x FOOD AND FOOD-PLANTS 123 



well some flavouring, and colour the fruit-case a 

 pretty colour, and then he will be quite content." 



That is what is actually done by the rose, and 

 is what happens in the making of most fruits. 

 That is, they contain water, sugar, or sometimes 

 starch, flavouring matter, but not much else. 

 Generally, though they are a good addition to our 

 food, they would not form a diet by themselves. 

 But many plants, which in the wild state have very 

 poor fruits, if they are cultivated and well fed, can 

 be made to give a great deal more to the fruit, and 

 thus render it more useful for man's food. 



Now what does all this mean from man's point 

 of view ? Does it not mean first that the most 

 important part of his plant food must be seeds, for 

 it is only in them that he is likely to find much of 

 the necessary proteid ? Perhaps it may be said that 

 the banana-eating Baganda, whom we read about in 

 the first chapter, form an exception to this, but 

 remember that the bananas which they eat have no 

 seeds ; the proteids which in the wild bananas went 

 into the seeds, in the cultivated one go into the 

 fruit pulp. Except where people are purely meat- 

 eaters it is generally true that some kind of seeds, 

 or a flour made from seeds, forms the chief part 

 of their diet. For example, wheat, in the form 

 of bread, forms the basis of the diet of many 

 peoples, and rice of a great number more. Perhaps 



