THE NON-CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 226 



Not all the skill of the medical profession has ever 

 been able to treat the different forms of paralysis, 

 epilepsy, consumption, etc., successfully with drug- 

 medication alone ; and sometimes diseases of lesser grav- 

 ity, such as rheumatism, sciatica, neuralgia, hysteria, 

 etc., refuse to yield to it. This proves that the disease 

 is systemic, and that general disinfection is needed, 

 something to check the degenerative changes, and na- 

 tural food to supply and rebuild the wasting tissues. 



Foods are derived from the three kingdoms, animal, 

 mineral and vegetable. They are divided into nitrog- 

 enous, those containing the element nitrogen; and the 

 non-nitrogenous, or carbohydrates, those not containing 

 nitrogen. 



The nitrogenous are classed under the following 

 heads : 



Fibrin, from the animal kingdom (all muscle is 

 chiefly fibrin); glutin, from the vegetable kingdom 

 (this is a form of albumin existing in grain); caseine, 

 from the animal and vegetable kingdoms (this is a form 

 of albumin found in milk); albumin, from the animal 

 and vegetable kingdoms. 



So closely do these principles agree in chemical com- 

 position and properties, that they are considered as 

 being a modification of one substance, and are called 

 proteids. Proteids are the most important of the ani- 

 mal and vegetable compounds, and none of the phe- 

 nomena of life occur without their presence. 



The other class of food-stuffs, the non-nitrogenous, 

 differ more than do the proteids, yet they all have two 



15 



