158 ALIMENTATION 



English, which proved to be the fact; for when the French laborers 

 were subjected to a similar regimen, they were able to accomplish an 

 equal amount of work. In all observations of this kind, it has been 

 shown that an animal diet is more favorable to the development of the 

 physical forces than one consisting mainly of vegetables. 



It is commonly acknowledged that the consumption of all kinds of 

 food is greater in cold than in warm climates, and almost every one has 

 experienced in his own person a considerable difference in the appetite 

 at different seasons of the year. Travellers' accounts of the quantity of 

 food taken by the inhabitants of the frigid zone seem almost incredible. 

 They speak of men consuming more than a hundred pounds (45.36 kilo- 

 grams) of meat in a day ; and a Russian admiral, Saritcheff, gave an 

 instance of a man who, in his presence, ate at a single meal a mess of 

 boiled rice and butter weighing twenty-eight pounds (12.7 kilograms). 

 Although it is difficult to regard these statements with entire confidence, 

 the common opinion that the appetite is greater in cold than in warm 

 climates undoubtedly is well founded. Hayes stated, from his personal 

 observation, that the daily ration of the Esquimaux is twelve to fifteen 

 pounds (5.443 to 6.804 kilograms) of meat, about one-third of which is 

 fat. On one occasion he saw an Esquimau consume ten pounds (4.536 

 kilograms) of walrus-flesh and blubber at a single meal, which lasted, 

 however, several hours. The continued low temperature he found had 

 a remarkable effect on the tastes of his own party. With the thermom- 

 eter ranging from 60 to 70 Fahr. (51 to 57 C), there was 

 a persistent craving for a strong animal diet, particularly fatty substances. 

 Some members of the party were in the habit of drinking the contents 

 of the oil-kettle with evident relish. 



Necessity of a Varied Diet. In considering the nutritive value of 

 the various alimentary substances, the fact that no single article is 

 capable of supplying all the material for the regeneration of the organ- 

 ism has frequently been mentioned. The normal appetite which is 

 the best guide as regards the quantity and the selection of food indi- 

 cates that a varied diet is necessary to proper nutrition. This fact is 

 exemplified in a marked degree in long voyages and in the alimentation 

 of armies, when, from necessity or otherwise, the necessary variety of 

 aliment is not presented. Analytical chemistry fails to show why this 

 change in alimentation is necessary or in what the deficiency in a single 

 kind of diet consists ; but it is nevertheless true that after the organic 

 constituents of the organism have appropriated the nutritious elements 

 of particular kinds of food for a certain time, they lose the power of 

 effecting the changes necessary to proper nutrition. This fact is par- 

 ticularly well marked when the diet consists in great part of salted meats, 



