No. 4.J NUTRITION. 57 



THE NUTEITION OF SOIL, PLANT, BEAST AND MAN. 



BY MR. EDWARD ATKINSON OF BOSTON. 



Gentlemen of the State Board of Agriculture : — Although 

 I have been working on the subject of nutrition many 

 years, I have not yet got over the sense of a certain gro- 

 tesque aspect of my own case, in that it should have fallen 

 to one who can claim neither a scientific knowledge of the 

 chemistry or physiology of nutrition, nor of agriculture, nor 

 of cooking, to take a somewhat prominent lead in the 

 development of these subjects. It simply proves that a 

 duffer may enter in where science fears to tread, who, not 

 being afraid of sometimes exposing his own ignorance, may 

 start many lines of thought and of practice for which the 

 time is ripe. You will probably find much in my address 

 that will simply indicate ignorance on my part of matters 

 which may be well known to many of yourselves ; but it 

 may also happen that one who can claim a scientific method 

 in bringing the work of other people into its true relation, 

 and in presenting it in a way that every-day people can 

 comprehend it, can do some service on the lines with which 

 we propose to deal this evening. Of course in a single hour 

 I can only touch upon the most salient points. 



I am called to speak to you upon the nutrition of the soil, 

 the plant, the beast and the man. In my several under- 

 takings to convert the products of soil, plant and beast 

 to the nutrition of mankind, my attention has been called to 

 the fact that all these undertakings simply consist in the 

 conversion of the same natural forces from one form into 

 another. The instruments of conversion are land, plants 

 and bodies. Next it appeared to me that unless we could 



