding oxygen and thus makes 

 them so useful a part of the blood system. Anaemia may result 

 from many abnormal causes, but it may also be produced by im- 

 proper feeding. 



