586 THE ANIMAL BODY AS A MACHINE 



viduals would positively benefit by adopting a dietary of this type. 

 Others, again, might not improbably find that while it fully sufficed 

 for the maintenance of weight and health and the satisfaction of the 

 appetite, yet better digestion and improved well-being would be 

 attained on a dietary containing some proportion of meat. To the 

 majority, appetite, taste and habit apart, it would probably be indif- 

 ferent which alternative was adopted. Without positively encouraging 

 such dietetic experiments, especially where children are concerned, the 

 physician will probably, unless there are certain indications to the con- 

 trary, do well to allow a vegetarian of this type to indulge his whim. The 

 absolute vegetarian, however, who declines even to partake of milk or 

 eggs, must be solemnly warned of the danger he is incurring and the 

 almost inevitably unhappy outcome of his fanaticism, while his children 

 should be shielded, if possible, from the outrage of the perpetration of 

 his delusion, and irreparable detriment of their bodily welfare. 



On the other hand an exclusive flesh-diet, which has been advocated 

 no less warmly than vegetarianism in certain ill-informed quarters, 

 is only a shade less undesirable than an exclusively vegetable diet. The 

 wastage again becomes very large on account of the stimulation of 

 metabolism resulting from the high plane of protein intake, and an 

 abnormally large consumption of food becomes necessary to maintain 

 nitrogenous and calorific equilibrium. The insufficiency of the carbo- 

 hydrate intake provides little of the proper nutriment for the muscular 

 tissues, the power of continued exertion is impaired, and the tendency 

 to certain types of auto-intoxication is probably enhanced. The diet 

 is so completely digestible that the fecal bulk is too small to maintain 

 the proper tension and tonus of the lower intestine, and the resultant 

 stasis favors Intestinal Putrefaction. The abundant variety of mineral 

 constituents contained in the vegetable items of the customary dietary 

 is replaced by the relatively limited variety and quantity of mineral 

 constituents in flesh. The high protein intake implies a high sulphur 

 intake, and therefore the formation of large quantities of sulphuric 

 acid, which reduce the alkali-reserve and impose a tendency toward 

 Acidosis. 



On the whole, it must be evident from the above discussion that 

 the only safe prescription for continued employment by persons of all 

 ages is that which the good housekeeper instinctively recommends, 

 namely an abundant and varied diet. The requirements of the body 

 are so numerous and so varied in their character and in the sources 

 from which they must be derived that in our present state of knowledge 

 a dragnet policy of sweeping into the body a large variety of dietary 

 articles, is the only one which will ultimately ensure a sufficient intake 

 of every possible requisite. All precise dietary prescriptions, however 

 well supported by selected individual experiences, are premature where 

 the majority of humanity are concerned, and a diet of half -raw meat, 

 recommended on the ground that, being muscle, it must contribute to 

 our strength, should be viewed with no less suspicion than a diet of 



