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of a highly nitrogenous food, of which meat is a con- 

 centrated form, to the labouring man, has occasioned the 

 almost universal belief that such meat, of which let beef 

 and mutton be the type, is the most desirable food staple 

 for all. " If you wish to be strong, eat plenty of meat ; " 

 " If you are feeling weak, eat more meat, and at every 

 meal ; " such are the well-known articles of a creed which 

 is deeply graven in the popular mind. Nevertheless few 

 statements relating to diet can be more misleading, and 

 few are, in my opinion, productive of more evil to the 

 community. 



It is this habit of adopting meat as the chief element of 

 his dietary, which the sedentary man, with little oppor- 

 tunity for bodily exercise, the man who uses his brain 

 more than his muscles, should especially avoid. Equally 

 also should he abstain from fatty matters in large quantity, 

 taking only a moderate proportion, which is not only 

 permissible, but necessary to that extent. For if he 

 habitually consumes these two classes of food freely, 

 materials are introduced into the system which it cannot 

 eliminate, and which must ultimately obstruct the function 

 of some internal organ. Thus the periodical bilious attack, 

 or the recurring fit of gout, or some other relentless 

 tormentor, clears the system for a time of the offending 

 matter which the daily error in diet is perpetually repro- 

 ducing and accumulating. Those who are thus affected 

 often endeavour to ward off their troubles by systematic 

 muscular exercises, fencing, rowing, and the like, and they 

 do so with a certain amount of success. It is for the 

 purpose of getting rid of superfluous nutritive materials 

 that others (who may be wholly unconscious of the need 

 which impels them) secure their yearly shootings, make 

 Alpine excursions, or seek the mineral springs of a foreign spa, 



