14 KENNEL SECRETS. 



ficient exercise, improper cooking, damp, draughty quar- 

 ters, neglect of cleanliness, foul drinking water, etc., 

 while another fed indifferently, on food poorly suited to 

 his wants, may yet remain in good health under kindly 

 hygienic influences. 



Equally as correct conclusions regarding the potency of 

 these influences can be drawn from the experiences of 

 men, for they act upon them as on dogs. Sailors, for 

 instance, on fairly long voyages are forced to subsist 

 largely on beef and pork which are submitted to methods 

 of curing that render them so indigestible the nutritive 

 properties retained are in such form that a goodly pro- 

 portion can be extracted only with exceeding difficulty. 

 These meats, with biscuits — very often "weevilly" — 

 and canned goods for only rare change, make up the most 

 of their bill of fare. Yet where can be found a healthier, 

 hardier class than this — and all due to the pure air they 

 are in and the hard work they are required to perform. 

 But put these same men on shore in close-built cities or 

 towns, let them live indolently and on the same kinds of 

 food they had on shipboard, and they must soon decline 

 in health and vigor. 



On this subject man is singularly inclined to jump at 

 conclusions. One calls attention to the fact that he is of 

 a family of giants and that neither he nor any other mem- 

 ber of it had scarcely any meat during childhood. He 

 sees the city youngsters of to-day fed on mixed diet con- 

 taining a large proportion of meat, and from this he rea- 

 sons that their undergrowth and washed-out appearance 

 are due to the meat. Yet he fails to realize that in his 

 early years he doubtless consumed in the form of milk and 

 eggs nearly if not quite as much animal food as they, and 

 that in consequence of their peculiar situation in life these 

 foods in fresh and pure state, and in abundance, are gen-^ 



