230 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and one that is highly nutritious. A chemical analysis of sixpenny- 

 worth of such a combination would prove its nutritive value to be equal 

 to fully eighteenpennyworth of beefsteak. 



Some people may be inclined to smile at what I am about to say, 

 viz., that such savory dishes, serving to vary the monotony of the 

 poor hard-working man's ordinary fare, afford considerable moral as 

 well as physical advantage. 



An instructive experience of my own will illustrate this. When 

 wandering alone through Norway in 1856, I lost the track in crossing 

 the Kyolen f jeld, struggled on for twenty-three hours without food or 

 rest, and arrived in sorry plight at Lom, a very wild region. After a 

 few hours' rest I pushed on to a still wilder region and still rougher 

 quarters, and continued thus to the great Jostedal table-land, an un- 

 broken glacier of five hundred square miles ; then descended the Jos- 

 tedal itself to its opening on the Sogne fjord — five days of extreme 

 hardship, with no other food than flatbrod (very coarse oatcake), and 

 bilberries gathered on the way, varied on one occasion with the luxury 

 of two raw turnips. Then I reached a comparatively luxurious station 

 (Ronnei), where ham and egs and claret were obtainable. The first 

 glass of claret produced an effect that alarmed me — a craving for more 

 and for stronger drink, that was almost irresistible. I finished a bot- 

 tle of St. Julien, and nothing but a violent effort of will prevented me 

 from then ordering brandy. 



I attribute this to the exhaustion consequent upon the excessive 

 work and insufficient unsavory food of the previous five days ; have 

 made many subsequent observations on the victims of alcohol, and 

 have no doubt that overwork and scanty, tasteless food are the primary 

 source of the craving for strong drink that so largely prevails with 

 such deplorable results among the class that is the most exposed to 

 such privation. I do not say that this is the only source of such 

 depraved appetite. It may also be engendered by the opposite ex- 

 treme of excessive luxurious pandering to general sensuality. 



The practical inference suggested by this experience and these 

 observations is, that speech-making, pi edge- signing, and blue-ribbon 

 missions can only effect temporary results, unless supplemented by 

 satisfying the natural appetite of hungry people by supplies of food 

 that is not only nutritious, but savory and varied. Such food need be 

 no more expensive than that which is commonly eaten by the poorest 

 of Englishmen, but it must be far better cooked. 



Comparing the domestic economy of the poorer classes of our coun- 

 trymen with that of the corresponding classes in France and Italy 

 (with both of which I am well acquainted), I find that the raw ma- 

 terial of the dietary of the French and Italians is inferior to that of 

 the English, but a far better result is obtained by better cookery. 

 The Italian peasantry are better fed than the French. In the poor 

 osterias above referred to, not only the Friday salt fish, but all the 



