56 PLANT DISEASE 



There may be some who think there is no 

 other deficiency than simply the iron, nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid, or potash. This is a very short- 

 sighted way of looking at it, as these constitu- 

 ents should be taken in the food, which can only 

 be done if they are present in the soil, and 

 according to presence or absence in the soil of 

 any combination of them, so there must be a 

 corresponding variation in the products of the 

 soil. Then there must be just as wide a range 

 of degeneration in the animal life living on the 

 products of the soil, and, as I have previously 

 shown, the starches, sugars, fats, proteids 

 must vary. Therefore those suffering from 

 consumption, insanity, cancer, and many other 

 diseases are not only wanting in mineral con- 

 stituents, but also in starches, sugars, fats, 

 and proteids. 



W. S. Furneaux says on page 84 of Animal 

 Physiology 



" Life cannot be sustained on mineral foods 

 alone, although these may contain all the 

 elements required to make good the waste. 

 Neither can life be permanently sustained by 

 any one class alone of the organic foods. 



