MEATS 159 



although it sometimes occurs when a single kind of fresh meat is con- 

 stantly used. After long confinement to a diet restricted as regards 

 variety, a supply of other matters, such as fresh vegetables, the organic 

 acids, and articles which are usually called antiscorbutics, becomes 

 indispensable ; otherwise, the modifications in nutrition and in the con- 

 stitution of the blood incident to the scorbutic condition are almost always 

 developed. 



It is thus apparent that adequate quantity and proper quality of food 

 are not all that is required in alimentation; and those who have the 

 responsibility of regulating the diet of large numbers of persons must 

 bear in mind the fact that the organism demands considerable variety. 

 Fresh vegetables, fruits etc. should be taken at the proper seasons. It 

 is almost always found, when there is of necessity some sameness in diet, 

 that there is a craving for particular articles, and these, if possible, should 

 be supplied. This was frequently exemplified in the civil war. At 

 times when the diet was necessarily somewhat monotonous, there was 

 an almost universal craving for onions and raw potatoes, which were 

 found by army-surgeons to be excellent antiscorbutics. 



With those who supply their own food, the question of variety in 

 diet usually regulates itself; and in institutions, it is a good rule to 

 follow as far as possible the reasonable tastes of the inmates. In indi- 

 viduals, particularly females, it is not uncommon to observe marked dis- 

 orders in nutrition attributable to want of variety in the diet as well as 

 to an insufficient quantity of food as a matter of education or habit. 



A full consideration of the varieties of food and of the different 

 methods employed in its preparation belongs properly to special works 

 on dietetics. Among the ordinary articles of diet, the most important 

 are meats, bread, potatoes, milk, butter and eggs; and it is necessary 

 only to treat of these very briefly. 



Meats. Among the various kinds of muscular tissue, beef has been 

 found to possess the greatest nutritive value. Other varieties of flesh, 

 even that of birds, fishes and animals in a wild state, do not present an 

 appreciable difference, so far as can be ascertained by chemical analysis ; 

 but when taken daily for a long time, they become distasteful, the appe- 

 tite fails and the system seems to demand a change. The flesh of car- 

 nivorous animals is rarely used as food ; and animals that eat animal as 

 well as vegetable food, such as pigs or ducks, acquire a disagreeable 

 flavor when they are not fed on vegetables. Soups, broths, and most of 

 the liquid extracts of meat really possess but little nutritive value and 

 they can not replace the ordinary cooked meats. The following is the 

 composition of roasted meat, no dripping being lost, according to the 

 analysis of Ranke, quoted by Pavy : 



